June 30, 2009
Danielle Joyner Kelley
“For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.” Psalm 66:10.
Anyone watching the news lately is aware the world stage is heating up. We are learning more about animosity and threats towards our country than we have seen in a long while. Yet it is ironic how little many of us understand about those countries themselves, or how we contributed to some of the problems.
Right now people are starving while governments make nuclear weapons partly with money from the very countries claiming to be “peacemakers”. Meanwhile, the mess the world helped to create is becoming a nuclear bomb instead of a missile.
Such is the same with life in general. In every life lesson we need to remember that no matter how wrong we like to think others are, we all have a contribution to a problem. As a believer in Christ, we know our contribution through a conviction from the Holy Spirit. He convicts us of what we do wrong, not to make us suffer, but to make us understand that we should strive to do better.
“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” John 16:7-11. Jesus would no longer be there to talk to His disciples, and the Holy Spirit would be sent to live within Christians to guide them. One of the ways to do that is through conviction.
Once you feel that conviction, what you do with it is your choice. However, God is a positive God and seeks to make us better. Many of us miss that point and allow the experience to make us bitter. Instead of admitting our faults and asking for forgiveness and praising God for showing us our own need to change, we turn it around; get defensive and start pointing fingers and blaming others. Others will not believe they have a contribution to a problem, and will simply go to God through a painful situation screaming “why me?” In any event, patience is required to go the distance. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8-9.
God operates in a system of Checks and Balances, and accountability for sins is key. As the author of justice, the very things we hold others accountable for to protect our safety, such as crime, God must do on a much higher level. His standards are so high that hatred is considered murder and lust is considered adultery. As the perfect Creator of the Universe we should expect nothing less. He holds people accountable for their own safety as well, through conviction, so people will strive for change and not allow themselves to fall into sin. To sin means to “miss the mark”, and that is what it is. It means you did not handle something correctly. Without God in charge of every aspect of your life, that will happen at least nine times out of ten, as it does with all of us.
He is the Father and we are His children. When you trust in Him and stand by Him while bearing your consequence, He will turn every effort and step you take in His name into a positive for His glory. “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:3-5.
Those who come to God to allow Him to guide them through a time bringing change in their life, even if they are screaming “why me”, are taught one of the hardest lessons of all. That lesson is how to live on faith and trust God no matter what the world throws at them. This is the “when” time period and the point where you can learn and grow. The “why” of an experience is what God is always looking at. He examines our motives. It is not the “what” you are doing, but the “why” you are doing it that He will judge you on. Otherwise self-defense could never be an excuse for murder.
The “when” period while waiting on God to end our painful experience is the point where you are tested the hardest. Because we are naturally impatient and feel things are not happening quickly enough, we convince ourselves that if God does not move in a dramatic fashion then He is not answering us. Through the silence however, He is answering you louder than you think. He has told us that we must live by faith and not by sight. In your “when” period God holds true to His word, as He always does. At that moment you feel impatient because you do not have instant gratification. That is where you must place your hope in what is “unseen”, and that is your faith in Him. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1.
He is training you to live in line with His word, and when you do He knows that you will experience true hope, joy, and peace on a level you have never known. “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Roman 8:24-25. There is no law that says His answer has to be one that instantly gratifies. True answers that come from a loving Father will likely teach you a lesson over time. That is because His goal is to make sure you are stronger and better in the future.
When you feel He is not answering you, make sure you are looking for the lesson you can learn, and do not give up your faith in Him. During this time you may be going through a horrible life situation and are waiting for an answer, and you grow desperate. Something, somewhere is attempting to convince you to believe only in the “seen” and then you start doing things on your own. When you do you are setting yourself up for another fall because you have shown God that you did not learn your lesson. God is the One and only One who will not fail you.
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13. Your body contains the Holy Spirit within you as a Christian, and the Holy Spirit is part of the Holy Trinity. God cannot disown Himself. Just because you fall in faith does not mean that He will abandon you. He will keep sticking it out with you, time and again, but you will learn your lesson eventually. When you are patient, you show God you will live on faith, and He will reward you.
During the “when” period there is no better hand to hold you than God’s. The Bible tells us as much seen in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were brought before King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon because they refused to worship other gods and would only worship their God, our Father in Heaven. King Nebuchadnezzar told them that if they did not fall down and worship the golden image he created that he would throw them into a blazing furnace. Then he asks them, “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?". Daniel 3:13-15.
The three men replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:16-18. Thus, we know that they were willing to go forward into a horrible situation with hope in God to save them. Even if God did not save them, they knew that they would be saved in the final judgment after this life, so they had no fear whether or not they died. They loved God, and perfect love always casts out fear. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18.
When they were taken to the blazing furnace, the fire was so hot that it killed the soldiers who took the three men to throw them in. One of the King’s advisers went back to the King, “He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." Daniel 3:25.
The King went and called the three men to come out of the furnace, and we are told, “So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.” Daniel 3:26-27.
There are many important points to this story that we should remember during a life trial. First, God never leaves us. The fourth man in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was the Son of God, Jesus. When you are facing a hard life situation, He is going through it with us. He is in the trenches where we are fighting it out by our side.
Second, when we show Him that we are serving Him only and no other, although others may doubt us, He will deliver us. Remember that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not want to go into the furnace, but were willing to do so to serve their God and no other. They told us that even if God did not save them from the furnace, they were going forward in His name regardless. Obviously they were not sure what God was going to do, but they weren’t impatient with the lack of an instant answer. They went forward in faith knowing Whom they served.
God is refining us continually, working to remove the impurities and striving to make us see the potential he placed inside of us. However, often when we ask for His guidance, the Holy Spirit convicts us that we need to change something, and at that moment we tend to run away from the message. When we do that we are telling God that we want Him to answer our prayer but only with an answer acceptable to us. However, that was never the way it was intended to be. We cannot work to make God do things that are acceptable to us; instead we must work to make sure we are acceptable to Him. He saved us through His grace, and your own love for His sacrifice should drive you to do better because you know He always has your best interests at heart.
Don’t let the conviction go in vain and allow you to become bitter. He doesn’t want a minute of your pain wasted on the negative. He wants you to turn it around and show the world your power to overcome anything through His strength. When you complain about how long something is taking you are like a child begging to get off of restrictions for stealing a car. You don’t want your child to get hurt, and God doesn’t want you to either. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4.
All good things come from God, and when you are walking in His name you will grow in each of the good points. That includes patience; however, it is not just given to you, it is something that takes time. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23.
Allowing Him to guide your every move while you wait it out with Him patiently, is the biggest and hardest lesson of all, but remember He is refining you. He is taking out the impurities and the things that will harm you. Remember that it is much better to have yourself refined in the furnace than it is to be completely burned in it. The goal of refining is to make you pure and polished; therefore, don’t expect the task to be easy.
Do not focus on the lack of ease, but remember why the product is being refined in the first place.
Something once lacking in value is becoming great in its worth.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Drawing the Line...
June 27, 2009
Danielle Joyner Kelley
“So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." Genesis 9:17.
Recently, our country learned that the reality television series couple, Jon and Kate Gosselin filed for divorce. Two days prior, a protestor, Neda Salehi Agha-Soltan, was killed in route to protest against a presidential election in Iran. Which one of the two did the American public give their attention to? According to public commentary the answer is clear. Because the public glorifies its own obsession with the soap opera / drama mentality engrained in the culture, a divorce took precedent over a death.
As divorce is the obsession, questions abound, and people realize that God has a lot to say on the marriage and divorce issue. Absolutely He does, and although the complaints about both become rampant and ever changing it is important to note that the answers to the questions themselves have never changed.
This is not uncommon in our culture. When you overhear a conversation between two people, chances are that you will hear one of them complaining about something. That is because when bad things happen we want an explanation. That instinct is correct for one reason: bad things were never intended to happen. However, we were never promised that they would not occur.
When someone commits a sin here on Earth, they have to bear the consequence. Unfortunately, others have to bear the consequence of someone else’s sin as well. It is the point where we are bearing the consequence of another person’s sin that we want an explanation of “how” and “why” this is happening. The person wondering why their child was murdered or why their spouse filed for divorce is the one asking the questions because they know that someone else’s sin caused them pain.
In the alternative, while we are bearing the consequence of our own sins individually, we often get caught up in guilt and shame and chose not to ask the “why” question because we already know the answer.
People who are going through a divorce will commonly be the ones heard saying how hard the process is. The “why” is actually simple: divorce was never intended to be easy.
Another person’s sins run to other people for one primary reason: we need to learn not to commit the same sin ourselves. If we know how badly it hurts us that someone else acted in a horrible manner, we are the ones who are being shown what not to do. At the same time, we frequently ask why the person hurting us gets away with so much and does not have to answer for the pain we are feeling. It was their sin that caused our pain, so why do we have to answer for it when they do not?
The answer is one that requires a lot of faith. Without question, God will hold those people accountable. Those left feeling the pain and asking the questions are ironically enough the ones who are blessed. That sounds incredible to believe, but imagine if you were the one who was actually capable of committing adultery, committing murder, or breaking up a marriage. As the one feeling hurt but did not cause the action, you are avoiding a judgment from God that will entail more than we could imagine here on Earth. Your hurt was not in vain; rather it will be the evidence God uses in His judgment against them. However, now you know better, so do not go out and ever allow yourself to cause anyone else that same pain. Put simply, do not allow your pain to be in vain either.
We have to remember that God can see the entire picture for all eternity. God knows that this life is only a fraction of your total existence, and He knows what will happen after we leave here. “Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” Psalm 144:4. What you cannot see now is exactly what God is preparing you for and focusing on in your life.
As a Christian you are now living under grace, but when you ask “why” look back to God’s law for explanation. Your spouse filed for divorce, “why” are you hurting? Because divorce was never in the cards from the beginning.
You do not have to look farther than the second chapter of the entire Bible to understand the importance placed on marriage. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24.
Throughout the rest of the Bible, marriage is a subject that will come up again and again. Long before we ever existed, thousands of years ago, the concept of marriage came to life through God’s hand. Back then it was not a piece of paper at the courthouse, or a huge ceremony with family and friends. It was a creation by God out of love to benefit Adam because He did not want him to be lonely, and woman was created. Thus, it was a covenant, and not a contract.
God’s covenants are holy, and He declares them in pure love. As demonstrated early on in the first book of the Bible, God makes covenants with us as well. God never breaks His promise, and He expects us not to do so either. As seen early on as with Noah and the Ark, when God flooded the world, God made it clear that He will keep His promise.
“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” Genesis 9:11-15.
When we fall into sin, we break our promise and there are consequences. The consequence is we experience difficulty and so do those around us. As much as we complain about having to bear the consequence of someone else’s sin and feel pain, we should want it no other way. When we have to bear the consequence of someone else’s sin we know first that others realize the pain and will not commit the same sins themselves. Thus there is room for improvement in society. Second, as the one who did not sin, but is feeling the pain, we know we are on the good side and good will triumph in the end.
God’s law defines what those sins are. Divorce is a very real sin that many people commit. If you do, don’t expect it to come with ease. It was never intended and God’s purpose is what always prevails. “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21. All truth told, American law mirrors the law laid out in the Bible thousands of years ago. The person seeking for the law to make it harder to get divorced is in line with what that law says about marriage.
However, the person who is being divorced should not feel that God has abandoned them for someone else’s mistake, nor should the person seeking a divorce that is right in God’s law to do so. God does release certain people from marriage, even though it was intended to be a covenant that we should keep, and only His word, revealed through the Holy Spirit, can tell you the answer of whether or not you, individually, are released. Unless you are, do not expect the process to go smoothly. Although a Judge can say you are divorced remember there were no courthouses that we know of at the time marriage was created thousands of years ago. God is the only Judge and even if man says you are divorced, if God has not released you from the marriage the consequences will haunt you until you are whether you are aware of them or not. Should any doubt exist to that last statement, ask yourself if you can merely walk away from a home that you can no longer afford to pay for. The answer is absolutely not, and if the answer was “yes” the foreclosure cases would diminish in rapid fashion.
The Bible discusses the subject of marriage at length, but the key to remember is that God has to be at the center of everything. When you get married and you are a Christian you have the Holy Spirit in your heart. You will never know with 100% certainty what your spouse feels, no matter what they tell you. However, God is looking at both the hearts and can see everything. If both are you are truly Christians, there is still no guarantee you will not have difficulties to overcome, but if you continue in God’s path, you do have a final guarantee if you both put Him first. The guarantee is that the union will hold together. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17. In that one scripture we are told that with His power, nothing is truly “irreconcilable” or “irretrievable”. At the Creator of marriage, if both parties are in His name walking in life, there is no such thing.
Even if both of parties are Christians, there is a risk if one of them is not walking in line with God. The enemy seizes such an opportunity to bring down the one who is seeking God. At that moment, the Holy Spirit will send warning signals. If the person walking out of line with God does not pick up on them, the enemy succeeds and they usually leave the marriage.
It is important here to distinguish between a “believer” and a “Christian”. You can be both, and in the reverse, you can be one and not the other or neither at all. God tells us in the Bible not to be “unequally yoked together with unbelievers”. 2 Corinthians 6:14. A believer has agreed to be cleansed for all sins, and an unbeliever has not. The person in the “unbelieving” stance refuses to do so, although they may believe in Jesus Christ, been “saved” and become a Christian. Remember even Christians sin after they are saved and accept Christ.
To be “yoked” means you take up a person’s burdens and walk with them. By definition, that is marriage. Think of two oxen plowing the field “yoked” together. The person you are married to may not trust God to handle their problems, and at that moment, a believer is “yoked” with someone who does not believe God can help them individually. Someone walking out of God’s word through abuse, adultery, lust, and the like are committing a sin against God and affecting the marriage. Sin is a burden and when we act on it without taking it to God to help take the desire to sin away from us, we are not acting as a “believer”.
If the “unbeliever” does not leave the marriage, what should you do? According to God’s word, you stay put, in prayer and try to bring the person to God. First, your Christianity sanctifies them. “To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.” 1 Corinthians 7:12-14.
Second, a believer, is sanctified through Jesus’ sacrifice and their acceptance of Him, and possesses the victory to overcome any problem. Also, their attitude and behavior can influence their spouse to come back to God. “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.” 1 Peter 3:1-2.
If the “unbeliever” wants to leave the marriage, what do you do? You let them go. “But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?” 1 Corinthians 7:15-16.
The reasoning behind this is that no relationship is worth causing you to walk out of step with God. Just as a spouse can display behavior that will influence the other spouse to come to God as in 1 Peter 3:1-2, a spouse out of step with God can influence the other in a negative sense. God knows the ultimate outcome, and certainly does not want to lose the believer in the process. “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.” Romans 16:17. Because you may bring a spouse back to God through your behavior, it is not likely that it is a sin to marry an unbeliever. The point is that when you marry someone you take on their burdens, including whether or not they are walking with God. If they do not leave the marriage, you are burdened with bringing them to Him.
If you find yourself in a situation where you are physically abused or threatened, realize that even though your spouse does not leave God knows the truth of whether or not you can change them. If they are not leaving you because they want to maintain control, God knows that also. He is always looking at the motives, and if their motives are not pure in the marriage, such as control, they are missing huge obligations and falling out of line with His word. God did not intend marriage to harm anyone. Remember when your spouse is that out of line with God’s word, the enemy will attempt to convince you to say and put you in harms way. He tempted Jesus with scripture and will try to convince you, based on God’s word that you should stay. Focus on your relationship with God and the Holy Spirit’s inner voice inside of you. You are not to place anyone ahead of God whatsoever, and if you stay in harms way out of your desire to stay with your spouse knowing they could harm your family, you are placing your spouse ahead of God’s will.
This world makes it easy to sin, and because of the sanctity of marriage and God’s gift of a covenant between man and wife, the enemy fights against it harder than one might think. Americans attribute the problems in society today to the breakdown of the family structure. If someone commits a crime, we are told that person never had a father. If someone files for divorce, we are told that the person had no family role model.
Even when it comes to marriage, God’s word makes it clear that He is the One before every thing. For the believers, God makes us honor the covenant even if we made the mistake of marrying the unbeliever because we are only released if they leave us. However, we also know that the believer is in line with all of what God tells us to do, including not being “yoked” together with unbelievers, so if the unbeliever leaves the marriage, the believer must let the person go. Marriage is a covenant and so is God’s word to us about unbelievers. God always honors His covenants, including His word to us in its entirety. Therefore in some situations people are released from marriage.
The truth is that it is hard to know who is an unbeliever and who is a believer, and God knew as much. That is why we are told over and over not to judge. However, when it comes to whether or not you can save your spouse or whether or not they will bring you down to sin and fall from your walk, God will step in.
God knew these distinctions would be hard for man to make on his own. That is why we are to seek Him on everything we do, and also why we are told, “Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” 1 Corinthians 7:8-9. Our human nature is prone to sin, so anytime we are “yoked” together with someone and sharing in their burdens it can affect our walk with God. That is why we are told to walk away from those who do not believe and are affecting us negatively instead of us affecting them positively. Your behavior can change others; however, God knows the breaking point where either you will change them for the better or they will change you for the worse. That is the moment where He draws the line.
What consequence will we face as a society for obsessing and glorifying divorce over a death? The consequence is that others, instead of steering away because they are aware of the hurt that sin causes, will chose to gratify themselves at others expense. In turn, the divorce rate will increase. We will be left bearing that consequence.
If the breakdown of the family is the root of all evil, as we are being told, then expect nothing less than that.
However, we are also left, through our obsessions, with reality.
Eventually, God will draw the line.
Danielle Joyner Kelley
“So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." Genesis 9:17.
Recently, our country learned that the reality television series couple, Jon and Kate Gosselin filed for divorce. Two days prior, a protestor, Neda Salehi Agha-Soltan, was killed in route to protest against a presidential election in Iran. Which one of the two did the American public give their attention to? According to public commentary the answer is clear. Because the public glorifies its own obsession with the soap opera / drama mentality engrained in the culture, a divorce took precedent over a death.
As divorce is the obsession, questions abound, and people realize that God has a lot to say on the marriage and divorce issue. Absolutely He does, and although the complaints about both become rampant and ever changing it is important to note that the answers to the questions themselves have never changed.
This is not uncommon in our culture. When you overhear a conversation between two people, chances are that you will hear one of them complaining about something. That is because when bad things happen we want an explanation. That instinct is correct for one reason: bad things were never intended to happen. However, we were never promised that they would not occur.
When someone commits a sin here on Earth, they have to bear the consequence. Unfortunately, others have to bear the consequence of someone else’s sin as well. It is the point where we are bearing the consequence of another person’s sin that we want an explanation of “how” and “why” this is happening. The person wondering why their child was murdered or why their spouse filed for divorce is the one asking the questions because they know that someone else’s sin caused them pain.
In the alternative, while we are bearing the consequence of our own sins individually, we often get caught up in guilt and shame and chose not to ask the “why” question because we already know the answer.
People who are going through a divorce will commonly be the ones heard saying how hard the process is. The “why” is actually simple: divorce was never intended to be easy.
Another person’s sins run to other people for one primary reason: we need to learn not to commit the same sin ourselves. If we know how badly it hurts us that someone else acted in a horrible manner, we are the ones who are being shown what not to do. At the same time, we frequently ask why the person hurting us gets away with so much and does not have to answer for the pain we are feeling. It was their sin that caused our pain, so why do we have to answer for it when they do not?
The answer is one that requires a lot of faith. Without question, God will hold those people accountable. Those left feeling the pain and asking the questions are ironically enough the ones who are blessed. That sounds incredible to believe, but imagine if you were the one who was actually capable of committing adultery, committing murder, or breaking up a marriage. As the one feeling hurt but did not cause the action, you are avoiding a judgment from God that will entail more than we could imagine here on Earth. Your hurt was not in vain; rather it will be the evidence God uses in His judgment against them. However, now you know better, so do not go out and ever allow yourself to cause anyone else that same pain. Put simply, do not allow your pain to be in vain either.
We have to remember that God can see the entire picture for all eternity. God knows that this life is only a fraction of your total existence, and He knows what will happen after we leave here. “Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” Psalm 144:4. What you cannot see now is exactly what God is preparing you for and focusing on in your life.
As a Christian you are now living under grace, but when you ask “why” look back to God’s law for explanation. Your spouse filed for divorce, “why” are you hurting? Because divorce was never in the cards from the beginning.
You do not have to look farther than the second chapter of the entire Bible to understand the importance placed on marriage. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24.
Throughout the rest of the Bible, marriage is a subject that will come up again and again. Long before we ever existed, thousands of years ago, the concept of marriage came to life through God’s hand. Back then it was not a piece of paper at the courthouse, or a huge ceremony with family and friends. It was a creation by God out of love to benefit Adam because He did not want him to be lonely, and woman was created. Thus, it was a covenant, and not a contract.
God’s covenants are holy, and He declares them in pure love. As demonstrated early on in the first book of the Bible, God makes covenants with us as well. God never breaks His promise, and He expects us not to do so either. As seen early on as with Noah and the Ark, when God flooded the world, God made it clear that He will keep His promise.
“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” Genesis 9:11-15.
When we fall into sin, we break our promise and there are consequences. The consequence is we experience difficulty and so do those around us. As much as we complain about having to bear the consequence of someone else’s sin and feel pain, we should want it no other way. When we have to bear the consequence of someone else’s sin we know first that others realize the pain and will not commit the same sins themselves. Thus there is room for improvement in society. Second, as the one who did not sin, but is feeling the pain, we know we are on the good side and good will triumph in the end.
God’s law defines what those sins are. Divorce is a very real sin that many people commit. If you do, don’t expect it to come with ease. It was never intended and God’s purpose is what always prevails. “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21. All truth told, American law mirrors the law laid out in the Bible thousands of years ago. The person seeking for the law to make it harder to get divorced is in line with what that law says about marriage.
However, the person who is being divorced should not feel that God has abandoned them for someone else’s mistake, nor should the person seeking a divorce that is right in God’s law to do so. God does release certain people from marriage, even though it was intended to be a covenant that we should keep, and only His word, revealed through the Holy Spirit, can tell you the answer of whether or not you, individually, are released. Unless you are, do not expect the process to go smoothly. Although a Judge can say you are divorced remember there were no courthouses that we know of at the time marriage was created thousands of years ago. God is the only Judge and even if man says you are divorced, if God has not released you from the marriage the consequences will haunt you until you are whether you are aware of them or not. Should any doubt exist to that last statement, ask yourself if you can merely walk away from a home that you can no longer afford to pay for. The answer is absolutely not, and if the answer was “yes” the foreclosure cases would diminish in rapid fashion.
The Bible discusses the subject of marriage at length, but the key to remember is that God has to be at the center of everything. When you get married and you are a Christian you have the Holy Spirit in your heart. You will never know with 100% certainty what your spouse feels, no matter what they tell you. However, God is looking at both the hearts and can see everything. If both are you are truly Christians, there is still no guarantee you will not have difficulties to overcome, but if you continue in God’s path, you do have a final guarantee if you both put Him first. The guarantee is that the union will hold together. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17. In that one scripture we are told that with His power, nothing is truly “irreconcilable” or “irretrievable”. At the Creator of marriage, if both parties are in His name walking in life, there is no such thing.
Even if both of parties are Christians, there is a risk if one of them is not walking in line with God. The enemy seizes such an opportunity to bring down the one who is seeking God. At that moment, the Holy Spirit will send warning signals. If the person walking out of line with God does not pick up on them, the enemy succeeds and they usually leave the marriage.
It is important here to distinguish between a “believer” and a “Christian”. You can be both, and in the reverse, you can be one and not the other or neither at all. God tells us in the Bible not to be “unequally yoked together with unbelievers”. 2 Corinthians 6:14. A believer has agreed to be cleansed for all sins, and an unbeliever has not. The person in the “unbelieving” stance refuses to do so, although they may believe in Jesus Christ, been “saved” and become a Christian. Remember even Christians sin after they are saved and accept Christ.
To be “yoked” means you take up a person’s burdens and walk with them. By definition, that is marriage. Think of two oxen plowing the field “yoked” together. The person you are married to may not trust God to handle their problems, and at that moment, a believer is “yoked” with someone who does not believe God can help them individually. Someone walking out of God’s word through abuse, adultery, lust, and the like are committing a sin against God and affecting the marriage. Sin is a burden and when we act on it without taking it to God to help take the desire to sin away from us, we are not acting as a “believer”.
If the “unbeliever” does not leave the marriage, what should you do? According to God’s word, you stay put, in prayer and try to bring the person to God. First, your Christianity sanctifies them. “To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.” 1 Corinthians 7:12-14.
Second, a believer, is sanctified through Jesus’ sacrifice and their acceptance of Him, and possesses the victory to overcome any problem. Also, their attitude and behavior can influence their spouse to come back to God. “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.” 1 Peter 3:1-2.
If the “unbeliever” wants to leave the marriage, what do you do? You let them go. “But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?” 1 Corinthians 7:15-16.
The reasoning behind this is that no relationship is worth causing you to walk out of step with God. Just as a spouse can display behavior that will influence the other spouse to come to God as in 1 Peter 3:1-2, a spouse out of step with God can influence the other in a negative sense. God knows the ultimate outcome, and certainly does not want to lose the believer in the process. “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.” Romans 16:17. Because you may bring a spouse back to God through your behavior, it is not likely that it is a sin to marry an unbeliever. The point is that when you marry someone you take on their burdens, including whether or not they are walking with God. If they do not leave the marriage, you are burdened with bringing them to Him.
If you find yourself in a situation where you are physically abused or threatened, realize that even though your spouse does not leave God knows the truth of whether or not you can change them. If they are not leaving you because they want to maintain control, God knows that also. He is always looking at the motives, and if their motives are not pure in the marriage, such as control, they are missing huge obligations and falling out of line with His word. God did not intend marriage to harm anyone. Remember when your spouse is that out of line with God’s word, the enemy will attempt to convince you to say and put you in harms way. He tempted Jesus with scripture and will try to convince you, based on God’s word that you should stay. Focus on your relationship with God and the Holy Spirit’s inner voice inside of you. You are not to place anyone ahead of God whatsoever, and if you stay in harms way out of your desire to stay with your spouse knowing they could harm your family, you are placing your spouse ahead of God’s will.
This world makes it easy to sin, and because of the sanctity of marriage and God’s gift of a covenant between man and wife, the enemy fights against it harder than one might think. Americans attribute the problems in society today to the breakdown of the family structure. If someone commits a crime, we are told that person never had a father. If someone files for divorce, we are told that the person had no family role model.
Even when it comes to marriage, God’s word makes it clear that He is the One before every thing. For the believers, God makes us honor the covenant even if we made the mistake of marrying the unbeliever because we are only released if they leave us. However, we also know that the believer is in line with all of what God tells us to do, including not being “yoked” together with unbelievers, so if the unbeliever leaves the marriage, the believer must let the person go. Marriage is a covenant and so is God’s word to us about unbelievers. God always honors His covenants, including His word to us in its entirety. Therefore in some situations people are released from marriage.
The truth is that it is hard to know who is an unbeliever and who is a believer, and God knew as much. That is why we are told over and over not to judge. However, when it comes to whether or not you can save your spouse or whether or not they will bring you down to sin and fall from your walk, God will step in.
God knew these distinctions would be hard for man to make on his own. That is why we are to seek Him on everything we do, and also why we are told, “Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” 1 Corinthians 7:8-9. Our human nature is prone to sin, so anytime we are “yoked” together with someone and sharing in their burdens it can affect our walk with God. That is why we are told to walk away from those who do not believe and are affecting us negatively instead of us affecting them positively. Your behavior can change others; however, God knows the breaking point where either you will change them for the better or they will change you for the worse. That is the moment where He draws the line.
What consequence will we face as a society for obsessing and glorifying divorce over a death? The consequence is that others, instead of steering away because they are aware of the hurt that sin causes, will chose to gratify themselves at others expense. In turn, the divorce rate will increase. We will be left bearing that consequence.
If the breakdown of the family is the root of all evil, as we are being told, then expect nothing less than that.
However, we are also left, through our obsessions, with reality.
Eventually, God will draw the line.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Divide and Conquer...
June 24, 2009
Danielle Joyner Kelley
“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.” 1 Corinthians 12:14.
As humans we are used to battles. We were born with battle plans in mind to use in those sticky life situations. Our natural instinct tells us one of the best tools we can use to win: Divide and Conquer.
Unfortunately, this is not successful in a good sense. To win under this plan, you have to divide a unified body and then conquer it with your own. However, a unified body must exist prior to anyone wanting to divide and conquer it. There is nothing to divide if nothing is unified. Therefore, a unified body reigns supreme.
When Christianity began, unification took place on Earth that surpassed what many had known. Starting with a few people, it spread to the entire world with a common theme and purpose: Christ. However, at the moment a unified body began in existence there was also an enemy. As soon as he saw it he developed his strategy to break it: Divide and Conquer.
That is exactly what he did. He convinced man to create divisions in the church so that he could conquer the unification. Therein lies the divisions within the Body of Christ: Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, Assembly of God, and others including churches called non-denominational.
Those divisions do not stand against each other only, but each can have divisions within themselves. For example, there are Southern Baptists, Free Will Baptists, and Primitive Baptists, and there are many differences within the others as well.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you need to be a member of a certain one. In fact, those divisions are not even discussed. God would have no reason to and His message of a unified body in line with His instructions is repeated throughout the Bible.
Because God’s word was meant to unify the Body of Christ, the enemy decided that he would use it to divide. Just like when he tempted Jesus with scripture from the Bible told in the Book of Luke, he tempted man with the Bible as well. As the perfect Teacher of us all, Jesus knew what to do. Unfortunately, many of those on the Earth did not fare so well. In turn, divisions formed, and aligned themselves with different doctrines based on beliefs of what the Bible said. That does not mean they are not Christians. What it does mean is that others cost them one battle in the middle of a war.
There are many illustrations to prove this point, but to put it plainly some of the divisions have differences of opinion on baptism, spiritual gifts, and the like. There are many other fundamental differences including those who believe in “free will” and those who believe in “predetermination”. Also, there is a difference of opinion between some on the afterlife.
What God told us all thousands of years ago is that we are all, as Christians, a member of one body. There is one mind and that is God. Each member has a different function.
The creation of divisions may have been to divide, but like everything bad that the enemy tries to do, God turns it around for His glory and He always seeks to benefit the members of His body. Some of us need a quiet atmosphere to worship, and the Spirit knows as much. Some of us need to be free with our spiritual gifts, and the Spirit knows as much. Even if we are in different places we are all members of the same body. If you align yourself with one side and state the other is wrong, which side are you fighting on? The Body of Christ is what it is: it is a “Body”.
“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:14-26.
At the same time, the enemy has worked to convince others that “divide and conquer” was not an evil concept. To do such, he convinced man to create groups that appeared “unified” although they were full of evil and willing to kill or convince others to commit suicide. The focus shifts back to those “unified” and they get a bad name, and then divisions look like a good idea.
The enemy’s point behind this is simple. If he can make unification look like a bad idea, then divisions will continue to exist because people will seek them. Basic, common sense shows you the problems with this belief. Just ask yourself if divisions have benefited us historically. Did Hitler's division of Germans from the Jews benefit us? Did the “separate but equal” days where blacks and whites were separated benefit us? Of course not. The very things we complain about today, divorce, black versus white, men versus women are all divisions.
Still many Christians use the “do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers” scripture to differentiate themselves from others. The argument was if they thought they were correct then they had the right to judge other Christians. If we are not God, and we did not write the Bible, there are bigger problems there than one may realize.
Here is where Christians must remember that God only wants us to judge on matters that are out of line with His word, and that are not “disputable”. “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:1-4.
How many of you tear off your right arm with your left arm? You wouldn’t because it would cause the entire body pain. That is what God feels when we divide. Although we crave knowledge, we cannot know everything. God did not want us to know everything or the Bible would be much longer than it is already. He is an all-knowing God. Can you imagine every single part of what He can do contained in one book?
This is not to say that God is not turning around the church’s divisions to benefit us today. In fact, God has done a wonderful job to make sure that each division is, as He told us thousands of years ago about us individually, a part of one body.
People often ask me what church they should go to. My answer is always, “Where you are fed spiritually”. The point is that He knows what He is doing, and He is the only One who can take the biggest divisions and turn them around to fulfill His word. We are all members of one body, and each will find themselves, when they trust in Him and let the Spirit guide them, where they are most likely to flourish the most.
The key to remember is salvation. Jesus Christ died on the Cross to save us, and those who are in the Body of Christ agree on this point. Our division over our beliefs cannot take away from what He did for us. Thus, we are unified. The divisions are up to us. “If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:3-4. If we agree on salvation, we agree on Christ. Be careful who you judge who believes in Him.
I was raised in a Baptist church, went to an Episcopalian school, and searched my entire life to find a church that ignited my spirit. Growing up I was scared by churches I was in, including one where my grandfather was a Pastor. I visited over 20+ different types of churches from Methodist and Pentasostal to Catholic and Presbyterian. Many were wonderful, but I did not feel connected. I stopped trying, and years later decided it was time to try again. I was on the computer one Sunday morning deciding between three different churches, all different denominations. While mapping them online, a fourth church popped up, and I went to the website. After reading about the church and its statement, I decided to try it out. I had no idea it was a Baptist Church at the time and did not care, I just knew I liked the message and something was pulling me in that direction.
In the end God sent me to a church that had the right way of reaching me. That particular church that I found after 20 years of searching happened to be a Baptist church. Based on one of my past experiences, I knew that either God had a sense of humor or my grandfather talked Him into doing it. Either way, this particular church is now my home. It is not the title, it Holy Spirit’s guidance on where I was supposed to go to allow me to flourish and follow God.
The point is that He will do the same for you, and you may feel the same way in a Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Episcopalian or Catholic church. You may feel that way in a non-denominational church or any of the others in the Body of Christ. If you are learning to have a relationship with God and how to listen to the Spirit’s guidance in life, then that is all that matters. If you are doing it for everyone else, then problems will abound.
God desires mercy, not sacrifice. If you sacrifice your time to serve Him in order to please everyone else, then what reward do you need other than the fact that you pleased everyone else? “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1.
Would God rather have you talk to a few friends about Him and grow in your understanding than He would to have you dress up, go to church, and work to please everyone else? Yes. “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20.
The point is that God is always looking at our motives. If you do not go to church, He knows why. If you do go to church, He knows why. “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10.
He wants whatever you do to be because you truly love Him. “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6. You can shower your spouse with gifts, but if you are doing it because you want them to get off your back instead of doing it out of pure love, then what do you really deserve from it?
As members of one body, we are temped to try and make our part look as if it is really the only one doing all the work. When we think that way we discount the other parts and things get out of whack, so to speak. With only one brain in charge of the body, not only is that particular limb trying to take all the credit, but it is also discouraging other parts from doing what they are supposed to or causing them to work harder to prove they are right. Either way the focus turns to paying attention to the limb that started the trouble and working to please them or prove them wrong. At that moment the brain is forgotten and one part is working solely to make a point to the other. This is when people work to please man and not God. “We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” 1 Thessalonians 2:4.
The ease it takes to distract people from their common purpose is nauseating. What is more nauseating is the enemy’s skill in getting people to fall for the distraction. Imagine as one body what truly could be accomplished? Every Christian possesses the Holy Spirit and when united the possibilities would be endless. As for right now we are distracted.
If you wonder why people are staving, economies are recessing, and violence is increasing there is your answer. We have been taught to only look out for ourselves.
However, I cannot fear the loss of a battle when I already know the outcome of the war. I have a bet into Vegas on a football game with a million to one odds, and I have been told what the final score would be before the game even began.
Why would I let the enemy scare me of losing in the fourth quarter when I already know the outcome? Why would I fight with my teammates in the middle of a game against someone else about what color our uniforms are or what plays we should execute? I shouldn’t, we have a coach. We need to make sure we have talked to Him first because He calls the plays. We each play a different position, but are all on the same team.
Your enemy can divide, but he cannot conquer. Regardless of the differences remember one thing over all.
You won.
Danielle Joyner Kelley
“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.” 1 Corinthians 12:14.
As humans we are used to battles. We were born with battle plans in mind to use in those sticky life situations. Our natural instinct tells us one of the best tools we can use to win: Divide and Conquer.
Unfortunately, this is not successful in a good sense. To win under this plan, you have to divide a unified body and then conquer it with your own. However, a unified body must exist prior to anyone wanting to divide and conquer it. There is nothing to divide if nothing is unified. Therefore, a unified body reigns supreme.
When Christianity began, unification took place on Earth that surpassed what many had known. Starting with a few people, it spread to the entire world with a common theme and purpose: Christ. However, at the moment a unified body began in existence there was also an enemy. As soon as he saw it he developed his strategy to break it: Divide and Conquer.
That is exactly what he did. He convinced man to create divisions in the church so that he could conquer the unification. Therein lies the divisions within the Body of Christ: Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, Assembly of God, and others including churches called non-denominational.
Those divisions do not stand against each other only, but each can have divisions within themselves. For example, there are Southern Baptists, Free Will Baptists, and Primitive Baptists, and there are many differences within the others as well.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you need to be a member of a certain one. In fact, those divisions are not even discussed. God would have no reason to and His message of a unified body in line with His instructions is repeated throughout the Bible.
Because God’s word was meant to unify the Body of Christ, the enemy decided that he would use it to divide. Just like when he tempted Jesus with scripture from the Bible told in the Book of Luke, he tempted man with the Bible as well. As the perfect Teacher of us all, Jesus knew what to do. Unfortunately, many of those on the Earth did not fare so well. In turn, divisions formed, and aligned themselves with different doctrines based on beliefs of what the Bible said. That does not mean they are not Christians. What it does mean is that others cost them one battle in the middle of a war.
There are many illustrations to prove this point, but to put it plainly some of the divisions have differences of opinion on baptism, spiritual gifts, and the like. There are many other fundamental differences including those who believe in “free will” and those who believe in “predetermination”. Also, there is a difference of opinion between some on the afterlife.
What God told us all thousands of years ago is that we are all, as Christians, a member of one body. There is one mind and that is God. Each member has a different function.
The creation of divisions may have been to divide, but like everything bad that the enemy tries to do, God turns it around for His glory and He always seeks to benefit the members of His body. Some of us need a quiet atmosphere to worship, and the Spirit knows as much. Some of us need to be free with our spiritual gifts, and the Spirit knows as much. Even if we are in different places we are all members of the same body. If you align yourself with one side and state the other is wrong, which side are you fighting on? The Body of Christ is what it is: it is a “Body”.
“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:14-26.
At the same time, the enemy has worked to convince others that “divide and conquer” was not an evil concept. To do such, he convinced man to create groups that appeared “unified” although they were full of evil and willing to kill or convince others to commit suicide. The focus shifts back to those “unified” and they get a bad name, and then divisions look like a good idea.
The enemy’s point behind this is simple. If he can make unification look like a bad idea, then divisions will continue to exist because people will seek them. Basic, common sense shows you the problems with this belief. Just ask yourself if divisions have benefited us historically. Did Hitler's division of Germans from the Jews benefit us? Did the “separate but equal” days where blacks and whites were separated benefit us? Of course not. The very things we complain about today, divorce, black versus white, men versus women are all divisions.
Still many Christians use the “do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers” scripture to differentiate themselves from others. The argument was if they thought they were correct then they had the right to judge other Christians. If we are not God, and we did not write the Bible, there are bigger problems there than one may realize.
Here is where Christians must remember that God only wants us to judge on matters that are out of line with His word, and that are not “disputable”. “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:1-4.
How many of you tear off your right arm with your left arm? You wouldn’t because it would cause the entire body pain. That is what God feels when we divide. Although we crave knowledge, we cannot know everything. God did not want us to know everything or the Bible would be much longer than it is already. He is an all-knowing God. Can you imagine every single part of what He can do contained in one book?
This is not to say that God is not turning around the church’s divisions to benefit us today. In fact, God has done a wonderful job to make sure that each division is, as He told us thousands of years ago about us individually, a part of one body.
People often ask me what church they should go to. My answer is always, “Where you are fed spiritually”. The point is that He knows what He is doing, and He is the only One who can take the biggest divisions and turn them around to fulfill His word. We are all members of one body, and each will find themselves, when they trust in Him and let the Spirit guide them, where they are most likely to flourish the most.
The key to remember is salvation. Jesus Christ died on the Cross to save us, and those who are in the Body of Christ agree on this point. Our division over our beliefs cannot take away from what He did for us. Thus, we are unified. The divisions are up to us. “If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:3-4. If we agree on salvation, we agree on Christ. Be careful who you judge who believes in Him.
I was raised in a Baptist church, went to an Episcopalian school, and searched my entire life to find a church that ignited my spirit. Growing up I was scared by churches I was in, including one where my grandfather was a Pastor. I visited over 20+ different types of churches from Methodist and Pentasostal to Catholic and Presbyterian. Many were wonderful, but I did not feel connected. I stopped trying, and years later decided it was time to try again. I was on the computer one Sunday morning deciding between three different churches, all different denominations. While mapping them online, a fourth church popped up, and I went to the website. After reading about the church and its statement, I decided to try it out. I had no idea it was a Baptist Church at the time and did not care, I just knew I liked the message and something was pulling me in that direction.
In the end God sent me to a church that had the right way of reaching me. That particular church that I found after 20 years of searching happened to be a Baptist church. Based on one of my past experiences, I knew that either God had a sense of humor or my grandfather talked Him into doing it. Either way, this particular church is now my home. It is not the title, it Holy Spirit’s guidance on where I was supposed to go to allow me to flourish and follow God.
The point is that He will do the same for you, and you may feel the same way in a Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Episcopalian or Catholic church. You may feel that way in a non-denominational church or any of the others in the Body of Christ. If you are learning to have a relationship with God and how to listen to the Spirit’s guidance in life, then that is all that matters. If you are doing it for everyone else, then problems will abound.
God desires mercy, not sacrifice. If you sacrifice your time to serve Him in order to please everyone else, then what reward do you need other than the fact that you pleased everyone else? “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1.
Would God rather have you talk to a few friends about Him and grow in your understanding than He would to have you dress up, go to church, and work to please everyone else? Yes. “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20.
The point is that God is always looking at our motives. If you do not go to church, He knows why. If you do go to church, He knows why. “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10.
He wants whatever you do to be because you truly love Him. “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6. You can shower your spouse with gifts, but if you are doing it because you want them to get off your back instead of doing it out of pure love, then what do you really deserve from it?
As members of one body, we are temped to try and make our part look as if it is really the only one doing all the work. When we think that way we discount the other parts and things get out of whack, so to speak. With only one brain in charge of the body, not only is that particular limb trying to take all the credit, but it is also discouraging other parts from doing what they are supposed to or causing them to work harder to prove they are right. Either way the focus turns to paying attention to the limb that started the trouble and working to please them or prove them wrong. At that moment the brain is forgotten and one part is working solely to make a point to the other. This is when people work to please man and not God. “We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” 1 Thessalonians 2:4.
The ease it takes to distract people from their common purpose is nauseating. What is more nauseating is the enemy’s skill in getting people to fall for the distraction. Imagine as one body what truly could be accomplished? Every Christian possesses the Holy Spirit and when united the possibilities would be endless. As for right now we are distracted.
If you wonder why people are staving, economies are recessing, and violence is increasing there is your answer. We have been taught to only look out for ourselves.
However, I cannot fear the loss of a battle when I already know the outcome of the war. I have a bet into Vegas on a football game with a million to one odds, and I have been told what the final score would be before the game even began.
Why would I let the enemy scare me of losing in the fourth quarter when I already know the outcome? Why would I fight with my teammates in the middle of a game against someone else about what color our uniforms are or what plays we should execute? I shouldn’t, we have a coach. We need to make sure we have talked to Him first because He calls the plays. We each play a different position, but are all on the same team.
Your enemy can divide, but he cannot conquer. Regardless of the differences remember one thing over all.
You won.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Through His Eyes...
June 22, 2009
Danielle Joyner Kelley
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'” Matthew 25: 31-45.
For so long, when something would go wrong in my life, I was told the same thing, “pray”. Inside of myself I want everything bad to end. I want to live happily with no additional confusion added.
Now I am realizing that a life without struggle was never in the cards for me. Not only for me, but it wasn’t in the cards for anyone else either. That is difficult to understand when we are trapped within ourselves. The picture becomes clearer when we step outside.
I forgot to concentrate on the person I was to “pray” to: God. I am praying about something I consider life-altering. What does He think about what I am saying? I am upset about a co-worker, a bill, a person in traffic. I am upset about a health condition, a fight with a family member, or an unruly child. This is what I see.
What does God see? The entire world, and everything in it. Now there is a thought. I could comprehend it if I had seen the entire world myself and even more if I could see every inch of it at every single second, but I cannot. However, now I am aware that He can.
I am taught and firmly believe that He is a God who is the author of love and justice and neither concept exists apart from Him. I am taught that He is so loving that He hurts when we hurt, and does everything He can to make sure we reach our every potential possible.
In light of my beliefs I turn to think of what He must feel seeing all He does. The Creator of the Universe who loved us so much that He allowed His own Son to die to save us is watching every thing we do. And even more, He is watching every thing that we are not doing.
Growing up as a child deeply engrained in the religious culture of the South, I sought His guidance my entire life. When I believed something would benefit me, I did not bother to listen to His instruction. I spent that entire time looking within and became a person without. When I finally agreed to listen and follow His guidance I had to answer for every time I said “no”, not because He is angry, but because He loves us so much that His desire is to make sure we do not make the same mistakes over and over.
Ironically, as hard as I am on myself, I realize I am a product of my culture. Instant gratification, infomercials full of quick fixes, batteries in everything so we do not have to get up and press buttons on a television, and all about me, me and me.
Now that my eyes are open to what He is seeing, I am sad at the thought of it. Christians believe they have a purpose and that purpose is defined by God. Because Christianity is meant to be a selfless and “help those who cannot help themselves” religion, the purpose will inevitably be to benefit others even at the expense of ourselves. If that was our goal, I am sad to say we are failing miserably.
But God keeps sticking it out, waiting on the Body of Christ, us as believers, to bring the new temple of the Holy Spirit to others. In Old Testament times, God’s Spirit dwelled in the “Holy of Holies” in the Temple in Jerusalem. After Christ’s death and resurrection, His Spirit dwells inside of us as Christians. This is why you will frequently hear that “our body is the temple”. The Holy Spirit is within us, so where do we take Him? Do we take Him to Africa or nations in the Caribbean such as Haiti to help feed starving children or do we take Him to shopping malls to make sure we get the latest toy? Do we take Him to speak the truth about Christ, as we were told in John He would speak through us, or do we take Him to listen to us talk about ourselves? Do we show Him how much money we can give to a charity to help others or do we show Him how many quick fix gadgets we can buy for our own impatience?
As members of the Body of Christ whose job it is to exemplify the dwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, I am afraid of what we have become. Anyone familiar with the Old Testament is aware of what God thinks and will do to a country that turns their back upon Him. It is not even written as complex as one might think. Ask yourself how many times taking care of the poor and needy are mentioned in the Bible. Over and over that is what is asked of us, and the command, if neglected, we will have to answer for.
We are saved by grace, and not by works. You did nothing to earn your salvation and your forgiveness. Does that mean you should not give anything in return? Hardly. What happens if you love someone and give them your all unconditionally and they continue to hurt you over and over. What do you do? You will never lose God’s love no matter what you do wrong, but if you feel ashamed of what we have been failing to do you should. We beg for unconditional love and we get it without us having to do a thing, and what do we do in return? Read the scripture above and ask yourself if we will not be held accountable for what we have failed to do.
The One who gave us that love and asked nothing of us in return is counting on us to help take care of the rest of His children. Are you anymore important in His eyes than a child in Africa who is starving? Absolutely not.
Society somehow excuses their own failure to pay attention to others needs by saying that they are blessed to live in a country such as America. Where do you think that blessing you brag about came from? "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” John 19:10-11.
Do you think that blessing is permanent no matter what you do? Make sure to pay attention to God’s thoughts on Israel in the Old Testament before you make the decision. " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” Ezekiel 16:49-50.
Not to scare everyone to death, but at a time when North Korea is threatening a missile attack, we should be paying attention. What is even more devastating is the fact that we only pay attention when it somehow benefits us. Look at the biggest Christian movements in U.S. History. Were they after a period of economic prosperity or were they after periods such as the Great Depression? You do the math.
Nonetheless, a bad economic or nationwide event gives us the opportunity to join together to help others. Events such as September 11th show the willingness and good in people to put their lives on the line for others. You do not need such an event to notice the good in people though. Look at your law enforcement officers and soldiers on the front lines risking their lives for you every day of the year. No matter what your opinions on war or authority are there is one fact that remains. Someone, somewhere is willing to take a bullet and devastate their family for you at any given moment. Whether you believe in the cause or not, they still go forward. Chances are that you probably do not know who they are.
For all what I like to call “conclusionists” out there I am in no way saying that our country will be attacked unless we help starving people. What I am saying is that God has shown that He is willing to lift a hand of protection from a nation that turns their back on His principles. Take Israel and Babylon for example. That does not mean He sends someone to attack us, but if someone does who will you turn to? You spent the past few decades showing Him you did not care about Him or His children.
Yes, we received a blessing by our ability to live in such a wonderful and beautiful country. You can also bless your teenage daughter with the right to use your Porsche for the weekend, but if you find out she got three speeding tickets in it and is at risk for a wreck will you tell her to forget it and leave the car in the garage from now on? If you can’t use it right, you don’t get to keep that privilege.
If the electricity goes out in your house remember there are people who do not even know what it is like to have electricity and even more, that have never had a home. When you complain about traffic remember there are people who will never be in a vehicle. When you complain about crowded shopping malls and how you spent $50 on a shirt, remember there are people who do not own a shirt to their name, and could care less while they are digging in dumpsters to eat.
While I am praying now I think about what all God does see. More importantly, as we all beg for patience to come through a life event, I think about the fact that as a perfect and loving God, He is not even impatient with us even though He watches us sit by and allow the things to happen that we do.
Eventually, those bad things will come back on us. The Bible shows us as much, and whether you believe in the Bible or not, History is doomed to repeat itself.
I can say this much. When something bad happens to me I know who to pray to. Meanwhile, there are people all over the world who have never been told who to pray to through their suffering, nowhere to go for the hope that prayer gives us. Many are starving, throwing babies with AIDS in dumpsters whose mothers died in childbirth, digging in dumpsters for food, selling five year old girls and boys into sex slavery where they will have to sleep with numerous people for money, going to work at five years old and dragging water back to their family who does not live in a house and the water is filled with feces and urine but they have to drink it anyway, and dying from hunger every 16 seconds.
Is that ugly to you? Just because we do not want to listen to it or take the time to act on it does not mean it goes away. It is still happening every second of every day. As one of the most prosperous nations in the world who has been so blessed I would think we would want others to feel that blessing.
It should be enough to see their faces and know their suffering, but it is not. We will take a bad event and then decide we need to help. If that is what it takes, and that is what will make us act then that is exactly what will happen because good will always triumph over evil.
Today I complained that electricity bills are so high they are equal to or surpassing mortgage payments. Tonight I am praising God that I have the opportunity to complain about such. There are people who will never know either.
And God is watching…
Danielle Joyner Kelley
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'” Matthew 25: 31-45.
For so long, when something would go wrong in my life, I was told the same thing, “pray”. Inside of myself I want everything bad to end. I want to live happily with no additional confusion added.
Now I am realizing that a life without struggle was never in the cards for me. Not only for me, but it wasn’t in the cards for anyone else either. That is difficult to understand when we are trapped within ourselves. The picture becomes clearer when we step outside.
I forgot to concentrate on the person I was to “pray” to: God. I am praying about something I consider life-altering. What does He think about what I am saying? I am upset about a co-worker, a bill, a person in traffic. I am upset about a health condition, a fight with a family member, or an unruly child. This is what I see.
What does God see? The entire world, and everything in it. Now there is a thought. I could comprehend it if I had seen the entire world myself and even more if I could see every inch of it at every single second, but I cannot. However, now I am aware that He can.
I am taught and firmly believe that He is a God who is the author of love and justice and neither concept exists apart from Him. I am taught that He is so loving that He hurts when we hurt, and does everything He can to make sure we reach our every potential possible.
In light of my beliefs I turn to think of what He must feel seeing all He does. The Creator of the Universe who loved us so much that He allowed His own Son to die to save us is watching every thing we do. And even more, He is watching every thing that we are not doing.
Growing up as a child deeply engrained in the religious culture of the South, I sought His guidance my entire life. When I believed something would benefit me, I did not bother to listen to His instruction. I spent that entire time looking within and became a person without. When I finally agreed to listen and follow His guidance I had to answer for every time I said “no”, not because He is angry, but because He loves us so much that His desire is to make sure we do not make the same mistakes over and over.
Ironically, as hard as I am on myself, I realize I am a product of my culture. Instant gratification, infomercials full of quick fixes, batteries in everything so we do not have to get up and press buttons on a television, and all about me, me and me.
Now that my eyes are open to what He is seeing, I am sad at the thought of it. Christians believe they have a purpose and that purpose is defined by God. Because Christianity is meant to be a selfless and “help those who cannot help themselves” religion, the purpose will inevitably be to benefit others even at the expense of ourselves. If that was our goal, I am sad to say we are failing miserably.
But God keeps sticking it out, waiting on the Body of Christ, us as believers, to bring the new temple of the Holy Spirit to others. In Old Testament times, God’s Spirit dwelled in the “Holy of Holies” in the Temple in Jerusalem. After Christ’s death and resurrection, His Spirit dwells inside of us as Christians. This is why you will frequently hear that “our body is the temple”. The Holy Spirit is within us, so where do we take Him? Do we take Him to Africa or nations in the Caribbean such as Haiti to help feed starving children or do we take Him to shopping malls to make sure we get the latest toy? Do we take Him to speak the truth about Christ, as we were told in John He would speak through us, or do we take Him to listen to us talk about ourselves? Do we show Him how much money we can give to a charity to help others or do we show Him how many quick fix gadgets we can buy for our own impatience?
As members of the Body of Christ whose job it is to exemplify the dwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, I am afraid of what we have become. Anyone familiar with the Old Testament is aware of what God thinks and will do to a country that turns their back upon Him. It is not even written as complex as one might think. Ask yourself how many times taking care of the poor and needy are mentioned in the Bible. Over and over that is what is asked of us, and the command, if neglected, we will have to answer for.
We are saved by grace, and not by works. You did nothing to earn your salvation and your forgiveness. Does that mean you should not give anything in return? Hardly. What happens if you love someone and give them your all unconditionally and they continue to hurt you over and over. What do you do? You will never lose God’s love no matter what you do wrong, but if you feel ashamed of what we have been failing to do you should. We beg for unconditional love and we get it without us having to do a thing, and what do we do in return? Read the scripture above and ask yourself if we will not be held accountable for what we have failed to do.
The One who gave us that love and asked nothing of us in return is counting on us to help take care of the rest of His children. Are you anymore important in His eyes than a child in Africa who is starving? Absolutely not.
Society somehow excuses their own failure to pay attention to others needs by saying that they are blessed to live in a country such as America. Where do you think that blessing you brag about came from? "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” John 19:10-11.
Do you think that blessing is permanent no matter what you do? Make sure to pay attention to God’s thoughts on Israel in the Old Testament before you make the decision. " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” Ezekiel 16:49-50.
Not to scare everyone to death, but at a time when North Korea is threatening a missile attack, we should be paying attention. What is even more devastating is the fact that we only pay attention when it somehow benefits us. Look at the biggest Christian movements in U.S. History. Were they after a period of economic prosperity or were they after periods such as the Great Depression? You do the math.
Nonetheless, a bad economic or nationwide event gives us the opportunity to join together to help others. Events such as September 11th show the willingness and good in people to put their lives on the line for others. You do not need such an event to notice the good in people though. Look at your law enforcement officers and soldiers on the front lines risking their lives for you every day of the year. No matter what your opinions on war or authority are there is one fact that remains. Someone, somewhere is willing to take a bullet and devastate their family for you at any given moment. Whether you believe in the cause or not, they still go forward. Chances are that you probably do not know who they are.
For all what I like to call “conclusionists” out there I am in no way saying that our country will be attacked unless we help starving people. What I am saying is that God has shown that He is willing to lift a hand of protection from a nation that turns their back on His principles. Take Israel and Babylon for example. That does not mean He sends someone to attack us, but if someone does who will you turn to? You spent the past few decades showing Him you did not care about Him or His children.
Yes, we received a blessing by our ability to live in such a wonderful and beautiful country. You can also bless your teenage daughter with the right to use your Porsche for the weekend, but if you find out she got three speeding tickets in it and is at risk for a wreck will you tell her to forget it and leave the car in the garage from now on? If you can’t use it right, you don’t get to keep that privilege.
If the electricity goes out in your house remember there are people who do not even know what it is like to have electricity and even more, that have never had a home. When you complain about traffic remember there are people who will never be in a vehicle. When you complain about crowded shopping malls and how you spent $50 on a shirt, remember there are people who do not own a shirt to their name, and could care less while they are digging in dumpsters to eat.
While I am praying now I think about what all God does see. More importantly, as we all beg for patience to come through a life event, I think about the fact that as a perfect and loving God, He is not even impatient with us even though He watches us sit by and allow the things to happen that we do.
Eventually, those bad things will come back on us. The Bible shows us as much, and whether you believe in the Bible or not, History is doomed to repeat itself.
I can say this much. When something bad happens to me I know who to pray to. Meanwhile, there are people all over the world who have never been told who to pray to through their suffering, nowhere to go for the hope that prayer gives us. Many are starving, throwing babies with AIDS in dumpsters whose mothers died in childbirth, digging in dumpsters for food, selling five year old girls and boys into sex slavery where they will have to sleep with numerous people for money, going to work at five years old and dragging water back to their family who does not live in a house and the water is filled with feces and urine but they have to drink it anyway, and dying from hunger every 16 seconds.
Is that ugly to you? Just because we do not want to listen to it or take the time to act on it does not mean it goes away. It is still happening every second of every day. As one of the most prosperous nations in the world who has been so blessed I would think we would want others to feel that blessing.
It should be enough to see their faces and know their suffering, but it is not. We will take a bad event and then decide we need to help. If that is what it takes, and that is what will make us act then that is exactly what will happen because good will always triumph over evil.
Today I complained that electricity bills are so high they are equal to or surpassing mortgage payments. Tonight I am praising God that I have the opportunity to complain about such. There are people who will never know either.
And God is watching…
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Carrot and Stick...
June 21, 2009
Danielle Joyner Kelley
“But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15.
When people hear the word “religion” many of them feel fear. There is something about some religious messages that make people think of times gone by and scare them to death.
I know because I was one of them. I spent years trying to understand and learn about God in the manner in which I was being taught. For some reason, I could not. The more I tried, the worse everything got.
Finally, I understood that the way I was being taught was not the way to truly understand Him. Instruction manuals often come in different languages, and although I understand the English ones, I will not understand the ones in French. That does not mean that those who speak French will not understand them, but I will not.
There are many reasons for this, but the most important one is that I was relying solely on man to teach me how to understand God. While I was not going to God and asking for His understanding, I was allowing man to define the boundaries in which I would attempt to get to know Him. That was disastrous for me.
Luckily, God takes our negative experiences and turns them into a positive. He is not willing to allow any confusion, struggle, or pain on my part to take place in vain. When I came to Him purely in His name seeking answers, He provided me with them, and also gave me discernment and wisdom that man alone could never possess.
Now, through my experience I have learned two totally different approaches to religion. Both are completely different and often hard to realize the concept behind. To me they are best summarized as one being a “carrot” and the other a “stick”. Both have their followers, and each one has its own way of reaching people. Most important, they should, and often do, have the same goal.
In Old Testament times, God’s Spirit dwelled in the “Holy of Holies” in the Temple in Jerusalem. After Christ’s death and resurrection, His Spirit dwells inside of us as Christians. This is why you will frequently hear that “our body is the temple”.
The “stick” approach to religion uses this to make sure you keep it Holy, and the other recognizes the enormous task the Spirit is taking on to keep it Holy. In short, the “carrot” approach believes that the Holy Spirit will go to work to flush out the bad within the person’s soul, and the “stick” approach believes it is their job to remove all the bad.
The approach that worked best for me was the “carrot”. I have a tendency to fight things that people tell me to do, and when you are beating me with a stick I will usually rebel. Many people do rebel against what they are told they must do, or what we call the “law”.
The “carrot” approach instills a trust in me that allows me to walk under grace and not law. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are not “under law, but under grace”. Romans 6:14. Our human nature is prone to sin; therefore we are likely to rebel against the law. A message of love and God’s grace makes a lot of us more willing to step up and do right by God because we want to honor Him for loving us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. Now we are under grace, and we all should love God enough to do what is right, instead of living to rebel against the law itself. “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14.
There is a down side to this approach. Many will use it as an excuse to sin. Because we are forgiven for our sins through God’s grace which allowed His Son to die because of His love for us, many will use the argument that we are forgiven no matter what we do wrong. This is the famous “saved by grace, not by works” scripture. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9.
Yes, we can be forgiven, there is no doubt. If I say that is wrong then I am doubting God’s grace and saying that He had an ulterior motive in sending Jesus, and that I will never do. However, God’s grace which allowed you to be forgiven because He loves you and not because of anything you have done is not a permission slip to sin. It is a calling to show others the fact that at the time you accepted Christ and the Holy Spirit came to live in you and your body became the temple, that you are striving to live a Christ-like life. Although we can never be like He was because He is holy and perfect, we must try as hard as we can to be. “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Luke 6:40. We must not try to be like Him because we fear losing forgiveness because that will not happen due to God’s grace, but instead we are to strive to be like Him because God loved us that much and we must show Him the same love in return.
To illustrate, picture yourself as a parent. You go to work every day and work hard to pay for a house for your family to live in. When you come home from work one day you notice the entire house is clean and sparkling. At that moment your oldest child runs up and tells you that he did it. As soon as you start to wonder why, he tells you that he did it because you work so hard to provide for the family and he wanted to show you how much he loved you in return. Stop and think about the honor and thankfulness that you feel.
Now imagine that you asked him to clean the entire house beforehand. Does that take away from it? Would you not have the excuse that he only cleaned the house because you told him to? Then you will think he was only doing what you asked. How much more does it mean that he did it to show you out of his own heart how he felt about what you do? In the first example he did it while walking under grace. In the second he cleaned because he was under law, your instruction to clean.
The “stick” approach is very different. I was raised under this approach in churches I went to while experiencing the “carrot” approach in my elementary school. The combination of both led me on a path of confusion and misunderstandings.
In the “stick” approach you are told the law and what you can and cannot do. If you break those commands you are hit with a “stick” so to speak, and feel as if you are not only subject to the judgment of a wrathful God you have been taught about, but you feel that you will stand in judgment of your church as well. The end result for me was to worry about what others were thinking for fear of embarrassment here on Earth and less about the embarrassment I would face later. This became by “here and now” mentality and I ended up trying to please man and abandoning the God I blamed for putting me in this position. Put simply, I rebelled against the law. I was told what not to do and wanted to do it for man, which is contrary to what God tells me to do and that is to work for Him and not work to please man or myself.
This approach literally puts the fear of God in you. Although it did not work as well on me, I can say it does work for some who are more in line with organization and bright line rules. If those people are not breaking the rules while their eyes are on God, then it is perhaps the way they should have come to Him. However, if they are doing or not doing things with the intent of pleasing man and risking their own embarrassment, then pleasing man is what they wanted and all the reward they will get. Why should God honor anything anyone does with their eyes on man’s approval? We have to remember God looks at the motives and the heart. It is not necessarily what you do, but why you are doing it. "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1. If you do something to look good for man, “to be seen by them”, then man will think you are good. You did not act for God, so what reward should you get from Him? Are you really giving money to charity for the cause or for a tax write off? It is the “why” of the “what” you are doing that counts.
This is in no way to say that we should not fear God. We should. As humans, we respect whom and what we fear. You walk in line better in front of something you fear than something you do not. If you had no fear of accountability to God, then why would you ever do right by Him? Some people need this approach. I will be the first to admit that some people need to be scared to get the true point.
In order to succeed both approaches need to keep the same goal in sight. The goal is to make sure people are in line with God’s word, living as a temple as a body of Christ, and giving praise to God for His grace.
As a Christian who is truly feeling the temple aspect, and the Holy Spirit at work thanks to the “carrot” approach, I can say that I do not need anyone to tell me what to do or not to do. I do not chose to do so either. This is not because it is not important, but because I have seen more success in ministering to others about God’s love and grace, planting the seed in them, and then watching the Holy Spirit take over. The “stick” approach took my personality by storm although it will benefit others, and gave me a reason to follow man. Once I was approached with the “carrot” I truly understood God’s grace.
As humans, we are prone to sin. Our nature is prone to do exactly what we should not do in any given situation. Because of this fact, man will tell you what you can and cannot do to change your behavior. From my perspective, man does not have to. If someone is truly walking with the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is doing His job and man cannot do it for Him.
For example, when I was learning the “stick” approach and would commit a sin I worried about what man would do to me. I hated embarrassment and still do. The “carrot” approach allowed me to see what it is like to truly live under grace, and do right by God because He absolutely deserves no less. He never gives me less than His absolute best, why should He expect less from me? Now when I sin there is a Holy Spirit inside of me that will deal with me about the sin, and man is not someone I worry about judging me. Jesus told us that when He left He would ask the Father to send us the “Spirit of Truth” to be with us forever. John 14:16-17. The Holy Spirit came to us through our acceptance of Christ and He has many tasks to perform through us and in us. He will convict us of guilt (John 16:8); testify about Jesus to us (John 15:26); and guide us into all truth (John 16:13). What can man do better than that?
For both approaches, people should remember the fact that Jesus told us the Holy Spirit would convict us of guilt. If I sin, man does not need to tell me, I am already being convicted by the Spirit, and through my love and faith in God I will have no choice but to obey His conviction.
For those in the beginning stages of Christianity, a conviction is easy to recognize. This is that little voice inside of you telling you not to do something or that you should not have done something. If you continue in your action, the voice becomes louder and lets you know there will be consequences. He shows you past life experiences as examples of what can happen if your behavior continues, and then you see the result. When you feel the conviction and then reshape your behavior that is when you are truly working for God and not for man. You are doing it at that moment because the Holy Spirit is showing you the consequence, or telling you what to do, and not because man told you what not to do.
This relationship is what God truly wanted for us. He told us over and over that he desired “mercy not sacrifice”. Hosea 6:6. We all have to remember that God is looking at the motives and the heart’s intention. “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Proverbs 21:2.
In Old Testament times, God saw people showing up to the temple and reciting scripture without truly feeling it in their heart. They were doing what they had been told and taught to do by man. Jesus called this for what it was. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” Matthew 23:23.
Do not just sacrifice for God in front of man by going to church or showing others how much you know about Him. Make sure you are showing true mercy in dealing with people personally in your own life. To understand the true meaning of what you must do, you have to have a relationship with God on a personal level.
I will be the first to tell you as a child faced with the “stick” approach I was working to please man, and I went to church every Sunday because I was told I had to. The “carrot” approach showed me the benefits of a church family with no condemnation if I did not go. They planted the seed, and the Holy Spirit took over. Now I go every Sunday not because I fear man, but because the Holy Spirit knows I need it to get through the week. Jesus knew there were people in the temple all the time that had the wrong idea and motive, and that is why He told us as much. If the Holy Spirit tells you to go, please go. If you go with the right motive and find the right place, the Spirit will guide you to people and paths that are vital to you staying on your walk with God.
Now that the Holy Spirit is working in my life, I can tell you that every time I did something to please man or acted unmercifully to someone else, I have had to answer for. That is the beauty of His convictions. If man made me answer for my past, I would have been resentful. The Holy Spirit seeks to make me better, not to embarrass me. It may take embarrassment to get the point, but His motives are holy and pure. I am now under grace, not law.
When the Holy Spirit convicts you of an issue, share your testimony. Tell others how it happened and what you did, but do not expect to be able to convict others unless the Spirit tells you to. When you try to convict others yourself, you are playing as if you are the Holy Spirit, and you cannot be. Always remember your convictions are just that, your convictions. We will all be convicted differently because we have different personalities, weaknesses, and past experiences. We will sin in different ways. The point of not sinning is not to allow the devil to get a foothold over you. Remember, he knows your past and weaknesses too, and he will use them against you in different ways to get you to fall. Getting you to fall depends on who you are as an individual. This is precisely why we are not to judge others and only God can. We do not know what they have been through, but He does.
Always remember that no matter what the goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to work through you. You are God’s hands and feet here on Earth. Never let man define what that experience should be like, instead strive to experience it for yourself with the goal to share it with others in the hopes that it will help those like you and not make people like you.
Finally, remember that what your Teacher wants is all that matters. As for me and my house? We will serve the Lord.
Danielle Joyner Kelley
“But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15.
When people hear the word “religion” many of them feel fear. There is something about some religious messages that make people think of times gone by and scare them to death.
I know because I was one of them. I spent years trying to understand and learn about God in the manner in which I was being taught. For some reason, I could not. The more I tried, the worse everything got.
Finally, I understood that the way I was being taught was not the way to truly understand Him. Instruction manuals often come in different languages, and although I understand the English ones, I will not understand the ones in French. That does not mean that those who speak French will not understand them, but I will not.
There are many reasons for this, but the most important one is that I was relying solely on man to teach me how to understand God. While I was not going to God and asking for His understanding, I was allowing man to define the boundaries in which I would attempt to get to know Him. That was disastrous for me.
Luckily, God takes our negative experiences and turns them into a positive. He is not willing to allow any confusion, struggle, or pain on my part to take place in vain. When I came to Him purely in His name seeking answers, He provided me with them, and also gave me discernment and wisdom that man alone could never possess.
Now, through my experience I have learned two totally different approaches to religion. Both are completely different and often hard to realize the concept behind. To me they are best summarized as one being a “carrot” and the other a “stick”. Both have their followers, and each one has its own way of reaching people. Most important, they should, and often do, have the same goal.
In Old Testament times, God’s Spirit dwelled in the “Holy of Holies” in the Temple in Jerusalem. After Christ’s death and resurrection, His Spirit dwells inside of us as Christians. This is why you will frequently hear that “our body is the temple”.
The “stick” approach to religion uses this to make sure you keep it Holy, and the other recognizes the enormous task the Spirit is taking on to keep it Holy. In short, the “carrot” approach believes that the Holy Spirit will go to work to flush out the bad within the person’s soul, and the “stick” approach believes it is their job to remove all the bad.
The approach that worked best for me was the “carrot”. I have a tendency to fight things that people tell me to do, and when you are beating me with a stick I will usually rebel. Many people do rebel against what they are told they must do, or what we call the “law”.
The “carrot” approach instills a trust in me that allows me to walk under grace and not law. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are not “under law, but under grace”. Romans 6:14. Our human nature is prone to sin; therefore we are likely to rebel against the law. A message of love and God’s grace makes a lot of us more willing to step up and do right by God because we want to honor Him for loving us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. Now we are under grace, and we all should love God enough to do what is right, instead of living to rebel against the law itself. “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14.
There is a down side to this approach. Many will use it as an excuse to sin. Because we are forgiven for our sins through God’s grace which allowed His Son to die because of His love for us, many will use the argument that we are forgiven no matter what we do wrong. This is the famous “saved by grace, not by works” scripture. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9.
Yes, we can be forgiven, there is no doubt. If I say that is wrong then I am doubting God’s grace and saying that He had an ulterior motive in sending Jesus, and that I will never do. However, God’s grace which allowed you to be forgiven because He loves you and not because of anything you have done is not a permission slip to sin. It is a calling to show others the fact that at the time you accepted Christ and the Holy Spirit came to live in you and your body became the temple, that you are striving to live a Christ-like life. Although we can never be like He was because He is holy and perfect, we must try as hard as we can to be. “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Luke 6:40. We must not try to be like Him because we fear losing forgiveness because that will not happen due to God’s grace, but instead we are to strive to be like Him because God loved us that much and we must show Him the same love in return.
To illustrate, picture yourself as a parent. You go to work every day and work hard to pay for a house for your family to live in. When you come home from work one day you notice the entire house is clean and sparkling. At that moment your oldest child runs up and tells you that he did it. As soon as you start to wonder why, he tells you that he did it because you work so hard to provide for the family and he wanted to show you how much he loved you in return. Stop and think about the honor and thankfulness that you feel.
Now imagine that you asked him to clean the entire house beforehand. Does that take away from it? Would you not have the excuse that he only cleaned the house because you told him to? Then you will think he was only doing what you asked. How much more does it mean that he did it to show you out of his own heart how he felt about what you do? In the first example he did it while walking under grace. In the second he cleaned because he was under law, your instruction to clean.
The “stick” approach is very different. I was raised under this approach in churches I went to while experiencing the “carrot” approach in my elementary school. The combination of both led me on a path of confusion and misunderstandings.
In the “stick” approach you are told the law and what you can and cannot do. If you break those commands you are hit with a “stick” so to speak, and feel as if you are not only subject to the judgment of a wrathful God you have been taught about, but you feel that you will stand in judgment of your church as well. The end result for me was to worry about what others were thinking for fear of embarrassment here on Earth and less about the embarrassment I would face later. This became by “here and now” mentality and I ended up trying to please man and abandoning the God I blamed for putting me in this position. Put simply, I rebelled against the law. I was told what not to do and wanted to do it for man, which is contrary to what God tells me to do and that is to work for Him and not work to please man or myself.
This approach literally puts the fear of God in you. Although it did not work as well on me, I can say it does work for some who are more in line with organization and bright line rules. If those people are not breaking the rules while their eyes are on God, then it is perhaps the way they should have come to Him. However, if they are doing or not doing things with the intent of pleasing man and risking their own embarrassment, then pleasing man is what they wanted and all the reward they will get. Why should God honor anything anyone does with their eyes on man’s approval? We have to remember God looks at the motives and the heart. It is not necessarily what you do, but why you are doing it. "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1. If you do something to look good for man, “to be seen by them”, then man will think you are good. You did not act for God, so what reward should you get from Him? Are you really giving money to charity for the cause or for a tax write off? It is the “why” of the “what” you are doing that counts.
This is in no way to say that we should not fear God. We should. As humans, we respect whom and what we fear. You walk in line better in front of something you fear than something you do not. If you had no fear of accountability to God, then why would you ever do right by Him? Some people need this approach. I will be the first to admit that some people need to be scared to get the true point.
In order to succeed both approaches need to keep the same goal in sight. The goal is to make sure people are in line with God’s word, living as a temple as a body of Christ, and giving praise to God for His grace.
As a Christian who is truly feeling the temple aspect, and the Holy Spirit at work thanks to the “carrot” approach, I can say that I do not need anyone to tell me what to do or not to do. I do not chose to do so either. This is not because it is not important, but because I have seen more success in ministering to others about God’s love and grace, planting the seed in them, and then watching the Holy Spirit take over. The “stick” approach took my personality by storm although it will benefit others, and gave me a reason to follow man. Once I was approached with the “carrot” I truly understood God’s grace.
As humans, we are prone to sin. Our nature is prone to do exactly what we should not do in any given situation. Because of this fact, man will tell you what you can and cannot do to change your behavior. From my perspective, man does not have to. If someone is truly walking with the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is doing His job and man cannot do it for Him.
For example, when I was learning the “stick” approach and would commit a sin I worried about what man would do to me. I hated embarrassment and still do. The “carrot” approach allowed me to see what it is like to truly live under grace, and do right by God because He absolutely deserves no less. He never gives me less than His absolute best, why should He expect less from me? Now when I sin there is a Holy Spirit inside of me that will deal with me about the sin, and man is not someone I worry about judging me. Jesus told us that when He left He would ask the Father to send us the “Spirit of Truth” to be with us forever. John 14:16-17. The Holy Spirit came to us through our acceptance of Christ and He has many tasks to perform through us and in us. He will convict us of guilt (John 16:8); testify about Jesus to us (John 15:26); and guide us into all truth (John 16:13). What can man do better than that?
For both approaches, people should remember the fact that Jesus told us the Holy Spirit would convict us of guilt. If I sin, man does not need to tell me, I am already being convicted by the Spirit, and through my love and faith in God I will have no choice but to obey His conviction.
For those in the beginning stages of Christianity, a conviction is easy to recognize. This is that little voice inside of you telling you not to do something or that you should not have done something. If you continue in your action, the voice becomes louder and lets you know there will be consequences. He shows you past life experiences as examples of what can happen if your behavior continues, and then you see the result. When you feel the conviction and then reshape your behavior that is when you are truly working for God and not for man. You are doing it at that moment because the Holy Spirit is showing you the consequence, or telling you what to do, and not because man told you what not to do.
This relationship is what God truly wanted for us. He told us over and over that he desired “mercy not sacrifice”. Hosea 6:6. We all have to remember that God is looking at the motives and the heart’s intention. “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Proverbs 21:2.
In Old Testament times, God saw people showing up to the temple and reciting scripture without truly feeling it in their heart. They were doing what they had been told and taught to do by man. Jesus called this for what it was. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” Matthew 23:23.
Do not just sacrifice for God in front of man by going to church or showing others how much you know about Him. Make sure you are showing true mercy in dealing with people personally in your own life. To understand the true meaning of what you must do, you have to have a relationship with God on a personal level.
I will be the first to tell you as a child faced with the “stick” approach I was working to please man, and I went to church every Sunday because I was told I had to. The “carrot” approach showed me the benefits of a church family with no condemnation if I did not go. They planted the seed, and the Holy Spirit took over. Now I go every Sunday not because I fear man, but because the Holy Spirit knows I need it to get through the week. Jesus knew there were people in the temple all the time that had the wrong idea and motive, and that is why He told us as much. If the Holy Spirit tells you to go, please go. If you go with the right motive and find the right place, the Spirit will guide you to people and paths that are vital to you staying on your walk with God.
Now that the Holy Spirit is working in my life, I can tell you that every time I did something to please man or acted unmercifully to someone else, I have had to answer for. That is the beauty of His convictions. If man made me answer for my past, I would have been resentful. The Holy Spirit seeks to make me better, not to embarrass me. It may take embarrassment to get the point, but His motives are holy and pure. I am now under grace, not law.
When the Holy Spirit convicts you of an issue, share your testimony. Tell others how it happened and what you did, but do not expect to be able to convict others unless the Spirit tells you to. When you try to convict others yourself, you are playing as if you are the Holy Spirit, and you cannot be. Always remember your convictions are just that, your convictions. We will all be convicted differently because we have different personalities, weaknesses, and past experiences. We will sin in different ways. The point of not sinning is not to allow the devil to get a foothold over you. Remember, he knows your past and weaknesses too, and he will use them against you in different ways to get you to fall. Getting you to fall depends on who you are as an individual. This is precisely why we are not to judge others and only God can. We do not know what they have been through, but He does.
Always remember that no matter what the goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to work through you. You are God’s hands and feet here on Earth. Never let man define what that experience should be like, instead strive to experience it for yourself with the goal to share it with others in the hopes that it will help those like you and not make people like you.
Finally, remember that what your Teacher wants is all that matters. As for me and my house? We will serve the Lord.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Pick and Choose...
June 16, 2009
Danielle Joyner Kelley
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Exodus 20:2.
Recently I was asked how I felt about the rumors that people are attempting to have the judge in Alabama who put up the “Ten Commandments” disbarred, an issue debated for years, and that Miss California has recently been “dethroned”. While some won’t agree on my arguments on either, I still have them. As harsh as it sounds, we struggle to understand humans and many times can’t figure it out. However, I don’t believe it is because of their complexity; rather it is their stubbornness and simplicity that leaves us confused.
We live our lives based on need and comfort. My reality is that when my body is in the ground there will be only one need I have and it will be the greatest need I have ever known. “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.
The bigger problem is that as soon as I say that everyone assumes I am forcing them to have my same needs and comforts. The truth is that people often take things out of context and isolate them to further their own beliefs. This is the “pick and choose” mentality. Even Christians will isolate scripture, and those in the persuasion business, such as activists, attorneys, and political leaders, will isolate historical events to incite others to come to their side.
RESPONSE TO THE ONE SIDE
For example, people who are non-religious frequently cite the fact that people came to this country to escape religious persecution. This is true; however, the reason those facts are being told to you in this context is an attempt to get you to reach the conclusion that those very people were non-religious themselves. To bolster the argument, those people point to the “Separation of Church and State” argument. The conclusion you are to reach? That the founding fathers were non-religious too.
The argument still begs for a conclusion. Why? Because the “Separation of Church and State” argument comes not from the Bill of Rights or the Constitution, but instead comes from what is widely understood as a letter written by Thomas Jefferson regarding the First Amendment. That is right, it is not in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, but that fact is rarely told.
Instead, the argument is made that the founding fathers must have been non-religious or else they would not want a “Separation of Church and State”. What founding fathers? We have one father who wrote the letter from my understanding of history.
The listener starts to become convinced that the person is correct. The truth is that the person arguing took a point out of context, and convinced the listener to buy it hook, line, and sinker. One letter was isolated up against an entire amendment. I can write my view all day long about the Bible, that doesn’t mean that anyone is going to, or should, rewrite the Bible and incorporate my writings.
We cannot isolate things. The law that governs this issue is not a letter, but it is the First Amendment contained in the Bill of Rights. That Amendment states that Congress cannot make a law respecting an establishment of religion nor prohibit the free exercise of religion.
The founding fathers obviously put a barrier in between the government and the church with the First Amendment, and people came here to avoid religious persecution, but that does not mean they were non-religious. Quite the contrary, they were extremely religious, so much so that they did not want the sanctity of religion tainted by the government. I do not want politicians in charge of my church either, depending on who they are, but it should be our choice, not theirs.
Nonetheless, people isolate the argument and run with it. But when you look at the history of the founding fathers, and what was written and said, it becomes clear that this was more of a matter of not having people get killed for sinning against the church, and a lot less about whether or not a state courthouse in Alabama has put up a copy of the “Ten Commandments”.
Today there are lawyers traveling the country looking for cases such as the state courthouse in Alabama. They want to set the precedent of religious freedom. Do not allow yourself to get lost in legal talk, but instead focus on what history really says. The problem is that “Separation of Church and State” and “Freedom of Religion” are not the same. One of them is the law, and the other is not the same as what you are being led to believe. “Respecting an establishment of religion” and “Separation of Church and State” are not the same. Anyone who has studied the First Amendment in a legal context can tell you that. Would the United States Congress have been considered to have passed law establishing a religion if they allowed a judge in a state, not federal, courthouse in Alabama to hang the “Ten Commandments” on a wall?
Those same attorneys know that, but they make sure you do not. They are masterful at blurring the lines. People end up believing that religious freedom is what separated the church and state, and that both are the law. Do not allow yourself to be the fish on the end of that pole.
No matter what the legal pleadings say, people want you to believe “Separation of Church and State” and “Freedom of Religion” are both somehow violated by a copy of the “Ten Commandments” placed in a state courthouse. The truth is that it was not a “Freedom of Religion” issue or the Judge would have won because He has the right to exercise his own “Freedom of Religion”. The government building was the issue remember?
People constantly argue about what they do not want crammed down their throats or what they have to look at. Christians are appalled at the argument, both sides file suits, and whether you are Christian or not, as a taxpayer, you are helping to set a legal precedent over the “Ten Commandments”. The media jumps in and fuels the debate between those who are religious and those who are non-religious.
What else is happening at that moment? The pornography industry is laughing their way to the bank. Everyone works to censor a Biblical principle that tells us to love God, love others, be kind to one another, and in the meantime the real danger escapes out the door.
Personally, I am less worried about something that is in a public building that tells people to “do good things”, and more concerned about what is out there that tells men to rape my child walking home from school. The interpretation of the First Amendment allows pretty much everything these days except messages that incite violence.
Meanwhile the “Ten Commandments” are out, and pornography is still in. Who is paying attention to the founding fathers again? To keep his job, that judge was supposed to deny God and take them down on the basis of the Constitution even though those who wrote the Constitution left God’s name in more places than could be mentioned here. I read the Bible with an understanding of the history and context surrounding it. Even if you read Thomas Jefferson’s letter on “Separation of Church and State” read it in the historical context. That context left God all over and in the Constitution and the government.
Still, with all of that another danger looms. For so long, those lawsuits were filed to advance the argument of tolerance for other beliefs. Those who were arguing for tolerance at that time later become the ones who are intolerant and unwilling to allow someone to practice the same freedoms that they wanted so badly for themselves.
Believe it or not, some attorneys are aware of the danger that prohibiting speech of one side also prohibits the other. There is no other group in my mind more deplorable than the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). However, when the KKK wanted to join the “Adopt a Highway” program in Missouri, which attorneys represented them? The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Most would read that and think it is nuts. The ACLU knows exactly what they were doing. They wanted to make sure that the tolerant message of non-violence and racial equality kept moving forward, and that if they shut up the KKK, they would prohibit their own speech in return. If one side cannot speak, in legal terms, the other will not get to either. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
No, we should not tolerate violent messages, and religious people are not in a position to. Nowhere in the Holy Bible does it tell me to kill others so I can die and get virgins in return. In fact, I’m pretty sure that God would have me in a sling if I tried to.
When Miss California was asked her belief on marriage and answered, she was crucified by activists, politicians, and the media. No matter how you feel about the issue, it is an example of how the quest for tolerance has led to intolerance. For years champions of the cause to allow marriages for homosexuals preached the need for tolerance and equality. They told their side, but look what happened when someone else told theirs. Although people will argue that her crown was taken away for other reasons, we all know the sequence of timing on that issue, and, as I always say, coincidence just is not that lucky.
That is the problem that many don’t see. When you shut up the other side, you just shut yourself up as well. If you want tolerance make sure you are not asking for tolerance only for your own viewpoint and then intolerance for the one in opposition. That is defined as hypocrisy.
Today, the religious arguments continue, and there is always something new. There is so much hype and discussion of wanting to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, take “In God We Trust” off of our currency, and not teach anything remotely religious in pubic schools and Darwin rules all, and get the “Ten Commandments” off that courthouse wall because it is “so offensive”. This much I am sure of, you can take God off of and out of everything you want, He is not going away.
No one wants to look crazy, and society tells us that those who advance religion in public are just that. In the popularity realm, people are focusing on the poll of how many people in America are Christian or Jewish and whether we are a Judeo-Christian nation. Don’t talk to me about the poll of people here today living life in America, I have studied history enough to understand the Founding Fathers intentions. Instead, tell me the poll of people on an airplane that is going down in flames who all know they are living their last moments. Are they worried about how they look? That people will think they are crazy? How many of those people believe in God at that moment? Show me those statistics.
Knowing at this moment that there are horrible pornography movies being made, and songs written about raping women and killing people, I wonder why the “Ten Commandments” is considered so offensive. If you asked me what would be offensive for my children to look at, the “Ten Commandments” would probably not be the answer, although the majority of television would be.
Once I asked the question only to hear that it is because our country was based on religious freedom and this violated it. So freedom means the “Ten Commandments” have to come down? Whose freedom? Certainly not the person who wants it up.
Still something is so offensive to people about it that it amazes me. They are not there to tell you that you have to believe in it. If there is something I find offensive and I want to go about telling everyone how offensive it is, eventually I will be told that if it is so offensive then I need to stop looking at it.
The argument grows louder, and politicians start to give in to the pressure. Meanwhile, everyone is left scratching their heads as to what is going on.
If you want to understand the politicians caving on these arguments go back to your playground days. They take one of two forms. No, it is not Republican or Democrat, it is the bully and the peacemaker, and both are equally dangerous. The bully will scare everyone in to leaving him alone, and the peacemaker will sacrifice his own self, family, and beliefs to fit in with the crowd.
Right now children in this country are learning that there are no moral consequences for their actions, and everything is an individual’s choice. You may agree that is what should be taught, but what will you think when your house is broken into by teenagers? If everything is a “choice” and no longer has an effect on others, then are we no longer discussing “peer pressure” in schools?
Then again, schools are only teaching evolution right now, and do apes have morality? I have no idea. Instead of worrying about what children are being taught, people are worried about whether or not they have to say “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. We worry about the “Ten Commandments” and let the porn industry skyrocket. Talk about morality.
Morality, to me, is understanding good and bad and then choosing the good side. If we are so concerned with taking the “Ten Commandments” out of a courthouse even though they tell us to be kind, and we allow the pornography industry to grow and grow and start to look for children, then I would have to agree that morality has left society. One thing remains though: there will be consequences in the future.
RESPONSE TO THE OTHER SIDE
What the other side fails to realize while blaming their adversary is that we all have a contribution to a problem. If someone keeps hurting you and you keep going back, eventually won’t someone else tell you that you did it to yourself? Even enabling a situation to continue is a problem. There is where many Christians sit still today.
Many Christians have become complacent. Perhaps it is due to the days of the Inquisition and other days gone by where many atrocities were committed in the name of religion. Perhaps it is because history has shown us first hand the danger that comes when the leader of a country, such as Hitler, combines science (natural selection) with religious beliefs in an effort to destroy a segment of the population. People are scared to trust anyone anymore, but we never should have placed all our trust in each other to begin with.
In veering away from history’s examples of extreme Christians, we have become stale. Not until a catastrophic event happens are most of us willing to say the name Jesus Christ, and even then we feel comfortable doing it because everyone else is also.
Many of those advancing Christianity today preach all about love and tolerance, and we should. Absolutely God’s love for His children is where to start the discussion. However, we are not to use those principles to forget the rest of the commands contained in the book we all claim to follow, the Holy Bible. The truth is that Christians don’t want to come under fire either, as the Judge in Alabama did. I’m so glad God does not think that way. If He avoided helping us because He didn’t want to come under fire, then I probably would not know the name Jesus Christ.
Meanwhile, church leaders everywhere are yielding to what is popular and how we need to do a million things other than recognize who we really are. God is an active God. If you are have lost peace in yourself over the fact that you are a Christian and you do not understand why other people want the “Ten Commandments” taken down, who took your peace from you? Many people would say it was those who wanted them taken down. Completely untrue. God tells us to “seek peace” and “pursue” it. “Seek” and “pursue” require action on your part and no one else. Stop letting other people dictate how you feel inside. Proverbs 18:15. Are you working for God or man?
You will hear Christians say that they do not know what to do. The good news is that as Christians we know that our Savior simplified it for us. Which of the commands should you live by? "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36.
God tells us to love, but He does not tell us to sit by and endure everything either. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20.
The judge who wanted to hang the “Ten Commandments” in a courthouse in Alabama was removed from office. He had the guts to do what many of us do not, and being blunt, he was in line with what God said to do. No matter who thinks it was right that he was persecuted because he was wrong in their opinion, remember Jesus told us that people like that judge would be persecuted thousands of years ago. As a Christian, that is what you need to know. The Bible really has predicted so much hasn’t it? That means it is true? As you nod your head “yes” remember if it is all true, then go and make disciples of all nations.
He has given us commands to follow on how to deal with situations like these, and so many people sit around proclaiming His name and expecting everyone else to. Nothing is going to get better until you act.
Without trying to add a stereotype, but it is safe to assume that certain portions of the population have higher percentages of religious people than others as demographics show us, the “Ten Commandments” issue occurred in the State of Alabama. No, it was not California, New York, or Florida, it was the “Bible Belt” itself. Then ask yourself if things are getting better?
Are you going to spend your life worshipping God and planning to meet Him one day only to explain why you had everyone else do your preaching and praying for you? He told you to be active, so get up. Religion is kept out of public schools, every one is scared to mention God, and the side that wants that is the most vocal. You would think it would be the opposite.
BOTH SIDES
Are we becoming more tolerant? A few weeks ago I received a call from a friend whose seven-year-old daughter was caught with her Bible in public school. She wasn’t reading it to anyone or showing it to anyone, but she was reading it herself during a break. It was taken away from her. Not in California, not in New York, not in Florida, but you guessed it, the State of Alabama.
The argument for religious tolerance by those who do not want to have Christianity crammed down their throat really has come full circle hasn’t it? You want to speak your views, you just don’t want me to speak mine. So those who actually practice a religion are prohibited, and those who have decided not to have one are permitted to tell others their side publicly. What was their side again?
That victory is short lived though, as anyone who knows the First Amendment knows that there is not one side without another. People are so ingrained in arguing for something that they cannot see the consequences anymore.
True freedom is not “pick and choose”. The “pick and choose” mentality has resulted in some of the worst political disasters in our history. Look at the “Separate but Equal” doctrine. Was that “pick and choose”? Of course it was, no matter what people said to convince the public that it was “equal”, it picked one side and chose them over the other.
Be yourself. If you are convinced in your heart that you are right, then who are you afraid of?
Danielle Joyner Kelley
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Exodus 20:2.
Recently I was asked how I felt about the rumors that people are attempting to have the judge in Alabama who put up the “Ten Commandments” disbarred, an issue debated for years, and that Miss California has recently been “dethroned”. While some won’t agree on my arguments on either, I still have them. As harsh as it sounds, we struggle to understand humans and many times can’t figure it out. However, I don’t believe it is because of their complexity; rather it is their stubbornness and simplicity that leaves us confused.
We live our lives based on need and comfort. My reality is that when my body is in the ground there will be only one need I have and it will be the greatest need I have ever known. “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.
The bigger problem is that as soon as I say that everyone assumes I am forcing them to have my same needs and comforts. The truth is that people often take things out of context and isolate them to further their own beliefs. This is the “pick and choose” mentality. Even Christians will isolate scripture, and those in the persuasion business, such as activists, attorneys, and political leaders, will isolate historical events to incite others to come to their side.
RESPONSE TO THE ONE SIDE
For example, people who are non-religious frequently cite the fact that people came to this country to escape religious persecution. This is true; however, the reason those facts are being told to you in this context is an attempt to get you to reach the conclusion that those very people were non-religious themselves. To bolster the argument, those people point to the “Separation of Church and State” argument. The conclusion you are to reach? That the founding fathers were non-religious too.
The argument still begs for a conclusion. Why? Because the “Separation of Church and State” argument comes not from the Bill of Rights or the Constitution, but instead comes from what is widely understood as a letter written by Thomas Jefferson regarding the First Amendment. That is right, it is not in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, but that fact is rarely told.
Instead, the argument is made that the founding fathers must have been non-religious or else they would not want a “Separation of Church and State”. What founding fathers? We have one father who wrote the letter from my understanding of history.
The listener starts to become convinced that the person is correct. The truth is that the person arguing took a point out of context, and convinced the listener to buy it hook, line, and sinker. One letter was isolated up against an entire amendment. I can write my view all day long about the Bible, that doesn’t mean that anyone is going to, or should, rewrite the Bible and incorporate my writings.
We cannot isolate things. The law that governs this issue is not a letter, but it is the First Amendment contained in the Bill of Rights. That Amendment states that Congress cannot make a law respecting an establishment of religion nor prohibit the free exercise of religion.
The founding fathers obviously put a barrier in between the government and the church with the First Amendment, and people came here to avoid religious persecution, but that does not mean they were non-religious. Quite the contrary, they were extremely religious, so much so that they did not want the sanctity of religion tainted by the government. I do not want politicians in charge of my church either, depending on who they are, but it should be our choice, not theirs.
Nonetheless, people isolate the argument and run with it. But when you look at the history of the founding fathers, and what was written and said, it becomes clear that this was more of a matter of not having people get killed for sinning against the church, and a lot less about whether or not a state courthouse in Alabama has put up a copy of the “Ten Commandments”.
Today there are lawyers traveling the country looking for cases such as the state courthouse in Alabama. They want to set the precedent of religious freedom. Do not allow yourself to get lost in legal talk, but instead focus on what history really says. The problem is that “Separation of Church and State” and “Freedom of Religion” are not the same. One of them is the law, and the other is not the same as what you are being led to believe. “Respecting an establishment of religion” and “Separation of Church and State” are not the same. Anyone who has studied the First Amendment in a legal context can tell you that. Would the United States Congress have been considered to have passed law establishing a religion if they allowed a judge in a state, not federal, courthouse in Alabama to hang the “Ten Commandments” on a wall?
Those same attorneys know that, but they make sure you do not. They are masterful at blurring the lines. People end up believing that religious freedom is what separated the church and state, and that both are the law. Do not allow yourself to be the fish on the end of that pole.
No matter what the legal pleadings say, people want you to believe “Separation of Church and State” and “Freedom of Religion” are both somehow violated by a copy of the “Ten Commandments” placed in a state courthouse. The truth is that it was not a “Freedom of Religion” issue or the Judge would have won because He has the right to exercise his own “Freedom of Religion”. The government building was the issue remember?
People constantly argue about what they do not want crammed down their throats or what they have to look at. Christians are appalled at the argument, both sides file suits, and whether you are Christian or not, as a taxpayer, you are helping to set a legal precedent over the “Ten Commandments”. The media jumps in and fuels the debate between those who are religious and those who are non-religious.
What else is happening at that moment? The pornography industry is laughing their way to the bank. Everyone works to censor a Biblical principle that tells us to love God, love others, be kind to one another, and in the meantime the real danger escapes out the door.
Personally, I am less worried about something that is in a public building that tells people to “do good things”, and more concerned about what is out there that tells men to rape my child walking home from school. The interpretation of the First Amendment allows pretty much everything these days except messages that incite violence.
Meanwhile the “Ten Commandments” are out, and pornography is still in. Who is paying attention to the founding fathers again? To keep his job, that judge was supposed to deny God and take them down on the basis of the Constitution even though those who wrote the Constitution left God’s name in more places than could be mentioned here. I read the Bible with an understanding of the history and context surrounding it. Even if you read Thomas Jefferson’s letter on “Separation of Church and State” read it in the historical context. That context left God all over and in the Constitution and the government.
Still, with all of that another danger looms. For so long, those lawsuits were filed to advance the argument of tolerance for other beliefs. Those who were arguing for tolerance at that time later become the ones who are intolerant and unwilling to allow someone to practice the same freedoms that they wanted so badly for themselves.
Believe it or not, some attorneys are aware of the danger that prohibiting speech of one side also prohibits the other. There is no other group in my mind more deplorable than the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). However, when the KKK wanted to join the “Adopt a Highway” program in Missouri, which attorneys represented them? The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Most would read that and think it is nuts. The ACLU knows exactly what they were doing. They wanted to make sure that the tolerant message of non-violence and racial equality kept moving forward, and that if they shut up the KKK, they would prohibit their own speech in return. If one side cannot speak, in legal terms, the other will not get to either. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
No, we should not tolerate violent messages, and religious people are not in a position to. Nowhere in the Holy Bible does it tell me to kill others so I can die and get virgins in return. In fact, I’m pretty sure that God would have me in a sling if I tried to.
When Miss California was asked her belief on marriage and answered, she was crucified by activists, politicians, and the media. No matter how you feel about the issue, it is an example of how the quest for tolerance has led to intolerance. For years champions of the cause to allow marriages for homosexuals preached the need for tolerance and equality. They told their side, but look what happened when someone else told theirs. Although people will argue that her crown was taken away for other reasons, we all know the sequence of timing on that issue, and, as I always say, coincidence just is not that lucky.
That is the problem that many don’t see. When you shut up the other side, you just shut yourself up as well. If you want tolerance make sure you are not asking for tolerance only for your own viewpoint and then intolerance for the one in opposition. That is defined as hypocrisy.
Today, the religious arguments continue, and there is always something new. There is so much hype and discussion of wanting to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, take “In God We Trust” off of our currency, and not teach anything remotely religious in pubic schools and Darwin rules all, and get the “Ten Commandments” off that courthouse wall because it is “so offensive”. This much I am sure of, you can take God off of and out of everything you want, He is not going away.
No one wants to look crazy, and society tells us that those who advance religion in public are just that. In the popularity realm, people are focusing on the poll of how many people in America are Christian or Jewish and whether we are a Judeo-Christian nation. Don’t talk to me about the poll of people here today living life in America, I have studied history enough to understand the Founding Fathers intentions. Instead, tell me the poll of people on an airplane that is going down in flames who all know they are living their last moments. Are they worried about how they look? That people will think they are crazy? How many of those people believe in God at that moment? Show me those statistics.
Knowing at this moment that there are horrible pornography movies being made, and songs written about raping women and killing people, I wonder why the “Ten Commandments” is considered so offensive. If you asked me what would be offensive for my children to look at, the “Ten Commandments” would probably not be the answer, although the majority of television would be.
Once I asked the question only to hear that it is because our country was based on religious freedom and this violated it. So freedom means the “Ten Commandments” have to come down? Whose freedom? Certainly not the person who wants it up.
Still something is so offensive to people about it that it amazes me. They are not there to tell you that you have to believe in it. If there is something I find offensive and I want to go about telling everyone how offensive it is, eventually I will be told that if it is so offensive then I need to stop looking at it.
The argument grows louder, and politicians start to give in to the pressure. Meanwhile, everyone is left scratching their heads as to what is going on.
If you want to understand the politicians caving on these arguments go back to your playground days. They take one of two forms. No, it is not Republican or Democrat, it is the bully and the peacemaker, and both are equally dangerous. The bully will scare everyone in to leaving him alone, and the peacemaker will sacrifice his own self, family, and beliefs to fit in with the crowd.
Right now children in this country are learning that there are no moral consequences for their actions, and everything is an individual’s choice. You may agree that is what should be taught, but what will you think when your house is broken into by teenagers? If everything is a “choice” and no longer has an effect on others, then are we no longer discussing “peer pressure” in schools?
Then again, schools are only teaching evolution right now, and do apes have morality? I have no idea. Instead of worrying about what children are being taught, people are worried about whether or not they have to say “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. We worry about the “Ten Commandments” and let the porn industry skyrocket. Talk about morality.
Morality, to me, is understanding good and bad and then choosing the good side. If we are so concerned with taking the “Ten Commandments” out of a courthouse even though they tell us to be kind, and we allow the pornography industry to grow and grow and start to look for children, then I would have to agree that morality has left society. One thing remains though: there will be consequences in the future.
RESPONSE TO THE OTHER SIDE
What the other side fails to realize while blaming their adversary is that we all have a contribution to a problem. If someone keeps hurting you and you keep going back, eventually won’t someone else tell you that you did it to yourself? Even enabling a situation to continue is a problem. There is where many Christians sit still today.
Many Christians have become complacent. Perhaps it is due to the days of the Inquisition and other days gone by where many atrocities were committed in the name of religion. Perhaps it is because history has shown us first hand the danger that comes when the leader of a country, such as Hitler, combines science (natural selection) with religious beliefs in an effort to destroy a segment of the population. People are scared to trust anyone anymore, but we never should have placed all our trust in each other to begin with.
In veering away from history’s examples of extreme Christians, we have become stale. Not until a catastrophic event happens are most of us willing to say the name Jesus Christ, and even then we feel comfortable doing it because everyone else is also.
Many of those advancing Christianity today preach all about love and tolerance, and we should. Absolutely God’s love for His children is where to start the discussion. However, we are not to use those principles to forget the rest of the commands contained in the book we all claim to follow, the Holy Bible. The truth is that Christians don’t want to come under fire either, as the Judge in Alabama did. I’m so glad God does not think that way. If He avoided helping us because He didn’t want to come under fire, then I probably would not know the name Jesus Christ.
Meanwhile, church leaders everywhere are yielding to what is popular and how we need to do a million things other than recognize who we really are. God is an active God. If you are have lost peace in yourself over the fact that you are a Christian and you do not understand why other people want the “Ten Commandments” taken down, who took your peace from you? Many people would say it was those who wanted them taken down. Completely untrue. God tells us to “seek peace” and “pursue” it. “Seek” and “pursue” require action on your part and no one else. Stop letting other people dictate how you feel inside. Proverbs 18:15. Are you working for God or man?
You will hear Christians say that they do not know what to do. The good news is that as Christians we know that our Savior simplified it for us. Which of the commands should you live by? "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36.
God tells us to love, but He does not tell us to sit by and endure everything either. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20.
The judge who wanted to hang the “Ten Commandments” in a courthouse in Alabama was removed from office. He had the guts to do what many of us do not, and being blunt, he was in line with what God said to do. No matter who thinks it was right that he was persecuted because he was wrong in their opinion, remember Jesus told us that people like that judge would be persecuted thousands of years ago. As a Christian, that is what you need to know. The Bible really has predicted so much hasn’t it? That means it is true? As you nod your head “yes” remember if it is all true, then go and make disciples of all nations.
He has given us commands to follow on how to deal with situations like these, and so many people sit around proclaiming His name and expecting everyone else to. Nothing is going to get better until you act.
Without trying to add a stereotype, but it is safe to assume that certain portions of the population have higher percentages of religious people than others as demographics show us, the “Ten Commandments” issue occurred in the State of Alabama. No, it was not California, New York, or Florida, it was the “Bible Belt” itself. Then ask yourself if things are getting better?
Are you going to spend your life worshipping God and planning to meet Him one day only to explain why you had everyone else do your preaching and praying for you? He told you to be active, so get up. Religion is kept out of public schools, every one is scared to mention God, and the side that wants that is the most vocal. You would think it would be the opposite.
BOTH SIDES
Are we becoming more tolerant? A few weeks ago I received a call from a friend whose seven-year-old daughter was caught with her Bible in public school. She wasn’t reading it to anyone or showing it to anyone, but she was reading it herself during a break. It was taken away from her. Not in California, not in New York, not in Florida, but you guessed it, the State of Alabama.
The argument for religious tolerance by those who do not want to have Christianity crammed down their throat really has come full circle hasn’t it? You want to speak your views, you just don’t want me to speak mine. So those who actually practice a religion are prohibited, and those who have decided not to have one are permitted to tell others their side publicly. What was their side again?
That victory is short lived though, as anyone who knows the First Amendment knows that there is not one side without another. People are so ingrained in arguing for something that they cannot see the consequences anymore.
True freedom is not “pick and choose”. The “pick and choose” mentality has resulted in some of the worst political disasters in our history. Look at the “Separate but Equal” doctrine. Was that “pick and choose”? Of course it was, no matter what people said to convince the public that it was “equal”, it picked one side and chose them over the other.
Be yourself. If you are convinced in your heart that you are right, then who are you afraid of?
Checks and Balances...
June 16, 2009
Danielle Joyner Kelley
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:15-16.
Bad things happen. Correction, horrible things happen that we, as humans, cannot possibly explain. As soon as one of these events happen, we look back at our own past and examine whether or not we deserved something so horrible. Then we either say “If I had not done this then this would not happen” or we say “I have been so good. Look how many times I did these great things. How can this happen to me?” Humans can fall into the selfish mode of handling problems quickly.
Then most of us blame God. Even those who don’t believe in Him find some way to talk to Him at that moment. Regardless of which question above you ask, you feel anger. You tell God how mad you are, and ask Him how He could do this to you or how He could let this happen. Then you stop. You realize that you believe God did something horrible to you and if you do not shut up then He will do something else. Then you feel fear. Suddenly, your mind starts to crank and you begin to beat yourself up for what you said to God. You don’t truly feel guilty for what you said, you feel resentful because the only reason you are sorry is because you are scared He will do something else horrible to you.
I have been there. Things can become so painful that we lash out in every direction we can. I remember being a child, full of anger, and blaming God for everything.
Freeze this moment in your mind because it is the one where everything can go horribly wrong, and not because God is angry at you, but because you will beat yourself up over it until you do yourself completely in.
What is the real truth in this situation?
First, look at this situation. Look at whom you are accusing. Your thoughts have put God on trial for doing something bad to you. Although God is not capable of sinning, look at the following example to understand how to retrain your thoughts differently. If you knew that a defendant was standing trial for killing a small child, and you wanted him put away so he could not hurt other children or your own, would you want to make sure the right person was the accused? Of course you would. It is pointless to blame anyone else. If you don’t have the right guy then the real person who killed the little girl goes free and she and her family get no justice. Also, he is out in society to kill other children and we get no justice either.
God is not the one who harmed you. The wrong one is being accused when you think this way. Meanwhile, He wants you to understand how pure and innocent He is and wants to help you make this better. If you continue to blame Him, the real murderer escapes out the door.
Second, look at your thoughts. You blame God and then feel horrible for doing so because you think He will do something else bad to you. You think to yourself, “He heard me. What am I going to do? He will never help me now. Wonder what He will do to get even for this.” Then you concentrate on those thoughts and start to feel resentful. It does no good.
It does no good because when you were asking God “why” this was happening to you and yelling and screaming at Him, He wasn’t hearing things the way you were thinking them. The loving Father of all creation who would send His Son to die so that you may have life is the Author of everything good that we know, love, mercy, justice, faith, kindness. That is God. He is not anger, resentment, and bitterness. From a perspective that you cannot understand because you are human and because you are angry, He is hearing you yell and scream and noticing how positive you are being at the same time.
How in the world can that be true? Because when you are yelling at God and saying, “Why me? Why did you do this?” He hears you say, “God I know that you exist and that is why I am talking to you.” When you yell and say “How could you let this happen to me?” He hears you say, “God you are all-powerful, and the Creator of the Universe and you are all-knowing.” When you yell and say, “Why aren’t you making this better?” He hears you say, “God I know that there is nothing you cannot do, I need help. God, I need you.”
As the Author of everything good who is so perfect He does not think negatively like we do, that is what He hears. His mind is not tainted as human minds are. He sees the good in what you do.
Third, look at your reality. Most people want a government who operates on checks and balances. We want people to know they will go to jail if they do bad things, and we want to make sure that we keep others in “check” with that threat. We want government branches to be separate, such as the legislature, the President, and the judiciary, so we can make sure no one becomes so powerful they trample on our freedom. Those governments historically have run smoother, and are not subject to being taken over by the military of a crazy group of people who want to run the country and kill everyone. That makes the most sense for us to do to live in peace. It feels secure and good.
As the Author of everything good, where do you think we got the idea from? God. He is operating in a system of checks and balances also. If He did not, there would be no consequence for sin, no motivation for us to do good things. We would all walk around only looking out for ourselves and never holding anyone accountable. Known child molesters would be free to teach kindergarten and committing murder would be something you could say “I’m sorry” for and still live a normal life even though the victim cannot. What would you think about God if He allowed that to happen?
Fourth, look at what is truly important. After you yell at God for allowing something to happen it does no good to beat yourself up. Remember that Satan is the father of all lies, and everything evil and bad. He is the only one who will encourage you to question God, see that God is hearing positive things from it, and then turn it around and beat you over the head with guilt and resentment for doing it. As the father of everything bad and evil, guilt and resentment are two of Satan’s favorite weapons. Some find that hard to understand, but because he is everything that is evil and bad, don’t expect that he will make sense. Remember he knew to tempt Jesus by quoting bible verses, and he is very capable of tempting you to yell at God and getting you to beat yourself for ever doing so.
How do you overcome what you said to God? First, know the truth about what God really hears when you are saying those things. Second, even if you still feel horrible for doing it, remember that God sent His Son to die because He knew what you would do. You are forgiven. Do not let Satan beat you up with guilt and allow you to forget the biggest sacrifice that was ever made here on Earth. Concentrate on God.
Even though you may have been yelling “why me?” what you fail to realize is you were concentrating on Him, and He knows that. He sees the good in you even when you don’t and that is why He wants us on fire for Him, and He does not like us being lukewarm. He would rather have you yelling than denying He has the answers.
Fifth, look at the future. You are hurting and that is why you are talking to Him at this moment. Remember He is the One and only One who can turn this around and help you. That is why you were so mad in the first place, wasn’t it?
Not only does He have the answers, He also has the cure.
Danielle Joyner Kelley
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:15-16.
Bad things happen. Correction, horrible things happen that we, as humans, cannot possibly explain. As soon as one of these events happen, we look back at our own past and examine whether or not we deserved something so horrible. Then we either say “If I had not done this then this would not happen” or we say “I have been so good. Look how many times I did these great things. How can this happen to me?” Humans can fall into the selfish mode of handling problems quickly.
Then most of us blame God. Even those who don’t believe in Him find some way to talk to Him at that moment. Regardless of which question above you ask, you feel anger. You tell God how mad you are, and ask Him how He could do this to you or how He could let this happen. Then you stop. You realize that you believe God did something horrible to you and if you do not shut up then He will do something else. Then you feel fear. Suddenly, your mind starts to crank and you begin to beat yourself up for what you said to God. You don’t truly feel guilty for what you said, you feel resentful because the only reason you are sorry is because you are scared He will do something else horrible to you.
I have been there. Things can become so painful that we lash out in every direction we can. I remember being a child, full of anger, and blaming God for everything.
Freeze this moment in your mind because it is the one where everything can go horribly wrong, and not because God is angry at you, but because you will beat yourself up over it until you do yourself completely in.
What is the real truth in this situation?
First, look at this situation. Look at whom you are accusing. Your thoughts have put God on trial for doing something bad to you. Although God is not capable of sinning, look at the following example to understand how to retrain your thoughts differently. If you knew that a defendant was standing trial for killing a small child, and you wanted him put away so he could not hurt other children or your own, would you want to make sure the right person was the accused? Of course you would. It is pointless to blame anyone else. If you don’t have the right guy then the real person who killed the little girl goes free and she and her family get no justice. Also, he is out in society to kill other children and we get no justice either.
God is not the one who harmed you. The wrong one is being accused when you think this way. Meanwhile, He wants you to understand how pure and innocent He is and wants to help you make this better. If you continue to blame Him, the real murderer escapes out the door.
Second, look at your thoughts. You blame God and then feel horrible for doing so because you think He will do something else bad to you. You think to yourself, “He heard me. What am I going to do? He will never help me now. Wonder what He will do to get even for this.” Then you concentrate on those thoughts and start to feel resentful. It does no good.
It does no good because when you were asking God “why” this was happening to you and yelling and screaming at Him, He wasn’t hearing things the way you were thinking them. The loving Father of all creation who would send His Son to die so that you may have life is the Author of everything good that we know, love, mercy, justice, faith, kindness. That is God. He is not anger, resentment, and bitterness. From a perspective that you cannot understand because you are human and because you are angry, He is hearing you yell and scream and noticing how positive you are being at the same time.
How in the world can that be true? Because when you are yelling at God and saying, “Why me? Why did you do this?” He hears you say, “God I know that you exist and that is why I am talking to you.” When you yell and say “How could you let this happen to me?” He hears you say, “God you are all-powerful, and the Creator of the Universe and you are all-knowing.” When you yell and say, “Why aren’t you making this better?” He hears you say, “God I know that there is nothing you cannot do, I need help. God, I need you.”
As the Author of everything good who is so perfect He does not think negatively like we do, that is what He hears. His mind is not tainted as human minds are. He sees the good in what you do.
Third, look at your reality. Most people want a government who operates on checks and balances. We want people to know they will go to jail if they do bad things, and we want to make sure that we keep others in “check” with that threat. We want government branches to be separate, such as the legislature, the President, and the judiciary, so we can make sure no one becomes so powerful they trample on our freedom. Those governments historically have run smoother, and are not subject to being taken over by the military of a crazy group of people who want to run the country and kill everyone. That makes the most sense for us to do to live in peace. It feels secure and good.
As the Author of everything good, where do you think we got the idea from? God. He is operating in a system of checks and balances also. If He did not, there would be no consequence for sin, no motivation for us to do good things. We would all walk around only looking out for ourselves and never holding anyone accountable. Known child molesters would be free to teach kindergarten and committing murder would be something you could say “I’m sorry” for and still live a normal life even though the victim cannot. What would you think about God if He allowed that to happen?
Fourth, look at what is truly important. After you yell at God for allowing something to happen it does no good to beat yourself up. Remember that Satan is the father of all lies, and everything evil and bad. He is the only one who will encourage you to question God, see that God is hearing positive things from it, and then turn it around and beat you over the head with guilt and resentment for doing it. As the father of everything bad and evil, guilt and resentment are two of Satan’s favorite weapons. Some find that hard to understand, but because he is everything that is evil and bad, don’t expect that he will make sense. Remember he knew to tempt Jesus by quoting bible verses, and he is very capable of tempting you to yell at God and getting you to beat yourself for ever doing so.
How do you overcome what you said to God? First, know the truth about what God really hears when you are saying those things. Second, even if you still feel horrible for doing it, remember that God sent His Son to die because He knew what you would do. You are forgiven. Do not let Satan beat you up with guilt and allow you to forget the biggest sacrifice that was ever made here on Earth. Concentrate on God.
Even though you may have been yelling “why me?” what you fail to realize is you were concentrating on Him, and He knows that. He sees the good in you even when you don’t and that is why He wants us on fire for Him, and He does not like us being lukewarm. He would rather have you yelling than denying He has the answers.
Fifth, look at the future. You are hurting and that is why you are talking to Him at this moment. Remember He is the One and only One who can turn this around and help you. That is why you were so mad in the first place, wasn’t it?
Not only does He have the answers, He also has the cure.
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