A Prayer for Revealing Jesus through Our Brokenness (a borrowed post)

I came across this June 28, 2011 blog post by Pastor Scotty Smith (of Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN) today and I wanted to share it with each of you:

 A Prayer for Revealing Jesus through Our Brokenness

     But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 2 Cor. 4:7–10

     Dear Jesus, to compare my season of stress with the apostle Paul’s would be like comparing my guitar playing with Eric Clapton’s, my dancing with the cast of River Dance, or my cooking skill with Mario Batali. There’s simply no comparison. When I consider everything your servant Paul experienced, I have nothing to bemoan or groan about—the whine meter doesn’t register very much.

     Nonetheless, Paul’s honesty and vulnerability are great gifts to me this morning. His freedom to acknowledge both his anguish and his joy in the same paragraph gives me tremendous encouragement and focus. Posing and pretending were crucified at Calvary. Despair and hopelessness were sabotaged by your resurrection. Fear and uncertainty are domesticated by your ascension and present reign.

     Jesus, in the midst of everything I’d love to fix, change or eliminate, help me to be far more preoccupied with the treasure within than with the pressures without. If your all-surpassing power will be shown most dramatically through my weakness, I surrender to your will. If your incomparable beauty will be most clearly revealed through my hardships, I surrender to your ways. If your redeeming purposes will be most fully realized through my brokenness, I surrender to you.

     With my palms up, I offer you praise for the treasure of the gospel. The gospel will win the day, my heart, the nations, and the cosmos. Though there are seasons when throwing in the towel, finding another story, or just flat running away are incredibly attractive, where else would I go but to you? You alone give the words of life, the sufficient grace, and the hope of glory. May your voice be ten times louder than the murmurings around me and the grumblings inside me.

Jesus, in the coming hours and days and weeks, prove the wonders of your love in our midst.

     I pray the same for good friends reeling from betrayals, exhausted by chronic pain, shamed by their foolish choices, disillusioned with vocational ministry, lonely in their marriages, enslaved by an addiction, or just flat out weary from the demands and daily-ness of life. So very Amen I pray, with hungry expectancy in your powerful name. Amen.

Sacred Sacrifice

*Warning!!  What you are about to read are the jumbled thoughts of a scatter - brained individual*

Oh, my...  I am usually a bit of a "mawmaw", meaning I go to bed somewhat early and ENJOY that.  Tonight...  Or rather this morning, I find myself in a strange predicament...   Thanks to a rather intense combination of a massive headache and approximately 9,254,716,327,854.2 thoughts rolling around in my brain, I find I am fighting a losing battle with insomnia.

As I tend to do when stricken with a dreaded attack of insomnia, I decided to read.  I love to read...  Just as I have a rather eclectic taste in music, so have I in literature.  I love fiction, non - fiction, comedy, thrillers, biographies, self - help, inspirational, cookbooks, blogs, newspapers, magazines, I simply LOVE to read.  One, who reads, never stops learning...  One of the MANY little treasures of wisdom my precious MawMaw Yvonne handed down as I sat next to her.   Gosh, I sure miss her.  There will NEVER be another like MY MawMaw...

Anyway, while rereading some old notes, I came across an excerpt from Beth Moore's book, "Breaking Free":

     To be liberated in Christ, we've got some sacrifices to make. Make sure He's the one asking for it, but if He is, any sacrifice you make will be wholly consumed by Him as such a sweet sacrifice. He will bless.

     We fear making sacrifices. But the irony is that we make a lot of sacrifices when we are not living the will of God.  How many things have we placed on the altar to Satan's kingdom?  We live sacrificially when we're outside the will of God, giving up all sorts of things that were meant to be ours in Christ.

(*side note* I haven't read the entire book, simply excerpts, so please do not take this as my personal endorsement of said book.)  

This specific excerpt struck me a little more this time than the last...  Sacred sacrifice has been on my mind lately.  Not just a "normal" fast or sacrifice, but one that makes the "normal" seem trivial...  Does that make any sense?  I hope so, but I am also fully aware of how badly I tend to ramble.  

Having been raised in the church, I have grown up fasting, praying, reading my bible, attending church faithfully, etc.  Each one of those things IS a sacrifice.  We have to take time out of our busy schedules for each one.  We have to force our flesh to do each one.  But even with carnal flesh, each of these precious things can become routine, they can become "normal", even comfortable.  Sacrifice, especially when it is a SACRED sacrifice (any sacrifice for God), should never be comfortable.  It should never feel normal or routine...  It should shake the very core of our being...  Sacred sacrifice requires discomfort of our flesh, of our carnal man.  SACRED sacrifice is about so much more than ME or YOU, it is about HIM.  

I'm so tired of mediocrity.  I want to live on the edge.  I want every step I take to be full dependant on Him and His direction.  The ONLY way to have that is to die out to His will and ignore that of myself.  This is not a normal day.  This is not a normal time.  We MUST go beyond normalcy; we must stretch ourselves into a greater realm.  We are not the "next generation", my friends.  We are THE generation who is leading the charge now.  We influence everything from clothing trends to political events.  Just like the great leaders of the church who came before us, we MUST go beyond what is comfortable and dive head first into sacred sacrifice.  I don't want the same revivals and outpourings of the Spirit they had, those have come and gone.  I want something greater.  I want my generation to CRAVE more of Him.  I want us to step out of the comfort zones we all tend to cower in and step boldly toward the edge, not relying on our own strengths, but instead, solely on Him.

As I proof - read the last paragraph above, another note came to mind:

Dutch Sheets spoke this over a generation that can either choose to carry the mantle or continue on in "normal". I'm choosing the former.

History will swing & change because of me. I'm not typical but a reformer. I am called to change things & rock the boat. I am an intercessor. I love God - not religion. I love His presence. I don't just sing - I worship. In Him I live, move & exist. I cannot be bought. I cannot be swayed. I'm a world changer. I will not compromise. I dream of the impossible. I will lead in Christ. I fear nothing - because greater is He. I'm dangerous because my life is not my own. Mediocrity scares me. I crave His presence. I'm a worshipping warrior & a covenant keeper. I am pure. I am loyal. I was born for such a time as this. I am the alabaster box generation. I'm the awakening generation. I am alive. Awake. I am called. I'm a voice that cannot be silenced. I'm a burning one. 

You need something from God?  You need a miracle?  You want change?  You want to make a difference?  Give up something; find something to do away with for a while.  Discomfort yourself, inconvenience your flesh...  Focus EVERYTHING on HIM for a time and in return, HE will give focus to our sacrifice; to our sacred sacrifice.

I feel a stirring in the winds of my spirit and it's exciting.

Ink a Smile

 I am a bit of a quote junkie.  I love to read things which inspire me.  I, like most people, like, and even need to be encouraged.  Sometimes I need an encouraging word more than once a day...  Sometimes it's more than 5 times a day.  (Don't act like you don't have those days too, you aren't fooling anyone but yourself.)  Today, one of the several quote accounts I follow on Twitter posted the following: "Take an eraser to erase those tears, then take a pencil and draw a smile on your face."   Instantly, my brain said, "aw, that's a great line".  Almost as quickly, another thought hit me; "why on earth would I ever want to draw a smile on with a PENCIL?!".  As is usually the case, conflicting thoughts (especially those which come in such rapid succession) sends my brain into hyperdrive, most of the time, resulting in a journal or blog post.  Here are my jumbled thoughts:

A smile on a face represents joy, happiness, peace, etc.  

The word "smile", is mentioned 3 times in the bible.  Joy, is mentioned 188 times.  Peace appears 384 times...  577 times, the emotions a smile represents are mentioned.  577 times in 66 books is a LOT.  

James, Chapter 1, is one of my favorite passages, more particularly, verses 2 - 4: "2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."  

Count it all joy... .. ...  ALL OF IT?!  That IS what the scripture says...  When you are facing trials, even the ones which feel bigger than Kilimanjaro stacked on top of Everest.  Even when those closest to you hurt you the deepest.  And even when you feel as if nearly all hope is lost...  Count it ALL joy.  My take is we should TRY to maintain a smile, at all times, even if it means smiling through the tears.  I put added emphasis on the word, "TRY", because there will always be times when the smile is temporarily faded.  But, faded doesn't mean it's gone; something faded simply needs to be repainted...  restained, if you will.  Our salvation is bought with the ultimate price, the very blood of Jesus...  Our lives are STAINED with His redeeming blood.  Without salvation, there can never be TRUE, LASTING JOY, therefore I believe that even when our smiles are faded, they simply need to be restained by our Saviour, for HE is the source of all joy.

One of our dear friends, Sonny (who happens to be a superhero in disguise... without the tights...), posted this thought yesterday: "Funny how "blessings" can make us drift away from God sometimes, and our "trials" can pull us closer.  Maybe we have the two confused?".  I think I may have had such a strong reaction to the quote about erasing tears & drawing smiles is because Sonny's thought already had my mind whirling.

I feel Sonny hit the nail directly on the head and straight through the board in one strike with this thought.  So many of the things I first thought were "blessings" turned out to be ravenous wolves, dressed in innocent lambs clothing.  There have been so many more times, when I felt as if the pain of a "trial" would literally kill me, I have become stronger, more determined, and unwavering in my faith...  THOSE have been the greatest blessings of my life.  Even when the hurt or confusion seems blinding and unbearable, SMILE...  Joy comes in the morning...  Joy also returns after the mourning.

With all of these thoughts racing through my head, I have come to this conclusion:  

I would rather forget the pencil alltogether and simply be holding on to an ink pen.  I want to draw my smile on with something permanant.  Pencil markings fade into nonexistance over time and must be completely redrawn.  While ink does fade, it rarely disappears and can easily be restained to it's rightful beauty.  

I can't be the only one who is still amazed by rainbows, especially rainbows which appear while it's still storming.  I don't want to erase the tears, as they are generally a part of the cleansing proces...  A spiritual rain of sorts.  When we smile through our tears, it shows that the storm we are facing will not destroy us.  Our storms are simply a part of the molding process...  A way for the Master Potter to mold and shape us into who HE has designed us to be.

I want my smile to be a permanant fixture, something lasting; a promise of life after the rain.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

I have this yearly tradition...  I read the Declaration of Independence EVERY year on Independence Day [for those of you who are unsure of when this holiday is..  you probably always refer to it as "the fourth of July" ;o)].  Sometimes it's just nice to be reminded what our country was TRULY founded on.  It's nice to remind myself that the leaders of this great nation were once God fearing men (not just during campaign season!).  Reading the first line of the second paragraph always brings a smile to my face and warms my heart, it has always been one of my most favorite "quotes".  This year, I thought I would give my two blog readers a chance to read the Declaration as well.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1

Georgia:

   Button Gwinnett

   Lyman Hall

   George Walton

Column 2

North Carolina:

   William Hooper

   Joseph Hewes

   John Penn

South Carolina:

   Edward Rutledge

   Thomas Heyward, Jr.

   Thomas Lynch, Jr.

   Arthur Middleton

Column 3

Massachusetts:

John Hancock

Maryland:

Samuel Chase

William Paca

Thomas Stone

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:

George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Harrison

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Carter Braxton

Column 4

Pennsylvania:

   Robert Morris

   Benjamin Rush

   Benjamin Franklin

   John Morton

   George Clymer

   James Smith

   George Taylor

   James Wilson

   George Ross

Delaware:

   Caesar Rodney

   George Read

   Thomas McKean

Column 5

New York:

   William Floyd

   Philip Livingston

   Francis Lewis

   Lewis Morris

New Jersey:

   Richard Stockton

   John Witherspoon

   Francis Hopkinson

   John Hart

   Abraham Clark

Column 6

New Hampshire:

   Josiah Bartlett

   William Whipple

Massachusetts:

   Samuel Adams

   John Adams

   Robert Treat Paine

   Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:

   Stephen Hopkins

   William Ellery

Connecticut:

   Roger Sherman

   Samuel Huntington

   William Williams

   Oliver Wolcott

New Hampshire:

   Matthew Thornton

Today's random flood of thoughts

A friend recently told me how the study of the book of Matthew has been impacting them so greatly that after studying the book for a month or more, they have yet to move beyond Chapter 7.  Well, I was finishing one study and ready to begin another.  I began the study today, but instead of beginning in chapter 1, I thought I would read 7, then begin my actual study.  

Here it is for you to read:

Matthew 7 (NKJV)

DO NOT JUDGE

 ¹ “Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ³ And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
⁶ “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

KEEP ASKING, SEEKING, KNOCKING

  
⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ⁹ Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! ¹² Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

THE NARROW WAY

  
¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

YOU WILL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS

  
¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

I NEVER KNEW YOU

  
²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

BUILD ON THE ROCK

  
²⁴ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 
²⁶ “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” 
²⁸ And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, ²⁹ for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

________________________________________________________________________

Matthew 7 is a chapter so full of the teachings of Jesus, you cannot help but do a lengthy study of it.  We have all read it.  We can quote so many parts of it...  I would think it's probably one of the most quoted or at least, paraphrased texts in the whole Bible.  I also think it's one of the least practiced...  translation" here.  He tells us exactly what to do and the Jesus leaves no room for bartering, no room for "loose translation".  He tells it like it is, what we should be doing, and the clear consequences for not obeying.

Often we find ourselves focusing on the "do not judge" portion of this text, which is good, but don't let it be only focus as you study this chapter.

Read & study the ENTIRE text.

Pray about it.

Let's begin applying it to our daily lives.

Jesus never sugar - coated anything. He didn't give away the ipad / macbook equivalent of His day to draw a crowd. He simply preached the truth and practiced that which he preached.

The only "relevancy" Jesus ever worried about was preaching things relevant to the day's culture. He NEVER tried to make Himself, nor His teachings comfortable for everyone to hear. He simply spoke the Truth.

Hundreds, even thousands turned a deaf ear to him, but there were many who listened. Who stayed. Who followed.

Will YOU take up your cross and follow Him? Or are you too worried about fitting into a sugarcoated mold?

Relevancy is necessary.

But we must be careful, friends...

Too many times we are calling things we do necessary because they are "relevant" to today's society, not realizing that we have confused the definition of relevancy & reflection.

So They Got Osama...

Wow! Osama Bin Laden has been killed by American forces.  While I am thankful for this major developmental and psychological  to the enemies of Israel, I am  on full cautionary alert.

I am so very proud of our men and women in the armed forces and am so excited that they hace succeeded in their mission to kill or capture Bin Laden.

But please, don't get cocky, my fellow Americans...  There is always a calm just before the storm.

 It's easy to become distracted by a single battle won. 

Osama Bin Laden was the co -creator of Al - Qudea The death of their leader will only strengthen the hatred of Osama's followers toward the U.S., as well as Israel. 

The over - throwing of several "radical Muslim leaders" of late, this latest development in the "War on Terror", these have all been fantastic notches in the figurative belt of America.  None of this is trivial in the timeline of biblical prophesy.  Every victory is connected to the hastening of Jesus Christ's return.  

Now is the time for the people of God to guard our posts,  to stand at attention,  to pray and humble ourselves before God.  

Pray for our nation.

Pray for our troops.

Pray for our President.

Pray for our children.

Pray for the nation of Israel.

Do not be caught off guard America!

I Thessalonians 5:1-6

1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 

2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 

3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 

4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 

5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober

Going a little further here, tonight I read a status update posted by someone I know, syaing, "...It took me a few times reading all these statuses about Osama to realize that they were not saying Obama...  I wish it had been Obama instead..."

This came from a person who I love very much.  Reading that post moved me to tears...  There is NEVER a justifiable reason for that sort of behavior.  Had someone said the same about former presidents Clinton or Bush, this same person would have been outraged.  

Racism will NOT get you into Heaven, my friends.  I do not agree with many of President Obama's beliefs or policies.  HOWEVER, he IS my president.  I do not have to agree with all of our President's actions to support him with my prayer, just as GOD'S WORD INSTRUCTS US TO DO.

1 Timothy 2:1-2

1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty

Do we REALLY possess such a lacking amount of faith that we think President Obama got to office without God's allowance?  He knows how this world is playing out in the last days. There is a plan that is ordained by God.  He already knows the outcome of it all.

Romans 13:1 

1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 

I feel that while there are times I could trash talk as good as the next guy I have a duty; a duty to not withhold power God has given through prayers. The power to bless my leaders with my words. We all have the power to choose what our reactions will be...  just think a little before you go letting your diarrhea of the mouth flow so freely.  Better yet, hit your knees and take all that trash talk to Jesus...  I bet you find it won't be so easy to spew hateful ignorance in the ears of the Creator of all.  

Proverbs 3:27 

27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it

It is said in prayers from Christians around the world, "I want to see my nation healed"...  Then PRAY for your nation, especially our LEADERS.  Stop running your mouth about people.  Ministers, church leaders, CHRISTIANS, politics have NO place in the church.  Especially when you are tearing others down with your spiteful tongue.  

We all, me included, need to practice what we preach a little more...  LOVE thy neighbor as thyself...  

Yes, we have the right to voice our beliefs.  But as CHRISTIANS, we also have a duty to present Jesus to a lost and dying world.  Let's get our acts together, friends.  Hatred has no place in the kingdom of God.  No, President Obama is not perfect by any means, he has so many character flaws that it is ridiculous.  But guess what?  So do I.  Want to know something crazy?  You have just as many flaws as he and I do.

Jesus even loved those who despised Him.  I want my voice to be heard (obviously, since I just wrote an entire blog post, based on my beliefs), but I want my voice to be received as KIND.  I want people to see JESUS when they look at me.

I sign off with this:  

The United States of America received great news of victory tonight.  Most of the "lost" people I am connected to are posting things of joy, of good will, of positivity.  98% of the "Christians" I am connected to are posting those of negativity, of hate, of ill - will.  I have posted several scripture in this blog and I will end with one more.  

Our Sunday School class has been in an incredible series on the Fruit of the Spirit.  It has caused me to hold up an internal mirror of sorts...  What I have found is that I am lacking in so many areas in my attempts to reflect Christ.  This series has knocked me so far out of my comfort zone and pushed me to face the not always pretty image of my own inner - self.  This series has pushed me to grow, in a sense, it has shamed me into a Spiritual growth.  When I hold up my "internal spiritual mirror", I want as much of Jesus as possible to be staring back at me.  I have come to know that every time I spew hatred of ANYONE from my lips, it is really my heart speaking...  There is no "cover - up for blemishes of the heart"...  God sees past the masks we wear around our "Christian friends"...

So the next time your brains bowels feel as if they are about to blow, think about this:

Galations 5:13 - 26

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 

14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 

17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,[c] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 

21 envy, murders,[d] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 

24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 

26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galations 6:1-9

 1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 

3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 

5 For each one shall bear his own load.

6 Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. 

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 

9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.