"I feel your pain!"

" I feel your pain!", said Bill Clinton. It helped him get re-elected. He was empathetic to the feelings of us all, so said he.

We're to be considerate of others. We're to put ourselves in their place!  I grew up in Indiana, the son of poor Kentuckians. We went to Indiana because that's where the jobs were. I sported worn out jeans before they were in vogue! I was a trend-setter indeed.  At one of my class reunions a  former classmate, a daughter of a wealthy farmer said "I felt so sorry for you because you were so poor!" She "felt my pain", but actually there was little pain in being poor (outside of toothaches from having no dental care). She "did good" by feeling my pain. Many people aren't that considerate.

Some called this Kentuckian "hillbilly" in an attempt to humiliate me. Sometimes it did hurt, but oftentimes it was kidding. I'm not thin-skinned so there were many times being "called a stupid Kentuckian" just made me more determined. Those who ridiculed me never "felt my pain", so I'm careful now to not hurt others. I empathize!

Romans 12:15 ( ESV)  "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."

That's empathy! "Weeping with those who weep" is "feeling your pain!" Since we do feel the pain of others, we're to help out!

John 15:12 ( ESV) “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Helping out is charity. It's showing not only concern, but by doing do, love as well! Many of us are suffering. I have family members who burden my soul. My heart is heavy. They make wrong choices and heed not what God commands. I want them to have the joy of Jesus that I have. I want them in heaven with me, but alas, the choice is theirs. Many of you have the same burdens. Others are financially insecure and for others, it's their health or the health of their friends or families.

We're to "love" as "I (Christ) have loved you?" How's that? How did Christ love us? I mentioned the burden I have for my family. I said that I was worried about their eternal destiny. I have a burden for a few weighing on my heart, while Jesus had the burden of us all! Imagine the weighty grief he had.

1 John 2:2 (ESV) "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. "

Propitiation: Jesus willingly sacrificed himself in our place. He did that because he loved us and he died for the entire world. "He felt our pain!" Not only did Jesus carry a burden for our souls and offered himself instead, he physically felt the agony of death. Furthermore, for an instant, Jesus felt extreme aloneness. His Father, as part of the propitiation, abandoned him!

Mark 15:34 "And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ... “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus hurt. "He felt our pain!"   Jesus died for us. John 15:12 he told us "love one another as I have loved you!" He loved us so much that although mankind spat upon him and ridiculed him, he still loved us. That's the love we're to show:

1 John 3:16 (ESV) "By this we know love, that he (Jesus) laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."

Few risk their lives for others. Policemen do. Soldiers do. Paramedics do et al. However, for many of them, it's their job. Few do it out of love, but some do. Although many saints don't risk their lives, they do live their lives to help others because they're empathetic! Helping others won't get a person to heaven, but helping others is the outcome of Christ living in the Christian. We must love others because we're indebted to Christ and must love him for it. I say "must' in both occasions because it's a command!

We think of a "command" as such: "You have 30 seconds to quit hating John Jones and start loving him!" My point? Love can't be dictated, but Jesus did just that! We're called to love because we're not on our own! We have a spirit of love because Jesus is in our hearts! If we don't have that love, are we truly born again? The "command to love" best means to exercise the faith that is a gift to you. Exercising faith is the "work of faith". We can't love unless we endeavor to love by "feeling Jesus's pain" as he felt ours. By doing so, love should evolve!

1 Thessalonians 1:3 (ESV) "...remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."

 

You see here that you, the Christian must DO SOMETHING to love. It's called a "labor of love". It's done because of "your work of faith". You DO EXERCISE your faith by endeavoring to love. If you're sincere, the Holy Spirit makes that love possible!

 

In summary, since Christ felt your pain, you must remember the pain that he felt and love him for suffering for you! Furthermore, you must work on loving others by "feeling their pain". This love is the Command of Jesus! It takes working faith. Go for it!

Christmas; What's in it for me?

I'm not much on the Christmas season. I'm not a scrooge. I just find it a trying time. Neither am one to get depressed, but I do get "down" at Christmastime. I don't like that feeling and wish I could be enthused as most others seem to be.

What's wrong with my Christmas spirit is what Christmas has become. I guess, historically, it has been a season for giving. Although it has little to do with the celebration of Jesus' birth, Paul quoted what Jesus said about giving:

Acts 20:33 "I (Paul) have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.35 "I (Paul) have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."

 

Looking at the context, Paul is referring to material things. He quoted Jesus, but that quote appears no where in the gospels. Somehow Paul knew that Jesus said that. There are three scenarios:

 

1) When a sinner Paul heard Jesus say that.

2) After he was saved the resurrected Jesus said that to Paul.

3) Paul learned that quote from the lips of a disciple of Jesus.

 

I favor number 2. Jesus communed with Paul after he was resurrected. Paul was the only apostle who became one after the death of Jesus! He was a favored man. I believe what Paul said "It is more blessed to give than receive." Paul then took that quotation and put it in the context of wealth. I would assume that it was the context Jesus meant because Jesus placed so little importance on wealth, or poverty for that matter.

 

Therefore, Jesus wants us to be givers! Christians who give are doing so sacrificially. We do without something so that others have. It's voluntary and charitable!

 

1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

 

Charity is benevolence toward another. In Christian terms, that act is a demonstration of love such that charity and love become synonymous. One does not give sacrificially as a general rule unless the person is loving. Even philanthropists give because they love others. Christians aren't the only ones who can love another!

 

A divine example of charity is in the Christmas story. The wise men from the east gave three gifts: gold, Frankinscence and Myrrh. These gifts were not sought by Jesus nor his family. No one made the magi give the gifts. They did it on their own. The wise men expected nothing in return. The gifts were truly gifts! Those men who traveled hundreds of miles came to give to Jesus because of a loving and giving spirit.  They returned home with no more than a joyous feeling for God's guidance to magnify the future Savior of mankind!

 

I would be ashamed if I were some!

 

I grew up in a household where gifts were few. We never got toys from our parents and if we got anything, it was socks and underwear. One thing we did get aplenty was LOVE. We children were so loved by our parents that they would have truly sacrificed themselves for any of us!  An example of unselfish love: Dad took us to the Dairy Queen about once a year. With seven kids in tow, money was tight. Dad allowed each of us to get a small sundae. My favorite was and still is hot fudge. Dad always got a small vanilla ice cream cone. It only occurred to me years later when confronted with the same circumstances with my children, that Dad would have loved to have a sundae too, but he sacrificed his own pleasure to make us kids happy! Mom did the same! I cherish that thought and the love conveyed by such simple an action. Dad and Mom did without so that we didn't have to!

 

Notice that we didn't go out often, but once a year. Although Dad favored us, he certainly didn't spoil us. We did without treats and gifts most of the time and that was how we lived. We were poor and we lived as if we were poor. That's pragmatic and realistic! However, it's the best thing that happened to any of us seven kids because we all "made it" financially in life with very little contributed by our parents. Poverty builds character!

 

Proverbs 13:4 (ESV) "The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. "

 

Now, my point! Those who have things given to them are not trained up properly to achieve on their own!

 

 Sluggards are the unmotivated. Those who are handed all the wants of life are not motivated to work for themselves. This is not only an individual problem, but applies to the U.S. entitlement programs. In fact, over-giving and laxity is a detriment to success! By being diligent and working hard, not only will you prosper, but you'll be happier. I worked hard all my life and am a happy person. God has provided my wealth and prosperity and as an adult I have never done without, unless it was by choice. It's wise to control one's own desires for the benefit of true happiness. Said in another manner "Riches don't insure happiness!"

 

"Christmas. What's in it for me?" says many!

 

1) People treat Christmas like a candy store. Many worry for months on "I wonder what I'm getting for Christmas!"

2) Some are bolder. They tell you what they want for Christmas. It's like you're a caterer who is to supply the epicureans cravings.

3) Some say "I was good. I deserve a  _______!". No one deserves any gift. That's why it's a gift. Deserving people get paid. People  you love get gifts only because of your love.

4) People buy for others who they know will buy for them. It's much as bartering. (My son and I have handed each other a $100 check before). Giving because you're receiving is not charity. Let a person who loves you give just to make you happy, not to get something in return.

5) Some people like to share. Let them have the joying of giving without receiving.

6) Never let anyone over-give to you. Let them know that a small gift is just as meaningful.

7) Some people buy the love of others by over-giving. Those who truly love will give sensibly and practically.

8) I've seen ungrateful people show bad attitudes when they didn't get what they wanted.

9) I've seen many kids gets so many toys that they don't know which one to play with and in a few days all but a few are lost, destroyed or put away to outgrow.

10) Buying teens expensive items is over-giving. Buying small kids expensive items is stupidity.

 

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. "What's in it for me?" Well, for myself, I want one thing from everybody. I want love. It may be friendship or it may be a hug. However, love is not a tangible item. It's a meaningful action with emotion. The best gift to denote that love is a handwritten note given with a smile and a hug. That's what I want. That's what I need! That what we all really need! That's giving the gift which Christ intended. It's not the silver and gold which you give to another, but the sacrifice of giving! Giving should not be done to those who haven't the need, but to the needy! Love is a gift for everybody.

 

I search for that kind of love at Christmas. Some display it. Others don't. What would be the best gift ever if everyone I know, especially my family, thinks about the feelings of others, shows respect to others, trusts others, honors others and just plain old have charity to others. What great Christmas gifts!

 

 

 

 

 

The story of Jesus: 700 BC

My belief in Christ is reinforced by my belief in prophecy! Some today fail to accept the idea that Jesus was born. Somehow, in their unbelief, they think Jesus was a fictional character in spite of the fact that many witnessed his existence and several of his contemporaries wrote documents which are historical, personal and spiritual about the man who IS God! Regardless of how stiff-necked others may be, I'm both pragmatic and hopeful.  Isaiah was an early Christian. However, Isaiah (aka (Esaias in Greek) was born around 760 B.C. (before Christ).  How then, could Isaias be a Christian? He had "hope" in the Christ to come, That's called "faith in Jesus". His faith was greater than mine because I believe in what "is" whereas Isaias believed in "what is to be"! Now, that's faith! Here's the words of Isaias the Prophet:

Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever..."

Of whom was Isaias speaking? He was talking about the Christ Jesus before Jesus was ever born! How could this be? It's imperative to remember that although Jesus was not yet born, Jesus WAS, IS and ALWAYS WILL BE!

John 1: 1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God... 14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

 

So here we have the whole story. Just as Loyd Bensen said in the debate with Dan Quail "I knew John Kennedy, and you're no John Kennedy!", Isaiah said to the Jews "I know Jesus Christ and he is God!"  Isaiah had such faith in Jesus because he communed with Jesus! "You mean God?", you say. God "revealed" to man IS Jesus!

So on December 25th we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the "Son of Man", Jesus Christ. However Jesus, "Son of God" never originated. He wasn't created. He just IS!  The "Son of God" is without a birth date, because he is God!

Revelation 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

 

I like this. God (Jesus himself) is the "A" to "Z". That includes everything! He was here on Day 1 and will be here on Day infinity. He is profound! He "IS", he "WAS" and "IS TO COME". We celebrate Jesus, the Son of Man, because he became us so he could feel what we feel. He felt the sting of death for us. Without his birth there would never have been the ultimate sacrifice; his death. His birth was a miracle. It was so that we would believe in his deity. Life went on after Jesus was born. However, at his death life began. Not because of his birth were we "born again", but we have the second birth because he died!

 

Such faith Isaias had! To be able to have the faith that he had, it is certain that he knew Jesus. Because Isaias told of Jesus birth and death 700 plus years before  he was born, my faith is increased! Jesus was no surprise to mankind. They knew he was coming... just not when. Likewise, we know he's coming again, but just not when:

 

I'm no Isaias, but prophecy has been revealed to me. It's from God and was revealed to Paul:

 

1 Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

 

Isaias was a "picture of Paul". Isaias communed with the "Angel of God". Paul communed with the resurrected Lord, the "Son of God". Jesus' contemporaries fellow-shipped with the "Son of Man". The Jesus who was always, was revealed to us in birth and lives on in that same body who was given at birth. We celebrate Jesus not because he was born, but because he died yet lives!

Political Correctness and Christ

We all know that "political correctness"(PC) runs rampant in the world. It being "broad support for change in an attempt to correct past injustices". It's a tool for secularists and liberal religions to enforce "social justice". They see about everyone excepting WASP-Ms(White Anglo Saxon Protestants-Males) as "victims" of institutionalized injustice.

 

PC castigates anyone who stands in its way. Those who espouse PC are basically "thought and speech police". (I started to say "policemen", but then that would be politically incorrect as are all references to gender!)

 

I'm not too worried about the political world. At some point in time sane Americans will tire of the silliness of political correctness. Since I'm a proud WASP it's my position that PC Police are the enemy. As such I would never bow to their pressure to bend to their herd mentality. Christians should be thoughtful and considerate in our speech, but not for the same reasons! Here's my reason:

 

Matthew 7:12 "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." 

 

So rather than being politically correct in a feeble attempt to correct social injustice, we should practice "The Golden Rule" to please God and be fair to the brother (and sister) to whom we're commanded to love! There's no thought police here... besides God, that is!  We don't have to obey any of God's commands. He doesn't make us. We're free to reject God and his commands. However, there is a penalty for not loving others. It's divine retribution. It's punishment by a just God, not some "do gooder" liberal trying to appease his/hers own guilt feelings!

 

New Age religions reject Christ and Christianity as taught in scripture. New Age is basically a conglomeration of philosophies, pagan religions and liberal Christianity; those which practice social justice instead of salvation. From their viewpoint Christianity is intolerant. They don't believe that Christ is necessary, and that others understanding of Christ is distorted. Of course their convenient viewpoint totally disregards who the Bible says inspired scripture... God himself!

 

The foremost viewpoint of the PC Police about Christianity is that it is intolerant and is the crux of all problems in western civilization since WASPs and WASCs (White Anglo Saxon Catholics) are responsible for repressing everyone since day one. We are public enemy number one! (Many people include the Jewish community as guilty, but for the moment that is politically incorrect, at least for the moment!)

 

There's a second reason that Christianity is under attack by PC Police: Heaven is only for those who believe in Jesus. Heaven is for Christians only! It's a private club! However, that's what Jesus himself said:

 

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

 

Coming unto the Father is communion with God in heaven. Jesus said that he is the only way! He declared that to be true and that's how to obtain life; eternal life!

 

John 14:6 excludes many people! It excludes all non-Christians. The gate is narrow:

 

Matthew 7:14 "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

 

Yes, most people are doomed to hell.  That's because most people are not Christians by experience! I've had New Agers tell me that Christianity is too intolerant and exclusive. Other New Agers have told me that Christianity will be destroyed because it's a religion of prejudice and intolerance!  Karl Marx believed that. The First French Republic  believed that at the time of the French Revolution. (Jacques Hébert, Antoine-François Momoro, Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette, Joseph Fouché renounced Christianity and started a new religion named "The Cult of Reason").  Adolph Hitler not only went after the Jews, but his was a New Age Religion which opposed both Jews and Christian. Then we have the Communists who label Christians as public enemy #1). (Those with Marxist leanings are the first to fall for "political correctness". They are too naive to understand just how "incorrect" and evil Marx was!)

 

Those who propagate PC in America are primarily Marxists and secularists. Liberal churches are included as part of the former two since their doctrine emphasizes "social justice" as well. They have been deceived by the deceiver and their religion will be the religion of the Anti-Christ!

 

Jesus was intolerant according to the PC police. He did say this:

 

Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

 

It seems exclusionary, but ends with a statement of grace! If you do God's will you too can be a citizen of heaven. Heaven doesn't have a "Fair Housing Law" or "Opportunity Zones".  God allows those to enter who love Jesus! That includes all genders, races and nationalities. It does not include those who reject his commands. PC Police see that as intolerant in spite of Jesus teaching love for everyone, even the enemy. Even the PC Police!!

 

Those who "pick on a group", according to the PC Police are stereotyping and are prejudiced. They are intolerant and hateful! (I guess because they don't know Jesus, they see him that way!) After all he called the moneychangers in the temple a "den of thieves". That wasn't very nice of him was it? How dare the man who was prepared to die for us all because he loved us all call those who disrespected him a bunch of thieves!  But that he did. Guilty as charged:

  

Matthew 21:12 "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,And said unto them, 13 It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."

Today we can't call a "wrong" a "wrong" or even a "right" a "right"! There is no right or wrong for the PC Police except for those who violate their code of "social justice". "How dare you criticize a drunk. They're sick!" they say, without regard to what God said about the drunken! "How dare you criticize 'gays'  they say. "They're born that way!" (Thanks to Lady Gaga we all know that to be truth now!). They pay no heed that God destroyed two cities because of homosexuality and called that behavior "disgusting"! (Excuse me for being so politically incorrect with this fact!).

Jesus was so intolerant that he called some Jewish lawyers and bureaucrats "snakes"! (I do that all the time with judges and Democrats myself!):
 

 Matthew 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

The Sadducees and Pharisees didn't come to the baptism to experience it, they came as undercover cops from the legal department! They were spies from the government who sought to use the acts of the Christians to condemn Jesus. They WERE snakes!

Another reason Jesus is unacceptable to the PC Police: He's in a position to be the final judge of us all! If we don't live and believe as Jesus would have us to, Jesus will judge us! "That's just not fair!" The PC Police say. "It's against my freedom to be forced to follow Jesus when I disagree with him!" The PC Police are just like Adam. They are just like the people in the days of Noah and they're just like the Pharisees. They all want to do what's right in their own mind! Take a peek at Jesus as Judge:

 

John 5:21 "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 23 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:"

Jesus is in a position to quicken (give eternal life) since God has appointed him judge. "That's just not fair to Muslims, Buddhists and even atheists!" The PC Police say. "God (who they believe is the same in all religions) should judge, not Jesus!" They think that way because they seek a wide path to heaven with broad acceptance. Since the New Agers don't want to live as Christ would have them, they reject him! It's not Jesus who's intolerant, it's the PC Police themselves. They are blind to it all!

Matthew 13:15 "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."

People fail to listen and see because they don't want the restrictive religion of Jesus! They want it their way! They are their own god.

Christians' right to teach and preach to the world is intolerant, according to the PC Police. Although the Great Commission is to go out into the world and teach salvation, Christians who proselytize (seek to convert) are intolerant of other religions!  How can a Christian reach the sinner when the sinner doesn't come to the Christian? Christians must go to the sinner, pagan, atheist, New Ager or even the PC Police!
 

Acts 10:42 "And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God (Jesus) to be the Judge of quick and dead."

The PC Police want Christians away from them, out of their life and out of everyone else's life. By their own perception of permissiveness they are the most restrictive!  Isn't it ironic that those who profess love, fairness, and social justice are so hateful, unfair and repressive?

We're still called to love them. They're the enemy, but we still love them enough that we want them to avoid eternal hell. God tells Christians how to respond to the PC Police. It's hard for me because they insult God, but he tells us how to handle them:

Romans 12:20  "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head."

God loves them too! He wants us to show love for them. If they don't change, then we're not to do the punishing. God will. I don't know how, but somehow by being kind we shall "heap coals of fire" on them. Jesus will judge them. Let God punish. That's not for us!

Time to Get Serious!

After a few dates it's "time to get serious" and make a commitment!  It starts with just enjoying each others company then moves on to spending a lot of time with each other. You like the company and enjoy the entertainment together! After flirting and being flattered to feel good for awhile, it's time to put the nose to the grindstone. Is this who I want for the rest of my life? Am I ready to make a serious heartfelt allegiance for a lifetime? Yes, it's time to get serious! Most often one person is way ahead of the other. While one is certain, even faithful, the other drags on from day to day, having fun, but no contentment. No joy even!

I'm talking about a "relationship". Most have been there and know what I'm talking about. However, my camouflaged motive for writing about "relationships" is to test whether the reader is ready! "I'm already married!" you say, or "My steady and I love each other!". Really? I'm glad for you, but sad for us all! I'm married and committed to two people. I'm sort of a bigamist! "Gasp" says the reader. "We should keep some things secret!"

My affection and love is for my wife. Life wouldn't be the same otherwise. We are in unity and most of the time, harmonize well. I talk to her about everything and hopefully she does me. We like to think that we'd die for our spouse, but that's hard to imagine. It's an unpleasant thought and I won't go there. We are in fellowship and each of us is dedicated to the other (I sure hope it's mutual!). I'm describing a "serious relationship"!

How can I have a relationship with another if I'm dedicated to one already? We must! That's what man was made for; relationships! I'm sure my wife doesn't mind. We sort of have an "open relationship". She doesn't care about how serious I am to another as long as I'm dedicated to her. She's certainly not a "Stepford Wife", but she knows that I love another and need that love! She's a submissive wife in some respects as she's supposed to be:

1 Timothy 2:11 " Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

 

Who is the "significant other" with whom it's "time to get serious"?  It's time for us (the bride) to get serious with the "bridegroom"! Had you surmised that?

 

Matthew 9:15 "And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast."

 

The bride (the church) is committed. They had children. As part of the church, we're the bride, but on an individual basis, we're as children of the marriage.

 

The church's love for Jesus is just like that love we have for our partner. It's good that we enjoy the music with our Lord, enjoy the friendship of other believers,  pray to our Lord and flirt around a little just like we love him! Is it first love or merely infatuation? It's time to get serious! The dating period is over, we're still dating, but not engaged and marriage seems far off.

 

The relationship needs to go to the next level. "Getting serious" is about commitment to Jesus, and about a monogamous relationship with him. We're not to flirt around with others. The days of being our own God are over if we are committed. Pleasure is put aside for contentment. Joy is the reward in having a serious relationship with the Bridegroom!

 

How can we get serious? Focus on the Lord. Be Christlike. Be sanctified. You are to be set apart in a sealed relationship with your firstlove. As the bride, you're to be submissive to the Bridgegroom. We're to do what Jesus would have us do!

 

Most of us go to church, think about the after church meal, laugh with friends, kid the pastor, enjoy the music and consider the sermon. That's dating! We need to get married! Do you truly love Jesus? Do you tell others how "taken" you are by his qualities? Do you brag to others how content you are and brag on the joy you have together? Probably not! You and I fail miserably. We "date" the betrothed-to-be, but we aren't married. Yes, "it's time to get serious!"

 

1 Peter 4:1 "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;"

 

Jesus got serious about the bride (us)! He "suffered for us in the flesh". We need to do likewise. We are to have unity with the bridegroom. That's getting serious!

 

 

 

 

Wallowing in self pity

Many times in my career I was pushed aside. In General Motors there's a program for promotions called "high potential" employees. At an early time in their careers young men (and now women) were ear-marked for success. Based on a few superficial factors, the lives of many were effected. GM never told anyone that they were "high potential". If you were you just knew it because you got ahead of others with less effort.

My educated guess is that at one time I was high potential. As a measly sixth level mechanical engineer I was put in charge of all the Master Mechanic superintendents as effects quality. Their instructions were to do whatever I said to fix problems. One superintendent, out of pride, refused to take orders from such a low level person. He was demoted he next day! That's why I believe I was "high potential", but something changed that!

I never played "office politics". That's where a person who wants a raise or promotion becomes a virtual servant to someone who can help them in their career. It calls for laughing at unfunny jokes, drinking after hours with the guys, maybe playing golf with those who count, providing office gossip to the boss and basically, being a "yes" man (or woman). GM called that "networking". To advance in a career you must know a person or persons in high places. That's true as a general rule in any job, not just at General Motors. They just took it to extremes and it took it's toll after nearly a hundred years of abuse.

I did get eleven offers to be promoted to superintendent level. However, I rejected them all. GM was the ultimate destroyer of lives. In order to advance an employee had to be agreeable to moving. In most cases moving meant from a plant to Detroit. I did that once, escaped after 4-1/2 years and swore I would never uproot my family again. A promotion, although it makes one feel good about themselves, can hurt more than help.  I was offered an 8th level engineering managers position when I was at headquarters. All I had to do is move my stuff. However, a fine man named Jim Lane had worked harder for it than I had. He was a fine person! When I was offered the position by my boss, Robert Fedak, I recommended Jim. He got the job!  I'm glad because Jim died in a few years of cancer and I made an impact on his last years of life!

Other than that, I was never offered a promotion at my base location. It always required a move. I was told that I just didn't "shoot the bull enough" with my boss and his cronies. That I did not. I worked hard and expected a reward for my successes. That didn't happen, at least until I made Corvette Quality Assurance Manager late in my career.

Depending on where I worked and at what time "credentials" for getting ahead varied from time to time. To golf with the boss never hurt, but when I hired in, Catholics ruled and promoted Catholics. Later it were the Masons who ruled and promoted Masons. Then civil rights affirmative action programs became law and to get ahead a person must be of a minority race. Later that would extend to homosexuals and finally to foreigners. Seldom were hard-working Christian's promoted for any reason. Our priorities were obviously wrong!

Many times when I was passed over for promotions, cushy jobs, raises, and such I wallowed in self pity. The worst case was when Al Gruchalla, the General Superintendent of Master Mechanics, shoved me twice and "promoted" me out. My mistake? He told me that the 3.5 million dollar door line automation must be completed at a certain time. I told him that all the money in the world could not make that happen. That's when I went from "high potential" to "no potential".

Ironically, Gruchalla had to swallow his pride because after it was installed, nobody could get the complex system running. He had to ask me to head that up. I did get it running and running at line rate. However, I had went from being a manager to being a pain. That was my penalty for not being a "yes" man. He got me promoted to headquarters, the worst day of my business life! I wallowed in self-pity for awhile. Life was unfair. People are unfair. Systems are unfair! (Incidentally, he got his just derserves. His estranged wife shot and killed him in self-defense a year later).

I worked for General Motors for forty-one years. I was a hard-working employee until the end, although a thousand times I had reason to cry-baby and quit. I did wallow in self-pity a few times, but hard work and reality quickly cured me of being a chronic complainer. My priorities changed with each injustice, I went from "company man" to "Christian man". Promotions hurt Christian communion. After a GM employee got to superintendent level, GM was to become their life. That never came true for me. GM was never my life, but Christ still is and will always be.

"Self pity"! I bet you've been there and done that yourself. It's phase two of disappointment.  "Pity" being sorrowful that something unpleasant has occurred. "Self-pity" is when that sorrow is from yourself! No one else pities you it seems so you do it yourself. Normally "wallowing in" is associated with self-pit because that's what you do. You wallow as a hog would in a mud hole!

I feel good now! I know that I could have been superintendent 11 times in my career. I even accepted it once and turned around and declined it three days later. That just wasn't what God wanted for me:

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

 

I am thankful for great jobs uninterrupted for 41 years! I have a comfortable retirement, always had good medical care, and lived pretty good for a former nobody from eastern Kentucky. I  have no serious health issues and am not  stressed out. I plan on living awhile because of God's grace. On the other hand if I had moved further up the corporate ladder, stress would have been my life. An early death would have been my destiny. God watched over me and never let me go where he didn't want me to go! I am thankful for where I am and it is God's will that I'm right here doing what I am where I am!

 

It seems now that anytime any worker has stress, they say "I'm quitting this lowsy job!". That attitude may be why the job is so lowsy to start with. No manager wants a worker, let alone a manager, who wallows in self-pity. That's a given. Would you want a "wallower" if you were the boss?  Certainly not.

 

If you wallow in self-pity, get your head on straight! What you're concerned so much about this instant may be trivial tomorrow. Time heals. However, time heals more quickly if one heeds this advice:

 

Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

 

Communing with God is the cure for self-pity. He will take your burden as his own and rest you for a spell. Relying on God is the antidote for "wallowing in self-pity". Look at life a little differently. Look at it through the eyes of a Christian. Look at what God has blessed you with! Look at the lack of importance of worldly things in this temporal world. Take a break from life. Rest your soul for a spell. Put those feet right beside God's. This earth is his footstool!

Justifying our actions or rationalizing?

Justify means to free oneself of a wrong. It's a way of validating bad behavior.

Rationalize means to come up with an incorrect, but self-satisfying reason for bad behavior.

There is a difference!

The young boy "justified" his use of marijuana by saying "All my friends do it!"

Should the boy have said that he "rationalized" his use? Would not that have been correct instead of "justified"? Most certainly!  Day in and day out those who do bad or silly things inaccurately "justify" their actions. They lie to themselves. They satisfy their own lax standards of conduct. Those who live in make-believe worlds where people lie to themselves to escape guilt are the ultimate dysfunctional in this world!

Let's examine a sin. You pick one. There are many! What's that? "Abortion" you say! Let's go with that one. Many people rationalize their opinion based on false justification.

Rationalization #1: The fetus is not yet human.

Truth: A fetus is a stage in human development with all systems working in harmony. A fetus has a personality. By crawling through the birth canal there is no magic involved. A fetus does not turn into a baby. It has been a baby all along! This is medical fact, but is conveniently forgotten who rationalize cruel thought in the guise of love and concern. Ask them and they would say that their belief is "justified". They lie to themselves to free themselves from blame and guilt.

Rationalization #2: The Bible says nothing about abortion.

Truth: Thou shalt not kill isn't all that vague. Any serious Christian, no anyone, should understand that simple statement. However, by using rationalization #1, #2 gets easier. Lies "justify" lies. (i.e., by rationalizing that fetus's are just tissue, it makes it easy to believe that nothing has been killed.

Do you realize that the word "accident" isn't used in the King James Version. "Accident" is a modern term to help us rationalize bad actions.  "Mischief" is the keyword for finding this verse (now that's truth!):

Exodus 21:22 "If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life..."

 

"Accidentally" causing a woman to abort is grounds for a person to be punished (and according to the husband's judgment!). If the abortion was caused by "mischief" (on purpose) then the person causing the abortion is to die! 

 

If you need more clarity on what the fetus in the womb is, try this on for size:

 

Matthew 1:23 " Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."

 

Here we see that Mary had a "child" in her womb! Not only that, but she brought forth a child. He was a boy child; a son. He is "God with us" (Emmanuel). If Mary had been handy to King Herod, Jesus would have been aborted. Since news traveled slowly in those days Old King Herod tried infanticide! That's what happens to live-born babies who survive the hatchet. They are killed. That's infanticide. How does anyone rationalize that?

 

Rationalization #3: "A child would never be happy with a deformity or in poverty".

 

Truth: Those deformed or poor can be just as happy as anyone else because that's the norm for them! It's egotistical to think of yourself as the ideal model for happiness!  Anecdotal evidence shows that the perfect, the popular and the rich are prone to suicide. Just look at the famous people who do it all the time.

 

Let's deal with poverty first. That's part of God's plan:

 

1 Samuel 2:7 "The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up."

 The poor are born into poverty. Their parents are poor too! That's life. God has a special place for the poor because they're normally the "meek". They shall inherit the earth! That goes right along with "The Lord... maketh rich... and lifteth up!" Those born poor have incentive. Through God all things are possible. He made my affluent life possible because I certainly wasn't born into substantial means!

 

How about the deformed?

 

John 9:2 "And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

 

Defective people aren't defective necessarily because anyone sinned. It's for God's purpose!  Those who rationalize use "God is a cruel God." or "God doesn't exist." to explain why deformed people can't be happy and why their is no God. God has a penalty planned for them! We'll see who has the last say in that matter.

 

What's more some of the most happy people are known to be those born with Down's Syndrome, but those babies are murdered every day in the thousands by abortion because "The deformed can never be happy!"

 

Rationalization #4: "A baby born as a product of rape can never be happy."

 

Truth: The same truth as above! I have seen interviews of adults born as a result of rape who're more normal than those who rationalize!  There is no correlation between "happiness" and "how I was conceived". That's rationalization!

 

Rationalization #5: "I'm in favor of abortion if it is to save the life of the mother."

 

Truth: Abortion laws have nothing to  do with that. Throughout history doctors had to make very serious and dire decisions and sometimes the mother lived and sometimes the child. However, he was obligated by the Hippocratic Oath to endeavor to save them both! Here's a portion of that oath:

 

"I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art."

It might seem that the oath would not allow the loss of the baby to save the life of the mother, but the doctor is pledged to "keep them from harm and injustice". He did what was right!  Doctors no longer take the oath. That's "rationalization: for evil practiced by the AMA!

Rationalization #6: "I'm pro-choice, but I'm not personally in favor of abortion."

Truth: Libertarian ideas never take precedence over God's word! Freedom to kill is not a Constitutional guarantee. In fact the Declaration of Independence guarantees the "right to life".

Those who allow abortion and fail to defeat that wrong are just as guilty as the gentiles who stood idly by and let the Jews be killed. "I'm pro-what's best for the regime, although I'm against exterminating the Jews!" Those fools who allow this "rationalization" by the baby killer are just as guilty as the Christian was who just  sang a little louder when the German death trains went by the church with Jews wailing and screaming. Yes, the baby has a "silent scream", but many of us can hear it because we choose to!

Rationalization! You get the point. I could go on and on. However, Christians who favor abortion are accomplices to murder and are just as guilty as the one who wields the scalpel! I certainly wouldn't want murder on my record on the judgment day!

Revelation 20:11 "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

So your "work: of favoring abortion is okay? Tell that to God. You WILL get the chance!