Challenging God

     These are the days of the "new time religion." People have created their own "god" in their own image! It is not God as He Is, but God as people desire Him to be! How do people want God to be? Subservient to their will. This is the "prayer of sinners": After this manner therefore say me: My Father which art in me, Hallowed be my name. My kingdom has come, My will be done in heaven, as it is in earth. Give to me this day my daily bread for I deserve it. Is that not how people think? It is their hidden prayer even when they say the Lord's Prayer!
     Recently, there is a plague of false Christian teachers and preachers out there... yes really out there! Yesterday, I read of a Christian who denied strict Christian upbringing and endeavored to justify his rejection of it. That is mere rationalization! 
     Everything should be tested by scripture, not twist scripture. The scripture is: "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephes 6:4). Therein, the father has the responsibility to bring children up under the nourishment and teachings of the Word of God. Note that it must not be force-fed to children (provocation) but fed to them lovingly as a mother bird would feed their newly hatched birdlings. 
     Where have we heard that verse before? "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Prov 22:6). Thus, that advice from God is vintage wisdom and must be cherished as Epicureans would a fine wine (Not that I consume alcohol.) Note that scripture says "train up a child." How is training accomplished? Firstly, by continual demonstratiion. Even less intelligent dogs must be trained with continuity or they won't learn! The owner demonstrates proper performance.
     How is "the way he should go?" Note that it is should; there is a choice: should I or shant I? Force does not convince; it provokes. Children need to know why the training is good for them. "The way he should go" is why it is. That "Way" is the Way to Heaven -  Jesus Christ - the Way, Truth, and Eternal Life (John 14:16). Children often think they don't want to go to Heaven because in their own eyes, they shall not die. Youngsters make death a lie in their mind by not thinking about it. Because people fail to think on death does not make it inevitable.
     Children need a reason to be trained. At an early age, I realized that my reason was not necessarily eternal life but the avoidance of eternal torment. I'm not sure I was fully convinced! However, as time went on, God became less of a fictional punisher and revealed Himself to me as the graceful Rewarder. Training-up children has two techniques: reward and punishment. Reward is more effective becuse punishment may cause hate for the "master." 
    Dad triained us younger children but coerced the oldest. He encouraged me to want to obey him and God, but my brother felt provoked. He was trained but with the less effective method. However, in the end, he had not departed from the Way he should go. He told me that he failed to live up to what he knew was right.
     I was brought up with strict doctrine as the Doctrine of God is hard for those who are forced. I found the Doctrine of God fairly easy becaause I loved my trainer. I also, deep inside, loved God's Doctrine because it is just, loving, and fair. Why would I reject the messeneger (Dad) and the Message (Jesus's Way) when they were for my good?
     That Christian yesterday rejected his strict uobringing. He showed antipathy for the message when it should have been the trainer. Parents don't always train without provoking; obedience cannot be whipped into Christians because that is not God's Way. It is written, "Do not provoke the child." Children must want to obey God out of gratitude for the father's fairness and goodness.
     The issue at hand was denial that of the  Christian teaching that girls' immodesty contributed to his lasciviousness. He saw that as unfair and unjust. However, scripture is quite clear about immodesty. For instance, it was the cause from Bathsheba with the affect that David lusted, adulterated, and murdered. Bathsheba did not murder herself but was a contributor. The root cause was that a man after God's own heart failed God as many Christians do. Note that David never actually rejected the Doctrine of God, but temporarily removed it from his thoughts. 
     David blamed no one but himself, unlike Eve who blamed the Serpent and Adam who blamed Eve. "Thou shalt not commit adultery," is a hard teaching, especially when lusting is mental adultery! Should that hard teaching be dismissed just because it's difficult? No way! Should lust be overlooked just because chastity is difficult? No way! Should immodesty be overlooked just because with fashion trends, it is a hard thing to do? No way! 
     The most "unfair" thing in the Bible is when Uzzah accidentally touched the Ark of God to save it from falling off the oxen. (2 Sam 6:5; 1 Chron 13:9-12). Rather than God complimenting Uzzah and showing gratitude, God struck Uzzah dead. Why did that seem so unfair? Because Uzzah was only trying to help by doing things himself. God allowed the ox to stumble as a test. God would have saved the Ark Himself as it was his seat on Earth. Rather than depending on God, Uzzah depended on himself. Not only that, but he broke a hard rule - the Ark was not to be carried by any other way than men using the poles provided (Num 4:15; Deut 31:9; Josh 3:3;6). Uzzah disobeyed God's easy rule trying to reduce the difficulty in carrying the Ark. Uzzah made a easy rule hard and suffered for it!
     Being modest is an easy thing to do. It does not take much effort to be modest in dress and behavior. God expects modesty, and His will is that people of both genders be modest. That is not a personal preference but God's precept (1 Tim 2:9-10; 2 Pet 3:3-4; Prov 11:22; 1 Tim 2:8-10; as examples). Modesty is not only the covering of the flesh (Gen 3:7) but wearing apparel and modesty in dress and decoration. Why not get tattoos? It is immodest. Why not piecings? It is immodest. Why not too much makeup? It is immodest. Why not expensive attire?That is immodest? Why not provocative swimsuits? That is immodest. Hopefully, the point is made. Those are not my rules but God's will. 
     Modesty, as said before, is easy but teachings against lust are hard rules. It takes much effort not to lust, and certainly godly people can help by modesty. Scripture says, "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Mat 5:28). There is a cause and affect in that precept: the woman is the temptation and the adultery the sin. This can also be turned around because men can be immodest and women can lust as well. That verse implies that the woman in that case is the bait in which men are snared. Men too can be the bait and ensnare women. 
     Immodesty is the bait and as was seen with David, sin the entrapment. Satan uses easy infractions to snare the most hard to get bait. Christian men and women fall for the bait quite often because tuning out their libido is hard. Chasity is a hard teaching! It is made easier by right attitudes. Rather than I must be modest, it should be, I'm willing to be modest to protect the opposite gender from the temptor. Willingness makes hard teachings easier. Modesty comes easier when it's done for right reasons.
     As lust is the hard one, people can be delivered from sin but it requires avoidance of temptation: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." With Uzzah, Satan tempted because God allowed it. He had His reasons; as a test of willingness to do the harder thing - carry the Ark. God allowed David to be tempted because he was thought to be "a man after God's own heart." It turned out, for a brief time until he convicted himself, that he was more of "a man after another man's own woman!" Perhaps if Eve had not displayed her wares, then David would not have sinned so grossly. He may have still lusted because men and women can lust even after modest people; immodesty just makes the challenge much harder!
     A faithful Christian can be chaste even in the presence of immodesty. However, that is entering into temptation. We ask God not to do that to us, then we do it to ourselves. That is foolishness.
     The Christian gentlemen wrote yesterday with resentment. He was angry with his parents for hard teachings and transferred those hard feelings to God. He went too far relieving the responsibility of women to be modest. He accepted the false notion that it was entirely on his shoulders to fight the Devil alone. Like Uzzah, that bitter Christian, could have depended on God for his own serenity and the woman for modesty. If women in his youth had hearkened to God, it would have made that young boy's lust less difficult to deal with. He would not be blaming his father and God for being so strict!
     God is strict! Neither men nor women can lust. That is merely thinking about sinning! Controlling thoughts is the hardest thing to do, and we should all admit: we need help controlling our thoughts because demons are always putting wrong thoughts into our minds.
     One of the greatest sins is being angry with God for having hard rules. If our attitudes are on God, then hard things are made easier, and anger with God is inexcusable. God has hard precepts to test faithfulness; to wit: Job's temptations from Satan. God allowed those as tests of faith, and indeed, they were extremely hard tests! Yet Christians don't even want to be modest. That would have been Job's easiest temptation, and he would have laughed at its ease in accomplishing.
    Many Christians twist scripture and God's intent for their own purposes. The man who was so resentful against his parents for right upbringing may have been angry with himself with failing God's expectations. Adam blamed Eve. This man accepted all the blame although many "Eves" out there share the blame. David used no excuses. He accepted the punishment; he and Bathsheba were both punished severely! Neither did Bathsheba complain. God does have strict rules and they are all for good reasons.
     David was better than Adam who blamed the woman when he made the excuse, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat" (Gen 3:12). With that rationale, God did not question Adam's excuse. He knew Eve had tempted Adam. However, both paid the price; Eve for tempting and Adam for submitting to temptation.
     Just think on how easy God's rule was: Don't eat of the fruit of that one tree. Both Adam and Eve fell for its beauty, delightfulness, and for obtaining wisdom. They lusted and they ate. Ever since, Satan endeavors to cause discourse between Christians and God by providing opportunities to lust. The easiest thing to provide is naked skin because it costs nothing. Both Adam and Eve partially covered their flesh with aprons of fig leaves, trying to be modest, but God covered them with cloaks of skins, thus covering most of their flesh.
     The Christian writer the other day rejected God's Word. Like the Serpent before him, he took truth and twisted it for his convenience. False teachers must be rejected. Is it not God's will for modesty? If it were not so, he would have not said so! That Christian made God out to be either a liar or a ignorant pretend God. That, my friends, is challenging God's Supremacy.