Becoming a follower of Christ will require a steadfast determination.
We are to follow that which, God says in His Word, will not make sense to us.
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If it doesn't make sense to us ... it sure isn't going to make sense to those around us. Your acts of obedience may bring your actions under the scrutiny of others which, in turn, will cost you something. Possibly, just being considered a nut. But possibly ...
- a friend
- a family member
- a job
- your freedom or even your life
So, what does it look like to follow Jesus? Jesus was (and is) interested in healing and restoration.
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Ministering to sinners was not popular when Jesus walked the earth and it is not popular today.
It goes against everything in us ... "Friend to Sinners" .... what else you got?
It won't make you popular, especially with the 'religious' folk. But it is Biblical.
Here are the words of a converted 'religious' folk who became a follower of Jesus.
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Paul first recognized his great need for saving grace from his sin. Then, he became an instrument of that saving grace as He followed Christ. We can expect the same in our lives. It should never be enough for us to simply enjoy what we have. To follow Christ is to share the message of the Good News with those who need it. Whether we believe they deserve it or not. Whether people around us believe they deserve it or not. Lest we forget that we too are sinners and were once dead in our sin.
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There will be times when God prompts you to show kindness and speak words of healing and restoration to ones who have been regarded as unworthy of receiving grace by others. In those times, you must simply trust that as you abide in Him, and as His Word abides in you, you can trust and obey His promptings and leave the consequences to Him.
It may do you good to read Two of Jesus' 7 woes to hyprocrits:
ReplyDelete5.They presented an appearance of being 'clean' (self-restrained, not involved in carnal matters), yet they were dirty inside: they seethed with hidden worldly desires, carnality. They were full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matt 23:25-26)
6.They exhibited themselves as righteous on account of being scrupulous keepers of the law, but were in fact not righteous: their mask of righteousness hid a secret inner world of ungodly thoughts and feelings. They were full of wickedness. They were like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but full of dead men's bones. (Matt 23:27-28)
*We can run away and hide behind the words of blogs, but Abba God sees the heart and knows all motives and actions. Hypocrits and those who seek revenge will be judged and pay the consequences for ungodly actions taken to cover their own sins, then post about doing it out of ignorance, and even worse, for His sake. Truth will be revealed, and will not remain whitewashed, if not in this world, in the next.
Anonymous.
DeleteAs a writer, I have no control over how one will interpret my writing. That is frustrating, but is something that must be expected occasionally. If you saw me as trying to draw attention to myself, you completely misunderstood my intent. I was pointing to Jesus, not myself.
I thoroughly enjoyed your sharing. I was very surprised at the previous poster's comment....where did that come from?!!! I know you didn't ask for my opinion, but as someone who knows how the Lord is using your transparency and love for the Lord to reach out to others, I feel led to comment on the condemning comment by the above poster. First of all, their comment doesn't even make sense when read in context as a response to what you wrote. This would lead me to believe that the comment was made by some sort of hacker of Christian bloggers. Next, as I read the public attempt to judge and condemn a person's thoughts, feelings and motives of heart, I could not help but think, "Who does this person think they are? Abba God?" for it is written, only God knows and can judge the motives and intents of the heart of man. Further, I couldn't help but think of the scripture that tells us that if we think ourselves spiritual that we are not to judge and condemn others, we are to reach out to them privately in a spirit of meekness. It is highly unlikely, but if that post was made by someone who knows you, then certainly It is either out of ignorance or a malicious attempt to publicly call your relationship with God into question. In either event it is wrong, wrong, wrong and may God enlighten them. Whether blog hacker or not, let us lift them up to our Father in prayer.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous #2,
DeleteWow, I guess an ice storm will bring out blog comments. Seriously, I am not accustomed to receiving comments on my blog. I'm not famous, nor do I have ANY desire to be. : ) I'm just a woman saved by grace who is walking out a life of faith one step at a time. For whatever reason, that has included blogging over the years. You never know who is reading your blog, but the women who have enjoyed my blog have been women whom I have shared both life and ministry. It was some of these dear women who encouraged me to return to blogging following the break I took during my father's bout with cancer. If you are one of those women, thank you. If you are someone who simply stumbled upon my blog, thank you.
You interpreted my words in the manner in which they were intended. Words that speak grace and not condemnation. Words that point only to Jesus. Thank you anonymous friend. You lifted my heart. : )
I usually don't post comments on blogs, but Wow, I see such irony here I can't be silent. Just think about it, the author of this blog uses Paul who considered himself the worst sinner of all as an illustration of God's undeserved grace and rightly so. After all Paul was persecuting and killing Christians and trying to stop the message of reconciliation by grace before God opened His eyes to truth. I haven't read all of the entries of the author of this blog, but those that I have read have been a message of reconciliation by grace. After God got Paul's attention (and it wasn't very pleasant), did Paul realize he was allowing himself to be deceived by Satan into thinking, speaking and acting wrongly against God and God's people. Paul actually thought he was acting on God's behalf. After God opened his eyes, Paul must have been horrified to realize he had been nothing more than a spy, bounty hunter, judge, jury and executioner for the enemy and that it was a horrible sin not only against the people of God but against God Almighty himself.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I agree that the comment by anonymous #1 was either out of ignorance or with malicious intent to cause the writer of this blog harm. I certainly hope it was out of ignorance and not malicious intent because most times God overlooks our ignorance for a time but malicious intent could call God's wrath and judgment on them for the very thing they seem to be accusing someone else of. Read on to see why I see it this way. It's really quite interesting proving that indeed those things whitewashed do eventually come out and proves that it's usually in this life and well, we
normally actually set our own traps.
I don't understand why anonymous #1 posted anonymously but I do understand why anonymous #2 did. I will follow #2's example and will sign simply as anonymous #3. Why? Because it's not wise or safe to disclose your identity online to someone who has attempted to harm someone such as anonymous #1 appears to have done. I certainly wouldn't like someone stalking, judging, slandering and condemning me on my blog.
I seriously doubt anonymous #1 will even return to read these comments, but in case he or she does return to see if their attempt to discredit and silence a Christian worked or not, they would be wise to set aside some quiet time with God and ponder a few things: How does it appear to God and others to see someone hide their identity to cause harm to someone who is trying to serve God? Where is the fear of the Lord? Surely we all know we cannot hide from God. He knows all our comings and goings, words and writings, as well as the motives and intents of our hearts. Therefore, anonymous #1, how do you think it appears to God and others that you have used another person's blog to hide behind and post
anonymously to hide your own sin from mere human beings with seemingly no regard to the watchful eyes of your all-knowing, all seeing, creator?
The one who knows each of us better than we know ourselves. The one who knows you, everything about you, and every single thing you say and do so thoroughly as to even know the exact number of hairs on your head each and every moment of each and every day. I suppose in that light we would all have to admit to God that we should wear the tag of hypocrite for something at some point, woldnt we?
Grant to us all Lord God that we may do as your word commands and love you with all of our being and our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to see through your eyes that the way we treat others is the way we treat you. Help us be very mindful of what that means in all Internet contacts and in all of life's dealings with others. You have not sent us out to be spy, bounty hunter, judge, jury or executioner. You have sent us out to proclaim the message of the cross: forgiveness and reconciliation by grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Help us to remember that the definition of grace is undeserved favor and that forgiveness is not an option, it is a command.
Dear Patty, whether foolish child's play or hoax, I am outraged by the accusations made by Ann#1 against you. In no way do I intend to lessen the seriousness of things like this happening to bloggers, but I am sure glad to see that it has not stopped your blogging. This is no joke, it's serious business and I love that others are standing up for your rights. This type of slander is not taken lightly by blog web hosts, blog writers, blog readers or law enforcement.
ReplyDeleteFacebook is said to be the worst for libelous comments causing teen suicides these days. Unfortunately it is done so much on Facebook under the mask of freedom of speech or personal opinion that it is hard to prosecute. Sadly, in most cases, it takes a suicide to set justice in motion.
Authors of blogs have the same constitutional rights as those of mainstream media. A blog is considered an ongoing published writing of an author. The writer of a blog is considered a published author. A comment on a blog is considered a published contribution to an author's blog. The writer of a comment is considered an independent author of their comment. Unlike Facebook, blogs are monitored regularly and libel is taken very seriously. A good rule of thumb for those posting comments on blogs would be to ask themselves if they would sneak into their local newspaper's office and write that same comment in a writer's column. There is no difference. If a comment brings the author's reputation and/or credibility as a writer into question, it is considered libel.
When a comment is inserted into a blog it is considered a statement being made to the author and also to the author's readers. It is a legally assumed that the author of the libelous comment knew, or should have known, that they were publishing a comment that would be read potentially millions of others, and at the very least family, friends and fellow bloggers. It only takes one other person coming forward to testify that they read it to prosecute for libel, since one could represents thousands in Internet terms. Unlike newspapers, when placed on the Internet it is common knowledge that many never return to see a retraction. Damage done no, restution able to be made. Pleading personal opinion, ignorance to the laws or revenge is not a defense for the author of the libelous comment on a blog. When posting anonymously, a person is only anonymous to the general public, not the web hosting site or law enforcement officials. An anonymous poster's identity can easily be traced and retrieved in a matter of seconds, even if they destroy their computer.
Context is critical in libel on a blog. A court would first look at the format of the blog. For example, since the context and format of this blog is Christian, by posting two of Jesus' woes to hypocrites they falsely accused another of not being a Christian. Ridiculous! The author has clearly stated to the whole world wide web that they are a Christian on every page of their blog. Case closed without even considering all of the many other accusations made. A clear case of libel at face value, which would be called lIbel per se in legal terms. Damages would be awarded (possibly even prison time served) and a public retraction would have to be made by the false accuser.
Hey, and did you know that as a blogger, if you have renter's or homeowner's insurance you are probably covered as a blogger if you are blogging out of your home? And, that if you don't have Insurance or are not blogging out of your home, then either your employer, church or ministry you are blogging for, and/or web hosting service (even the free ones) have you covered. Further, the person being slandered doesn't even have to prosecute when it is a clear case, their blog hosting site can do it.
Sam e.
Anon#3 and Sam e, please forgive my delayed response to your very kind and encouraging comments. I was choosing to "Be Still" and know that God fights for me. I was quite content in my silence until this morning. When, I was compelled to respond and thank you both.
ReplyDeleteIt's true we should fear no man. It's true God fights for us. It's also true, He uses the Body Of Christ to stand with one another as we stand with Jesus. You guys have stood with me, when you could have easily walked away saying it's not my fight, and for that ... I am humbled.
Sam e: Yes, I did consider quitting blogging for a very brief second. Okay, maybe it was two seconds. :-) But, this is what God has given me a passion to do. So, how could I walk away? I love to offer encouragement to Christian Women by pointing them to Jesus.
No, I will not be taking any action to discover the identity of Anon#1. To those whom are offended by the message of Jesus, I simply get out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit room to speak to their hearts. That said, there will no further comments from me on this matter. The focus of my blog is Jesus. Not me, and not Anon#1 ... only Jesus.