Tag: #love

Stepping Forward in My Beliefs in a Post-Christian Culture

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My relationship with Christ has evolved and matured throughout the last few months. I have been digging deeper into His Word. I have begun reading the entire Bible and am seeing a new world open up before me. It has been unexpected.

My perspectives about the society norms has started to shift as things become more accepted and tolerated. I can’t help to refer to God’s Word and then see just how much our world has changed. How far away we have distanced ourselves from the One true God.

My belief in certain circumstances may not be well received by some. Especially within a society that accepts and is more politically correct than ever before. I believe that we are saved by grace but we should also try to follow the Law. Try being the key word. It is impossible to do that because we all fall short of the Glory of God. This is why God sent his only Son, Jesus, to die for us. We could not in our humanness follow these commands. Does that mean we can do whatever we want? Absolutely not. Even though we are saved by grace, doesn’t mean we get a “free pass”.

Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the Law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

Romans 6: 15-16

Jesus commands us to love our God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. These are the two greatest commandments. He also tells us to not judge others by their outside appearance (John 7:24). Scripture though also tells us something different where some may call it judging others.

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

Galations 6: 1-2

Hadassah Treu of onthewaybg.com says this, ” Only when our hearts and motives are pure, we can really judge the behavior or motives of other people and really help them.” I referenced John 7:24 in the last paragraph. The ending of that scripture says, “..rather judge according to righteous judgement”.

So what is righteous judgement and its purpose? Hadassah Treu defines it as, “The purpose of righteous judgement is to discern and fulfill the will of God in the given situation”. Hear me out… in order to have righteous judgement, our hearts must be pure, our motives must be to turn that person back to God, and we must judge and hold ourselves accountable. Then we can practice righteous judgement.

We must boldly step forward, in love, and have the difficult conversations. Boldly speaking God’s truth into their life. We do this for that friend who is caught up in adultery, the family member who struggles with addiction, the teenager who is confused about their gender, the husband addicted to pornography, the couple who have chosen same sex marriage. Then we pray. Pray for their hearts to repent and turn back to Jesus.

Now, before you rush to criticize me, let me tell you something some of you may not know about me. I committed adultery. I was living a life of sin that had me spiraling down the rabbit hole. It lead to a Christian friend calling out my sin to me. I did not take it well. In fact, I called her a hypocrite and told her she was being judgmental. If only I knew then what I know now! I then turned away from God for a season. I was angry at the world and was full of pride and selfishness.

Looking back, my friend was reaching out to me in Christian love. She was trying to turn me back to my Lord Jesus, when my heart had hardened towards Him. Hebrews 3:13 says,

You must warn each other everyday, while it is still ‘today’, so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

Hebrews 3:13

Our children are being affected by this Post-Christian world. In my line of work, most say they don’t believe in God. The number of same sex couples, non-binary, and gender identity teenagers is shocking to me. Most seem to come from difficult home life’s and are just looking to ,”fit in” some where. Yet, I remain silent. I can lose my job if I say anything. My rights as a Christian and my beliefs have been taken from me. I’m the one who isn’t tolerant and accepting of others. It is hypocritical if you think about it. Where is the tolerance and acceptance for my belief?

The old saying of “love the sinner, but hate the sin, is actually true. I love those who live different lifestyles, I want the best for them, and I believe that no matter what they are still loved by God. Their identity is in Christ. He created them in the womb and it was GOOD. He yearns for them to return to Him. It is simple for all who sin, no matter what that sin is. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, repent (turn away from your sin), and follow Christ and His commands.

In closing, I know my views are not popular and I will be ostracized for them. Yet the Bible, God’s truth, is what I am trying to bring to light. I want everyone to have a relationship with Christ. I am a sinner. I ask for forgiveness all the time and thankful for God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. He is a good and loving Father, and if you let Him, He will change your life.

A sinner living by grace

Misty

The Call to Love

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A note to the reader:

I published this post on November 13, 2016. At that time, our country was divided over the Presidential selections. Now, 4 years later, we are in the same condition. Divided.

Thank you for reading. – Misty

martinlutherkingjrquote

The last two days I have been glancing at my computer and trying to ignore the nudge of writing on my blog. I usually use this as an outlet for my feelings, circumstances, frustrations, basically a journal of my life. So, it is curious as to why I could not bring myself to the keyboard.

This week has been a rough one in my country. I have found it so incredibly difficult to put into words how I am feeling, my fears, and my hopes. It almost seems impossible to express anything on social media, despite the best intentions, without having the wolves come at you. Honestly, I’m typing this now without a clue as to the title and after sending up a prayer for the Lord’s guidance in what I type and that it may glorify Him.

The scripture read today at church came from Luke 6:35-38:

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”(emphasis added)

My pastor spoke about the current protests going on in our country, as well as, the fear among our fellow neighbors. How even, in the small farming community I live, there are families who have sought out our church to see if we could be a safe haven for them. They are scared.

The above scripture is a call to Christians; but it goes even beyond that. Although, I am a Christian and believe Jesus is my Lord and Savior, I know there are those out there who do not have my belief system. I know some of these people personally, they are my friends and family, and I love them very much. They also, are great, loving and compassionate people.

I believe it is a call to humanity to love your enemies, lend and give to them without expecting any thing in return. We all should be merciful. We should not judge or condemn and we all need to forgive. 

The rhetoric between Americans, on both sides, is deplorable. The protests that are anything but peaceful, are wrong. The name calling of ‘cry babies’ and telling those who are legitimately hurting to ‘suck it up’, is wrong. The continued sharing of memes disrespecting our current president and our president-elect is wrong. The list can go on and on and on. Not one of these behaviors glorify our Lord. Not one of these behaviors show people God’s love.

It doesn’t matter who you supported and your reasons behind it. It doesn’t matter who won or who didn’t win. Why? Because NOONE can control how you respond to someone else, except you. Your behaviors, actions, words, and responses only speak to your own character and where your heart lies. 

I pray for healing for our nation. I pray for the hateful words to cease and be replaced by words of encouragement and love. I pray that we stop pointing fingers and casting out judgments and instead start opening our minds, hearts, and arms to people in our communities.

I am going to end with extending the earlier scripture and using The Message version. This is Luke 6: 27-38:

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that. 
I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind. Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing.
Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”
By His grace,
Misty