Posted in Thought provoking Picture of the Day
****THE FOLLOWING TURNED OUT TO BE A HEAVY TOPIC THAT IS NOT INTENDED FOR THE WEAK HEARTED*IT ALSO MAY TAKE YOU A WHILE TO READ, SO I SUGGEST READING HALF NOW AND HALF LATER***
Hello everyone! Hope that everyone had a beautiful Resurrection Sunday! (I do prefer to call it that, since the word "Easter" is known to mean something totally different and to me it conjures memories to people that take the focus off of Jesus).
I'm not saying that it is "bad" to celebrate Easter with your family. I'm saying that if you knew where "Easter" originated, you'd be shocked (as I was) to know that "Easter" and "Resurection Sunday" were once not one of the same. Furthermore, "Easter" comes from an occult past and it was originally done to celebrate a pagan god, which makes it be far from being a Christian holiday at all. Also, seeing how America puts the "bunny" center stage, and how even in a lot of Sunday schools there is more 'decorating-the-eggs' activities than teaching about Christ makes me not want to associate the two in my mind at all.
If you don't believe me, you should try this next time you are in a mall or around little children; ask a child --any age-- "what is easter to you"? Most children, will tell you what their innocent minds have been fed. Easter eggs, egg hunts, easter bunny, candy, and baskets are the staple of what this holiday represents to many.
From having taught Sunday school for many years, I can tell you that if you teach a child the correct way they will never forget! (Proverbs) This is also why if you don't teach them truths about Christ they will forever only remember those brightly colored eggs and taking pictures sitting on the lap of 'who-knows-who's lap at the mall (dressed as a bunny). Same with Santa Claus and Halloween's. When Jesse and I are blessed with children we will teach our children the truth. If they want to celebrate Spring, then we will maybe entertain the idea of having a family picnic on the first day of spring, as opposed to taking the memory of Jesus being alive away from them. But I digress...
I originally wanted to update everyone on what is going on with us. Jesse and I had a wonderful week/weekend. Plans of getting the house are still going good. We pray that it may be God's will to ultimately let us have this house. We are hoping that the long road of wanting to become owners again can lead us to a home of our own....never-the-less, may His will be done...not mine. Jesse's mom was in town this weekend and we had a wonderful time with her. I will tell you about the entire weekend but I will start with talking about Sunday and making my way back up as to not leave anything out and because it just flows better that way.
The message by our pastor at church on Sunday was awesome. Jesse's mom didn't go with us that time, since she had to get back home early enough to avoid all the holiday traffic. After church on Resurrection Sunday we went to our friend's home to eat a bountiful Ressurection Sunday meal, then relaxed at home.
Jesse's mom, was with us Saturday and we went to a winery/vineyard in a close by town. It was cool! We got to see how a vinyard is kept and how they make sure to get the best fruit possible. I didn't want to taste any because I prefer not to ever drink...(my personal commitment)....but it's amazing how many different types of wines people come up with from the same grapes! According to her they all taste slightly different.
After this, Vivian bought Jesse a KEYBOARD with stand!!! Finally Jesse owns a musical equipment! He's always wanted to learn music...so we can play and sing together. This is a very nice keyboard, with light-up keys that turn red to teach you music! We are soo excited to move-in to the new place so that we can have our very own music/hobby room!
We went to the mall a few times during the weekend...but on Friday Vivian got me a set of outfits for my soon-to-come Bday. NOT TELLING YOU WHEN!
On Thursday, we had a Traditional Seder celebration meal at church and we were blessed by having a non-Christian-Jew with us there, (that is; one that is not a self-proclaimed Christian) -In our church there are 3 confirmed Messianic-Jews -(meaning self-proclaimed Christian Jews -including Jesse himself -Jesse's mom & dad are Jewish). However, Jesse's mom honored us by attending this Seder with us. It was a true blessing for us both. If you don't know what a Seder is, please read the following note:
Seder (also known as Haggadah): Is a passover meal shared by Jewish families. It is a meal that has meaningful traditional foods that remind Jews of God the Father bringing them through the plagues and delivering them from Egypt. (See Exodus & Deutoromy). Also, it is known that Jesus's last Supper was a Seder celebration in itself, in other words, that last meal Jesus ate with His disciples was actually their Jewish celebration of Seder.
See: http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm
That was our weekend in a nutshell! After having such a good weekend, I was disapointed to hear some of the ever-growing negative things in the news!
I got to hear about how "PRIDE" groups decided to go to the traditional "Easter Egg hunt" at the White House on Sunday.
I'm convinced that people don't know the meanings of love. (For more on this see my blog on Love in the Archives). I believe Love is a choice not a feeling....I also believe that the Bible says that very same thing all through it (Ask me for scripture references). There are 4 love....but the world only thinks of one...the EROS...which is where LUST comes from.
Somehow, the others are forgotten but yet those are the most important. This world will have us believe that "LOVE" is uncontrollable, that love is a "feeling" that you have to surrender to and be moved to. But you see; first of all which love do they refer to? (They are refering to "eros" because it is the one thought to relate to relationships between couples) not brotherly love. I don't love my mother and father the way I love my husband. Secondly, not only is it not the same type but also IT IS CONTROLLABLE.
ALL love is controllable! IT IS NOT ABOUT FEELINGS! EVEN EROS!!! I am personally convinced of this because as part of my testimony; God used 3 different people -at different times to pre-tell me God's own message to me about waiting for this relationship that I have treasured for almost 5 years now. God actually was telling me to wait! To put my feelings aside and wait! That means that no matter how I FELT about my cute boyfriend (at the time; now my husband); I had to CONTROL myself and WAIT.
Our feelings can be up or can be down...if love was about a 'feeling', then there might be times that I just don't love my husband because I have a pain???? If Jesse and I had been SELFISH enough to let our "FEELINGS" guide our CHOICE to love each other (when we said "I DO"), we might already be divorced! No my friends. God calls us to control our feelings. God calls us to control our choices. God calls us to obey Him!
It is a choice you see, it's up to us to love people also. This love the Bible talks about here is a different type of love (more on this in a few weeks). We are told to 'choose' to love our enemies. It doesn't just happen....in fact it's hard for us to do it! But we have to choose it!
Having said this; you can understand why it is always our choice who we LOVE....and EVEN; what gender we choose to love! Confusion sets in and people mistake liking a friend who is great and has things in common with the "eros" love. They begin to think of them differently but instead of pushing away their throughts (or as the Bible says: Taking every thought captive --which I believe are influenced thoughts by both society and the ruler of evil--); they surrender to their feelings without thought to what God wants for them and may of them think they were meant to be different; or that God made a mistake in their gender. Confusion sets in. (This is only one of the ways).
People get confused early in life because of the rampant evil out there being mixed with good. People that they trusted may have hurt them and this may have caused them to doubt GOD's purpose for them. Many times things in this world cause us to doubt God and doubt why we are special to Him and doubt that: HE MADE NO MISTAKE WHEN YOU WERE CREATED IN YOUR MOTHER's WOMB. The Bible says: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb" Psalm 139:13.
There are many things in the bible (OLD & NEW testaments) in which is is known that God's intent is that homosexuality is wrong. It was meant that men and women marry.....not the way gays think. It's NOT MY IDEA....READ the BIBLE....you'll see!
Society then embraces their sin and doesn't even care about the sinner! They don't! If they did they would do more to outreach for them to learn about God's words. Instead they don't care about all the gays dying because of their lifestyle choice! Dying because of disease! They don't care and they turn their head the other way and soon it is widely 'accepted' and embraced as 'good'.
Don't get me wrong there is a thin line that separates "embracing their sin without caring about the sinner" and "hating the sinner because of their sin". We have to love the sinner, but because we love them (and want to tell them the truth; as a true friend would) enought to tell them the truth -in love. But you see, no matter which you do, there is always a chance that you might get taken the wrong way. People sometimes choose to believe in what they WANT to believe! But that should never stop us from caring with the love of Christ.
To convince themselves though that they are "ok being that way", gay's may choose to throw darts at Christians, to discredit them by judging them all --by their own standards. How ironic huh? They (along with others) may call out names to Christians such as "hypocrites" but don't realize what we are truly saying....and that not all of us are doing anything to be called hypocritical.
The first judgemental thing a gay person might say to a Christian that tells them what God's word says is: "Well...why are you not showing the 'love' you preach?"...Well....I say to THOSE that if this "Christian" were to point you in loving ways to what God's word says about being "GAY"?...I MUST REALLY HAVE CHOSEN TO LOVE YOU...BECAUSE WHY ELSE WOULD I TAKE TIME OUT OF MY DAY TO SHARE WITH YOU THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE???
I say: "in loving ways" because I was equally as sad to hear about the 'political demonstration' than to find out the things that so-called "christian" groups were yelling at them from the outside of the white house gates! Do they actually think that the things they yelled out were bringing glory to Jesus' name???? Do they know that; what flows from the lips is a direct reflection of what is in their hearts??? I'm not saying don't let the world know how you feel, but isn't 'love' a fruit-of-the-spirit??? Shouldn't Christians bear the fruit that prove they believe in Jesus???
Oh well. I know...I know....the word Christian means someone that 'believes in Jesus being the Christ' -(BTW: Christ means Messiah)- I guess that's why salvation is individual! I can't respond for everyone that 'believes in Jesus being The Christ' being that the enemy himself 'believes that Jesus is the Christ'!
I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. It's amazing however to also see how more and more bad things are being inter-mingled these days with good things. I feel that it is a plan by the enemy of God to cloud our minds and make us believe that truth is relative and that there are no absolutes!....
(If you believe that truth is relative, I challenge you to read the Bible) -God's word is clear that truth is not relative and read this next paragraph: if there is poop on a diaper or even pee....is it not dirty??? ....Dirty is dirty...clean is clean....if there is a spot on the floor then it is not 'totally clean'....and so it is dirty! Same with Good and bad....if we are sometimes bad...then we are generally bad people...then we are not generally "good" people. So you see, there ARE absolutes...we just choose to excuse ourselves and think of ourselves as "OK", or "good" or "fine"...but by who's standards???...I can't judge you...I don't know who you are reading this (unless you tell me).
The standards of this world, are not absolute...why? Because people are different from each other! People's standards depend on who they are and what they *choose* to believe in. So they depend and change. This makes people's standards to be relative. People's choice of what truth is then becomes relative too. What is truth then by definition?: Well, is truth the opposite of a lie??? YES. It is isn't it? So that means that whether we choose to believe in a truth or in a lie, there is a truth, and there is a lie. Who's standards am I living by? (I ask myself that -inwardly-every day) Who would you be more inclined to believe?:
**Choice A: A good God who left us the Bible to guide us, and gave His Son to die in human form to prove to us that it is possible to honor God now because of it?
**Choice B: Human's truths & standards, which can change? No absolutes of how to live life the way we were meant to? Selfish thinking that leads to carelessness about others????
God's standard? It's absolute because HE has not changed! His standards are the same no matter what part of the Bible you read.....Whether you read the "RED LETTERS" of Jesus...or Moses' teachings abou the Father...or the teachings by the disciples about the nature of the Holy Spirit....He is the same United being that manifested in 3 ways. (If you don't believe me answered these questions after reading the Bible: Have you noticed that Jesus testified what God the Father was teaching people all along through Moses? Did you realize that the Spirit is what does a work in your heart to know Jesus?) His standards are GOOD. HE STANDS FOR WHAT IS GOOD, AND JUST IN THIS WORLD. HIS STANDARDS are ABSOLUTELY GOOD.
Also, I say onto you that believes this way to think of life as an extremely dirty toilet bowl...which edge of the toilet seat would you rather be in if you were a little ant??? Would you rather be on the inside edge or on the outside edge of it??? Isn't it fair to think that if there is a God that there is an enemy and that it would sound just like the enemy to try to twist God's beautiful things around to confuse us! So we no longer know what good is? What bad is? Bible says that too....Think about it.
