Christmas? No thank you!

Let me start by making it perfectly clear...this blog post is based on my personal conviction. It applies to me and is in response to a question that I was recently asked about me. This is not an attack on Christmas or anyone who celebrates Christmas.

I am going to warn all my Christian friends up front. You may want to stop reading after this paragraph because my personal truths will collide with some spiritual truths and it may cost you Christmas. It did me. And. It has for several others that have pushed me for an explanation about why I no longer celebrate Christmas. So. For those of you who love the holiday...STOP READING NOW. 

A few years ago I had a discussion with a friend about Christmas. I don't remember what the post was even about. Though I feel certain that it wasn't about Christmas per se but it just sorta went there somehow. I've been searching for it in my "On This Days" but I don't even remember if it was my post...or his post...or even someone else's.

Anyway. He made the point that the Bible said that Christmas trees are wrong. So. I found the scripture that he referenced and I tried to put it in context for him. That Scripture is as follows...

For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple. Jeremiah 10:3-4 NKJV

Mind you...that it doesn't say "Christmas Trees" but...it does sound a lot like our customs and how we decorate these trees. I'm not going to explain that Scripture here. You can read Jeremiah 10 for yourself. All I want to point out is that the chapter...(the whole book of Jeremiah!)...is teaching on idolatrous behavior.

The fact that I could find no reference to Christmas in the Bible...the fact that I had to go to an outside source to find any information at all about the origins of Christmas...bothered me. If it were something that I as a Christian was supposed to do to honor Jesus...wouldn't God have told me so in His written Word? RED FLAG.

A few years ago, one of my children was out of our home when Christmas rolled around. They did "visit" us during the holidays but they weren't really with us much. Anyway. That Christmas was lopsided. The kids who were still in the home full time got way more gifts than the one who was out of the home did. In fact, we owe that child some things now that they have never gotten to this day.

One of my kids who got a lot was upset by the fact that there was one who got so little.  Child Alot thought that it was unfair and that their sibling would be hurt. Child Alot didn't want Child Alittle to feel like they were loved less because they weren't in the house with us. Now. There was a lot of other things going on in our lives at this time and Child Alittle's needs were actually greater than the other children's wants. So it was more lopsided than we even knew. Turns out Child Alot was showing wisdom about things that God wouldn't reveal to me until much later.

All of that got me to thinking about the fact that my children thought that love for them was tied to or could be expressed by the gifts bought for them. As if love has a price tag. As if one could place a monetary value on any one of them. Another RED FLAG.

Now. Add all of that to the fact that Christmas was literally making me sick to my stomach. I was faced with spending money I didn't have on things that weren't needed for people who didn't deserve it. RED FLAG. I was faced with trying to blow the Jones out of the water with decorations and lights. RED FLAG. I was faced with playing nice with people I couldn't stand to visit with any other time of the year. RED FLAG. And I was faced with cooking three whole days for a thirty minute meal. RED FLAG.

I had no joy or peace. And I was hard pressed to find any love. Christmas was stressful and frustrating. I was faced with everything for the Christmas Season....but Jesus. And wasn't He supposed to be the whole reason for the season?

It was time for a serious heart check for me. My children were living out what they had learned from me. And if I had been so wrong about so much...could I also be wrong about this too. I had to ask myself what was my motivation behind celebrating Christmas. Was I only celebrating because I always had? Because truthfully, I was NOT celebrating Jesus' birth. I was not overly concerned with good will towards men. I was not thinking about joy in the world. I only wanted it over so I could put my house back in order.

So. I went searching for some answers. There were none to be found in the Bible. In fact...what I did find did not point to Christmas...but away from it. This holiday had become like an idol to me. I was worshipping the tradition. I was serving Santa. And I was not teaching my children to be good stewards of their time, talents, or treasures. I was worse than Scrooge. He didn't believe in the holiday. The holiday was all I believed in. RED FLAG.

None of the information that I found about Christmas...could be supported with any Scripture. And if I can't find it in the Bible...RED FLAG.

Way too many red flags for me.

IN MY OPINION...Christmas is a world tradition that the early Christians started to offset a Pagan religious festival that was occuring around the same time in December. If my goal is to keep myself set apart from the world...if my goal is to not look like it or act like it...why the heck would I engage in a Worldly tradition?

Why is it okay that on manmade holidays...I look just like the World? Trust. If I'm going to do some world mess...it won't be wasted on a holiday!

We get upset when secular artists sing gospel music. Or when people throw the name Jesus into something and try to make an unholy thing holy. That bothers us and we want no parts in it. Well. Christmas has no basis in the Word. And if it has no basis in the Word...that means it has it's basis in the world.

And last I checked...I was called to be in this world...not OF it.

So. I don't celebrate Christmas because IN MY OPINION it is a secular and commercial tradition of men. I don't need to put up a tree or to decorate my house or to sing carols or to exchange gifts to celebrate the birth of my Savior. I celebrate every day by reading His Word, walking in His way, and loving on His children.

That's all I got. And. I am thankful that's all He wants!

Now. If you still have Jesus in your Christmas...do it all the way up. But as for me...I had to start from scratch!

Left for dead....

I was invited to give my testimony at a women's conference at a local church. And though I was out of town and could not attend...my first thought was..."Good timing God...cause we both know they ain't ready!"

My testimony comes from a time in my life when I was left for dead. Folks were trying to break me. Bruising me. Beating me. Backbiting me. They were trying to kill me. And...almost did...BUT GOD. Enter testimony. It's bloody. And it's gory. And it helped to make me what I am today. And I think that's a big problem for most people. I refuse to be shamed. Or made to feel less than. Because God used it to make me who I am...I refuse to sit in a corner somewhere and just die.

I spent a good bit of the rest of the day trying to clean up my testimony. You see...the enemy almost had me convinced that it was too ugly for polite company.

When I tell you that thing stayed on me. Whew. For nearly 8 hours...that is all I thought about. God and I were going back and forth on that thing. Or. Truthfully...I was going back and forth on that thing. God was oddly silent.

So. I asked someone a very simple question...and oddly...they said a whole bunch of nothing. Which turned out to be extraordinarily something. Just not at all what I expected. I was looking for God in the wind. I was looking for God in the earthquake. I was looking for God in the fire. But in true God fashion...He showed up in a small still voice. (1 Kings 19:11-13!)

The person directed me to John 8:1-11...a very familiar story in the Bible. The woman caught in adultery. Remember when Jesus bent down to write in the sand? The Bible never tells us what He was writing. And I firmly believe that when God leaves out minor details...they apply to the individual reading in a major way. Case in point. I imagine that Jesus wrote...the first time..."Their test will be your testimony"...and then..."They came for the show...but they should have stuck around for the Word" the second time He bent down.

Her accusers left....one by one....from oldest to youngest....as the truth of Jesus' words hit them where they lived...in their own sins. There were none with out sin to cast that first stone. And though they wouldn't/couldn't admit it....they knew that Jesus was just who He said He was...so they knew that though they could lie to each other...they could not lie to God!

Anywho....

What struck a chord in me....was how Jesus dealt with her sin. He didn't excuse it, condone it, or ignore it. He simply said to her..."Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

Had her accusers stuck with JESUS...continued to walk with JESUS...had they not left after they realized there would be no show...they would have gotten a Word that could have changed their lives.

Don't miss this...

When you show up for the wrong reasons...you are blinded and deaf to the right reasons...because you're too busy looking out...to bother looking IN.

They missed the blessing in the lesson...."Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." They had her dead to rights. She was guilty. She did it. They knew it. Jesus knew it. And she knew that He knew it. But Jesus KNEW her past the sin to her soul...and that was His concern. Her soul. Not her sin. Grab hold to that. The soul. Not the sin. "Go. And sin no more."

So. My test is a part of my testimony. I can't clean it up for anyone. I can't make it easier to swallow. It is what it is. I know it. Jesus knows it. And I won't sugarcoat it for anyone. Because when you know what God says about you DESPITE your mess...it's hard to care what people say about you TO SPITE you of your mess.

Besides. If I can't be brutally honest about the depths of my BEEN THROUGH...how can I expect people to be able to wrap their minds around my BREAK THROUGH.

God dropped a song in my spirit..."Life and Favor"...by the Reverend John P. Kee and New Life... watch it here... https://youtu.be/x_0E_SmIg3A ...and it goes...

I’m delivered, here’s my story
Life and Favor upon me He brought me out
You don’t know it, let me tell it
Life and favor upon me He brought me out

God of Mercy He who loves me
Life and favor upon me He brought me out
Oh how wondrous is my story
Life and favor He brought me out

Can’t imagine what I’ve gone through
Life and favor upon me He brought me out
Can’t imagine what I’ve gone through
Can’t imagine.

And you know it was a praise party for the rest of the ride home, right?

Side note: There will be those who won't like me after I share my testimony. There will be those who will be offended. There will be those who CONTINUE to hate me. And that's okay. Revelation 12:11 says that we overcome by the blood AND the word of our testimony. And it continues to say that we do not love our lives so much as to shrink from death. Remember...I've been left for dead before.  Death has no sting for me.

Folks need to realize that no amount of pettiness or plots...can kill what God has PURPOSED. You can TRY to leave me for dead...BUT GOD...

Job knew a lil something about being left for dead. The enemy tried it...yes he did...BUT GOD! Job says of God, "You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit." (Job 10:12) Whew...Job, you better tell it!

Jesus continues to say to that crowd who came for the show in John 8:12...“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” I am following Jesus. Which means folks can leave me for dead...but they can't snuff out the light of my life...because Jesus has your girl's light set on FABULOUS!

John 8:1-11

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 

And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

Then those who heard it,  being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and  sin no more.”

Witch Hunt

I've been on a witch hunt.

There. I've said it. Confessed it. And now...I can let it go. Now I can ask God to forgive me for trying to use one of His gifts...discernment...to "get" them.

Because truthfully...if God had revealed to me just who my "mole" was...I would have added to my sin count.

I was already struggling under my anger. Under my unforgiveness. Under my bitterness. I had been "wronged"...and I wanted justice. (Yet ANOTHER sin...because vengeance belongs to God.)

Romans 12 is one of the best places to turn when you feel like you've been wronged...and you want someone to pay. (You can read it in it's entirety below the post.)

I was struggling with the fact that my witch/mole was among my brethren...and I didn't feel it was fair that I had to "play by the rules" yet they didn't.

I was stuck on..."how can you runtelit on me...when your hands are just a different dirty."

But God's a good God. He knows all and He sees all. He is with them...just as He is with me...and He doesn't care to hear us rant about who did what...He cares that we know and grow from the thing in us individually ...that made us do what we did individually.

In other words...it's no more my business how God deals with them...as it is theirs how He deals with me.

God wants me to take a look at not what has been done wrong to me...but the wrong I did....

OUCH...

Even if they did an ugly horrible...

What did I do?

Even if they cut me to the white meat...

What did I do?

Even if they did the unforgivable...

(No such thing! Because I have been forgiven too much to withhold forgiveness!)

What did I do?

You get where I'm going, right?

What they did to me...is none of my business. What I do to God is....

If it is possible, AS MUCH AS IT DEPENDS ON [ME], live peaceably with all men. ROMANS 12:18

Amen!

Romans 12:1-21 NKJV

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which  is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of  himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let  us  use  them: if prophecy, let  us  prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let  us  use  it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Bruce Jenner

I went looking for an answer and God's answer was this...."you don't need an answer...you just need to love."

I could close this post right there. Because that sums up the teachings of Jesus on the most important commandmants of them all...

Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV

But God took me there...to bring me here...so this is where we are going...from the very beginning.

Ready?

I don't watch a lot of TV. I have "my shows" that I only miss for Jesus. Ask my kids. If I'm home...if I don't have to be somewhere for somebody...if there is no church service...I watch "my shows"...and you either sit down...shut up....watch with me...or get out. Friday nights...I have no shows. So the fact that I even watched 20/20 is something of a miracle.

But things fell into place that I was home...and in front of the TV at 9pm...and it fell into my spirit that I wanted to watch the Bruce Jenner interview. Please let the record show...that I do not keep up with ANY of the Kardashians. And the fact that I even know that one of them thinks she broke the internet and is married to that insufferable Kanye...don't even get me started. Anyway...I had no idea who Bruce Jenner actually was until I watched the interview.

So. I watched. And I wept. Like a baby. I was almost embarrassed I was crying so badly. I had no idea what was happening to me. All I knew was that his story just honestly broke my heart. And during a commercial break...I remember praying..."Jesus...what in the world is the matter with me? What in the world is going on?"

And at that point...I knew something bigger than me was happening because I could not take my eyes off the screen. And I was thinking...all these red flags...and you haven't posted anything on FaceBook in nearly 1.5 hours....whoa.

At 10:38pm I posted..."20/20...Bruce Jenner. No premarital sex. No extramarital affairs. No homosexual activities. No sexual attraction to the same sex. I'm not sure how to feel about transgenders. About people who suffer from gender identity crisis. Do I consider it a mental disorder? I honestly do not know. Gotta go to the Lord in prayer on this one..."

And then at 10:59pm I posted..."My heart breaks for him...being hard wired to feel like a her stuck inside of a him. If God knew "him" before he was created in his mother's womb...did He prepare a room for "her" in heaven?"

And that is when all hell broke loose. You can go back through the thread and read all the comments. Be forewarned...it's a lot. I mean an awful lot. But I think that was the whole point of my spending my Friday night in front of a TV watching a program I never watch.

First of all. That question..."If God knew "him" before he was created in his mother's womb...did He prepare a room for "her" in heaven?"...is profoundly deep. Apparently too deep for religious folks.

Put your spiritual glasses on and take a good look at that one.

No matter how badly someone's sin shocks or disturbs you or disgusts you...no matter how differently it looks from yours...it is no surprise to God. And saying that God won't save Bruce Jenner because he has sinned is like saying that God can't save you after you have sinned...that He can't save me after I have.

And if you agree that God can...and praise God...WILL...save Jenner...why take such a hard line over the way he sins. Is anything too hard for God?

My sin gave me my testimony. Yours should have given you yours. Why can't his sin give him his testimony?

If God hadn't reached way down and got me...I wouldn't be able to tell people how God will reach way down and get them.

Who are we to put people in hell that God plans to use for His glory. I don't know that using Bruce Jenner is part of God's plan. But I'm not willing to take the chance that He wants to use him and then be guilty of being the one who throws up a stumbling block against him.

Several people wanted to condemn him...but very few could tell me for what.

Being a homosexual...he is not. Being an adulterer...he is not. Being a transvestite...he is not. Misrepresenting himself to engage in sexual activities...he did not.

Changing his body? Taking hormone therapy. Shaving off his adam's apple. Considering gender reassignment surgery. Several folks said that Jenner was saying that God got it wrong by saying that he was born in the wrong body. Okay. Let's explore that.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:27-28 NKJV

This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. Genesis 5:1-2 NKJV

Amen! and Hallelujah. God created Adam and Eve. Jesus...the one true Son of God...just IS...always has been and always will be...and thank God that He is!

But Adam and Eve fell...and then had fallen children...who had fallen children...who had more fallen children...so on and so forth...

On the fall...Genesis 3.

Since the fall...

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Psalms 51:5 NKJV

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— Romans 5:12 NKJV

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

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:8, 10 NKJV

No. None of the things that we do as a fallen people are a part of God's original design. But we fell. And since the fall...NONE OF US HAVE BEEN BORN ACCORDING TO GOD'S DESIGN. All of us have been born into sin. A rainbow of sin. And just because my sin is yellow...Jenner's is black..and yours is green...and the next guys is purple...no matter the color of our sin...as pretty or as horrific...as light or as dark...we were all born into sin. None of us were cleansed until we were washed by the blood.

Are you telling me that Jesus can wash my yellow sin white as snow...but not Jenner's black sin?

And since we were all born into sin...why couldn't he be born with his? I don't know that he was...but I'm not willing to argue the point with anyone because it doesn't matter if he was born that way...turned that way...or went out and bought a do it yourself kit to be that way. Jesus can turn that thing around.

Jesus was teaching on celibacy...but this spiritual principle can be applied to any sin sickness...now look deeper than what this says. (And please don't assume that I am implying that Jenner's transition is for the "kingdom of heaven's sake"...I am declaring that I don't know what God's plans are for this man.)

But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.” Matthew 19:11-12 NKJV

If you are not able to "accept it"....no worries....it wasn't meant for you to! There are clearly gray areas when it comes to certain actions as it pertains to whether they may or not be sins. We have the 10 commandments. Clear and to the point. But unless it is specifically stated as sin...that's in the gray.

This is clearly one of those areas. It is in the gray areas that I PERSONALLY prefer to throw up my hands and say...I don't know...but let's pray about it. Of course there is 1 Thessalonians 5:22 and Romans 14:16...but when it comes to gray areas...that's risky business because what's gray for me may be black and white for you...and vice versa.

My point is this...the bible doesn't explicitly say NOT to change your body. (Be careful here. Medically necessary or purely cosmetic procedures...also fall into the category of changing your body. And there is that pesky little ritual of circumcision...)

It does explicitly say...

On homosexuality...

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Leviticus 18:22 NKJV

On transvestites...

“A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 22:5 NKJV

And moving right into those of you who said his sin was lying...Whose isn't? Lying? I'ma grab my mirror while you grab yours.

Now for those of you who are reading the word "abomination" and are gearing up to "argue" that his alleged sins are worse somehow because they are abominations...hold that thought...

These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19 NKJV

Now....You were saying about abominations....(thought so.....)

I don't want anyone to think that I am taking his sins lightly...or making light of them...or trying to say that they aren't sins...I am not. The thing is that I am too busy confessing and repenting of my own sins to hold his over his head.

Does that mean that I would be willing to let him continue in willful sin without calling him on it in love? No! Gender is God assigned and not self determined nor is it based on social standards or ideals. One's biology (male or female) is ultimately not separate from one's gender identity. And the fact that he thinks/feels that it is...whether from birth or as conditioned by things that happened around or to him...is an indication of his sin sickness.

This weekend has been a series of total aha conversations between God and I. Actually. After I had my meltdown yesterday...they've been pretty one sided. I knew that He would answer me. I knew that it would be crystal clear and undeniable. But today...WHOA!

Yesterday...he dropped in my spirit hammers and lighthouses. I was like...WHAT? What has either to do with what I asked You? Hammers? Lighthouses? Really, God?

So. First. The hammer revelation. (Which I wasn't too thrilled about in the end...but it did make sense.) A brother and I got into a very heated confrontation...you can read my posts from Saturday for the details. But IN MY OPINION...he was hiding behind Scripture...throwing rocks in so called love. Not cool with me. So. I picked up some rocks of my own. Apparently...not cool with God!

God showed me that if I went into battle with one hand on my heart...to remember the work He had done in there...and the other hand lifted in praise...I would remember to only lift my hammer against the sin...and never against the sinner. I would be more prone to tell my brother to watch himself while I took aim at the sin...instead of trying to take aim at my brother. OUCH.

Now. The lighthouse revelation. At first I thought the lighthouse was to be used to prepare the prezi for Pastor's sermon today. I couldn't make it work. So I went a different route. But this morning during church...God showed me that there are times when you can't see the light from the lighthouse. Though the light rotates...when the beam is at 12 and 6...you can't see it at 3 and 9.

When I am a lighthouse...in my flesh...when I am at 12 and 6...the people at 3 and 9 can't see my light. However...when I am a lighthouse...in Jesus...when Jesus is my light...when Christ is in me...and my light shines from the hope of glory...it shines all the time for all to see. Though the lighthouse is the landmark...Christ is the source of my light...that draws people to Him. Left to myself...I'll want to use my light to spotlight some one else's sins. A cold and accusing light. But my light should be warm and inviting...to draw people to the one that can wash all those sins away.

Which finally brings me to Christian bullies....

All believers are called to love our neighbor as ourself (Matthew 22:39), including those different from us. Christians are specifically called to be people known for their love: "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). You can't be a Christian bully and say that you love me. What?

We can't use the Word as a weapon. Not against saints. Not against sinners. I can't use my light to put the spotlight on you so that I can take a hammer to you. 1 Corinthians 13...the love chapter...says that our gifts are nothing without love. You can know the Word going and coming. You can have gone to the finest seminary and been preaching for 100 years. You can serve on the committee of the committees at your church. You can be the biggest tither and the most faithful member...but unless there is love...all you're doing is making noise.

No. Jesus didn't play when it came to sin. He had a zero tolerance policy. But He never did anything without love. Sometimes His love was tough. Sometimes His love was hard to hear...certainly hard to swallow...but it was love. Unadulterated love. Even to the cross...it was love. He didn't stand over people with a hammer in one hand and the Bible in another. No.

We have to very careful that we don't get that bullying spirit. People can't hear us if all we're making is noise. Even if it sounds really good to us...has some Scripture thrown in to cover our religious butts...even if we talk louder...or put it on repeat...without the love...it's just noise.

(How effective was noise in drawing you to salvation?)

So. I still don't know what to make of Bruce Jenner. But I am so glad that it is not my job to make anything of him. It is my job to show him the love that Christ has shown me. Whew! I can soooooo do that!

My prayer for Jenner is that instead of attempting to change his identity...that he realizes he needs to seek his true identity in Christ. My prayer is that someone has enough love when they speak that he is able to hear over the noise that Scripture teaches us that through Christ, we become His children (John 1:12), are adopted by Him (Ephesians 1:5), become one in spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17), and become part of a chosen generation, royal priesthood, and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9).

That's my prayer for Jenner. And when God crosses my path with someone who is suffering from his brand of sin sickness...that's what I'll tell them.

Because I firmly believe that all of THIS is preparing ME for THAT...maybe not you...or you...because apparently...you can't handle it....

"You don't need an answer...you just need to love."

Awesome!

Your Identity in Christ: https://youtu.be/hsDQEb-qlyM

I am NOT fussing with you!

Why I will never argue with ANYONE about what the Word of God says....

When you go to a restaurant...you are presented with a prepared meal. You made a selection from the menu...let's say some exotic beef dish...that possibly looked good and sounded good and may even have tasted good as you ate it.

But when you get up from the table and go home to put food on your own table...all you have is beef...and possibly a cookbook...but you have no idea how the restaurant took those two things and turned it into a delicious gourmet meal.

You have to do some prep work. Some research. Some shopping. Some pot rattling. Some taste testing to go from raw beef to gourmet meal.

When you go to church...you are presented with a prepared sermon. Your pastor has sought God on that message and God has given Him a Word for His people in His house. And it sounded good and felt good...or not...sitting in that pew.

But when you get out of your seat and and go home to apply that message to your life...all you have are some notes...and hopefully a Bible...but you have no idea how the pastor took those scriptures and turned it into a Spirit filled sermon.

You have to do some prep work. Some Bible studying. Some praying. Some calling out. Some drawing near to God to go from scriptures to revelations.

And I'm sure some of you are saying but I'm no pastor. Maybe not. But I'm talking to saved folks right now. And we've all been called to be preachers. And sometimes we have to preach to ourselves. To our family. To our friends.

But how can we preach...if we haven't put in the prep work.

Which brings me to why I will never argue with ANYONE about the Word of God.

First. One can read the Bible cover to cover...and not be able to tell you what's in it. Oh. They can READ it to you...maybe even quote it...but they can't LIVE it out for you. Because they have not been given revelations.  1 Corinthians 2:10 says..."These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God." And you can't give an answer...for what you do not know.

Second. God is a god of personal relationship. What He has revealed to me FOR me...may not be FOR you...unless He has told me..or you...that it is. We can all be...confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Php 1:6). I can't know what God has started in you no more than you can know what He started in me. So I can't know what His Word speaks to you...nor you me.

Third. The Word of God doesn't need me to defend it. Or you either. It is what it is. God has said it. And there is no adding to it or taking away from it. Not only that...it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail (Luke 16:17). Not to mention that in Luke 9:5...Jesus Himself teaches us that whoever will not receive you...to shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them. All I can do is tell you what the Word says. I can't make you believe or receive it.

Finally. It is not my job to make you believe or receive the Word of God. I can't convict you with my convictions...BECAUSE I DIDN'T CONVICT MYSELF. The Holy Spirit in me does all the heavy lifting. And it is my privilege not to stand in His way...not to quench Him. 

So. I won't argue with you about what the Word of God says. About anything. And if the Bible doesn't specifically cover something...unless God has ALREADY dealt with me on that issue...or the Holy Spirit in me rises up to address it in that moment...my lips are zipped.

And unless MY OPINION is just a scripture in lay men's terms so you won't know that I'm "preaching" to you...you won't even get that out of me.

John 16:8-15 NKJV

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me;  of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;  of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Three sides to every story...

Before I come to FB or Twitter or IG each day...I always pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart are pleasing to God...because though I have truly been gifted with gab...I don't always speak in grace.

Sometimes I struggle with telling the truth IN GRACE...especially when God gives me a Word that I know specifically applies to a person that I've been praying for...but He hasn't told me to give it directly to that person.

Or even when I think the Word is just for me. But He tells me to share it...but I'm like...but God it didn't just happen to me...what about the other people involved...and He says...what about them.

So the words get stuck in my throat...but the Word keeps burning in my heart. How many of you know it's easier to cough something up...to spit it out...than to put a fire in your heart out? Especially one set by God!

So. Here goes nothing.

(You'll need to read Genesis 34 for yourself. Because I have a lot to say...I won't post all the Scripture references.)

Dinah was Jacob's daughter by Leah....

And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. Gen 34:2.

The Hebrew translation for defiled here is "humbled her". Now. Other translations offers up that  Shechem violated or raped her. But I don't think the rest of the story...(the Scripture)...supports this theory. He was the most honorable of his father's house.

In fact...And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. (Gen 34:3). Then he asked his father to help him wife her at whatever cost her family set. Even to the point of circumcision of all the males.

That doesn't sound to me like a violent act of lust or power against someone’s will...but rather a tender result of conversation and communication that ended in consensual premarital sex.

(And yes...premarital because Jacob gave Dinah to Shechem in marriage. Her hot headed brothers took her from her husband's home. But I'm jumping ahead of myself.)

Remember the translation of defiled...humbled her...ok...let's revisit that. The preceding 10 chapters in Genesis basically establish Jacob as "the man"...an estimation which can't help but trickle down to his children.

So. Dinah wasn't violated. She was just taken aback by his bold approach. She had gone to see the girls, remember. Do you think for one minute they didn't do what girls do...and talk about the eligible bachelors? Do you think she didn't welcome the attention of the prince of the country? Even reciprocate it?

Now. The men folks on the other hand...only saw that someone else...(someone out of their league)...had the audacity to "take" their baby girl. And how did they find out..."Jacob HEARD". Street talk!

Jacob was prepared to make a proper love connection that would profit everyone. But his sons, Simeon and Levi, lied and plotted behind fake smiles. Then they killed all the newly circumcised males including Shechem and his father...and stood back as the women and children were taken captive and their possessions ramsacked.

Now. They hid behind what they thought was a valid cause...“Should he treat our sister like a harlot?” (Gen 34:31)...and they thought they were defending their family honor...but it turns out...it was just IN them to behave that way.

Even when we don't want it to be...it is what it is. And God will be the judge of all of it. You don't get to take matters into your own hands because you don't like the facts. Because you esteem your sins to be lesser than others. And no amount of scheming or treachery will stop you from getting exactly what you deserve.

Genesis 49:1, 5-7, 28 NKJV

And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:

“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are  in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it  is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel."

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.