United, We Stand

 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand."

Matthew 12:25

I see comments on social media every now and then from one "side" or the other that read, "They know Jesus was a liberal, right?" or "They know Jesus was a conservative, right?" I have to laugh, because though Jesus referenced politics many times in the Bible, he certainly didn't choose a side. He wasn't even an "Independent", as I call myself. 

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place." 

John 18:36 

The kingdom of God. It transcends all political affiliations and all the ties that bind people to their restrictive rules and regulations. It cannot be contained by a worldly system, and yet so many have tried to use Jesus as a pawn for their cause. They put Jesus in a box. 

"HE would be on OUR side!" Well, we don't know that for sure, do we? What we do know is that being divided prevents God from working on either of our "sides". We are demolishing our own sides with our refusal to submit to His authority, not each other's, and that's where we fail. That's where we are divided against ourselves and division won't stand. 

Ironically, it's the whole American, "United we stand, divided we fall" thing that everyone is so mushy about, yet look at us, ruining ourselves and blaming someone else. And it's not even "division" of a country that we're causing. We're causing divided hearts. Our own and someone else's too. That's the biggest price of all. 

He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." 

Matthew 13:52

He's saying we need both old and new! The conservatives who don't like change and want to adhere to old policies and old structures to maintain integrity and sometimes very old viewpoints, and we also need new. New changes to incorporate the values that are sometimes necessary to invoke better standards, allow for freedoms not previously provided, or to allow growth where it was formerly not allowed. We need both viewpoints in order to be disciples in the kingdom. We need a blending and a balance of the two, and because of the great division, harmony cannot be found. And the "house" won't stand for long. 

Something that kept tugging at me when I saw the negative use of the word "liberal" by certain individuals was that if loving people the way that God told me to makes me a liberal, then so be it. If wanting people to feel loved and accepted the way I feel loved and accepted by God makes me a liberal, then good. If wearing a mask because I feel it is protecting myself and people I love makes me a liberal, then so what? People need to stop with the labels. I am a human. I am neither "liberal" nor "conservative", though I probably have traits of both! I am a person at the end of the day. And God help me love all of you better no matter what you call yourselves. 

I have seen the effects of households divided by political beliefs. Friendships ended because of the colors red and blue. Christianity smeared and misunderstood, misused and profaned by many. I think "divided" is the least of our worries as a country. It was just the beginning of bigger lessons to come.  How we choose to respond to those lessons and how well we are prepared for them is what will determine how well we fare in their wake. I can't fight off every hateful word I see on social media. I've been slaughtered and told I "take the cake for stupid". I giggled at that. It's pretty ridiculous to call people names from behind your keyboard. In your mom's basement. Okay, okay. I said nothing back, I promise. 

I'm not going to tell an angry Democrat to "understand" a Republican right now or vice versa. I'm just not. The fire is way too hot. But what I will say is that the temperature needs to come down on our words, especially the ones that aren't serving a purpose for change. Let's find a solution to our problems. Let's take ourselves to God and ask Him what in US needs to be altered and changed. What do we need to do about the division we see, hear, and feel? I have a feeling God wants the same things we do, and if we ask Him, He will deliver that message. Pray, people. Pray. 

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens...

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Anger is Heavy, Grace is Light

 God's anger is shown from heaven against all the evil and wrong things people do. By their own evil lives they hide the truth. God shows his anger because some knowledge of him has been made clear to them. Yes, God has shown himself to them. 

Romans 1:18-19

"God is angry at the evil that ruins his children. 'As long as God is God, he cannot behold with indifference that his creation is destroyed and his holy will trodden underfoot." -Max Lucado (In the Grip of Grace) 

To say that there is evil in the world is not a new concept, nor is it new to hear that people are evil and wrong and doing horrible things to themselves and each other. But to say that God is sweet and loving through it all is to be blind to who God is and what He truly wants for us, His children. 

God is angered by the things that bring us to self-destruction, destruction of others, evil doings, disobedience. God doesn't stop loving us because He is angry at us, just like a parent doesn't stop loving a wayward child. But His love doesn't excuse anger and wrongdoing and He means business. 

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Romans 1:21

I've been angry lately. Angrier than I've probably ever been in my entire life, and it's not wearing well on me at all. Anger, even the so-called "justified" kind, is not a good feeling. I'm hearing and seeing things that just send me into a tailspin of rage, and I have nowhere to go with all this yucky emotion. Or do I? 

It is said that before we understand the greatness of God's grace, we must first understand his wrath. To understand just how powerful the grace of God is, we must realize that God was the first one to be trampled, disregarded, hated, lied about, and sinned against, despite all he had done for the people. And it goes on still today. People who are evil, destructive, haughty, lying, murdering, committing every sin under the sun, and yet there is the grace of God. How does He do it? He's God. That's how. He is God and we are not. 

We are told that because grace was extended to us, we can extend grace to others. There is no "if they apologize", "if they make things right", "if they stop doing that thing they are doing". I have grappled with this grace thing lately because to my human mind there is a difference between a friend hurting your feelings and extending grace and an attack on your country. One hurts a little and the other makes me want to crack some skulls together and never forgive anyone who stands with them, if I'm being honest about my anger. And I can be nothing but honest or how can I help you or myself?

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more. 

Romans 5:20

But God doesn't see it that way. Human anger is self-driven and self-righteous.  I have seen and heard so much hate these past couple of weeks and during this past year throughout the pandemic. I am angry for many reasons and sometimes I don't know what to do with all the things I think and feel. What I do know is I can't live my life without peace. A person without peace is a person who can no longer think straight, help others effectively, hear from God effectively, or respond in a way that is helpful when it matters. My judgment is affected when in the back of my mind a pot of angry stew is brewing with the lid just bubbling up and steam is rising. At any moment I just know it's going to blow and nothing good comes from an exploding pot of anything. 

For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 

James 1:20 

The good news is that God understands anger. The difference is that his anger is because of His great love for His creation and His desire for us to follow him. His actions are more effective than mine because He can keep loving through his anger and my love becomes less apparent with anger. Like the parent who spanks the child who ran in the street to chase a ball, they did so out of love and the fear of losing their precious child. All the child felt was the spanking and all they heard was the scream of "Don't you ever do that again!" My fear of losing unity in my country, unity among my friends and family, harmony within the Christian community-there is nothing even righteous anger can do to fix that right now. What I need and what some people seem to need is a steady and stable source of calm. Is extending human grace a part of that calm? I think so, yes. And yet it will take a whole lot of it for any kind of healing to begin. Humans are complicated beings, and they don't like to admit they are wrong. Do we?

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 

1 Peter 2:21 

What is happening in the world right now and not just here in America, is bigger than any of us but it's not bigger than God. It may seem out of control and filled with fear and the unknown. It may look deceptive at every turn. It may look like nothing is ever going to be any better. Just watch the news for a couple hours and you might feel jittery, sick to your stomach, and probably a little negative for the rest of the week. We can't let the state of the world rule our feelings, no matter how "real" it all feels. 

I'm preaching to my own choir here. Don't think for one minute I have this all figured out. As I've always said here in my blog, I'm learning right along with you. I'm no scholar of anything but knowing where to turn when I need help. I have to make a choice daily: am I going to succumb to my feelings about the circumstances we are in? Am I going to give in to fear? Am I going to rage about all the unfairness and lies that are being sold as truths? Or is there a way that I can choose peace? Is there a way I can still be loving and caring and invested in the things and people I care about, while trusting God for the outcome? Do I have the right to put a price on grace? No. God says extend grace as a way to extend the same love and compassion that was extended to me while I was still a bag of rags and being a wayward brat. I have no right to decide if another person deserves grace because I too need grace every day. It is pompous to believe otherwise. 

And he answered, Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. 

2 Kings 6:16,17

One way to peace is to accept that even when we think we are in control, we are not. Even when things turned out the way we wanted them to, and especially when they do not! The best cure for fear is faith. We have God in heaven who already knows the outcome to all the turmoil down here. He already knows the answers to our questions and He knows the timing of all the things we want to have done and who we want to do them. It has never been about us and what we want and the sooner we figure that out, the better. The more I tell myself that, the better off I become. God said we WILL have problems in this world, but that He has overcome them. We are to trust his judgment and not our own. God is bigger than state, than country, and certainly bigger than the world. 

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. 

John 16:33 

Blessings! Pray for your world, country, and state leaders. For those who are trying to do right in a wrong situation. For those who are doing wrong in a right situation. For those who are misled, for those who are sick, for those who are blind, for those who are seeking. For those who need shelter, for those who are unseen, unheard, and uncared for. For those in need of a Savior, for those in need of a friend. Pray harder than you've ever prayed. 

Don't Look Back....You're Not Going That Way

 But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 3:13-14 

I like a song by one of my favorite bands, Tenth Avenue North. It's an older song called "You Are More". I've sent it to many friends of mine, and awhile back I sent it to someone who posted on social media, "You are what you do." This person was going through some really tough things in a relationship and some custody issues and it was getting brutal. This person was a person of faith, and I hoped by sharing the lyrics of this song I could lend some hope into whatever was happening within the situation. I've also sent it to someone having to serve time for a few outstanding warrants. I've listened to it myself over and over when needing the reminder that I am "more than the sum of my past mistakes. I am more than the problems I create. I've been remade." 

Friends, we've been remade! Thank God we are not what we "do"!  God loves us so much more than the messes we make and the dumb things we say and do.  He created us for His pleasure. He gave up his son to die for those mistakes He knew we were going to make before we even made them and for the ones we haven't even made yet. I know it seems redundant sometimes to hear this, but God does love us that much. So much that we can't even grasp it and maybe that's why some of us have such a hard time understanding His forgiveness too. 

 John 3:16 For God so LOVED the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. 

He wants us to give Him all the messes we make, be completely repentant in our hearts for anything we've done or said to sin against Him, others, or ourselves. Once we do that, He forgives us. We are to receive that forgiveness and not repeat the sin. It's really that simple. He washes the slate clean and we start again.

For I will forgive their wickedness and I will remember their sins no more. Hebrews 8:12

The third step of that equation is that we need to then forgive ourselves, and perhaps that is the part with which some of us struggle from time to time. There are some things I know I can declare victory over, and there are still some areas I know I have to keep forgiving myself over and over again. The battlefield is in the mind and the enemy loves to remind me of every little thing I've ever said and done wrong. 

Satan delights in bringing up our old mistakes and hurting us with them. He will even use people to do his dirty work for him. You may run into an old friend or an old crowd and they may still associate you with your old behavior or past personality. You have to remain strong and remain the remade person in Christ that you are. You can't let his tricks fool you. God has forgiven you and it's time to move on. Even if people on the outside don't know the "new you". Even if people discuss you behind your back. Even if people believe the worst about you. You and God know the truth about you and that is enough. Move on and keep going forward. As the quote says, "When Satan brings up your past, remind him of his future". 

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past  Isaiah 43:18

 God gave us grace when he showed us favor and kindness when we certainly didn't deserve it. When we extend that same grace to others, we are showing God's love to them. We are saying to them, "hey, I see you and the purpose you serve. I don't see your mistakes." And what a wonderful gift it is to let someone know that you see who they are and not who they used to be. When we decide to stop doing background checks and looking in rear view mirrors, we will find there are far more productive and joyful things in our futures. 

If we are in Christ, we are not who we "used to be". We are now who Christ says we are!

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 3;12