Double standards make me sad.

Its sad when I have to unfollow a feed of daily encouraging Scripture because the comments section is less than encouraging. People say Christians are hateful and ignorant? What about when other people hate us? Why is it okay to beligerently insist that my belief is stupid, unfounded, and horrible but if I just look at you funny, its an intolerant hate crime? Double standards make me sad. (Deep breath)
If it makes you sad, chin up, my friend. Share with me this encouraging Word: No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you slaves anymore, because a slave doesn’t know what his master[b] is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father. If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.
John 15

LITL: A communication barrier bigger than you expected.

A while ago, I wrote about communicating: understanding the other perspective as well as admitting flaws in your own perspective. 

Shortly after, I became stuck on something even more difficult. What if the barriers aren't in your speech. Or theirs. What if the other person IS the barrier?

There have been many situations in my life when I have avoided the obvious answer to my problems. Or maybe I wouldn't even admit that I had a problem. When we know we are not living right, we avoid those things and people that are going to convict us. 

Have you ever gone through a day when you just couldn't listen to praise music? Even if it was a song you knew you liked. It just rubbed you the wrong way. Or avoided a good friend because you knew they would see right through you?

We have all been there. It goes back even to Old Testament times. In 1 Kings, Adonikah, brother of Absolom and son of King David announced himself to be king, despite David's still living and Solomon's known appointment as the next king. Adonijah was not alone when he did this. The bible tells us "Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei and David’s special guard did not join Adonijah." <sup>Adonijah knew who would be opposed to his plan, thus he avoided those people and told them nothing of it. 

Like Adonijah, we do not like to be alone when we are doing wrong. We will search far and wide to find someone to "be on our side."</sup> 

Proverbs 25:11-12
"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man's rebuke to a listening ear."

 Isaiah 9:6
"For a child will be born for us,a son will be given to us,[...] He will be named Wonderful [or Wise] Counselor." (Even stuck some Christmas in there for you. :)

Is there someone you have been avoiding, for of their wise counsel? Have you been avoiding the Word of God for fear of conviction?

What would you do for someone else's freedom?

 

 In light of Veteran's Day, I think a lot of people have freedom on their minds. 

We are celebrating a day of remembrance for those who have fought and died so that we could enjoy the freedoms we enjoy while living in this country. The many who are willing to put their lives on the line for people they don't even know. 

I remember when my sister got married in Mexico. My brother and her dad were on our way through the airport to leave for Mexico, when we saw a great line of men and women in camouflage passing by us. Who would have thought the simple words, "Welcome home" would taste so sweet coming from our mouths? But that was nothing compared to the gratitude they showed in return. 

As I was driving around today (fighting to make my defrost work so I wouldn't kill anyone between banks) I heard the song linked below. It's forceful chorus and inspiring verses got me really thinking about freedom. 

What would you do for someone else's freedom? This is a thought that pulls our focus away from ourselves. In a way we are asking not "What am I worth?" but "What is that lady in the drive thru worth?" or "How much is that guy that almost took off the front of my truck in the parking worth?" Because even these people have their freedom fought for daily just like yours. 

So what would you do for their freedom? Would you leave your home and your family for an extended amount of time? Would you venture to a foreign land in which you and the culture surrounding you don't understand one another? Would you spend days or weeks without proper bath, food, or sleep? Would you put yourself on the receiving end of a bullet? Or ridicule? Or a vicious torture device constructed of leather and metal? Or a crown of thorns? Or a cross?

He reighns and He would like you to stop bickering.

Face it people, we do not live in a theocracy. America was founded as a haven, freedom of (and from) religion. We live in a country with a system set up, one we learn about extensively in history class, that allows for the election of leaders. 

That being said, while God is control of our lives, man runs this nation. We live in a  fallen world. No leader can be perfect, and too often we forget that the man in the white house, is just that. A man. He is a person too. You aren't just electing a plan,  you are electing a person. 

God rules over his children from within. His Spirit lives in us and guides us. 

“I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you." (John 16:12-15)

His Spirit urges us to live in love and mercy toward one another. In no way is one us better than the other, weather by opinion, morality, view point. We are all equal in our sin,  and, for the children of God, equal in our sanctification. Proverbs 10:12 states "Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses." Put aside your snarky comments, your doom and gloom posts, your predictions of a downward spiral. The world is not ending because of the election, the world is not a bad place because of the president. The world is a bad place because of sin. 

Live in love, and let the living Spirit work through you to love even those who, God forbid, think differently than you do. That doesn't necessarily make them wrong, nor does it make them evil. God loves his creations. You should love them too. 

Spending Time with Jesus... and Country Radio

As a country music fan, I am rarely taken by surprise while listening to country radio. I've pretty much heard it all (for twenty years. yep. raised on the oldies and everything.) A lot of it is pretty good, some kind of pointless, some sad. Every once in a while a song will have exceptionally great lyrics or bring me to tears. On occasion a song will be actually so horrible that I train myself to know the first two notes, in order to change the station as quickly as possible. (coughcough Luke Bryan, I can tell you where to find me. :P)

But the other day I actually ran across a song that shocked me. This might be mostly due to the fact that I thought I was listening to a Christian Contemporary station, and only after the first few minutes of the song, did it strike me as an odd addition to their collection. 

Before I go into depth, here is a link to the song, and I will post the full lyrics to the end of the blog, for your convenience:

Yes, this song played for a good few minutes before it struck me as odd for its station. When I realized it was in fact on a country station, I found it sad that some people would probably have a conniption if they heard this on Way FM or Klove. The song is so real, so heart felt, and so true. But let's get down to the essentials, and see if we can avoid more sensitive issues. (ha! probably not gonna happen. You know me :P)

Granted, if I were to have a beer with Jesus, I would probably order something else, but he could of course order whatever he wants. Beer is just not to my taste, but I wouldn't say no to a taste of any of his favorite choices. Perhaps a nice bottle of wine, circa 25 AD ish. Maybe we would just order water and see what he whipped up. (John 2:1-11) Why, yes, I do think I'm clever. Ok, back to the song.  

LITL: Reaching for a life preserver

Take it from some one who knows from experience. When you're drowning, you'll pretty much reach for anything that might pull you above water. Anything that might help get some air in your lungs.

So what about when we're drowning in something that isn't water? What about pain, grief, sorrow, guilt, disappointment, loneliness, bitterness, fear? What do we reach for then? I came to this same question last night when I realized that the things I was reaching for were just sinking with me. When one would fail to fix the problem, it only increased my dispair.

It is so easy to rely on the things of this world for support or rescue. You see it all the time with anyone who seeks a substance or activity to escape from their day to day problems. For me its people. I rely so much on the people around me. However, I forget that people are just that... just people. They aren't perfect.

I've had some problems with a friend recently. These problems have left me sad, hurt, and sometimes even bitter toward the source. I keep thinking the friend will stop doing what they're doing, and everything will be OK again. I talk to my husband about it and more often than not I'm left more upset, because he doesn't completely understand, nor is he able to fix the problem. It wasn't until last night, in a bout of feeling particularly hopeless and lost, that I realized something just wasn't clicking.