That Shoe Doesn't Fit

Once again I came across a post on Facebook that I felt compelled to respond to.  I began writing a comment which turned into a paragraph, and soon decided that it was better to blog it than to fill my friends wall with a long comment that would probably not be appreciated in that context.  Maybe she will read my view here and take it into consideration. If I give her the link she can decide whether or not to click it.  I thank you for reading, and ask that you will carefully try to discern what I really mean to say.  It is interesting that the same topic keeps coming up, but I truly feel bombarded with messages like the one below.  I'll be honest with you:  I don't even know who this guy is, but I see his words and they reveal something.

You can click this to enlarge it and read what I am responding to.

Honestly, this quote sounds like the angry rage of intolerance to me. While fear can be the result of a belief, accusing others of fear because of their moral beliefs seems illogical.  While a person may fear the dark because they believe that something they can't see will attack them, they don't necessarily believe that night is wrong. We don't automatically assume that those who are afraid of heights are morally opposed to tall buildings, airplanes or mountains. If someone is opposed buildings of great height, would you conclude without question that it is because they suffer from acrophobia?  If I have a phobia, based on the reasoning of Henry Rollins, it's of immorality and it's consequences, I'm not just a homophobe. My fear is of the price the unrepentant heart will pay without accepting The Savior.  "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and "the payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans 3:23 and 6:23).  We are all as guilty of sin as a thief or a murderer because all sin no matter how big or small is still sin which separates us from God.   

I am making a proclamation of freedom from sin!  I want everyone to know that they have that right.  I don't hide behind the Bible, I do my best to live by it.  I take what it says to heart even when I am convicted for losing my temper, being unkind or grumpy, being lazy, or the many other ways I mess up from day to day.  Don't think that I don't consider those things serious, they are, and I struggle with them.  Sanctification* is a process, but it only begins when we admit that we need God's forgiveness through His Son, Jesus.  If we keep telling ourselves we aren't so bad, we won't be saved because we don't think we need God's mercy.  I know I am a sinner saved by grace. 

More and more I feel like people are randomly pointing their proverbial finger in my face, and the faces of others who share my beliefs and values, but they really don't know what I truly stand for.  They are firing shots into a crowd of strangers.  I try to avoid randomly spewing out judgemental, stereotypical comments, so it stings when I feel like I'm dodging bullets.  Hate and anger aren't going to take us anywhere we want to be.  Positive change begins with love.  You don't have to agree with someone to love them, nor do you have to allow them to force their choices on you.  The choice I wish everyone would make, to accept God's forgiveness through Jesus, is one that can never be forced.  It has to be the real and authentic decision of each individual.

I do understand that there are people on both sides who are very verbal about their opinions on certain issues.  Folks get defensive and the mud flies back and forth.  I don't want to be about an issue, I want to be about Jesus and His offer of forgiveness to anyone who believes.  No one can turn from sin on their own, but if they accept that He died in their place, they will want to let Him help them.  Maybe if I keep telling people there is forgiveness available, they will be able to admit that they've done wrong and receive it.  My message is forgiveness.  Will you believe in Jesus and accept it?

*Sanctification is being made holy.  When we trust in Jesus Christ we are pardoned from all of our sins immediately, and we begin to gradually change as we fight against the sin in our lives.  Someday the transformation will be complete.  1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."

Temporary Cohabitation

Have you ever thought about how great it would be to live in a world with no sickness, pain or crime;  a place where each individual was treated with the highest respect, and no one was judged unfairly? Believe it or not, there is such a place.  It's called heaven, and it is where God, The Creator, lives.  In heaven there is no sin, and therefore there is no suffering.  The presence of sin is what causes suffering.  

When God created the earth He made it perfect, and it would still be perfect if sin had not entered.  When the first sin was committed on earth by the free will of man, it grew like a cancer.  It has been passed down to every human being, and even nature was affected.  And so we live in a world where good and evil are both present.  In heaven there is only good because God is there, here on earth good and evil cohabitate, but there is another world where there is only evil. Hell is total separation from God in whom all that is good originates.  Separation from God means separation from all that is good.  

Think of the things in this world that are good.  Mountains, streams and rivers, flowers, trees and vegetables, oceans, beaches and sunshine are just a few examples of things that are good here.  In fact, each day of creation, God looked at what He had made and saw that it was good.  Now think for a minute about all the bad things in the world.  Disease, hunger, disaster, violence, war, murder and hate are all bad.  They are examples of what is left when there is no good.  Can you imagine what it would be like in a place where only what is good and beautiful could exist to bring joy, or living in a world where only what is evil and abhorrent could exist to bring torment? Someday good and evil will be completely divided. While I doubt that there are flowers, trees or rivers in hell, sometimes I wonder if there are mosquitoes and poison ivy there.  That is something I am content to never know the answer to.  Things in heaven will be better than the best things we know here because there will be no pollution, drought or disease.    

This is a beautiful lake, but do you see all of the dead trees?

We live in a world where good and evil are allowed to coexist for a time, but when we leave this world behind we will spend eternity either where there is only good or where there is only evil.  The only way to enter heaven is to be without sin.  If sinful mankind entered heaven it would no longer be perfect.  Anyone who is not completely perfect will spend eternity where there is only evil.  Considering that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," who could ever get to Heaven?

There is only one man who ever lived a perfect life worthy of heaven.  He is God's own Son who left that perfect place and was willingly born into a mortal human body.  He struggled against all the temptation we face, but He overcame it.  He never gave in.  He never did one thing that was wrong.  He is the only man who could enter heaven, but He gave up His own perfect life to bear the sin of every other man and woman who was ever born on earth.  He experienced the guilt and shame that was rightfully ours for each sin we have ever committed.  He traded places with us, shed His blood in a brutal crucifixion, and died for everything we have ever done wrong.

Because Jesus was punished for sin that He had not committed, death had no power to hold Him.  The third day he rose from the dead.  He was seen by many people.  He ate food and allowed people to touch Him proving that he was actually physically there.  He had scars in his hands, feet and side.  The wounds were healed, but the scars remained as a testimony of what He had suffered.  He told his followers to spread the word about what He had accomplished, and then He ascended to Heaven to wait for those who would believe.  That is all you can do to have your sin removed and be made perfect for heaven: believe that God's perfect Son, Jesus, died for you.  

Someday this world will end.  When that happens everyone will be admitted to the world they have chosen to spend eternity in.  Those who trust in Jesus choose the joy of Heaven.  Those who reject the message of His sacrifice choose to be separated from all that is good.  I have made my choice.  Have you made yours?  If you haven't, are you ready to make it today? Though we still experience physical death here, our spirits are offered life unending in a new body that will never know decay or corruption. I urge you to accept the offer today, and thank Jesus for the trade He made for you.

Thread Of Truth Untangled

I saw this post on Facebook today, and found some truth and some error mixed together.  It's true that divorce is wrong, but the consequence of stoning was old testament to show why we needed a Savior.  The Savior came and paid the consequence on the cross.  We deserve to die  for our sins, but Jesus gave His life for ours as a substitute.  

Someone who has been forgiven of their sin by a Merciful Savior should desire a life of purity.  When the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, and her accusers walked away instead of stoning her, Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." John 8:10-11.  Love thy neighbor...  Yes.  Accept the person...  Yes.  Embrace the sin...  No.  That goes for all sin, not just this one.  Let's see...  adultery, lust, dishonesty and lack of self control would all qualify as well as the one mentioned in the image below.  Jesus said that a person who hates his brother has committed murder in his heart.

I am not in favor of ruining lives, but that is exactly what sin will do.  Do I sin?  You better believe it!  Am I proud of it? Definitely not!  It's a struggle.  I don't accept my sin.  I repent of it.  I know that I am accepted by God only because of what Christ did for me.  Many find my stand on this offensive, though my purpose is to provide information, not to offend.  There is forgiveness in Christ, but the choice to receive it by trusting Him belongs to each individual.  He left His home in glory, and put on a mortal body that could be brutally beaten and killed, so we could be cleansed from sin.  I love Jesus!  I want to follow Him and help others do the same.  That's all.

This is the Post I am referring to

A Test Without A Curve

One of the very great misconceptions there seems to be among people who believe in God is that He will let them in to heaven if they have been relatively good.  There is this false idea that if a person has never committed a murder, robbed a bank or assaulted anyone they will make the cut.  The problem is that this notion compares people to each other instead of to God's standard, and God doesn't grade on a curve.  You have to attain a perfect score to pass the entrance exam into His kingdom.  

"That's impossible!" You may think, and I am glad you recognize it if you do.  The Bible says that "all have sinned," (Romans 2:23), and that "there is none righteous, no not one," (Romans 3:10).  We can't make it on our own merit or achievement.  That is why God sent His perfect Son to come and  pass the test.  God doesn't curve our grade, but He gives us the right to claim Jesus' test score as our own if we simply ask.  

Jesus is the only one who ever earned a perfect 100%.  He lived on earth as a human with all of our desires and temptations, but never gave in to one of them.  He suffered, bled and died the death that we deserved for all of our rebellion against God's perfect nature.  He gave himself as our substitute so that we could have our life stamped with His perfect score.  The only right answer to our test is, "Jesus."  All we must do is receive the free gift He is offering based on His performance, not ours.  

Will you admit today that all the good you have ever done will never add up to a perfect score?  Will you give up the deception that if you are good compared to other people He will let you enter on your own merit? Will you trust His sacrifice of perfection as the only way to be accepted by a Holy God?  "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them."  (John 3:36)

Your perfect score was ruined by sin long ago, as was mine.  You can't ever bring your score back up to 100%. There will always be points missing.  You can't make them up. There's no extra credit.   Jesus wants to come into your life, change your grade, and begin making you more like Him, but He is waiting for you to invite Him in.  God doesn't grade on a curve, and Jesus isn't a party crasher.  He won't sneak in the back door.  He will only come in if you ask him to.  

jmhuyett