July 5, 2023

 

Free in Christ

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened against by a yoke of slavery. – Galatians 5:1

 

We are free to love Jesus. We are free to live according to His Word. We are free to love others and to worship and to grow more Christ-like. We are NOT free to condemn those who are different. We are NOT free to judge what we don’t understand and to choose who we think is worthy of His love and a place in Heaven.

 

We Christians are really good at pointing fingers. We stand up and talk about how we’ve prayed and come to the conclusion that certain people are condemned. We pray and justify our own black hearts not realizing that we have condemned ourselves.

 

My grandmother truly believed that the Bible said whites are the superior race. The Bible doesn’t say that but no one could ever convince her otherwise. I tried. I see the same thing happening today with other issues and it breaks my heart. Haven’t we learned anything?

 

Jesus doesn’t need you or I to help Him judge people. In fact, He told us we would be judged the same way we judge others. No excuses. So what did Jesus tell us to do? Love people. Be good to our enemies. Really pray for people.

 

Here’s the thing about prayer: We don’t have to know what to pray for. We don’t need to tell Jesus what someone else should do or how they need to behave or repent or whatever else we’ve decided is their issue. He knows what all of us needs. He alone truly knows the heart of each individual.

 

Don’t let anyone cast judgement on you from a biblical standpoint. No one but Jesus gets to tell you what the Bible really says and what it doesn’t. If a “Christian” gets on his high-horse and starts pointing fingers, point them right back. Odds are pretty good that he doesn’t know what the Bible actually says.

 

The Bible was never intended to be used as a weapon but rather as a tool to help us know God and follow Him. Don’t allow others to pull out verses or words and use them as weapons against you or anyone else. Christ set you free from the bondage caused by others. You believe and trust Him to handle the rest.

June 18, 2022

 

Rules

 

He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.” – Acts 10:28

 

The Apostle Peter was a Jew. He followed the laws he’d been taught and, yet, God called him to something else. First, God showed Peter that it was okay to eat meat Peter had always been taught was unclean. Then, God showed Peter that it was okay to eat with and fellowship with Gentiles. And because Peter followed God, many became believers and were filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

A family I know has been torn apart by the issue of homosexuality. It’s caused such division that the father refuses to speak to his son. This devout family is so focused on its beliefs that it can’t see God’s heart. And the son? Well, he’s now questioning God’s love too.

 

Is homosexuality a sin? I’ve heard all the arguments both ways. I am familiar with the verses. I know it is condemned by the Bible, just as I know the Bible condones slavery and the inferiority of women. In fact, the Bible at times contradicts itself. It speaks so clearly about slavery and yet Paul says this in Galatians 3:28:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

 

People say they want to go back to the sexual ethics of the Bible but I wonder if they’ve ever read the book. I have – in several different versions. I have no interest in polygamy, fathers selling their daughters into slavery, or powerful men forcing women to be concubines and worse. And those are just a few things.

 

So, what about homosexuality? I don’t know. Does God condemn sexual rituals to false gods? I believe that He does. Does God condemn powerful men forcing young men into prostitution and worse? I believe so. But does God condemn two men or two women from a loving relationship? I’m not so sure about that.

 

Jesus told us the two greatest commandments. Do remember them?

 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40

 

Love God and love your neighbor. It seems fairly simple to me. I don’t know about the issue of homosexuality. That’s for God to sort out. But I do know that God didn’t call me to judge. God has called me to love.

 

How much better our world would be today if we would remember that.