He Calls Us to be Different

My Dear Friends, There's so much ugliness happening in our country. I've read both sides of the ongoing hostility and it's so maddening that it makes me nauseated. Since when do we allow politics to undermine a genuine walk with Christ? He calls us to be different, peculiar, to love.

It doesn't mean we love how aggressive people behave nor does it mean to cheer them on when their wagging their tongues at each other. When did Jesus ever call his disciples to enter a political arena and say inappropriate and hateful things about people?

We've been there, done that. We all get caught up in this junk.

Has Christ shown us to create podcasts, youtube channels, and TikTok accounts to spew hatred and judgment about people we don't even know? How is it edifying to cast judgment and dictations toward women about how they behave in their personal relationships? If we spent more time edifying our own families we would find more enjoyment in life and perhaps not spend so much time belittling people who believe differently than we do.

We're often just as annoying as the mudslinging political ads when we (and they) can focus on what we're all accomplishing in life, our successes, and our acts of goodness.

There's a practical way to move forward from this, but it takes self-control. Are we so addicted to social media that we struggle to avoid the inflammatory videos and posts? If something makes your blood boil, then turn off the heat.

I'd like to admonish us all in the way of the Spirit today. First, use caution regarding the works of the flesh. Specifically, the outpouring of pride, arrogance, arguing, dissension, hatred, judgment, (you can read the rest of them in Galatians 5: 19-21).

BUT I DON'T WANT TO PRIORITIZE THOSE THINGS, but rather highlight the opposite, which we are admonished to do as Christ calls us to.

To live by the Fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:

v. 22-25: "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

As we consume social media, does the content reflect the Fruit of the Spirit? Does the latest podcast or YouTube video you're watching convey love, joy, goodness?

If it's conveying judgment, hostility, arguing, etc then it's not edifying and does not meet the criteria for the Fruit of the Spirit. THIS is how we check our input so our output is not corrupted.

Because..

v 24 "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."

This doesn't mean we'll never engage in works of the flesh again. After all, we are humans. But the GOOD NEWS is we have the power to step away from that and step back into Christ.

v 25 "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

Creating practical boundaries to protect our daily walk is crucial. We can choose to:

1. -Hit the X on a post to never see it again.
2. -Click "Not Interested" when FB prompts you.
3. -HIDE posts from your view.
4. -UNFOLLOW is an option that is private and you can keep your FB connection to people you love yet disagree with.

You can choose to ignore.

Just scroll away.

And you can pray.

Pray for yourself to stay focused on the Fruits of the Spirit.

Then go do something that feeds joy, love, goodness. Can you do an act of kindness for a stranger? Can you send a love note to someone? Can you send a note of appreciation to someone who inspires you?

There's more I could say and expound upon with this chapter of Galatians, but not today. If you need help, let me know. We're all in this together. Now go shine some Light somewhere.

Much love,

Lisa

Why I Believe All Babies Go To Heaven

The topic of where babies go when they die is one of intense debate in some denominations. There are some questions about this topic that I would like to share and ask you to think about.

Many are told that all are born in sin and must make a conscious, intelligent decision to not only 

• 1) believe Jesus is the Son of God, 
• 2) trust (faith) in Him alone to save you, and in order to show that you're 'saved' you must 
• 3) obey all the laws in the Bible.

If we follow that pattern, then surely babies don't go to heaven. {cringe} They aren't able to do any of those three things. The alternative, according to much of Christianity, is not an option for my heart and mind to accept, as I have lost 3 babies in the womb. Therefore, I am looking to the scriptures for hope.

There is an argument for this in the theory of "the age of accountability". The "age of accountability'" is the theory that babies are under grace until they are old enough and cognitive enough to make the decisions necessary to save them. The problem with this theory arises when people ask about mentally challenged people and those who don't speak English since it is believed that the majority of theologians are English speaking. So are the mentally challenged under grace as well? If not, then why?

Now we are getting into a vast array of confusion when we begin to really ask these tough questions. If a baby is under grace because of their ignorance and lack of intelligence, then must we allow for everyone else to remain in ignorance so they can be under grace? If not, then babies don't go to heaven.

Most people shriek and gasp at that thought, Surely innocent babies don't miss out on returning to their Creator. Are they truly innocent? The Bible clearly shows us that all are born in sin, or does it? 

So the alleged discrepancy is in the question, "are we really born in sin or do we not sin until we act upon a sinful thought?" I looked in an 'exact phrase search' for "born in sin" and it did not yield any results. What I did find however, is the Pharisees accusing a man of being born in sin. It was the man born blind. After he was given his sight and he preached healing, he was accused.

John 9:34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

On the other hand I do find the verse that says all have sinned. 

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

The question still remains, is it sin within us at birth or sin upon a decision to act in sin, that makes us sinners? For the sake of the souls of babies I won't delve into that question just yet.

Why is it that we sin? Why would a perfect God create us to sin knowing that sinners could not enter the kingdom of heaven?

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Who was that 'one man' that brought sin into the world?

Romans 5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

It is taught that Adam brought sin and sin brought death to pass upon all men. Therefore are babies born in sin? If we say yes, we get back to the original dilemma. Listen my friends, people have gone around and around with this line of questioning for years now. This is why there is such a debate about baptizing babies in order to save them. If a sprinkling of water in a religious ritual saves a baby, then why is it not done immediately after the babe is born? Furthermore, where do aborted babies go?

Here is where I find my hope:

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Much of Christianity has already accepted the teaching that because of Adam, all have sinned and will die. Since most theologians in the world today can't give me hope for my 3 babies based on all the circus questions in many churches today, I have had to go directly to the Lord on this one. If all die because of Adam, then what is it about the second part of that verse that caught my eye?

"So in Christ shall all be made alive"

Surely we all come to life as stated in verse 45;

1 Corinthians 15:45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

We all became living beings like Adam did. Yet, there is another 'second part of a verse' that indicates an equal parallel.

"The last Adam became a life giving spirit"

Both of the above verses show clearly that Christ is the second part. 

{The hope for humanity}

Now I have to ask, how does one get this? If there is so much argument about the first three statements I gave at the beginning of this article that are not clear, then how, when, and where did humanity get the life that this Spirit gives us?

Ephesians 1:4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 So far I have found that we are created in Christ, before the foundation of the world, allowed to suffer death through Adam, and able to receive life through Christ.

In the scientific mind of humanity is the insatiable need to dissect every aspect of the Bible to create a step by step approach to God that no babies nor many mentally challenged persons are able to follow.

The answer for me is clear, to have hope.

Colossians 1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Christ in you. No matter where you put the emphasis the truth is clear on what our hope is.

CHRIST in you

Christ IN you

Christ in YOU

This is my hope for babies. They are created in Christ before the foundation of the world. They were born with death passed upon them due to Adam, but through Christ they shall be made alive.

I just can't bring myself to believe in a deity that would allow babies to be born without hope if they died before they can go to some discipleship class. I don't believe that He would abandon them if they were raised by parents who took them to the 'wrong' denomination for discipleship. I don't think He would forsake them if they were born into a non religious home. He chooses where each baby will be born and He chooses at what time of life they leave this world. 

I have all my hope that they return to Him. My hope is in Christ.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

You may believe differently than me and you are certainly free to do so, but I am putting my faith in the hope of Christ our Lord. My Anchor holds firm and I'm choosing to hold firmly to my Anchor, that all babies return to our Creator. This is my faith, because, for me, all other ground is sinking sand.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

All scripture quotations from the ESV

~Lisa

The Proposal

When I think of a wedding proposal, my mind goes back to the fairty tale days of the prince sweeping the maiden off her feet and making her into a princess. Much like in Cinderella when she was just a peasant girl slaving for her wicked step family, the prince falls in love with her. He proposes and they get married, living happily ever after. 

I have three daughters, so courtship is something I have read a lot about. I remember the days I was searching historical books to find out just how courting was done many years ago. Not much was really written on the topic, at least not from a Christian perspective. Then we saw many courtship type books being written and flying off the shelves and into the hands of many Christian parents.

Courtship is a cultural thing created by the families and each family has a different set of ideals they implement into this idea. Each family is unique but I have a strong feeling that most of us have one important ideal in mind before giving our blessing to our daughters getting married. We want to know that she will be loved unconditionally.

There's a young man who is looking for a bride. He's the potential groom. He keeps his eye out for a young woman to court. Each woman he encounters is his opportunity to share with these ladies what he is looking for in a woman. He finds a damsel and proceeds to tell her his desires. 

"Accept my invitation to marriage. I will provide for you, but you must do something for me. You must accept my marriage proposal under these conditions; if you refuse me, I will send you to the basement where you will be in constant pain for the rest of your life. If you choose me, I will save you from that fate. If your family does not accept me as your groom, I will also send them to my basement where they will suffer their whole lives. 

They all must accept me as your groom. If they don't, you will never see them again. Every friend you will ever make for the rest of your life, must accept me or I will put them in the basement with the others. They will all suffer. When we have children, if they don't accept me as your groom and as their father, I will also send them to the basement to suffer. It's their choice. 

They are free to reject me, but I will send them to the basement if they do. And if you choose to marry me, you MUST tell everyone you know, that they MUST choose me. YOU are responsible for warning them about my basement and tell them I will save them from it, IF they choose me."

I'm not sure about you, but I would NEVER allow my daughters to marry a man who gives this kind of proposal. This is the type of abusive mentality that is inflicted on women and children in abusive families all over the world. The controlling threats to keep people close to them is abuse, plain and simple. The cycle of violence in mental and emotional abuse is a twisted sort of mind control. It puts you in fear, thinking you need to jump through hoops to keep this kind of guy happy, or else. Would you allow your daughter to marry this kind of groom?

This hypothetical groom is in fact a groom that is presented to people every Sunday. He is not of Christ. Everything Christ came to do, love, heal, forgive, reconcile, is not who that groom is. What kind of groom have you accepted as your savior? Is your savior the false savior who threatens all your loved ones? Or have you chosen the groom who sweeps you off your feet in his endless abounding love and devotion?

The false groom wants you to believe in his painful basement so that he can present himself as 'a' savior. He would be 'saving you' from his basement. See how twisted his thinking is? He swoons you with threats, then says he will save you from his own threats.

Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (Gehenna), to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

Lets look at how Jesus attracts people.

• He offered Living Water to the Samaritan woman.
• He healed the Centurion's servant.
• He forgave the people who crucified him.
• He raised the brother of the two sisters from the dead.
• He never lashed out at the people who accosted him in the garden.
• He reconciled people to His Father. 

All of this was done with unconditional love. He draws us to himself through love. He died for us WHILE we were sinners. I just think it's time to rethink how we are introducing our wonderful Savior to people. Or perhaps some people need to rethink what kind of 'a' savior some people are serving.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

So just how do we view our groom? Which groom have you been following?
Are we spreading threats and hate? Or are we sharing the Gospel (Good News) that Jesus LOVES them?

2 Corinthians 5:19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.

Lisa