questions and prayers

i keep a notebook.  jeff would laugh at that statement because i have many, many notebooks and i'm always writing stuff down.

anyway....

i keep a notebook of prayers.  i write out my prayers at times.  it helps me to focus.  i have a hard time staying focused.

i wanted to share what i wrote in the last few days.  it is private, but needs to be public.  needs to be shared.

6/27/15
Father God,
my heart is grieving.  You led this country for so long.  at one time nearly everyone acknowledged that fact.  now.....this is what we have.  i am sad, but hopeful.  because i know whose hands i am held in.  i know who i belong to.  and it's not the gods of this world.  help me, Lord, to speak the truth.  to love.  to be a light in the world and not celebrate the dark.  thank you Lord.

6/28/15
Father,
i'm upset this morning.  it would be so easy to just disregard You and Your words and follow the rest of the world; be a part of the big party.  but what would i gain?  nothing.

following You Lord brings me peace and joy unspeakable.  it is a difficult road at times, filled with boulders and pitfalls. there are times that the world can make me feel wrong and defeated, and even other christians can make me feel wrong and defeated.

these are the words they banter around
"do not judge"  "do not be a stumbling block"  " just love"  "love your neighbor"

what do these things mean?

can i judge what is sin based on what i know is truth from scripture?
is my silence a stumbling block when i don't tell others the gospel message of sin-repentance-and forgiveness?
or is it a stumbling block when i do tell them?

love your neighbor.  love others.  love God.

i love You Lord with all of my heart, all of my soul, and all of my mind.
i see You God as a most loving parent.  You give me good things.  You teach me and mold me through your words and your Holy Spirit living inside me.  You remind me of my sins and my need to repent and be forgiven.  each day, each minute, i am reminded that i live to glorify You alone.

so if i am to reflect Your love, Lord to others, to the world, how does that look?
shouldn't it look the same as i described above?

the world and a big part of my christian brothers and sisters are promoting a love that i have not seen in scripture.  they are promoting a love that has no strings attached.  a love that doesn't lead anyone to the pathway of eternal life.

are we just supposed to tell the world that Your love is for everyone and Your grace is for us all and then leave it at that?  these are absolutely true statements, but is that where i'm supposed to stop?

am i not supposed to mention that the world needs a savior?  am i not supposed to tell them why we need a savior?  am i not supposed to mention  sin because that would be judging?  what constitutes sin?  do you decide or do we decide.  or do we let our earthly rulers decide it for us?

Lord, help me be strong enough and loving enough to speak the truth that the world needs to hear.
Heavenly Father please help me to not give my neighbors a false sense of eternal security.  help me to be able to disagree with others worldviews and not be angry.  help me to always remember that we are all made in Your image.  help me to remember that your adversary, satan, roams this earth seeking to destroy.  and it starts the moment we are conceived.  help me to lead my family alongside my husband to protect them and to humbly teach them Your ways only and to always lead them in the truth.
amen.

it's not about LOVE

they like to call it a "love" issue.

if you are against people loving one another, then you are a hater.

heck, even Jesus preached a message of  "love one another".

so christians, how can you believe that it is wrong to "love one another" ?

well.....we can believe that it is wrong, in regards to homosexuality, because it's not about love.

..................it's about sex.

it's about what scripture says is normal, natural, God designed

as opposed to what man says is normal or man designed.

(now don't make me quote scripture here.  we all know it's there)

it's about what scripture tells us is wrong, ungodly, detestable.

(yup....it's in there)

no one in scripture ever came right out and asked Jesus about sexual relations between the same sex because they already knew the answer.  duh. (sodom and gomorrah were real to them)

so, if today, in 2015, Jesus came back and we could ask Him to elaborate His thoughts on this topic, He would give us His answer, probably in a parable which would refer us back to the scriptures.
(again, we all know which ones, don't make me quote.....but  i will if asked to nicely)

He would tell us to "love one another" and not to judge or condemn anyone, while at the same time He would tell us to avoid sin and the appearance of sin.  and.........................

..........................homosexuality is a sin.

yup...................lumped in there with lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, murder, drunkenness, and other sexual sins.  sin comes in many forms and lust for the same sex is one of them.

and..................

then there is the woman at the well.  the adulterer.  a sin.  Jesus told her that He did not condemn her.  He was paying the penalty for her sins because He loved her.

and.........................

then He told her to "GO AND SIN NO MORE."

you see, it's not a LOVE issue.  it's a self control issue.  sex was designed by God as a means to create a family and bond it together.

our sinful natures have made it into everything and anything anyone wants it to  be.

do I judge the homosexual?  in the biblical sense?  do I condemn them?  in other words.....

am I deciding their fate for all eternity?   no, i'm not.

God is the judge and all will be judged and either condemned or redeemed based on their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

can I be saved through Jesus from eternal punishment and still sin?  yes, i can.

therefore.................a homosexual can be saved, however, they will have to falsely interpret or totally disregard scripture if they want to continue being unrepentant of that sin.  this will lead to them suffering in body and spirit and also potentially causing others (christians)  to stumble in their walk.

if they remain unrepentant and militant, and prideful regarding their sin, then their salvation must be questioned and their theology considered false.

these are the most dangerous people because they can lead others astray in the name of Christ.

so...............................

should we as Christians LOVE all people?  yes.

should we follow them blindly and quietly down a path of destruction?  no.