Little piece of my journal this morning. :)
Week 2 Day 1
Genesis 18:16-19:38
Matthew 6:25-7:14
Psalm 8:1-9
Proverbs 2:6-15
Matthew 6:26
“Look at the birds, they don’t plant or harvest or store up food in barns, for you heavenly father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?”
Anonymous asked: so you don't believe in gay marriage? or any being gay and christian? wow i would not have expected that from you.
I’m just going to warn you now, this is LONG!
I definitely “believe” in gay marriage because I see it happening right before my eyes, but I don’t support it just as much as I don’t support infidelity, heterosexual sex before marriage and homosexuality.
I look at homosexuality no different than a heterosexual couple having sex outside of marriage, someone cheating on their spouse, prostitution or even bestiality. What it boils down to is that it’s all sexual sin and the bible is VERY clear about that in 1 Corinthians 6:18 which says, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.”
Sex outside of marriage: Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
Adultery: Matthew 5:27-28 “Do not commit adultery. But I tell you this: anyone who looks at a woman to satisfy his lust has in fact already committed adultery with her in his heart”
Prostitution: Leviticus 19:29 “Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.”
Homosexuality: Romans 1:26-27 “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
Bestiality: Leviticus 18:23 “And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.”
I’m not sure how much clearer the bible can be about sexual sin and homosexuality specifically. Verses like Galatians 5:19-21 which says “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” make it very clear that sin keeps us from the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 also says this very clearly, “ Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”.
With my stance 100% clear on the fact that I do believe sexual sin including homosexuality is a sin, I will say I have truly struggled and pondered the topic of being “gay and christian”. After a lot of prayer and asking God what He thinks, I feel like I have a better understanding. I hate to categorize but for the ease of explaining, I’m going to.
I have a friend who has decided they are at “peace” with being both gay and Christian. They have chosen to overlook the verses in the bible stating this is not acceptable in God’s eyes and figure they will be forgiven for it anyway and it won’t keep them from getting into heaven. So they choose to live a homosexual lifestyle while believing the rest of the bible to be true.
I also have a friend who is a believer and struggles with homosexuality. It’s not something they flaunt or are proud of but treat it just as any other sin in their life: something they struggle with. They chase after God’s heart while asking for forgiveness when they stumble. I have seen them grow so much, and while they still struggle, I see a truly repentant heart that is striving to be more like Christ.
I think being “gay and christian” has a lot to do with where your heart is at. Who is more important in this equation? You or Christ? Your desires or God’s will for your life? I don’t look down on the Christian who struggles with sin, but the person who lets that run their life I find hard to believe they have a true sense of what “follower of Christ” really means. Christ convicts, and I find it very difficult to believe a true christian can live a sexually impure life without feeling like they need to repent.
I consider myself a true follower of Christ and any type of sin in my life disgusts me. I am broken every day when I mess up and have to ask for forgiveness. I don’t want to break my fathers heart, yet I do. If that isn’t something you feel strongly about, maybe you aren’t truly following Christ, but rather your own flesh. I struggle with a specific sin every single day, but I pray and ask God for help and guidance. I trust my Father to help me and take care of it. Although it’s something I want to do, I know it doesn’t please my Fathers heart, so I CHOOSE not to do it. I struggle everyday, but I make a choice to put Christ first and not my own wants and desires. He is Lord of my life, and I am not in control.
The argument that comes up with this subject about not being able to help who you are attracted to and/or fall in love with is complete garbage to me. You know what, my sinful nature is attracted to 18 cupcakes sitting on a table, but it doesn’t mean I should eat all 18 because I want them. Or how about a baby that wants to rip a toy away from another child? Should we let them go ahead with that since it’s obviously a “natural feeling” for the baby to want that toy? The bible has a lot to say about self control, and desires of the flesh. THEY AREN’T GOOD FOR YOU!!! Titus 2:12 talks about self control and says, “Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” And 1 John 2:16 talks about our fleshly desires and who they come from, “For everything in the world the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father but from the world.”
So all in all, I don’t believe you can be gay and truly following Christ as a lifestyle, but I do believe you can be a Christian and struggle with sin. It’s if you choose to act on those sinful desires and if you take them to the foot of the cross with a pure heart of repentance.
Twisted Grace
This is a jumbled up mess, but I feel like I have something to say but don’t quite know how to get it out right.
I was talking with a friend recently who said they went to a church and the pastor said, “If you don’t remember anything else I say today, remember this: The only things in the bible that aren’t up for debate is what Jesus said. The rest is up for interpretation.” My friend went on to explain that they went and bought a bible where Jesus’ words are in red and he read only that. He then explained how Jesus was very clear about sexual immorality but said nothing about being gay and that’s when he became “okay” with being both gay and Christian.
When I heard this everything in me wanted to start slamming down verse after verse and trying to show him how “wrong” he was, but that was my flesh. In that moment the Lord softened my heart, and I actually started to tear up thinking about how confused this young man is. My heart was/is breaking for him. I felt so sad to hear him believing something so false, but I was angry to hear him twist the word of God so it fits into what works for him.
I say this because I think we have all done something like this before. We try justifying and manipulating just to try and get our own way so we can do what we want to do. The thing is, you can’t pick and choose what you want to believe of God’s word. It’s either all or nothing. Matthew 12:30 says “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters” and Revelation 3:16 says “So, because you are lukewarm neither hot nor cold I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” It’s not a pick and choose kind of faith. It’s you either believe in ALL of His word, or it doesn’t work. Twisting it to fit our lives isn’t how it works. We should be laying down our lives so it’s not our will but our Father’s will for us.
With all of that said, we do serve a God of grace and compassion who has patients with us, but you can’t use God’s grace as an excuse to live the way you want to live. Twisting his word into what you want it to be is a cheap selfish excuse. Grace isn’t a one way ticket, we need to be striving to live in that grace we will never deserve but are gifted. We need to be striving to live a life like Christ and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the true meaning of His word in our lives instead of looking to men to “interpret” it for us. Who better to explain their words than the author himself.
I want to be a light to my friend, but going and throwing a bible in his face and slamming my fists on the table isn’t going to change his way of thinking. Instead I am trying to live my life as an example set apart and when there is an opportunity to share and the Holy Spirit leads I will say something in love just like the Lord shows us. I don’t want to be a Christian who lives my life how I want to and hopes my actions are covered by God’s grace. Instead I want to live my life according to HIS will and find myself caught in His grace when I mess up.
I went to a craft store today and as I walked out of their restroom my eyes went directly to this in the hallway.
It’s just incredible the ways the Lord speaks to me, encourages, and reminds me of his love and faithfulness.
Hope and Faith, but Mostly Doubts
Why as Christians do we doubt the things the Lord said He can do in our lives? Why do we let that lie from Satan creep in and tell us we aren’t worthy, or what we want could never work out. When has the Lord ever failed you? NEVER! And I can say that with full confidence.
I just want to encourage everyone to keep their eyes and hearts focussed solely on Jesus. He is faithful, and whatever it is in your life that seems impossible, I guarantee it is smaller than my God. The Bible says in James 1:6 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” I don’t know about you, but when I go to God in faith, I want to be firm where I stand with Him. I don’t HOPE God CAN do something, I BELIEVE He WILL do something. Hope is just faith without true belief behind it.
Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall anywhere in the Bible where God has filled someone with doubt. In fact my God is a sure thing, He’s 100%, He is as solid as they come, and His word is true. So no need for doubt, and no need for fear. It’s not a question of will what He said come to pass, it’s WHEN will it come to pass.
Be faithful and diligent. Keep believing what the Lord has told you, and pray hard. He will not let you down, and He WILL NOT let you fall to the way side. If He has promised you something in your heart, stand firm in it no matter how far away, impossible, or grim it might look. He knows all, sees all, and can do all. He is faithful, so don’t let doubts trip you up.
Mark 11:23
“Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.”
Just do it…like Nike
Our Master, Jesus Christ teaches us that there is a precise purpose in those long hours, days of even years of waiting.
Romans 5:4-5
“And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting. And waiting gives experience; and experience, hope: and hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 20:24 which says, “The Lord directs our steps so why try and understand everything along the way.” I think so many times we try and “figure God out” and why He does things certain ways, and His reasoning behind everything. Sometimes you just have to quit trying to figure it out and do what Psalm 46:10 says which is, “Be still and know that I am God.”
When the Lord tells you or puts it in your heart to wait for something/someone, just do it. Don’t ask questions and don’t wonder why or how it’s going to work or happen. That’s where He comes in as GOD and you come in as obedient. So stop trying and wait.
I’m waiting on a few things in my life, and God is teaching me patience and trusting in Him, but I know it’s worth it, because He is worth it.
