Are We Making the Right Choices?
Actions have consequences and contrived actions have the worst consequences - no matter what political party...
Brazil is about 75% Roman Catholic and as a result today, Good Friday, EVERYTHING is shutdown... from the country that brings you the Carnival to kick off Lent (and Mardi Gras is no better!)...
As a child, this hypocrisy found me cringing on celebrations that started as devious and slid into O Holy One - I always thought, "Just WHO are they kidding? That’s NOT what this is all about!”
I later read about Baal and started to at least understand something about it all - which only solidified my resolve to avoid hypocrisy at any level.
As a result of my desire not to be part of those shenanigans, I ended up being labeled as the black sheep of the family as I wouldn't follow along.
Being a New Age advocate, my mother didn't help and she was trying to force us to follow New Age as, in her narcissism, that is what is right no matter what anyone else said.
Most of my family wouldn’t even bother cracking open the Bible never mind reading it so they thought what I was sharing was equal to what our narcissistic mother was sharing.
What’s that saying - you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink?
You just have to wait until it’s thirsty - my family never got that thirsty…
In the end, I distanced myself from my family and stuck with the Bible - bouncing from church to church every 5 years or so due to religious politics being placed in front of the Bible.
Most wanted me to lead a young adults group which I did only once - gained a whole ‘nother level of respect for pastors during those years...
Telling you all this for one reason…
Christ never visited churches or synagogues, He visited the people.
He stayed where faith was allowed to be at least seeded, and moved on when the people could not care less.
He came not to bring peace, but a sword - one of those swords being the Word of God.
It will cut you coming and going for a reason - most will run from that conviction while others will run to it.
We should be running towards our conviction, towards the Word of God but most are oblivious to what’s in the Bible and more attuned to what their church is telling them...
That has been tried multiple times before and after Christ’s visit here on Earth - they all failed and resulted in more hardship and pain for the people who allowed themselves to fall victim to such religious politics.
The Bible is a collection of books that were written by 40+ authors - most of them did not know each other, and weren’t even alive when the others were.
Yet they ALL have the very same message - mathematically impossible.
The Bible as it is today did not even exist until after Christ’s ascension, just Torahs and writings on papyrus.
Today there are more than 25,000 such ORIGINAL resources that back up what is in the Bible.
There are 2500+ predictions in the Bible as well - 2000+ have come to pass, what are the odds of ANY book this old to have even an 80% success rate at predictions?
What religion or religious organization can equal what has been laid forth in the Bible???…
Christian means "Christ-like" - not one who adheres to any one religion.
Religion is never taught in the Bible, if anything there is a warning for such - especially their leaders (such as the Sadducees).
If anything
the Bible is about one thing and one thing only -
God wants us to form a relationship with Him and Him alone.
He gives us everything He's got and most of us are oblivious to it - even the most faithful.
Not all of it is free for the asking - some of it has to wait until He says the time is right (and He always delivers to those who remain faithful).
There is a reason for that - first of all, He is a very zealous God.
He has every right to be - a mere word spoken by Him brings about actions we cannot avoid.
Reaching for Him always brings us more understanding and more blessings - it is hardly at the moment but understanding and blessings that would not have been possible before obedience arrived.
But prosecution is never too far away.
You can use the devil's ways to hone your relationship with God or to pull yourself away from Him - that is our choice, our will, and God is so loving He will abide by whatever we choose.
If you love someone let him go, if it is love he will return… Sound familiar?
But like anything else in life, choices are seeds to a harvest, whether that harvest be bountiful blessings and more understanding or painful results and mass confusion that we cannot escape.
This time of year is less emotional than the reason for Christmas but is it just as important.
We observe the ONLY God that has manifested Himself into our world so as to form a relationship with Him and not to the fallen angel that took 1/3rd of the angels with him.
There are only 2 spiritual domains - in any and every situation, you choose one, and the other leaves.
Neither are present at the same time in the same heart, thought, space, action, prayer... It is always one or the other.
Good Friday?
One week before all of the people were crying Hosanna and glorifying Christ - only to choose a notorious insurrectionist and murderer named Barabbas days later to be given a customary pardon instead of Christ.
Less than one week - from one end of the spiritual spectrum to the other...
Yet what was meant for evil God turned to good - most especially in this case.
The keys to death were taken from Satan once and for all - while yet permitted to still roam the Earth.
The devil doesn’t get to see what’s in the Bible for a reason - but you do…
Don’t blow it.