The elections are over, no, my "guy" didn’t win, so I pray that these next four years are ones where we really look at where we are headed as a nation. My heart is torn I am aggrieved. We have become a nation of misfits, with one group competing against another, as if the men who lead our "teams" are the demi-god who will "fix" what ails us. Wake up people. No one can fix us unless we first choose to be fixed! I’m tired of the blaming, because either side can support their claim. I personally and professionally am NOT better off than I was 4 years ago. The economy decimated our business until there was no business and now I’m closing said business and without the companionship of my husband who loved it!
As I was praying this morning, I asked God to guide me to what He wanted me to read. I asked that He stop me when He wanted to make His point and then help me recognize what that point was. I wound up in the book of Isaiah. Chapter 1 verses 1 – 9. Verse 1 – God is asking that we listen to Him, that He has spoken. Contextually, God allows events to take place; He allows the people free will because to force us to love Him and to abide by His "rule" would be to "FORCE" us to follow His plan. That isn’t love….love does not FORCE or think "its" way superior. It continues that God "reared" His children, brought them up and they have rebelled against me. Interestingly it continues that the "donkey" knows His owner’s manger, but the people don’t understand. Is it just my take on the symbolism of the donkey and people not understanding?
Verse 4 continues about our sinful nature, about us being a people loaded with guilt, our being corrupted and our turning our backs on what is just. Let me interject here. Biblically speaking, Jesus commands us to take care of the poor and the widowed. When today’s poor has I-Phones, and can buy cigarettes and alcohol with food stamps and then get into a late model car and drive off, I think we’ve misunderstood the concept of poor. I’m not making this up; I hear this from those who work in the supermarkets. Define poor! I just read a theory on facebook, it had to do with a poppy and its height and how no one poppy should be able to stand taller than another, so it gets chopped down. Really?? In human terms I stand 5’8", does that mean that anyone shorter than me has the right to whack me down to their size? Well, the same applies to our finances….if you think about it.
Sorry, off target. Verses 5- 6 talk about how we’ve been beaten up and the condition of our bodies showing our wounds and welts and open sores that have not been cleaned. Again, it strikes me that rather than fix our country’s problems we just put the Band-Aids of promises on them. Unfortunately if we don’t get to the root of the problem and stop the chaos, we only build on it and it will fester and then, as I fear, we will witness first hand our own "fall of the Roman Empire."
Verse 7 – our country is desolate, our cities burn with fire, our fields are being stripped by foreigners right before our eyes and laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. Don’t believe me? I’m directly quoting the NIV Bible and it continues to go on to say unless we allow for some survivors (as allowed by the Lord) to infiltrate our mess, we will wind up like Sodom and Gomorrah.
I’m not blaming a President. I’m blaming a society that is too afraid to stand up on its own to feet and take back what we are losing at breakneck speed. We’ve allowed ourselves to be lazy. We’re no longer in the game; we’re watching it on our boob tubes reacting as armchair quarterbacks. I always find it interesting when someone in the movie industry becomes the spokesman for the people in regard to politics. Good grief….really? They are "actors" – and they need to be "liked" so that we will pay exorbitant amounts of money to watch them play other people. Now don’t get me wrong, I love movies as much as anyone….I just don’t put my politics in their laps and vote their opinions. We need to read and gather our own information. We need fair and unbiased media and we don’t have that – everyone seems to have an agenda….both sides. Truthfully I don’t know who to trust other than God!
The bottom line, and I’m am making my stand, the Bible is the book with the answers but too often too many of us are afraid of what it says and how it will affect our lives. We choose to put blinders on and say that all that bad stuff applies to others not to us. Sorry, but none of us is exempt from the final exam! Last thought. We have done horrible things in the name of religion! Religion is about doing. God’s grace (love) is NOT about doing, it is about accepting. I don’t do religion. I choose to have a relationship with our Lord! There’s a difference and it is huge. The Pharisees and Sadducees "did" religion and they abused their power. Jesus came to save the ones who were less than perfect and that is where I fall. Do you recognize where you are?
Looking up!Barb
As I was praying this morning, I asked God to guide me to what He wanted me to read. I asked that He stop me when He wanted to make His point and then help me recognize what that point was. I wound up in the book of Isaiah. Chapter 1 verses 1 – 9. Verse 1 – God is asking that we listen to Him, that He has spoken. Contextually, God allows events to take place; He allows the people free will because to force us to love Him and to abide by His "rule" would be to "FORCE" us to follow His plan. That isn’t love….love does not FORCE or think "its" way superior. It continues that God "reared" His children, brought them up and they have rebelled against me. Interestingly it continues that the "donkey" knows His owner’s manger, but the people don’t understand. Is it just my take on the symbolism of the donkey and people not understanding?
Verse 4 continues about our sinful nature, about us being a people loaded with guilt, our being corrupted and our turning our backs on what is just. Let me interject here. Biblically speaking, Jesus commands us to take care of the poor and the widowed. When today’s poor has I-Phones, and can buy cigarettes and alcohol with food stamps and then get into a late model car and drive off, I think we’ve misunderstood the concept of poor. I’m not making this up; I hear this from those who work in the supermarkets. Define poor! I just read a theory on facebook, it had to do with a poppy and its height and how no one poppy should be able to stand taller than another, so it gets chopped down. Really?? In human terms I stand 5’8", does that mean that anyone shorter than me has the right to whack me down to their size? Well, the same applies to our finances….if you think about it.
Sorry, off target. Verses 5- 6 talk about how we’ve been beaten up and the condition of our bodies showing our wounds and welts and open sores that have not been cleaned. Again, it strikes me that rather than fix our country’s problems we just put the Band-Aids of promises on them. Unfortunately if we don’t get to the root of the problem and stop the chaos, we only build on it and it will fester and then, as I fear, we will witness first hand our own "fall of the Roman Empire."
Verse 7 – our country is desolate, our cities burn with fire, our fields are being stripped by foreigners right before our eyes and laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. Don’t believe me? I’m directly quoting the NIV Bible and it continues to go on to say unless we allow for some survivors (as allowed by the Lord) to infiltrate our mess, we will wind up like Sodom and Gomorrah.
I’m not blaming a President. I’m blaming a society that is too afraid to stand up on its own to feet and take back what we are losing at breakneck speed. We’ve allowed ourselves to be lazy. We’re no longer in the game; we’re watching it on our boob tubes reacting as armchair quarterbacks. I always find it interesting when someone in the movie industry becomes the spokesman for the people in regard to politics. Good grief….really? They are "actors" – and they need to be "liked" so that we will pay exorbitant amounts of money to watch them play other people. Now don’t get me wrong, I love movies as much as anyone….I just don’t put my politics in their laps and vote their opinions. We need to read and gather our own information. We need fair and unbiased media and we don’t have that – everyone seems to have an agenda….both sides. Truthfully I don’t know who to trust other than God!
The bottom line, and I’m am making my stand, the Bible is the book with the answers but too often too many of us are afraid of what it says and how it will affect our lives. We choose to put blinders on and say that all that bad stuff applies to others not to us. Sorry, but none of us is exempt from the final exam! Last thought. We have done horrible things in the name of religion! Religion is about doing. God’s grace (love) is NOT about doing, it is about accepting. I don’t do religion. I choose to have a relationship with our Lord! There’s a difference and it is huge. The Pharisees and Sadducees "did" religion and they abused their power. Jesus came to save the ones who were less than perfect and that is where I fall. Do you recognize where you are?
Looking up!Barb
With you completely Barb! Continuing to uphold you and your family in prayer!
ReplyDelete<3 Cheryl