Crutches are Good

Crutch -
--noun
1. a staff or support to assist a lame or infirm person in walking, now usually with a crosspiece at one end to fit under the armpit.

"I don't need a crutch to help me get through life. I can do just fine on my own." - The Agnostic

Have you taken a look at our society lately and how well things are going for everyone? Hah. Over 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, babies are being viewed as inconvenient and being mercilessly killed, women are getting pregnant out of wedlock, children are growing up without two parents and families are being destroyed because of it... our culture wants to disobey God's word in every single way possible, and look at what is happening. This is what happens to a culture that relies on their own strength.

I've been thinking a lot about this saying lately, you know the one some people say about religious people needing a crutch to get through life. I've often heard people refer to any form of religion as a crutch. Whenever this statement is made, it is always in the form of an insult. Non-religious people believe that the religious people are too weak to get through life without their religion. This statement is both true and false concerning Christianity, depending on your definition of weak.

One wrong way to view this crutch is as something Christians use to help them feel better about life and death and to help them along in life and to make them happier people. That is not the purpose of a crutch, that is not the true definition of what a crutch is. That is just one of the many problems with this analogy. This is the world's twisted view of what a crutch is. When we really think about what a crutch is - it is exactly something that everyone should have. Another wrong way to view a crutch is as an optional tool and not a necessity. In the case that a person does understand what a crutch is, they are too full of pride and they choose not to use it.

It is obvious that the Christian's view of the world and the world's view of themselves are drastically different in every way you can possibly think of. Human pride has twisted the intentions of a crutch into something that is for the weak and it is unnecessary for the strong. In the nonbeliever's eyes, having an emotional crutch is not just a bad thing but a ridiculous thing. "Why not live according to your own standards? Why not be in complete control of your own life?" To the nonbeliever, the crutch is a symbol of weakness, low self-esteem, lack of intelligence, lack of self-reliance, lack of independence, and an ignorance to reality. The crutch represents a loss of self and to let go of one's self is simply unbelievable. It is actually laughable among the lost because it is beyond their idea of common sense.

My question is this - is it really a bad thing to have a crutch? Not the world's view of a crutch, but the reality of a crutch. If you break your leg, a crutch is a good thing and it is absolutely necessary if you want to walk, because you are weak and the crutch saves you from falling. In the same way, if we are wretched sinners and have broken God's law, isn't it absolutely necessary that we have a crutch (a support to assist the lame) to save us from falling?
Is it even possible to be in such a good state that we do not need a crutch?

This is how I see it. Nonbelievers are the ones with the broken legs that are too proud to use the crutch. People who choose to accept that Jesus Christ is THE savior are the ones who are humble enough to use the crutch, because they understand their current state of weakness. Ever heard of the band Thousand Foot Krutch? This is exactly what they mean. Their name symbolizes "the point in our lives when we realize we cannot make it on our own strength." It is not an option, we humans are in need of a crutch.

I will use myself as an example. I understand what my true state is. God created the world (how many of us can say we've done that?), since he created this world - he knew what would make it function properly and thus - he set standards for his people. I broke those standards, which means that I am a law breaker. I have sinned at least once in my life. In fact I have slapped God in the face so many times with my sins I can't even count the number of times. I am a horrible, rotten, wretched sinner and I deserve nothing more than death and eternal separation from God. But! Jesus has provided a way - the only way- to repay my sins. He was a sinless, and that was why he was able to provide the payment. There is no way I could ever do it on my own. He is the only good reason we have to live. And so...

I didn't come to Jesus so that he would make my life better and all my problems would go away - I came to Jesus because I was falling and I needed forgiveness. He is the one who helps me stand. He has saved me from the ultimate fall. In this sense - I would not live if it were not for my relationship with Christ (my "religion") If someone wants to refer to this crutch in a bad way, let it be. If someone wants to believe that I am weak, let it be. All that matters is what is true, and the truth is that I am a sinner, I am weak and HE is is the only one that is strong! He is my refuge and my strength. Without Him, no one has anything, regardless of whether or not they believe in him.

Jesus is not in the same camp as all the other religions, all the other prophets, and all of the people of the world. Why? Because he said so himself - he is the ONLY way to Heaven! Without Jesus Christ, we are nothing. If you are a Christian and you are tormented by this statement that your "religion" is just a "crutch", do not let it bother you. It is more honorable to God to humble yourself and realize your weakness than to be so proud that you don't want anyone to think you are weak.

If you think you are a good enough person to think you don't need a crutch, take a few minutes and examine yourself - your character and the way that you live. Do you sin? Of course you do. Do you repent of those sins? Do you hate all that God hates? Love all that God loves? According to the Bible there are eternal consequences for sin. If you don't hate all that God hates, there is something wrong there. If you are human - you are in a fallen sinful state and without a crutch you will never be able to walk. The only way to truly live is to understand that you are dead in your sins.

Bible Study: Isaiah: Chapters 1-12

Prophecy is one of His ways of providing us with evidence of who He is, so we have a basis for faith and not blind faith. -- Chuck Smith

Aren't prophesies amazing?! I love reading the Old Testament and finding myself completely astonished with all of the prophesies of Jesus' life that were written centuries before Jesus was born.

Recently at church the women have begun a study on the book of Isaiah. I was very excited to do this study because in all my years (all 23 of them!) I had never read through the entire book before. The idea of studying this book was a little intimidating at first because it is a very long book and all I really knew about the book was that it was about prophesies.

Well now we are 5 weeks into the study and I can say I have certainly been blessed by this study each week. The first 12 chapters have dealt greatly with the wrath of God, which is a difficult thing to understand sometimes. For many years I never understood what people meant when they said God was not only loving but he was a God of wrath. I would read bits and pieces of Isaiah (and many other books that speak of His wrath) and I'd be terrified. Could God really be angry with people and why would he be that angry? Remember the "fear" you had of your parents if you'd done something wrong and you knew there was a punishment? The fear I have when reading these passages of God's wrath doesn't even compare to that. This is good though because its proof that I'm saved. The fear that we should have of God is unspeakable, because we do wrong (sin) and disrespect our creator every day of our lives. The thought of what we deserve should absolutely terrify us and make us tremble.

Why must he pour out his wrath on people? Because God is good. It is a strange and beautiful concept. If he did not punish those who did wrong, He would not be good. When reading these chapters, especially the ones that speak of specifics of how God demonstrates his wrath, it is frightening. As we read through Isaiah, we are constantly reminded that if we are not with God, we are against Him. If we are against God, we have no hope for life. This is why I have a hard time understanding how a person can go through their entire life believing that there is no God. How does one live with no hope?

God gave Isaiah a clear vision of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. This is one thing that absolutely amazes me with each weekly study in Isaiah, there is no question of whether or not he is talking about Jesus, it is made absolutely clear. It's wonderful! The depth of God's plan to redeem his people is absolutely brilliant (I know, I know...of course it is - this is the holy and perfect God we are talking about.) I just love that there is a purpose and a plan for everything. I've learned about biblical history, the present time and our current conditions, and the future by reading this book. The amount of information that God gave Isaiah is incredible. If you've never read it, please do a study on it. I'm not even halfway through it yet and its already been a remarkable journey.

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Joyce Meyer: Authentic Happiness?

Jesus told the crowds, “Whoever will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mark 8:34).

The cross was an instrument of death. Therefore taking up your cross is to die to yourself.

I struggled for years with low self-esteem, depression, loneliness, fear of people, etc. Our culture screams that in order to be somebody you have to know how to love yourself above anything else, because if you can't love yourself, you can't begin to love others. This is far from the truth, but I believed it anyway. I searched for ways to learn to love myself - what better way to do that than to focus on God's love for me. I went to church with the intent of wanting to be uplifted and assured of God's love for me. This was was kept me from staying depressed all the time. Nevertheless, the Bible does tell us we should be joyful and of course we should never hate ourselves because we have all been beautifully created by God, but our main focus in life should never be on ourselves. It should all be about Jesus Christ.

I struggle with this 'me me me!' mentality all the time. I'm not skinny enough, my hair isn't pretty enough, my face isn't clear enough, I don't have enough stuff for my kitchen, I need ____ and I need ____. I think everyone in our culture deals with this and most people don't even realize that they are doing it. But what we need to keep in mind is that we are no longer living for ourselves if we are Christians. We should be striving for Biblical attitudes towards life.

Joyce Meyer is the author of over 50 self-help books that include Biblical principles. Yet, she is called Pastor (which is another thing I don't believe is biblical, but let's continue on.) If she is called Pastor, that implies that she is a teacher of the Bible. Teaching Biblical principles and the teaching the Bible are two completely different things. It is taking the parts of the Bible that you like, coming up with your own spin on things, teaching those, and ignoring the rest of what the Bible teaches. I've fallen as victim to many of these teachings throughout my life, it is very easy to get sucked into a self-topical sermon, especially one that you can relate to. You end up not learning a thing about the Bible though.

I know people who love her and people who can't stand her. This is what made me wonder about this ministry. What is her ministry? Why does she teach biblical principles (basic rules and ideas of the Bible)? I read some of a few of her books and checked out her website, even listened to a couple of her teachings. She does have a lot of good to say. From the average Christian's perspective, she is very inspiring and you can learn a lot about yourself from what she says. But what good comes from learning about yourself? That is the problem. I don't know how much God can be glorified by anything that she says. I mean, she tells people they need to get motivated or that they are selfish beings... yes, we know this... this is why we became Christians in the first place. On the surface, everything appears to be biblical but if you take the time to really look at what she's teaching, it doesn't look so biblical anymore. In fact in many cases she is not being true to what the Bible actually teaches. That worries me, because a lot of people love her teaching. 2.5 billion people have heard her.

So this brings up the question - is it wrong for us, as Christians, to want to be happy and motivated? Of course not. We do need to look at everything from a Biblical perspective though. We are God's children, we are not of this world. The way Joyce Meyer teaches leads you to believe your happiness comes first and then Jesus. She writes paragraphs about how we have such a hard time getting motivated to do stuff and then she'll add a verse in there, totally out of context, and say it relates to what she's talking about. Very similar to what many pastors do these days - they play with the Bible like a toy, turning it into something it isn't. I cannot take Joyce Meyer's ministry seriously because her main focus does not appear to be Christ. Her books are all about enjoying yourself, loving yourself, and motivating yourself. She also seems to be more interested in emotions than faith.

The Bible points us to one person, Jesus Christ - not ourselves. In fact the Bible says the exact opposite. The Bible was not written to increase your self-esteem. Self-esteem is not a Biblical principle. You should never read your Bible with the intent of it just making you a better person or increasing the quality of your life. Many people do this and it is wrong. You read the Bible to help you grow in your knowledge of Jesus Christ and through that you develop a relationship with our God. When you become a Christian, your life is dedicated to God. You die to yourself.

Quotes by Joyce Meyer:

"One of my greatest desires is to see people thoroughly enjoy the quality of life Jesus died to give us—to actually be happy." - Joyce Meyer

I'm literally floored by this statement. All I could think when I read this was, "Wow." No, Joyce. I am sorry but you are wrong. Very wrong in fact. Jesus did not die so that you or I would have a greater quality of life. Jesus came to testify to the truth of the Bible (God's Word). Jesus died because we are horrible, rotten sinners and we all deserve to go to Hell and if he did not die for us, we would be in big trouble. He saved us from our sins that we commit on a daily basis. Jesus died so that we would follow him and be fulfilled through him only. He even said this:

Mat 10:22

“and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

To be a follower of Christ means that you will be hated, persecuted, and despised all throughout your life. When I was younger I didn't understand this because I lived most of my life trying to please everybody and just "going with the flow". But we just can't do that if we are to be true followers of Christ. If you are loved by everyone and don't cause any controversy by what you believe - examine yourself to see if you are truly in Christ. It is in no way easy to follow Christ.

This is exactly why I am skeptical of any Christian ministry that the secular world accepts. They are not persecuted by the secular world, because they do not tell the truth.

In fact, the more persecuted you are for your faith, the better off you are. The 12 disciples of Jesus (except John who was exiled) were executed for preaching Christ.

If we follow Christ, we will not be rewarded with authentic happiness, we will not have a perfect life, we could even have what is viewed as a "horrible life", but we will be blessed. Not with earthly treasures, health, wealth, and prosperity - but with love, hope, joy, patience, peace, kindness, God's provision...

"I have great news for you: God wants you to be happy today and every day. He really does. Jesus’ statement about life in John 10:10 is absolutely amazing to me: “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they might have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”" - Joyce Meyer

God does not want us to just be happy, he wants us to glorify Him in all that we do, he wants us to live for him. Through that we may experience happiness, we may experience trials, we may experience sadness. I searched through multiple translations of the Bible and I cannot find the version that says "that they might have and enjoy life" Not even the The Message adds that part. Not only has she taken it out of context but she changed the meaning to that Bible verse. Yikes! John 10:9-10 is a proverbial way of saying that Jesus is the only way to be saved from sin. That scripture is referring to the life we have in Christ for all eternity, not the sinful life we have on Earth. The fullness of life refers to our eternal security.

Did you know that if you don't like yourself, you are never going to like anybody else, and you won't be able to help your spouse like himself or herself? - Joyce Meyer

"Remember, He died so we could experience authentic happiness." - Joyce Meyer

No, he did not die so that we could experience authentic happiness. He died so that we could be saved by faith in his son, through the grace of God. Of course that alone should make one jump for joy and weep tears of pure joy!

Those are just a few quotes I found on a couple pages in one of Joyce Meyer's books... the ministry has over 50 books.

(I originally posted this on my blog titled Biblical Homekeeping)

Fireproof

If you haven't seen this movie yet, definitely see it! It is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Beautiful movie about what love really is. To see the preview, check out their website: Fireproof Movie

The Purpose of God's Law

God's Law: The Ten Commandments

There is much to be said on God's Law, but today I'm focusing on the Ten Commandments. When I was growing up there were many things that were either not explained to me or I never quite understood. The Ten Commandments were one of the things that I never really understood. I often wondered about these commandments. It seemed to me that everyone broke them all the time and everyone around me seemed to tolerate it. Except for murder and adultery of course. Lying, stealing, envy, dishonoring parents... those sins occur so often that for the majority of my life they were tolerable sins. Everyone had this idea that murder and adultery were really the only ones that were intolerable, because they have bigger earthly consequences. But then why did God include them all in one list of commandments, if they were all equally as bad, equally as sinful? Is it possible that one commandment is more important than another?

Jam 2:10	For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.
Jam 2:11	For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

So there we have it. The answer is no. All sins are equal in the sight of God because each time we sin we are deliberately breaking the law and that is how God sees it. There is no such thing as a little lie. A lie is a big deal, in fact check out Revelation 21:8.

We have all broken at least one of the commandments and therefore, we are guilty of disobeying God's perfect law and we will be held accountable for our actions. This is why Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We cannot even compare to God because we our hearts are deceitfully wicked.

You might say, "Well I'm not wicked. I'd say I'm a pretty good person actually. I don't do drugs, I don't intentionally hurt people, I stayed a virgin until I was married, I'm faithful to my spouse, I don't lie all the time..." But what if you were to compare yourself to God's standards? Do you still think you are a good person?

Why are sins so bad?

Because we are talking about an infinite, holy, and perfect God. God is all that is good. Good and evil cannot be combined. Therefore if God is good, how could a sinful being be good as well? God cannot sin because he is good. We are sinful beings (obviously) and that automatically makes us wretched and evil at heart. Sins are simply things that go against God's very nature. If God states that something is wrong, then it is wrong. If we go ahead and do it, that is disobeying God who has ALL authority over everything. We are disobeying the law. It's all a matter of justice. In our society today, if you break the law, there is punishment. The same goes when we break God's law. God will hold us accountable for our actions.

You know how you feel when you know you are disobeying your parents or you are doing something you know your parents would never approve of? That feeling of guilt? That is how we should feel (only about a million times worse) when we sin against God. In the Bible it says, "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) Which means that if have not been "cleansed" of our sins we absolutely cannot enter in the presence of God after we die. That is why there is a Hell. We are all guilty, and we all deserve to go to Hell.

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4).

The Ten Commandments serve as a purpose. What is that purpose?

Romans 7:7 "...Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. ..."

It is the law that shows us that we are sinners. These are not rules, they are a direct reflection of everything God is not, and therefore He has commanded these things to reveal our sinful nature. The Law's rightful purpose is simply to act as a mirror to show us that we need cleansing.

If you've never truly examined yourself to see where you stand with God. Today is the day to do it. Go through the 10 commandments (and know that God considers hatred to be murder and lust to be adultery). See if you have violated any of them. If you have, you are guilty. If you are guilty, what should happen when you die? Where should God send you?

God - All loving? All forgiving?

Last week our Pastor said, "There is no such thing as 'Just Forgiven'" This is true. A person's sins cannot be justified with the fact that "God forgives". If you sin, God is not going to "just forgive".

If you sin, you will be punished for that sin unless you have repented and put your trust in Jesus and turned from your sins. That is Biblical, that is exactly what Jesus taught. God's Law requires that all sin must be paid for, and we - sinful beings by nature - are unable of doing that on our own. That is why we need Jesus. He is the only one who can pay the fine for us, we cannot do it ourselves. Jesus did not come to this earth to make it a better place or to bless his people with riches and good times. He came to testify to the truth. He came to fulfill the prophesies and promises of God and to do the will of God, which was to pay the ultimate price of death for the sins of His chosen people, and then he defeated death and rose to life. Jesus said:

Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Mat 10:34	"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35	"For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

There are many pastors these days that do not teach the Gospel as the apostles did. Does your Pastor talk about sin? If he never mentions sin, there is a problem there. Do all of the sermons uplift you and make you feel good? There is a problem there. This entire idea of self-esteem that our culture has grabbed hold of (including churches) is not biblical at all and a very selfish way of thinking. Many pastors soften up the gospel so that they won't offend anyone (the complete opposite of what Jesus did, I might add), they talk about forgiveness and God's love but they fail to mention sin and God's wrath. They fail to mention the real reason that Jesus came to this earth. The Bible teaches both God's steadfast love and his wrath/judgment, and there is a reason for that.

These pastors have come up with their own gospels (such as the Prosperity Gospel), that trivialize all that Jesus did. This is a problem, and a big one at that. People are flocking to these churches thinking they are being saved because they said a prayer and it's just not true. The act of praying does not save you. Repentance and trust in the Lord does. These pastors are not upholding their duty to spread the gospel, the true gospel - the one the Bible teaches.

Jesus took the punishment of all the sins in the world (past, present, and future), he suffered the wrath of GOD. Can you even imagine what that must have been like? Can you imagine the punishment for the sins of just one individual? The way I view sin is as a slap in the face to my creator. It is disgusting, it is low, and it is intolerable and a complete lack of respect. God created me, he gave me life - he gave me my family, my friends, my home...and how do I repay him? Think of how many times you sin in a day, multiply that by 365 and then multiply that by about 75. Wow. Brother, sister....That is what Jesus did for you. That is what Jesus did for billions and billions of people's sins. That is the ultimate sacrifice - God's own son. Is that not AMAZING? How merciful and gracious our Lord is!

We cannot pay for our own sins because we are sinful by nature. The payment had to be one that was pure, sinless - that was Jesus. We are destined to Hell because we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and because of what Jesus Christ did, we now have a choice in where we will spend eternity.

See? It's not about self-esteem. Jesus did not come to make us live happy lives, he came to take our punishment so that we wouldn't have to go to Hell. How unbelievable is that? I mean seriously, it is beyond our own understanding. It is/was the most beautiful and perfect plan, ever. For a pastor to ignore this is to ignore the gift of true salvation.

If the Gospel is not preached, then people will come to Christ for the wrong reasons - to feel better about themselves, to make their life better, to relieve their fear of Hell, etc. They hold the title of Christian but if asked, they cannot tell you why they are a Christian. They simply do not know. Most people know that Jesus died to take away the sins of the world, they do not know why he died or that in order to be saved they must repent and turn from their sins, and trust Jesus Christ to be the one and only way.

Jhn 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

When we die we will face God on the day of judgment. Whether a person believes that or not, it is reality. If we die in our sins, God has every right to send us to Hell. We sin every day, we 'slap God' every single day. We have to believe that just as He is faithful in His promises to love and protect his people, He is also faithful to his promise to uphold proper judgment. He is just by forgiving those who have repented and he is just by destroying those who disobey his law. (I'll write more on God's law tomorrow)

1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So how does this tie in with what a preacher such as Joel Osteen preaches? I'm not a person who enjoys gossip or slandering another human being for the sake of gaining something for myself. That is not what this is about. I believe Osteen is one of the teachers the Bible warns us about, and I believe it is good to bring this up and "expose" a teaching such as this.

I believe Joel Osteen is one who has created a gospel all of his own. If you read this transcript from his interview with Larry King you'll see him say many times, "I don't know", when talking about very critical issues, he doesn't talk about God, he rarely (if ever) uses scripture and if he does it is taken out of its original context. I don't understand how a Pastor can ignore so much of the Bible. How can he not know the answers to everything Larry asked? The Bible speaks so incredibly clear on these things. When comparing his teaching to the Bible, is there any truth to what Osteen says? God wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and have great relationships? Is God really all-loving? Are we doing God's will by only taking the fact that He loves us? Is God really all forgiving? Do we have the right to anything?

And last but not least. Check out this video.

Reading Isaiah

Earlier today I was doing my study on Isaiah and after reading that the book was written around 700 B.C. I thought, "Wow. I'm reading something that was written 2,700 years ago."

How AMAZING is it that we can sit down and read something that was written so long ago? I'm always fascinated with things written even 100 years ago! 2,700 years... That is around 36 lifetimes!

Praise the Lord for preserving His words for us all to read!

2Ti 3:16	All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
2Ti 3:17	that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Visualizing the Bible

This diagram is a result of a collaboration between a Carnegie-Mellon Ph.D student Chris Harrison and a Lutheran pastor Christoph Romhild from Germany. They wanted to create a grand map of Biblical cross-references: "We wanted something that honored and revealed the complexity of the data at every level –- as one leans in, smaller details should become visible. This ultimately led us to the multi-colored arc diagram... The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect."

Sayings Not Found in Scripture

I was browsing around Blue Letter Bible and I came across these. It is a list of sayings that are commonly referred to as Biblical sayings, but they are not actually (or entirely) Biblical.

Another saying that I hear people say a lot is "Love the sinner, hate the sin." At face value that is true but not in the context that it usually is used. Many of these listed here I have heard of before but there were a few that I never knew anything about. Click on the links to read more about each one. Very interesting read.

Sayings

Moderation in all things.
Once saved, always saved.
Better to cast your seed....
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
To thine ownself be true.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
God helps those who help themselves.
Money is the root of all evil.
Cleanliness is next to godliness.
This too shall pass.
God works in mysterious ways.
The eye is the window to the soul.
The lion shall lay down with the lamb.
Pride comes before the fall.

Miscellaneous

The Three Wisemen
The Sinner's Prayer
Wedding Vows
The Seven Deadly Sins

- Shaina

Looking Closer at Romans 14:15

Rom 14:15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.

"In the context of Jewish faith, "destroy" means to cut off from the covenant community (Deut. 28:21, 45, 48, 51, 61, 63). To encourage behavior that weak believers' consciences forbid is to encourage them to act against their conscience, a serious and dangerous act."

That's from my ESV Reformation Study Bible.

I think it's a pretty scary concept. We can lead a Christian to their demise as a Christian? To me what this means is that we can be the instrument God uses to uncover someone as a false convert, and that's a bad thing. Hmm.

How is it possible that we can show that a brother in Christ who has been called by God was a false convert (and therefore not called by God). I think until I hear a better explanation of this verse I will just say it's one of those things of God that is out of my understanding.

There are two kinds of instruments that we can by used by God as:

Instruments of grace

and

instruments of judgment.

We should, in love, look for daily opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers so that that they might be saved. We should not cause our brothers in Christ to stumble, and stumble so greatly that they could even be destroyed or somehow be removed from their covenant relationship with God through Christ.

We need to encourage one another and not get down to the level of bickering over subjects on which God has not spoken.

-Gage

Romans 14:13-18

Rom 14:13	So don't condemn each other anymore. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not put an obstacle in another Christian's path.
Rom 14:14	I know and am perfectly sure on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong.
Rom 14:15	And if another Christian is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don't let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died.
Rom 14:16	Then you will not be condemned for doing something you know is all right.
Rom 14:17	For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Rom 14:18	If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God. And other people will approve of you, too.

(At the moment I'm using the New Living Translation - I find it easiest to understand for general reading.)

These were the verses we went through in church today. This entire chapter so far has really transformed the way I think in many situations. I've read this passage many times before, but I've only applied it to a few specific things such as drinking alcohol and eating meat. This passage is so much broader than that though. If God has not spoken on the subject, then it is entirely up to the person to judge if it is right for them or not. This applies to just about everything. Some women choose to not wear pants, only skirts and dresses. Some people do not eat meat. I know people who are 100% against all alcohol consumption. Some people own a TV, others do not. Some people watch rated R movies, others do not. Some people are totally fine with tattoos, others are completely against them. What this entire chapter is telling us not to judge each other based on these things.

Jesus died for all who have repented and put their trust in him. Anytime you wrongfully criticize a fellow believer in Christ, you are bringing down one of your brothers or sisters, someone who Jesus died for.

My prayer this week is that God would help me to always be mindful of the things I judge people on. My goal is to bring everything to the Lord and his Word first before passing judgment on anything.

- Shaina

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The Purpose of this Blog

Question to Ponder: Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?

I heard that question last night as part of The Truth Project. It has got me thinking - what would we look like if we really believed that everything we believe is really real? Can you imagine what life would be like with complete confidence in the word of God? Do we really understand that what it says is true? Do any of us really live like that?


This blog is about growing in holiness, spiritual strength, and spiritual discernment. It is an outlet for the things that I learn and how I interpret those to be true or false, biblical or unbiblical. If this blog benefits or blesses anyone else, that is wonderful! If it offends someone, I hope it offends for the right reasons, otherwise I apologize - for I am a sinner and in no way am I perfect. Overall though, much of the stuff I write about is simply me trying to understand something.

I am constantly learning things. We learn and are influenced by more than we realize in this culture. We are constantly learning new things each day. Whether it be through the Bible, through a book, a church sermon, a Bible Study, advise from someone, TV shows & movies, or events that occur in our lives. We obtain so much information each day and we are constantly learning.

I believe the most important thing we must do as humans is to learn the ways of God. The creator of the universe did more for us (his people) that we can even comprehend and the least we can do is devote our lives to pleasing the Lord.

"We must do the hard work of exercising discernment - sentence by sentence,
paragraph by paragraph, argument by argument. Facts, insights, perspectives,
and methods must all be tested in the light of the principles of Scripture." - Dennis E. Johnson

I find myself letting a lot of things slide. As an example: I will think, "Well, God knows where my heart is. So I can go watch this movie, because even though it blasphemes the name of God repeatedly, He knows that I don't agree with that." Seriously, I do this all the time with not just movies but many aspects of life. That is the wrong way of thinking. Everything that I do needs to be for the glory of God! The way we treat truth is so different from the way Jesus treated it. We say that we will drop everything and follow our Lord Jesus Christ, but do we do it? Seriously? Is God really the focus our our life or is he just part of it?

The topic of discernment is a difficult one because it can be very subjective. In many cases, when the issue is not of God-spoken sin, it is up to the person to discern what is right and what is wrong for them. However, if God has spoken, then it is what it is. If the Bible, read in proper context, says that something is a sin, there is no room for argument because God has spoken. This is why you need to consult the scriptures with everything.

What is Discernment?

"Discernment is the ability to think biblically about all areas of life." - Tim Challies

"Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about
truth. The discerning person is the one who draws a clear contrast between
truth and error." John MacArthur

"Discernment is the ability to see through the apparent to the actual." - Dr. Mike


Here are a few verses about discernment:

Rom 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your
mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.

Job 34:4 - So let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good.

Ecc 11:5 - God's ways are as hard to discern as the pathways of the wind, and as mysterious as a tiny baby being formed in a mother's womb.

1Cr 12:3 - So I want you to know how to discern what is truly from God: No one speaking by the Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one is able to say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

-Shaina
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