“When I am afraid I will trust in You. In God I will praise His Word; in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do to me. (Psa 56:3-4 MKJV)”
Life is full of harrowing experiences, that truly realized, should paralyze each and every one of us. In an blink of an eye, a friend who is the vision of health is felled by a diagnosis of cancer in their sinus. A loved one that spoke with you just moments before has become a victim of a mindless drunk that careened into their car, killing them instantly. A father, increased in age, goes to make coffee in his modest mobile home one morning with the anticipated arrival of a dear friend, who finds him collasped upon the living room floor, dead from a heart that pumps no more.
We make a lifestyle out of fear; fear for an enivronment that we truly cannot control or fix, fear of war, fear of relationships and the fear of being alone. And, Christians aren’t immune to this state of fear that we are constantly bombarded with through the news, friend’s opinions, and a frank lack of understanding of a God that is far beyond anything our human minds can comprehend.
We use it in unhealthy manner, as an excuse not to love those we feel are truly beyond any reasonable assumption of being loved. Fear of listening to a voice we aren’t sure is God’s because the direction it is telling us to travel is so farfetched and abnormal that we don’t want to go. Fear of being truly in relationship with those who can and do hurt us. Fear of letting go of those who aren’t healthy for us in pursuit of a love we feel we can never be worthy of.
We fear, a natural and sometimes helpful response to the chaotic and deadly environment that surrounds us and that we are dependant on for our very survival.
We fear God, a good thing and a healthy response to such a powerful, mighty, and holy Being.
But in everything that we fear, it is how we react in that fear that tells us and the world around us what we believe to be true, what we want to be true, and what we know is true. We put ourselves into a position where we trust the very thing that we should and often fear the most; a righteous and holy God.
If we truly trust in God and the promises made to us in His holy word, why do we agonize over making a stand for our faith? If we truly trust and fear God, why do we continue to allow the minority rule over the majority? We put up leaders like Clinton and Obama, McCain and Guilliani, and then complain over the choice that seem so dim and limiting instead of speaking out in truth and light and stating our faith-based preferences.
If we truly trust in God, why do we allow ourselves to fear what a religious band of terrorists, indoctrinated by the very religious leaders that claim peaceful intentions? Why do we continue to quiet our voices in response to a misquoted, misrepresented, and misinterpeted word called “tolerance”.
If we truly, as children of God, fear God more than we fear man fail to trust in God to fulfill His promiese to us and speak out? Why do we fear what flesh can do to us more than what God can do to us?
Wednesday, April 23
Friday, April 18
Honesty and Truth
"The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright." Proverbs 21:8 NIV
We all know the type; those people who are constantly 'up to no good.' Body language is out of control, eyes flirting around the landscape but never directly focused on yours. Nervous energy causing limbs to dart all over as their feet tap a tune that only they can feel. Inconsistencies in what they say, how they say it, and specific vagueness about targeted questions. It is clear that they are trying to hide something from you, and you may not know what it is, but the hairs on your neck are in full bloom because 'it just doesn't feel right.'
If they are a casual acquaintance, then we can guard against their deviousness and take appropriate steps to ensure we're not drawn into their evil intentions, whether they are intentional or subconscious. We can physically separate ourselves from the manipulation that our 'sixth sense' is klaxoning over. We can gently or not so gently tell the person NO. It is easy to do and somewhat harmless in the interaction that takes place within that context.
On the same hand, we are immediately drawn to those people who exude a 'aura of trustiness' in our lives, those who we can automatically tell we'll get a fair shake. We seek advice and wisdom from those wizen 'elders' and seek to implement them in our lives with full assurance that success will happen in the way we've been pointed.
We also know of the deception that always comes upon us when we distort, misinform, or even distract others from sin and lies in our own lives. Eventually it is exposed and the lies on top of lies we are constantly involved in speaking to cover the original sin roll over on us like a boulder. Guilt that we held at bay overwhelms us.
But it is the guilt of those we love, the deception of those near and dear, that causes the most destruction and chaos in our lives. The safe haven we may have come to expect would always be there, suddenly swept away in the distorted sin of adultery, addiction, or a turning away from the Father in Heaven. And we are marooned upon the floating debris of our suddenly corrupted life.
If you live your life hiding things from your loved ones; your spouse, your family, your children, and even friends who are the stability in troubled times, you will take more than yourself with you when the sin is discovered, the guilt felt fully, and the chaos of a life disrupted is revealed. Innocents; friends, spouses, and even children, will all face the challenges that come from ceding to sinful, deceitful ways.
But, if you stand your life openly, with no shadows of shaded sin or hidden guilt, you cannot fall and you cannot destroy anyone or anything. You will be standing; maybe not where you think you should be, and you may not be welcomed everywhere you may want to be, but you will be looked at as that 'wizen' person, who speaks the truth and shows it in their lives, and you will be respected.
Just my thoughts on a verse that God brought upon me today.
We all know the type; those people who are constantly 'up to no good.' Body language is out of control, eyes flirting around the landscape but never directly focused on yours. Nervous energy causing limbs to dart all over as their feet tap a tune that only they can feel. Inconsistencies in what they say, how they say it, and specific vagueness about targeted questions. It is clear that they are trying to hide something from you, and you may not know what it is, but the hairs on your neck are in full bloom because 'it just doesn't feel right.'
If they are a casual acquaintance, then we can guard against their deviousness and take appropriate steps to ensure we're not drawn into their evil intentions, whether they are intentional or subconscious. We can physically separate ourselves from the manipulation that our 'sixth sense' is klaxoning over. We can gently or not so gently tell the person NO. It is easy to do and somewhat harmless in the interaction that takes place within that context.
On the same hand, we are immediately drawn to those people who exude a 'aura of trustiness' in our lives, those who we can automatically tell we'll get a fair shake. We seek advice and wisdom from those wizen 'elders' and seek to implement them in our lives with full assurance that success will happen in the way we've been pointed.
We also know of the deception that always comes upon us when we distort, misinform, or even distract others from sin and lies in our own lives. Eventually it is exposed and the lies on top of lies we are constantly involved in speaking to cover the original sin roll over on us like a boulder. Guilt that we held at bay overwhelms us.
But it is the guilt of those we love, the deception of those near and dear, that causes the most destruction and chaos in our lives. The safe haven we may have come to expect would always be there, suddenly swept away in the distorted sin of adultery, addiction, or a turning away from the Father in Heaven. And we are marooned upon the floating debris of our suddenly corrupted life.
If you live your life hiding things from your loved ones; your spouse, your family, your children, and even friends who are the stability in troubled times, you will take more than yourself with you when the sin is discovered, the guilt felt fully, and the chaos of a life disrupted is revealed. Innocents; friends, spouses, and even children, will all face the challenges that come from ceding to sinful, deceitful ways.
But, if you stand your life openly, with no shadows of shaded sin or hidden guilt, you cannot fall and you cannot destroy anyone or anything. You will be standing; maybe not where you think you should be, and you may not be welcomed everywhere you may want to be, but you will be looked at as that 'wizen' person, who speaks the truth and shows it in their lives, and you will be respected.
Just my thoughts on a verse that God brought upon me today.
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