There is nothing new under the sun. No new faults, desires, sins. It all boils down to self, the “I wants”, right now, greed.
Greed, the hardening of the heart to put self before all else is as old as time. “I want”, “I need”, and “me first above all else” is priority. Self leads to all sins because self rules.
People want to be rich, they want success, they want prosperity, they want everything centered around them, they want… want… want. Wants, not needs, is as old as recorded time. Yesterday New York celebrated a “want” for women. High society, highly successful New York, so sophisticated, so highly educated, right? Or, are they just turning back time to archaic and barbaric practices? Did they not just erase centuries of advancement for women?
The Canaanites, circa 1509 BC, practiced a ritual of offering their first born to the fires of Moloch so they would receive riches, prosperity and a successful life. Malkamwas the same for the Ammonites and Melqart for the Tyrian. Placing their first born in a fire, how barbaric people say. How ignorant, how selfish. God thought so.
Leviticus 20:2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death.“
Imagine what He thinks now as New York has just turned back time. Women can now offer their first born to the fires of abortion. Yes, fire, saline abortion is toxic and it burns. Essentially it burns soft tissues, even skin in the womb. The baby is burned even from the inside as the child swallows the solution. Such torture. Unthinkable. Unimaginable. How barbaric. A modern woman would never do such a thing.
New York has done the unthinkable. A woman can choose to torture an infant for convenience, for costs, for unwanted, for wrong gender, for any reason. Be careful though, you still cannot disturb a turtle or eagles nest. Those eggs, fertilized or not, are still protected by state and federal laws.
Welcome to 2019 New York. Your women can sacrifice their first born for convenience, career, riches, gender choice …. success and prosperity. Moloch just changed his name to abortion.
A civilized woman would utilize self control over selfishness. A civilized society would fund adoptions, not abortions.
There is a difference between God and gods. There are many false gods. Who are your gods? The devil is the god of this world, as evident of mankind’s worship of all things sin. They choose him, to be blinded.
2 Corinthians 4:4 “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
While satan* rules this earth, he is not in control unless you give him control. In essence you worship him when you worship a sin and it controls you.
Some worship lying, they will con you out of your last dollar. They will trick you into taking the side of wrong, they will lead you to believe in false data. They mess with your mental focus. The Bible tells us who is the father of deceit, satan*.
Some worship the flesh. Ignoring all other aspects of their being… mental, emotional and spiritual, their focus is all things physical. Instead of spirituality being foremost it is last or nonexistent. The physical controls their mental and emotional to the point of deprivation.
Many worship materialistic gods; houses, cars, boats, sports, money. Their gods control their decisions leaving them in patterns of habitual sin. Not all things are sinful but, prioritizing them to the point of worshipping them is sinful. They confuse wants with needs.
Although many prioritize everything above God, in essence making satan* their god, their priorities and satan* are not God. “The One, I Am” is God. God won the war over sin for all who believe Jesus came, lived, died and rose again as their Savior.
All of us have a void in us that occurred with the fall of man. When God left, the emptiness of life without Him began. Mankind tries to fill their emptiness with all sorts of gods. The only filling of that void comes when The Holy Spirit fills it after we accept Christ as our Savior.
Sadly, many Christians take control of their life and try to replace the Holy Spirit, ignoring the Power He gives, leaving a sense of emptiness again. The Holy Spirit is still there, willing an able to replace your substitute gods.
“The One, I Am” is God. He won for man the war over sin once and for ALL. All who believe Jesus came, lived, died and rose again as their Savior are victors with Christ.
Who are what are your gods today. Is God Lord or, are you and your gods in charge?
A popular logo on sportswear/equipment uses the slogan,
The world sets standards and we push to prove ourselves to the world. We think nothing of it as we strive to be better than the next person. Our ego wants us to be better than them in all ways imaginable: better car, better house, better looking, better kids, better at this and better at that. The media pushes it at us from every direction; clothing, billboards, commercials. It is subliminal sometimes and we buy into the mindset.
Yet, when it comes to our spiritual life we become wimps, milk-toast, wall-flowers. Scared about what His word tells us to do. Scared to take a stand. We buy into satan’s* lies and hide. We cannot DO IT! We do not know how to DO IT! Excuses, we have plenty. The Holy Spirit urges you to spend more time with your family in His word, in worship. You see a need and you think, “next time”. That hurting homeless person on the side of the street you see gets a “quickie” prayer, “Lord help them.” Your child’s classmates need shoes. The elderly neighbor just wants someone to take time to talk with them. The Spirit nudges and you keep moving, in the opposite direction … too busy to JUST DO IT.
We are so prone to talk about the things we are going to do when we have time. A mission trip, the soup kitchen, the coat drive…. making up handouts for the homeless**. Jesus’ first miracle recorded in John 2, tells of His mother asking for help. She told the others, “do what He tells you to do”. And they simply did as they were told. It would be so wonderful if we would simply do as we are led. Our cups overflow with His love through His gift of salvation. He wants you to share His love. JUST DO IT.
Start each day asking the Lord to use you in His will. When He shows you a need JUST DO IT. Do not stop and think you are not capable.
ROMANS 8:26-28 26 In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. 27 And He who searches the hearts knows the Spirit’s mind-set, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
He has a plan for your day. Open yourself up to the possibilities. As a parent, grandparent, co-worker, spouse … God uses each of us each day IF we allow Him. We are not puppets and He is not a puppet master. It is our choice. Do not think about it, JUST DO IT! No matter what He is asking you to do today, no matter what obstacles and trials He allows you to go through, it is for a reason. He is there through it all, working it for GOOD.
NEVER forget that the day ahead of you carries no task or trial that is greater than the POWER behind you as a Christian.
*satan – I know people capitalize the “S” but, I don’t. I refuse to give him any status of importance. He’s a snake, so satan, devil, etc. are lower case, as he is one.
** Homeless handouts: NEVER give cash, but you can carry several 1 gallon zip lock bags (something they can use later when it is empty) filled with: Tuna packet, crackers, snack size nuts, etc.. Include: package of tissues, comb, trial sizes of hand sanitizer, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, etc. You can put a New Testament or Christian track in there as well.
Ahhh…Mother’s Day! Brings back so many memories. Raised in the South meant following traditions.
Happy Mother's Day!
On Mother’s Day all five of us would go out to the rose bushes and select a red rose. My brothers would get buds and my sister and I would pick open blooms. Mother would select a white rose for herself and a white bud for my father. You wore a red rose to honor your mother who was alive, and a white one for a mother in Heaven. You simply would not go to church on Mother’s Day without a rose on your shoulder to honor your mother any more than you would go to church without your gloves and hat on Easter. In fact, many (including my mother) would take extras roses and pins for those who did not have roses in their yards. Flowers and their colors were non-verbal traditions of deep beliefs. The practice was carried out on Father’s Day, at funerals and of course in weddings. It was a way of saying what you could not necessarily say to everyone.
My youngest daughter was married 18 months ago and I made all the silk flowers. The grandmothers had two white roses to symbolize the two families they were bringing into the union of their grandchildren. The groom’s mother wore a corsage of two red roses, symbolic of the two grandmothers she and her husband represented. I wore a corsage of one white rose and one red rose since my mother is in Heaven and Phil’s mother is alive. No one ever wore black to weddings as that was a symbol of rejection of the bride or groom’s choice in life mate. Guests could simply look at flowers and know that grandmothers and mothers were alive even if they were unable to attend; and that by the attire of all those present in the family, that it was a happy and accepted union.
Symbolism … traditions. Things we pass on as a heritage to our children. Unfortunately, many points of traditions and heritage are being scoffed at in modern times and legacies are disappearing. All the world went gaga over a royal wedding of a couple that had lived together for two years and were already married in God’s eyes. The girl wore a white dress and full veil, a slap to the meaning of purity they have stood for all these years. The last royal wedding was not sanctioned until the bride-to-be proved her purity. Yet so many Christians got caught up in the fan-fare and glamor of a royal wedding, missing the sad part of how they desecrated marriage and the church. The church sold out the sanctity of marriage for the sake of royalty. With so little value placed on marriage is it any wonder that motherhood and the value of an unborn child’s life is also devalued. The morality level of the world slips each time Christians get caught up in the world’s ways.
Sadly, Spiritual traditions are fading with this trend and children are not the spiritual legacies of their former generations. Grandmothers are not bouncing children on their knees singing to them songs like, “Only A Boy Named David”, or “Build Your House Upon A Rock”. Everyone’s lost time for what matters. So many feel we have to ‘keep up with the times’ which leaves little time for traditions of Spiritual guidance. In reality, the times have not changed. There is nothing new under Heaven. God has not changed.
The scriptures have not changed:
Deuteronomy 5:16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”Colossians 3:20 “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”
God’s Word sets the standard for the traditions that lead to a legacy in Christ. Honor your parents … honor your mother. Your children are watching to see if you honor your parents. They will treat and honor you as they see you treat and honor your parents. Create a legacy in your children by being your parents legacy.
♪♫♫♪TRADITIONS! ♪♫TRADITIONS!♫♪♪♫
I hope each of you gave your Mother’s a great Mother’s Day if she’s alive and that you were given one by your children in turn.
We recently learned that our youngest daughter is expecting a boy in December. We have two wonderful granddaughters by our oldest daughter so this will be the first grandson. Well of course I had to go walk through the baby department to see what is out there for boys. As I was browsing I heard this loud voice and I looked and there was this very tall, athletic man on a Blue-tooth talking away. He had a little 7-8 year old girl tagging behind. They were in the little girls department next to infants so I could hear and see the whole incident. Obviously dad had her out to look for things for her. Maybe mom had the little one’s at home, maybe it was his weekend … it really did not matter, it simply was not ‘her time’. The conversation went like this, “yeah man, it was like that game when the Bucs (Tampa Bay’s football team) played … you know, the year before they won the Superbowl”. OK, time reference here … the man is discussing a game circa 2001. His little girl probably was not born. I wanted to shake him and say, “look at her face … see your child … what are you doing?” I wanted to go to the little girl and tell her to pull up Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s In The Cradle” and play it for her dad.
Where is your focus? Children know when they are not getting your best. God’s word says in Matthew chapter 6, that He loves us and cares for us. He knows our every need and want and He takes care of us. As Christians we are to mirror God’s parenting as we parent our children. I do not see God with a cell phone in His hand, watching His favorite TV show, or reading a book. He is not out playing some sports game, or going to some event at our expense. Our children get their value of themselves from us. We tell them by our actions how valuable they are. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing things for yourself as long it is not at your child’s expense. No matter if you chose to be a parent at this time or not, you are the parent. The child comes first.
I remember growing up watching a relative with their kids and comparing them to my parents in my head. If there was a cake to be divided that parent would always make sure they got a piece, the biggest piece. Yet if there was dessert on our table, my mom (who LOVED dessert and would eat it at the beginning of the meal if she could) always made sure we got some and then if any was left she had some. One time my dad gave mom the money to go buy herself a new coat, TWICE. After she returned from the store twice with things for all her five children, the third time dad drove her to the store and stayed until she bought herself a coat. She taught us how valuable we were. It was not just ‘things’ either. She spent time on her knees for us; she made our favorite foods; she went to the school events; was PTA and band booster presidents. She invested her life in us. She was a mom first, and “Gwen” … well, after all others’ needs were met.
My goal was to grow up to be a mom like her and to raise children that felt loved and valued and then they would pass it on to the next generation. Throughout the Old Testament (like in Leviticus and I Samuel) there are stories told of ‘sins of the fathers’ being passed on to generations. Basically, this means sin begets sin. A drunk raises drunks; a thief raises a thief, a liar a liar … an adulterer raises an adulterer; and an inattentive and unloving parent raises another generation of inattentive and unloving parent. The cycle stops when someone in the chain makes a conscious decision to repent of the pattern of sin in their family and chooses to move forward in God’s strength leaving the past sins of the father’s behind. Then and only then, will God heal the family.
Leviticus 26:39-43 (New International Version)39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their fathers’ sins they will waste away.40 ” ‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers—their treachery against me and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees.
Your kids, they’re going to grow up to be just like you! Scared?
The devil is the god of this world, as evident of mankind’s worship of all things sin. They choose him, to be blinded.
Lights in the Storm 