I read something this past week, and well, it bothered me.
It is becoming increasingly clear that one is being forced to stand up for the One they believe in, or for what they believe in. Moral issues are being thrown in our faces. There is open talk about what some call right, and what others call wrong. Used to, you could stay quiet and say, “What they do behind closed doors is their business.” Today, the doors are being ripped off their hinges and the whole world can now see what individuals believe.
What bothered me was some people’s response to this “In your face” attitude, and so I pondered, what would Jesus’ response to this be? You don’t have to look very long in the word of God to find the answer:
Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?” Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.” Mat. 9:10-13 (MSG)
The truth is; God gives man freewill, so who are we not to? Are we greater than God? If you see something on TV or on Facebook, you don’t agree with or like, and can’t find something “graceful” to say then just scroll on. I do that whenever I see post about dogs and cats. “Change the channel” if you will.
Is Jesus on Facebook? No, but we who claim to be His followers are.
Copyright © 2019 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
God is with me in the special moments, but I would rather have him in the regular ones. There are more of them!
After living here four months, it finally happened! I got very sick this past week from being an American and being careless with the water here in the Philippines. While I was lying in my hospital bed, there was a series of thoughts like, “Is God punishing me? Am I not praying enough? What lesson is God wanting me to learn? Should I be praying more?” Then there are those who try to bargain with God like, “God, I will go to church, if you get me out of this.”
Why are we the only ones providing a snack each week for the children? Can’t someone else do it this week?” Asked the man.
Satan is religious. He loves churches that try to get you to follow a list of dos and don’ts knowing when you fail, you will probably hate yourself and possibly hate God. Satan religiously tries to get you to believe the lie that you have to follow a list of rules. The problem is simple: you are trusting man to tell you what God desires from you instead of finding out for yourself.
Love is not premeditated– it is spontaneous; that is, it bursts forth in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of precise certainty in Paul’s description of love. We cannot predetermine our thoughts and actions by saying, “Now I will never think any evil thoughts, and I will believe everything that Jesus would have me to believe.” No, the characteristic of love is spontaneity. We don’t deliberately set the statements of Jesus before us as our standard, but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without even realizing it. And when we look back, we are amazed at how unconcerned we have been over our emotions, which is the very evidence that real spontaneous love was there. The nature of everything involved in the life of God in us is only discerned when we have been through it and it is in our past.
Here in the Philippines, they print pictures on the packages of cigarettes, that show what could happen if you smoke. Is it effective? I don’t know, but I don’t see a lot of smoking going on. Of course that could be due to the cost of cigarettes.
Because it worked for an individual, a certain way, in a certain amount of time, doesn’t mean it will for you. I’ve noticed over the years, people will flock to hear a person tell how God moved in their life to reach others. Or to hear what they did before God healed them. There is nothing wrong with listening to someone give their testimony, but people think if they duplicate what the person did, it will happen for them, so they take notes, and list each step as if it’s a formula or a recipe. They think, “Well, if I pray as much as they did, or quit my job to fully devote my time to God.” The danger is this; if the individual does all the same steps, but doesn’t get the same result then they can get discouraged, dissatisfied, disgruntled and disappointed with themselves or even with God.
I almost blew it! What if I hadn’t of done what I had committed to God to do? I had told him a few years ago I would do my best to never miss a deadline to writing a blog. If I had what would have happened? I know one thing, the end result wouldn’t have been the same.
brady, mark a. 