Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
- 1 John 5:22
I'll confess, I have a problem with having idols, but I think a lot of us do. Whether it's people or things, we have a big problem with idols, especially in the U.S. We don't typically "worship" idols like people used to. But we spend a lot of time and energy on idols. We spend a lot of money on idols. We're willing to do anything for our idols, and typically, we don't like to share unless we have to. If it's a person we seek their attention a lot. We seek to please this person a lot. Whatever our idol is we think about it a lot. Some times it's all we think about. If it's a car we shine that car a lot. You could even have an idol and not even realize it, which is what happened to me. I'm not going to get into the details, but I realized I made an idol out of something too late. I had to part ways with this thing and it was really hard to do. I never meant to make it an idol, but I did just that. I didn't worship it, but I spent a lot of time and energy on it. I had to part ways with this thing no matter how hard it was.
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
- I Corinthians 10:14
It's still hard, but it's starting to get easier. It's hard to let go of something important to you like an idol. But idols separate us from God. He understands our weakness though, so when we try and when we struggle, he understands and will help us along the way. It won't be easy, it'll be very difficult, but it'll be worth it in the end. I don't know about you but I would rather have a better relationship with God than have an idol. I would rather have something eternal than something temporary. Anyway, this is what was on my heart today. If you're struggling with having an idol, I hope you'll flee from it and will go back to God. He's worth it, I guarantee it.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
- 1 John 1:9
"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remember your sins no more."
- Isaiah 43:25
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
- Acts 3:19
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
- Isaiah 1:18
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.
- Ephesians 1:7
Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."
- Hebrews 10:17
The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.
- Daniel 9:9
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
- Colossians 1:13-14
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
- Psalm 103:12
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
- Micah 7:18-19
I've been thinking about forgiveness a lot today. Lately I've been feeling really guilty about something I did, and I wondered, "Could God actually forgive me for that?" I know it sounds kind of silly to wonder that as a Christian, but this is something I struggle with some times. I even feel as if God should punish me or I won't learn to not do it again next time. But God isn't like that. He doesn't punish us when we do something wrong. Even though he knows well often times take advantage of him, he still would rather give us mercy. Lately I keep repenting of what I did and I feel like it's just not enough. But really, I only needed to repent once and that was enough. I need to realize he's not angry with me; he wants to show me mercy, not punish me. I have to remember Jesus took my punishment already. God has compassion on me, even in my weakness. If you're struggling with forgiveness, know you're not alone. But God forgives you if you just ask him, and you only need to ask him once. He's a compassionate and merciful God. He knows if you're really repentant. He knows we try to change. He'll help us change. We have to trust him though that he'll help us.
There's a lot of rage right now over the death of a lion in Zimbabwe named Cecil. Apparently he was lured away from the sanctuary and was beheaded. (http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/africa/zimbabwe-cecil-the-lion-killed/) People have gone so far as to say things as, "I hope this guy loses his home, his practice, and all his money, he's already lost his soul." He's known as one of the most hated people on Facebook. While it's sad that a beloved lion was killed, you know what is even more sad? The millions of human infants being killed and harvested for their parts by Planned Parenthood. (http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/07/28/disturbing-new-planned-parenthood-video-details-harvesting-fetal-body-parts)
For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. - Psalm 139:13
Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so
that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,
over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures
that move along the ground." - Genesis 1:26 We were made in God's image, and He formed us in the womb. But we serve a different god than the true God, we serve the god of convenience. If it's not convenient to have a baby we choose to abort a baby instead of put up for adoption for another family to take care of it. Then PP harvests the parts for money so they can get that Lamborghini they've been wanting. (http://liveactionnews.org/all-planned-parenthood-wants-is-a-lamborghini/)
Go ahead and rage over a dead lion but let's put things in perspective here, what's more outrageous? A dead lion, or millions of dead human babies being harvested?
"They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you," says ADONAI, "to rescue you."
Jeremiah 1:19
I often times feel like Jeremiah on Facebook. Jeremiah was given a task that seemed impossible, to warn Israel what they were doing was wrong, and knowing no one would listen to him. A grieving prophet for his people. I try to show the world the direction they're heading is the wrong path. It's a path towards destruction, partly because I've been down that path and I know others who have been down that path. It nearly destroyed us. So many of us are warning people and trying to help people get back on the right track, but we are not listened to. For some, they can handle this just fine, but it grieves me. We're called all sorts of horrible, hateful things, and told how unloving we are. But the truth is, we are warning because we love! If you saw a child getting ready to put their finger on a hot stove would you tell them to stop or allow them to burn themselves? You would warn the child to not touch the hot stove or they'll hurt themselves. What we're warning people is even more serious than a child burning themselves on a hot stove though. People are seriously offending God and don't even care. They do it right in his face with their noses high in the air and oh so proud of themselves, flaunting themselves as if they're gods themselves!
"Look at me, I can do this in God's face and not get struck down by lightening! He must not care! Hell, he must not even exist! I'm a god in my own way!" That is how the world thinks. But let me tell you this, He's VERY patient, and you're only going to get by with what you're doing for so long that it'll eventually catch up with you. If not in this life, it will in the next. He's a just God, and whatever injustice or abominable thing you are doing, whatever repulsive or offensive thing you are doing, He will deal justice.
But fear not, if you truly regret what you have done and want to change, if you want to please God, He is merciful. It is possible to change, you are never too far gone. God will forgive you for anything you've EVER done and EVER will do. You just have to ask him.
"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
- Hebrews 8:12
If you're like me, and you've been warning people but it seems like no one is listening, and you're feeling weary and you're grieving for this world, keep these words Jesus said in mind:
"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth
you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have
overcome the world." - John 16:33 We're going to have trials and sorrows. People aren't going to listen to us. There were people who didn't even listen to Jesus! If they didn't listen to him, why would everyone listen to us? But we can still have peace, because Christ has overcome the world. Keep in mind, one day,
...at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
- Philippians 2:10
Some day, every one will know He is King, whether they like it or not. We're just the messengers. No matter what people say to you, no matter what they call you, no matter what they do to you, remember, God is a just God and He will serve justice. Let's make sure though, that we give the message in love still. Our warnings need to always be in love. Always examine your heart and make sure your heart is in the right place. If it's not, ask God to put it in the right place. We can't give up. No matter how hopeless it seems, we have to continue to warn people. We have to give other people a chance to repent and change their ways! You would want the same done for you, do the same for others!
There was a video by The Young Turks I saw about a girl who came out against same sex marriage, even though she had two moms. She said she loved both moms and they treated her well, but she really wanted a dad. TYT tore her to shreds.
This really isn't fair of TYT to give this girl flack for wanting a father in her life. It's very important for children to grow up with both a mother and father and when there is only one, it's a tragedy. This shouldn't be something celebrated, it's a tragedy! No matter how feminine a man might be, he can't be the role of a mother, and no matter how masculine a woman might me, she can't be the role of a father.
You might say, "Isn't two mom's or two dad's better than just one parent?" NO! It's not! Children need the nurturing from a mother and the protection from a father. A mother will nurture her children and a father will protect them. You need both a mother and a father. You look at divorce and it's tragic, the separation between spouses, especially if children are involved. Single parenting (not speaking from experience since I don't have kids) is very difficult.
Whether it's because the former spouse wants nothing to do with the kids or the spouse has died, it's very hard and is a tragedy. We don't look at those situations and celebrate, we feel bad for them, we want to help them. What good does two mothers and two fathers do? The spouses can maybe support each other but the proper care that children need come from both a mother and a father. A mother will teach her daughter how to be a good wife some day and teach her son what to look for in a wife. A father will teach his daughter what to look for in a husband and teach his son how to be a good a husband some day. It's funny, I've heard many stories of how the person you marry is like your parents, and I look at the person I married and it's so true.
You might say, "Well, you got to marry the person you love, shouldn't everyone get that chance?" It's not a matter of if I love him or not. I love a lot of different things. I love tacos! I'm not going to marry tacos. I love my brother, I'm not going to marry my brother. But sibling love is for another topic. There are different types of love. The Greeks had four types of love: Agape, Phileo, Eros, and Storge. Storge is love between parents and children. Phileo is friendship. Eros is pretty obvious, erotic or sexual love. Agape is God's love. A homosexual love can have phileo and eros, but I don't believe they can have storge or agape. Maybe storge to an extent, but not to the full extent. The reason is because they cannot reproduce. You may say, "There are heterosexual couples who can't reproduce too." True, but most can. Homosexuals CANNOT reproduce. You cannot have two eggs to have a baby, and you can't have two sperms to have a baby. You have to have an egg and sperm to have a baby. Personally, I believe only God can have agape love, but if it's possible for people to have agape love, homosexuals cannot have this type of love because homosexuality is an abomination to God. Agape love would be able to be a love we could have for God I think, but again, I personally don't believe any person can have this type of love, only God has this love - eternal love. So if homosexuals cannot provide storge love to children, and cannot play the proper roles as parents, it only shows they are not fit to be parents. They could be the most loving people, but that does not mean they are fit to be parents.
The absence of one parent is very difficult on children, even when they grow up to be adults it can be very difficult for them. Don't make this even harder on the kids. If you're an absent parent, spend time with your kids, they'll appreciate it and you will too. You may not now, but later on you will. Buying them things isn't what they need, they need YOU. Be there for them. They need you. Even if they don't appreciate you now, some day they will.
I'm not going to get into detail what's been going on, but my husband and I have been fighting over me dieting. I've been really depressed lately and frankly I just don't want to deal with the failures of dieting right now. I've always gone to food for comfort, people fail me and I fail people. My cat I think has PTSD and runs away from me or claws at me when I try to cuddle with him. But for years food has been my comfort. For years I have tried to diet but have failed miserably. At this point in my life I'm tired of trying to anymore. I'm too depressed with what's going on in my life right now and dealing with more failure on my part is not something I want to deal with. I've been dealing with losing relationships, which I know is part of life, but I'm losing close friends and that's been really hard on me. So I've basically been eating my heart out. I just keep eating and eating. My stomach seems to be a bottomless pit. I'm constantly hungry. My husband who is never hungry and is skinny as a telephone pole gets frustrated with me and is worried I'm going to die young. I tell him I'm not, but at the same time, I think, "Would it really matter if I died young?" I'm not suicidal, but I'm so depressed that it doesn't matter to me if I died because of my weight. It's not the way I want to go, it's not very dignified, but it doesn't matter to me anymore. Frankly, the way I want to go, I don't feel I deserve. With some of our friends Ive recently had to let go, without getting into too much detail they were involved in sexual sin. Now I would normally not let someone go because of that but because they were Christians and I confronted them about what they were doing and they refused to change, I wasn't sure what to do. After getting advice from some friends and family and taking a look at what Paul had to say about it (I Corinthians 5:11-13). I needed to stop communicating with them until they've repented for their sexual sin. This was very hard for me since they were very close to me. Why do I bring this up when I'm talking about dieting? Well, today I realized something. I've stopped communicating with friends because of a sin they're doing and refuse to repent of, but I'm doing the exact same thing! NOT the same sin, but sinning and being unrepentant about it! Now, not all sin is the same, I encourage you to read my friend's blog entry about that ( http://www.reasonablefaithknoxville.org/2015/07/24/judge-not-lest-ye-be-judged/) But even with sins not being the same, I have been doing two sins and been unrepentant of them. Laziness because I spend most of my days sleeping because of this depression, and gluttony because I keep eating and eating. I haven't even cared about how it's affected other people around me who worry about me. I've only been concerned with myself, how I feel. So no matter how miserable I feel, I'm going to start getting up more and less sleeping during the day. I'm going to try to diet again no matter how many times I fail. I Corinthians 6:19 - Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who
lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, I need to treat my body like a temple. Instead of stuffing it with food until I puke (like I did today) I need to be healthy. This doesn't mean I'm not going to struggle. I'm sure as hell going to struggle still. But I'm not going to let gluttony and laziness control me anymore. It's time I take control of my life again. If I love God, I need to treat the body he gave me with respect. I only get one after all. Those who know me, please keep me accountable. If I start giving up remind me what I've said. I need to not be a hypocrite!
* 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who
bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or
greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat
with such a one.12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” - I Corinthians 5:11-13
