Finding Ways To Please The Lord!

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. Ephesians 5:8-10, 13 NIV

How long O Lord, how long will You continue to tolerate our attempts to please man more than pleasing You?

This letter written to the church at Ephesus was not written to unbelievers, but to Believers who once walked in the deeds of darkness, but should now walk in the light--making sure all of their deeds are illuminated by the motivation to please The Lord!

When I listen to people who claim to be Christians, but the words falling from their mouth sound like the words of the world and the things they do are no different than those in the world--those who have never been exposed to God's Truth, I have to wonder--do they really know Jesus Christ?

If there is no difference between the Believer and the unbeliever--how is anyone supposed to tell us apart? Jesus told we'd be known by our love for one another--but I see little evidence of that love among those who profess to know Christ. If Believers cannot tell the difference between other 
Believers and those in the world, what a sad commentary that makes on society and even sadder commentary about the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.

He didn't hang on that cross for those of us who say we believe to act like the rest of the world--cussing, deceiving, manipulating others, creating havoc and chaos every where they go. He hung on that cross--demonstrating His love for us and His desire for us to spend eternity with Him. We are to be examples to the world, not pawns in the hands of the enemy to act like the world.

Everything we do and say--should model what He did and said. We should be compassionate, kind, and loving, teaching His truths to all who will receive it. And for those who choose not to receive it, we shake the dust off our feet, smile and keep going. We take care of the poor and the needy and defend the rights of the vulnerable. We stand tall, loudly and proudly proclaiming the love of God, refusing to back down or back away from living His Truth. And when we are in doubt--about what to do about anything--we seek Him through His Word or Holy Spirit guidance so we'll know what we do--pleases Him, whether it pleases man or not. 

Is there anybody out there who wants to please God more than man (or government)? I wonder if we have to courage to defy man's dictates in order to please God in obeying Him. In this country, no one should be afraid to defy a corrupt and godless government, but people are and I'm inclined to believe it is because they care more about what people think of them, than God. And those same people will only have the lake of fire as their eternal resting place.

Help us today, Lord, to find ways to please You!

The Time Has Come!

"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." (2 Timothy 4:1-3 NIV)

Careful observation and introspection of current events and a society that willfully turns its back on God and His ways to accommodate sin, lets us know--the time has come--when people will not hear sound doctrine, but prefer to seek and support those who cosign perversion in our daily lives.

How do we know? We've given people carte blanche  to use illegal drugs (mind-altering drugs that inhibit rational thinking) under the guise of medical use. And in some places--the medical use facade is not even in question and a church in Illinois has been established where they worship--marijuana. Since that's all they will be doing is getting high--I wonder what the consequences will be when they're involved in situations where others are injured or killed.

Standing up for beliefs based upon the bible has become the foundation others use to ridicule and persecute--on all fronts. There are those who obviously do not understand history and the fact that this country was established on the foundation of civil disobedience against what they felt was the tyranny of England. Civil disobedience--a willingness to take a stand against injustice has always been a factor in how this country does business. However, when a county clerk in Kentucky stands firm in her beliefs--the venom spews like the winds blowing dust--covering everything in hatred of followers of Christ.

What continually amazes me is the lack of tolerance for Believers and what they believe by those who claim we are intolerant against their lifestyles that are in opposition to God's Word. We don't hate and spew obscenities at those who disagree with us. Most of us (Believers) understand that people may not agree with our view and accept it--without argument or denigration of a person's stance. Personally, I'm not interested in debating anyone about God's Word, but I do love a discussion in which all can be enlightened.

Yesterday, because I dared to comment on a news article (and trust me, I knew what would happen), haters came out of cyberspace almost before I finished typing. Now, remember--I commented on the article--not to a person who had already commented, but suddenly, I was the villain because I dared to commend Kim Davis on her stand. I had a number of people who tried to use the Bible to deflect from their hatred--from women speaking in a church being sin, to gay rights supporters using the race card (how dare I support Kim Davis since I had only been allowed to vote for the last 60 years), to assuming what my background is without any knowledge of who I am.

What did I do? I preached The Word, providing scripture references to support what I said and reminded all who hated, that God loved them and so do I. The devil couldn't stand it when I told people I loved to love them and they eventually stopped commenting.

Instead of engaging on the level of ignorance of God's Word shown by unbelievers, all we should do is to proclaim and explain God's Word--no matter how foolish someone else might be. One person--even told me (I have it copied into a document) that MEN wrote the bible, but GOD wrote the ten commandments. When I questioned how they could believe God wrote the ten commandments but could not inspire men to write the bible, I received no reply. I realized that this person was merely referencing what they had seen in a movie--since they did not realize that the ten commandments are located in the bible--the same bible they refuted since "fallible, fickle men" wrote it.

Let's endeavor to do what God said for us to do--preach The Word, be prepared in all situations to say what God said, and know why He said it so we can explain it to others. The time has come for us--who Believe in the totality of God's Word and its contextual meaning to stand firm and proclaim it with confidence in Him, strengthened and empowered by Holy Spirit.