Today I am thankful for: Darrin doing well meeting his goals at speech, reading stories to Moo in the waiting room at Lucid, being able to help out at produce day for our co-op, fresh fruits and veggies, the kids having fun at the park, visiting with Kary, enjoying dinner at home with my family, my babies' smiles, kisses from my hubby.
I'm reading in Ezekiel and came to chapter 18 tonight. It made me think. I've long pondered things such as what the lukewarm church would look like and where it would come from; I've begun to notice the past few years that it is forming right now here in America, also around the world. It seems that so many churches are compromising the integrity of their faith by becoming "tolerant" and expanding their views, adding interpretation to biblical truths that shouldn't require any. It's really frightening and disheartening to witness. No one wants to think about people going to hell, but to broaden your congregation by tolerating certain sins as acceptable or saying that all roads lead to God and heaven doesn't save anyone from a rather warm fate, least of all the church leaders encouraging their wannabe saints.
Church is definitely a place for the broken. God doesn't call only "good" or righteous people to His fold--in fact we are told that none of us is good, that Jesus Himself is the only truly good person to walk the earth. Believers should be welcoming people from all walks of life to join each Sunday in a great sinners' convention meeting--for when it comes down to it, we are all the same. Each of us is a sinner, no one better or worse that another. Some might be in a better place of admitting their sin and choosing to love God and please Him, thereby appearing to be "better" or "nicer" than others. Some might be lost and broken, complete messes wandering in society or maybe even incarcerated. But at the heart of it all, we are ALL sinners, broken by choices to please ourselves and left with God-sized holes in our hearts.
The problem with society, especially in America, is that we want to qualify ourselves--well, at least I don't smoke, or I've never killed anyone, or I don't steal, or I don't let my children watch t.v all day long, I don't, I don't, I don't. Our "I don'ts" don't mean much to God because when we are too busy looking around at others to compare ourselves with we take our eyes off Him. We forget that Jesus is the standard, HE is the mark by which we are all judged. And what does "sin" mean? It means to miss the mark. Sin isn't just about doing wrong things, it's about not doing the right things. So there thousands of church-goers warming pews each week, patting themselves on the back for being "Christian" because they give money and sit quietly and get through the week without harming anyone; they aren't doing anything wrong. But what aren't they doing right?
This, I believe is the foundation of the lukewarm church. People have lost touch with God and are more concerned about what people think, about keeping up appearances. God doesn't care what you look like; He sees your heart. These people are probably so deluded by being what a Christian isn't, that they have forgotten what being a Christian is. This bring me back to my opening paragraph. God laid out His statutes so plainly for His people that there was no excuse not to follow them. They weren't easy, but they had a purpose. Once Jesus came and died for our sins then conquered death through His resurrection, we simply had to choose to love Him and grow to be more like Him in all ways...ALL ways. You can't claim to be a follower of Christ and not love, but you also can't ignore the things He spoke against. People today don't want to say "no" to anything; they are afraid of standing for something and saying it's wrong--it's just so much easier to say that everything is right as long as no one gets hurt! They claim that God is unfair and a "loving God" wouldn't condemn people to hell just for disagreeing with Him.
God is holy..HOLY. He created the world, so I think He has a right to dictate it's rules to keep things in order. He gave us free will to make our own choices, though He wants us to choose to love Him. If we were forced to love Him, then that wouldn't really be love at all, right? The fact is, God doesn't necessarily send us to hell, but we choose to go there by rejecting Him and disobeying Him. Parents often tell their children that there are consequences to their actions, and that when a negative consequence ensues the child, in effect, "chose" it; afterall, the parents set the rules and they are pretty clear. If you want happy consequences, do this; negative consequences, do that. Society isn't any different, and when someone breaks a law we generally are pretty unsympathetic; he knew what he was doing, right? He knew what would happen! God tells us the same thing. Ezekiel 18:25-29 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?"
God isn't hard and unyielding, He's holy and the epitome of integrity. He set a standard we can't meet, but He pours out grace upon us and has made a way for us to have a reward we don't deserve. The beautiful thing is that He loves us and wants us to choose Him! He gave us a choice, but He certainly has a preference for what choice we make. I know my God is a God of love because He set boundaries for us, clear expectations for living. And, like our earthly parents, He corrects us for our own good when we go astray. When parents say "this hurts me more than it hurts you" it's really true; it hurts to be disrespected and disobeyed by someone you would give your life for, and it hurts to have to inflict pain upon that person even though she deserves it as a consequence of her actions. God said something similar to Ezekiel: "'Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,' says the Lord God. 'Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,' says the Lord God. 'Therefore turn and live!'" (Ezekiel 18:30-32)
Father God, I thank You that I was taught of Your great love for me, that the fear I have for You is out of respect and not pain. I am so thankful that I turned away from my transgressions and chose life over death! Thank You for every person You set in my path that showed me the meaning of love by accepting who I was and teaching me how to reconcile that with Your plan for me. You made me! You created every aspect of my very being, and it is so amazing to finally be realizing my purpose, though I won't understand everything all at once. For now it is enough to know that I can rejoice in my own self because You made me; I can have joy in reaching my full potential because I desire to glorify You. Help me to focus on what You WANT me to be, and not on what You don't want me to be. By being more like You I will be able to let go of those things that are undesirable. Help me to love others with Your compassion and Your intensity. Help me to show them their value and accept them where they are and however they are so that the door is opened for Your Holy Spirit to do It's transforming work! Break my heart for what breaks Your own heart, Jesus! And please help me to act on that love. Thank You for Your amazing grace. Praise be to You alone! In Jesus' name, Amen!
I'm reading in Ezekiel and came to chapter 18 tonight. It made me think. I've long pondered things such as what the lukewarm church would look like and where it would come from; I've begun to notice the past few years that it is forming right now here in America, also around the world. It seems that so many churches are compromising the integrity of their faith by becoming "tolerant" and expanding their views, adding interpretation to biblical truths that shouldn't require any. It's really frightening and disheartening to witness. No one wants to think about people going to hell, but to broaden your congregation by tolerating certain sins as acceptable or saying that all roads lead to God and heaven doesn't save anyone from a rather warm fate, least of all the church leaders encouraging their wannabe saints.
Church is definitely a place for the broken. God doesn't call only "good" or righteous people to His fold--in fact we are told that none of us is good, that Jesus Himself is the only truly good person to walk the earth. Believers should be welcoming people from all walks of life to join each Sunday in a great sinners' convention meeting--for when it comes down to it, we are all the same. Each of us is a sinner, no one better or worse that another. Some might be in a better place of admitting their sin and choosing to love God and please Him, thereby appearing to be "better" or "nicer" than others. Some might be lost and broken, complete messes wandering in society or maybe even incarcerated. But at the heart of it all, we are ALL sinners, broken by choices to please ourselves and left with God-sized holes in our hearts.
The problem with society, especially in America, is that we want to qualify ourselves--well, at least I don't smoke, or I've never killed anyone, or I don't steal, or I don't let my children watch t.v all day long, I don't, I don't, I don't. Our "I don'ts" don't mean much to God because when we are too busy looking around at others to compare ourselves with we take our eyes off Him. We forget that Jesus is the standard, HE is the mark by which we are all judged. And what does "sin" mean? It means to miss the mark. Sin isn't just about doing wrong things, it's about not doing the right things. So there thousands of church-goers warming pews each week, patting themselves on the back for being "Christian" because they give money and sit quietly and get through the week without harming anyone; they aren't doing anything wrong. But what aren't they doing right?
This, I believe is the foundation of the lukewarm church. People have lost touch with God and are more concerned about what people think, about keeping up appearances. God doesn't care what you look like; He sees your heart. These people are probably so deluded by being what a Christian isn't, that they have forgotten what being a Christian is. This bring me back to my opening paragraph. God laid out His statutes so plainly for His people that there was no excuse not to follow them. They weren't easy, but they had a purpose. Once Jesus came and died for our sins then conquered death through His resurrection, we simply had to choose to love Him and grow to be more like Him in all ways...ALL ways. You can't claim to be a follower of Christ and not love, but you also can't ignore the things He spoke against. People today don't want to say "no" to anything; they are afraid of standing for something and saying it's wrong--it's just so much easier to say that everything is right as long as no one gets hurt! They claim that God is unfair and a "loving God" wouldn't condemn people to hell just for disagreeing with Him.
God is holy..HOLY. He created the world, so I think He has a right to dictate it's rules to keep things in order. He gave us free will to make our own choices, though He wants us to choose to love Him. If we were forced to love Him, then that wouldn't really be love at all, right? The fact is, God doesn't necessarily send us to hell, but we choose to go there by rejecting Him and disobeying Him. Parents often tell their children that there are consequences to their actions, and that when a negative consequence ensues the child, in effect, "chose" it; afterall, the parents set the rules and they are pretty clear. If you want happy consequences, do this; negative consequences, do that. Society isn't any different, and when someone breaks a law we generally are pretty unsympathetic; he knew what he was doing, right? He knew what would happen! God tells us the same thing. Ezekiel 18:25-29 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?"
God isn't hard and unyielding, He's holy and the epitome of integrity. He set a standard we can't meet, but He pours out grace upon us and has made a way for us to have a reward we don't deserve. The beautiful thing is that He loves us and wants us to choose Him! He gave us a choice, but He certainly has a preference for what choice we make. I know my God is a God of love because He set boundaries for us, clear expectations for living. And, like our earthly parents, He corrects us for our own good when we go astray. When parents say "this hurts me more than it hurts you" it's really true; it hurts to be disrespected and disobeyed by someone you would give your life for, and it hurts to have to inflict pain upon that person even though she deserves it as a consequence of her actions. God said something similar to Ezekiel: "'Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,' says the Lord God. 'Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,' says the Lord God. 'Therefore turn and live!'" (Ezekiel 18:30-32)
Father God, I thank You that I was taught of Your great love for me, that the fear I have for You is out of respect and not pain. I am so thankful that I turned away from my transgressions and chose life over death! Thank You for every person You set in my path that showed me the meaning of love by accepting who I was and teaching me how to reconcile that with Your plan for me. You made me! You created every aspect of my very being, and it is so amazing to finally be realizing my purpose, though I won't understand everything all at once. For now it is enough to know that I can rejoice in my own self because You made me; I can have joy in reaching my full potential because I desire to glorify You. Help me to focus on what You WANT me to be, and not on what You don't want me to be. By being more like You I will be able to let go of those things that are undesirable. Help me to love others with Your compassion and Your intensity. Help me to show them their value and accept them where they are and however they are so that the door is opened for Your Holy Spirit to do It's transforming work! Break my heart for what breaks Your own heart, Jesus! And please help me to act on that love. Thank You for Your amazing grace. Praise be to You alone! In Jesus' name, Amen!
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