So I can't say I have any answers this morning for the blog I wrote last night.  Well, nothing really profound, anyway.  All I had last night was a weird dream involving a small town I've never visited in real life, a 4-wheeler, Jaime Jamgochian and an accident at a gravel plant.  If it had anything to do with the question bouncing around in my head I haven't figured it out yet.

It would be tempting to write a blog trying to provide answers to the questions from last night but that wouldn't be the right thing to do.  Instead, I'm going to write a little today about a serious subject with a sexual content.  So this might not be a blog that you want to read if matters involving sex bother you in any way. 

Yes, it's a blog rated R for strong sexual content and blunt honesty. 

" I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)

"Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." -1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (ESV)

Do you look at your body as the temple of the Holy Spirit?  I don't know of many people who do...even hard core Christians!  Why?  Because we give into sin and sexual temptations that defile our body and therefore also the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

"Wait, BB," you say.  "I don't run around having sex with folks.  I'm waiting for marriage!"

You are?  Really?  Then let me ask you this.  Are you having sex with yourself?

Yes, I'm talking about masterbation here.

I know there are some who try to claim this is a perfectly acceptable activity even for Christians.  They'll say it's a way for someone to control "healthy" urges and even to help you wait until the day you marry.  I have news for you, my friends...there's no exemption in the Bible for taking matters literally into your own hands before your marry. 

Look at the verses I mentioned today.  It's a command to glorify God with your body.  That means at ALL times and not just all but a few minutes a day where you sneak off to the bathroom or lock the door of your bedroom and head off to fantasy land.  God is always watching over you and knows all that you do.  You're not honoring Him, you're not honoring Jesus and you're not honoring the temple of the Holy Spirit by masterbating even once.

Do you think that if you're laying there masterbating you're not violating what is written in 1 Corinthians?  Let me be plain: you are.  You are defiling your own body by performing that act and there's no other way to spin it.  The Holy Spirit certainly wasn't putting the urge inside you to do that.  If you allow that to happen you're opening yourself up to a world of worse things.  Masterbation is like a "gateway" drug.

Now, it's likely you'll try to say that you don't view pornography or look lustfully on men or women and you're very pure in your thought life.  Let me just say if you really believe that you're fooling yourself if you're masterbating.  You don't masterbate thinking about things that are pure and right.  You don't lay there masterbating thinking about the things of God. 

It may start "innocently" thinking about that neighbor or person from school or actor/actress on television.  You start thinking about how pretty they are or how funny they are and you do your thing.  Then the thoughts start to get darker and more sexually explicit.  You start thinking about what you want to "do" to that person and you start to dehumanize them.  You see them as objects and not as human beings with feelings.  Before you know it, those thoughts start to filter into your real life and you start acting differently toward them. 

Now, that's a whole different subject and tomorrow I'm going to write a very harsh, very pointed blog about pornography.  It's going to be aimed at those of you within the church who struggle (or just openly enjoy without any guilt) with pornography. 

The point I was making is that masterbation is just the beginning and it can lead to things you never expected.  That falls into the verses I first quoted today.  You aren't thinking about good things that renew your mind in a way that blesses the Lord or brings you closer to Him.  Instead, it renews your mind in a way that leads to distorted views of other people and can even lead to a distorted view of yourself. 

It's not going to be easy to stop if this is a regular part of your daily life.  I know for millions of men and women it's something that you can't get through your day without doing.  I'm here to tell you it's possible to stop it entirely and when you do it's going to be a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord.  (Yes, you're giving up sin but it's a sacrifice in that you're choosing to pass up "pleasure" for the calling of God and His instructions to you.) 

Now's the time to stop and to make a commitment to focus on the Lord.  You'll find as you go day by day that it not only gets easier but that you'll find a lot of bad thoughts that pop into your head suddenly going away.  Honor the Lord with your body and your mind.

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Here's Romans 12:10 (ESV):

"Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor."

How can you do that today?

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Being an old rocker, I always have song lyrics pop into my head as I'm writing these blogs and I usually leave them out because I know there are some Christians who really get offended when you mention secular music or writings.  However, I can't avoid it with today's blog.  In fact, I'm sitting here listening to the song playing over and over in my head hoping that God will hit the "stop" button on it!

But as the wise philosopher Tom Petty once sang..."the waiting is hardest part."

I know that I sometimes have a very hard time waiting on God to do things.  I have things that I want to have happen or see happen and I want it NOW!!!!  I laugh at myself because it's almost like my kids when they come to visit.  They'll be riding along in the cart at the store and see a toy they want and start going "Daddy!  I want that toy!  Right now!  I want it!" and then a moment later it's another toy they they want.  They don't need any of them and won't use any of them but they just want and want and want.

I get like that with God sometimes.  I think we all do.  Even if we don't dwell on it, or later realize we don't need it, we still have times where we sit and ask our Daddy in heaven for something.  When it's not an instant response of yes (or even an immediate response of no that says He heard us) we start to worry, get anxious or take things into our own hands.

" Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." - James 5:7-8 (ESV)

I love the way James compares waiting on God to a farmer.  I've known many farmers over the years and I've had times where I've been standing with them as they just look out over a freshly planted field.  They know their livelyhood is sitting out there in front of them and they have to just trust that God's not going to allow a tornado or flood or other disaster that ruins it.  That trust has to run for months until the crops get to harvest.  Our lives are the same way.

So friends, if it feels like your life is just a planted field and you're waiting for rain to bring the crop into bloom be patient and be comforted.  There are many of us out there who are waiting for the harvest to come in and it's not fun to stand there looking at the tilled dirt with nothing green popping out of it yet.  Yet God's word tells us that He will do what's best for us and while it may not be the plant you thought was coming up from that dirt I promise a harvest is coming sometime!

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I have to confess something to you.  There's nothing that annoys me more than someone who always shouts out a "praise God" everytime they're given something or a situation goes well or it appears God is moving somewhere.  When every blessing they receive is immediately turned into a huge public display of praise.

I'm not saying not to praise God.  In fact, I'm all about praising Him for the things that He gives us and provides to us.  I'm talking about the people who seem to think someone giving you a piece of lettuce is cause to dance around singing hymns when you already have a fridge full of food.  (It would be different if the person had no food and the lettuce was the only thing they've had in a week...)

Why do you ask?  I see it as part of this:

""Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward." - Matthew 6:2 (ESV)

"But wait, BB," you're saying, "they're talking about giving to the needy.  That's not the same as giving praise to God."

I'd disagree.

Giving is giving.  Whether you're giving praise to God or a sandwich to the hungry you're still giving of yourself.  While praising God in all things is something that we're called to do and indeed comes from the overflowing of God in your heart it is also something that if you're not careful can become a source of pride and also a smokescreen to hide sin that is taking control of you.

Every time God brings you a blessing He's not doing it so that you'll run out and tell the entire world about it and yell "Praise God!  Praise Jesus!"  Just like God wants a personal relationship with you where things stay between you and God the same thing happens with gifts from Him and praises from Him.  Think about your best friend...do the two of you discuss things you'd never tell anyone else?  Do you do things for each other out of love that you don't run and tell the neighbors about?  Of course you do.  God's no different.

It's a part of your growth to know when to give public praise to God for things that have happened and when to just silently praise Him in communion between you and Him.  At the beginning you want to tell the whole world about every little thing because of your love for Him and that's not a bad thing.  Excitement to be with your Father in heaven is a great thing to have.  God also understands that you're going to overflow with everything that way.  If you read the word, it also talks about being spiritually immature like a child in your early days as a believer.

"But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ." - 1 Corinthians 3:1 (ESV)

Do infants know when they should keep a gift to themselves?  No.  As we get older do we learn there are times to say things in public and times to keep it quiet?  Yep.  We need that kind of discernment as well when it comes to our spiritual life and fortunately God will give wisdom freely to those who ask for it.

Just like Ecclesiastes says there is a time for all things under heaven there is a time for loud, public praise and there are times for a quiet, "Thank you, Lord."  The key to it is sincerity in your praise and discernment from the Lord as to the proper response to Him. 

Now...to be clear...praise Him for all things in your life.  Never stop praising Him just like you should pray without ceasing.  I'm not saying at all you should stop the praise.  I'm just saying you need to check how you praise Him before men and make sure the motivation is right and that it's God's will you make a big deal about what He has done for you.  I hope you can see the difference.

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One of the hardest things I believe a Christian has to overcome is their own pride.  It's so easy for Satan to throw things in our paths that put our fallen fleshly tendency to puff up ourselves into effect.  We want to take the good things that we've done or the opportunities that God's placed before us and make it appear that it's all about us.

It goes much deeper than that many times.  We start to get to the point that we cannot admit mistakes or failures.  Instead of being transparent to our brothers and sisters in Christ...or even to ourselves...we make excuses or just avoid situations where we know we were wrong and would have to admit it.

It even hampers our ability to walk in the world as well.  Believe me, the world knows full well when we have something wrong.  I'm not even talking on the debatable issues of Scripture and Jesus in their minds...many who say we're wrong will acknowledge they can't prove that we're not.  I'm talking about issues where we've clearly made a mistake and we can't own up to our own mistakes.  What kind of impression do you think that leaves on them?

The Bible talks so many times about pride and it's harm:

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace,but with the humble is wisdom." - Proverbs 11:2 (ESV)

"Pride goes before destruction,and a haughty spirit before a fall." - Proverbs 16:18 (ESV)

" "Scoffer" is the name of the arrogant, haughty manwho acts with arrogant pride." - Proverbs 21:24 (ESV)

I could list more but I think you get the idea!

It's a fine line to walk when it comes to admitting fault.  When we're clearly in the wrong, we're called to humble ourselves regardless of the situation, admit our fault and ask for forgiveness.  It doesn't matter whether we're dealing with our spouse, our children, our neighbor, our pastor or God himself.  Humility is the place we need to seek.  It's not fun, it's hard and it usually hurts for us to do.  We're better off when we do it.

I'm not saying here you need to apologize for things where you're not wrong.  Never apologize for the Word or standing on the Word regardless of the situation.  (Now, you may have to apologize perhaps for the way you presented the Word or the way you've said something but never apologize for standing on the truth of God.)

In today's culture...even with other Christians...you'll likely be pressured to apologize for times you're not wrong and times where you haven't been prideful.  Pray and ask God whether or not you were wrong and He will let you know when your pride has gotten in the way.  I've seen many times where people who profess Christianity are actually doing all they can to try and silence those who speak out for Him by saying you're doing it for fleshly reasons.  You might be...most often you're probably not.  The quickest cry of the convicted is to attack the messenger because they can't refute the message.

So watch out today for the pitfall of pride.  Maybe apologize to someone whom you've wronged recently or even in the long past.  We all have pride and we all need to work to overcome it.

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I was reading through verses for today's blog when something jumped off the screen in Luke.  It's something that I've read dozens of times in the past yet today it hit me for the first time the significance of the actions of Christ.

"And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal." - Luke 9:1-2 (ESV)

I know...you've probably read that verse a thousands times so it's nothing new to you.  It's likely you've even considered what I'm about to type in today's blog!  If so, maybe the refresher will refresh you!  (Insert silly laugh here.)

Obviously Jesus was spreading the good news of His Father to everyone in Israel and beyond.  There wasn't a single human being to whom Jesus didn't want to share the truth of His Father's Word and the peace and love that can only come from giving ourselves to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.  It was the whole point of the Great Commission to make the world disciples of Christ.

However, that's not what Jesus does here...He does so much more than that.  He wants them to spread the gospel and proclaim the kingdom but he also gave them the power to heal.  The power to drive out demons and send them away from His people.  This command to heal I believe is something that while Jesus made it part of a special power over his disciples is something we're also called to do today.

What did God do for us when He came into our hearts?  He healed us of the sickness of sin that was sending us to death and hell.  He poured the blood of Jesus over us and all our transgressions were healed.  That same kind of healing is available to everyone else as we tell them of the Gospel and spread the good news of the kingdom.

It's also more than that, however.  We've been given the power to work to help the healing of people because we're given the opportunity to take our love for God and show it in a viable, tangible way to those who don't know Him.  (I'm not saying we can miraculously heal someone from disease the way that the disciples were able to do but we can pray for God to move on them just as the disciples did.)

We can help heal the afflictions on the people that are brought because of their sin or the sin of a fallen world.  Being hungry and unable to buy food is an affliction that you and I can heal.  Not being able to get to a doctor's appointment because their car is broken down is a situation that you and I could heal in more than one way...by fixing their car and/or taking them to their appointment. 

See where I'm going with this?  The scope of healing so many times is limited in your view to just physical health.  We hardly ever think that healing can be done mentally just by being willing to show our love in all ways...not just telling someone "I'll keep you in my prayers."

I know it's weird after yesterday's blog and my weekend of correction that I'd be writing another blog about service and going out to be God's healing but that's just when I felt impressed upon me this morning.   Perhaps today you can look for some way to help speed healing for someone else.

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Well, I have to confess sin to you today and ask your forgiveness if any of you have been lead astray by what I've been posting on this blog.

Let me give you a little background and then I'll tell you what I've learned and I hope you can apply it to your lives in some way. 

Monday I felt God telling me I needed to talk to a certain man.  This man was only going to be in town for a few hours but I felt God saying I really needed to pull him aside and talk to him about my spiritual walk because it wasn't what I wanted it to be.

Now, my longer readers are saying, "BB...come on, man.  YOU?  YOUR walk isn't what you wanted it to be?  You write all these great blogs and God's given you insight on things."  Well, yes, He has.  There's no question God's used me for reaching out to others and showing them love. 

Here's where my sin and my confession to you comes in.

God changed around my Saturday so that I ended up having about half an hour to able to talk to person He told me to see.  Through the course of the discussion I realized that my entire focus of the relationship with Christ was completely altered from what it was supposed to be.  I was doing the right things but I wasn't doing the one thing that God really wanted from me...just being with Him.

It made me think of my son and how he reacts toward me.  He can't wait to talk to me on the phone or come visit me for the weekend.  Every waking moment that he's here we're attached at the hip and even at night if he wakes up and I'm not laying beside him on the air mattress he'll find me and crawl up next to me.  He just wants to be close to me all the time because to him I'm the most important person in the world. 

I didn't...and really still don't...have that relationship with God.

You see, I've been going through all the motions of being a Christian and obeying when God tells me to do things.  Yes, I've done some "good works" and I've done them because I know the price Jesus paid for my sins and I feel an obligation to help others avoid hell and eternity away from Christ.  That, in and of itself, is not a bad thing.  It's obviously teaching from the Scriptures to say we're to show love others and consider others better.

"3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Phillippians 2:3-4 (ESV)

In my case my zeal to do the good works and to show others I love them because Christ loves them became the central focus of my relationship with God.  I wasn't showing love to others because my love between God and I overflowed into everything but rather just because I felt it was my command as a Christian to go out and show love to others.  I neglected my first love...that of God himself. 

Right now, I am exactly like the church in Ephesus spoken of in Revelation:

" 2"'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. " - Revelation 2:2-5 (ESV)

I'll admit that in my human life...away from God...I've had zero successful relationships with adults.  I'm a very hard person to get along with and I've always been that way.  My relationship with my father wasn't good while I was growing up although years later we've developed a really strong bond & I regret not forging that earlier. 

My only successful relationships in my life is that between myself and my children.   In those relationships is the true power of love.  We want to be around each other.  We laugh together.  We cry together.  We play mini-golf and fish each other out of the pond.  (Don't ask.)  It's a pure kind of love with no conditions and no strings.  We just want to be together and close to each other than that's enough. 

My friends, that's what God wants from us.  While He takes pleasure in the good things that we do in His name ultimately it comes down to the fact He wants to be with us because we're His children.  The same way I want to be with my children and they want to be with me.  They do good things not with the motivation of making me happy...although that's part of it...they want to make me happy because they love me so much it bursts out from them.

For the last year or so, I've been doing good things almost out of obligation.  God tells me to go and I go...no questions asked.  It wasn't out love overwhelming love for Him (although I do love Him with all my heart) but it was because I was so focused on doing the things that make Him happy I wasn't doing the thing that makes Him really happy...just being with Him

So I apologize to all of you if you've been walked down that path through my writings.  I don't know if any of you have been but as you know I'm very honest and just tell it like it is.  Even when the screw-up is mine.

Have a great Sunday.  I treasure all of you who read this blog and I hope you'll give me a second chance.

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In the late 90s there was a Christian band by the name of Lloyd.  They never really hit the big time but put out a brilliant CD called "Thoughts From A Driveway."  It was very solid from start to finish and was one of the better alternative Christian rock albums of it's time. 

On the CD was one of the most brilliant Christian songs I think I've ever heard.  There's so much truth coming through the lyrics that even years later it takes my breath away.  Even as I sat here finding the lyrics online (to make sure I repeated them right) I found myself shaking my head up and down as I read.

Here's a portion of the lyrics from the song "Listening For Whispers":

"Another day is gone
And I can't find a shooting star
Is this a message
Or an acid test of faith?

I've prayed a thousand times
But I can't hear a sole reply
This "waiting patiently"
Is more than I can take

She was afraid of mine
Awaiting some angelic vision
She lost a lifetime
Searching for a sign

Don't you know that
We are listening for whispers
When we cannot hear the screams

The sun is blinding us
And still we look for matches
We cannot just deny this anymore"

Can you see the truth that's blinding you from those lyrics?  So many Christians today are spending their time waiting for God to walk down and hand them a three page outline of what they're to do with the rest of their lives.  The "calling" He has for them is their sole focus and in the meantime you block out everything that doesn't seem to be a part of that "grand master plan" you believe God has given to you.

This is when you're really in danger of developing a deafness to God.

God puts so many opportunities for us to minister to people in our paths every day but you have to be willing and open to things that might be outside "your" ministry.  (It's really God's ministry but like Paul in his writings, I'll use a "human" argument here.)  If you think you're called to be in a music ministry it doesn't mean that God won't use you to help lift the spirits of a ten year old boy without a dad by playing a game of pickup basketball with him.  If you think you're called to be a teacher it doesn't mean you won't find a chance to mow the yard of an elderly person who's come down with an illness.  If you think you're called to be a caretaker for kids it doesn't mean you won't be asked to lead a women's conference for single moms.

Those are times God's screaming to you that He needs you to be His hands and feet.  However, we can get so wrapped up in "our" ministry that instead of playing ball you say you have to go practice.  Instead of mowing that yard you say there are lesson plans that need to be written.  Instead of speaking encouragement to those hurting women you say you need to run to the Christian bookstore for the latest VeggieTales video. 

At the same time, you'll be praying "Lord, show me how I can serve you."

My friends, look around you.  God is calling us at the top of His lungs to reach out and help those in need.  There are homeless around you.  There are hungry people around you.  There are elderly people who need someone with a strong back to clean out the gutters.  There are kids with no dad who could use someone who will show them how to throw a baseball.  There's a broken hearted single who just needs someone who will listen to them.  God's screaming at us to help these people and we need to start listening.

That doesn't mean that God won't give you a specific calling and a drive to spend time focused on this.  Absolutely God does things like this.  However, when we're so focused on the still, small whisper that guides us in the area we're tuned into Him we need to avoid tuning out everything else.  Jesus dealt with all kinds of people in all kinds of ways.  So do we.

Remember in all you do...

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." - Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)

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I know....I don't usually write two blogs in a day.  However, I had a situation arise where I felt I needed to share something else today.   I hope you'll indulge me a second dip into the blogging pool today!  I hope this can help you as much as I hope it helps someone I've given these same thoughts.

Have you ever been in a situation where you've been praying for something so hard...waiting patiently for the Lord...crying over that desire in your heart that's so intense it hurts and out of the blue someone you know gets that very blessing that you're still waiting to receive? 

Yeah, we've all had those moments.

It's not fun at all.  If you're being honest, it's almost like a kick in the teeth.  It's even doubly so if the person who gets the blessing has been waiting less than you or even was in a good place and just had things get better for them.  Even though you really don't have much of an impact on your life beyond your feelings toward your friend you feel as if God's betrayed you in a way.  You feel like God's saying you're less important than your friend, co-worker or other acquaintance. 

Now...the question becomes....are you sinning by feeling these things?

I would say having those feelings is not sin at all.  It's what you do with those feelings that become a sin.

We all know in Ephesians 4:26 where it says "Be angry and do not sin."  When you get into a situation like this you're angry...even feeling hurt is anger at someone or some thing...isn't a sin in itself.  You're human.  You're going to have feelings.  God understands that.  Your confusion, your hurt, your surprise and your disappointment are not evil in the eyes of the Lord.  It's when you act on those angry, disappointed, bitter feelings that sin begins to come into play.

For example, let's say a friend of yours landed a great job while you're stuck somewhere you don't want to be and despise every minute you're there.  You've been praying longer than your friend for a new job where you can feel fulfilled and be blessed.  Instead, your friend lands that great job while you stay in the place you loathe.

You're thankful to God that you even have a job but as soon as you hear about you feel the hurt.  Why, God?  Why give them a blessing and keep me here?  I've been good!  I've been actively avoiding sin and trying to live like Christ.  Why are you leaving me to suffer and giving them a blessing?

All legitimate questions.   None of them are sin.  Here's where the sin can come in.

If you go from asking why to God to saying things like "You know, God, they're sitting around at night watching bad shows on TV, they're always using profanity and they cheat on the their taxes.  They're not as good as I am!  I deserve that blessing!"  Now you've crossed over into sin.

If you sit around being angry at God and you stop praying, you stop doing things that you're called to do for Him and basically try to "punish" God by stopping your good needs as He called you to do then you're sinning.

Some will say "well, that's jealousy and that's a sin too!"  I would argue that it only crosses into the sinful jealousy category if you allow yourself to dwell on the actual blessing the other person received instead of allowing yourself to feel the disappointment that it's not your time to be blessed yet.  There's a world of difference in those two situations and there's nothing wrong with hurting that it's just not your time to serve yet. 

Most of all...just be real with God.  He already knows your feelings and He's right there for you.  He wants you to lean on Him and He wants that relationship where you don't try to hold anything back from Him.  That includes the really bad times along with the good times. 

In those situations, I'd suggest when the feelings come you praise God for the blessings He's given your friends and at the same time thank Him for the blessing that He will some day bring you.  Rest in the knowledge that some day it will be your season to have the same joy you're seeing in the lives of others because of a bounty from the Lord. 

Yeah, I know.  It's not fun.  It hurts.  It sucks.  However, God does have your best interests at heart and that's not going to change.  It may not get easier to praise Him in the times where the blessings rain everywhere but on you but I promise if you keep that in your heart eventually the showers on your friends will turn into a flood upon you.

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I think one of the hardest parts of the Christian walk is waiting for the Lord to move in an area where we face hurt, despair and desperation.  The times that a trial just never seems to end or gets worse with each passing day.  Perhaps it's just the trial of life where you are not happy with anything in your life but day after day nothing changes despite your efforts and your prayers.

I know there have been times where I just run out of words to say.  I mean, how many times can you ask God to move or to do something before you feel like you're talking to a wall?  We know from the Word He hears our prayers but that doesn't mean it's His timing for your life yet.

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV)

The proper time.  It's rarely ever when we think it's the proper time!

This situation is discouraging.  I know you'll read many blogs and probably find the Rick Warrens or Joyce Meyers telling you how you should stop dwelling on negative and call it all joy because you're being tested by God.  They're not wrong in that we're called to say it's "joy" as James has written but I don't think they acknowledge the fact this situation really hurts. 

I don't know if you also feel this way but when I'm feeling worn down by the trials of life the last thing I want is someone who is nothing but a peppy cheerleader telling me to "count it all joy."  Sure, it's a message that you need to hear in that situation (even if you've heard it a thousand times and know it in your heart) but you want someone to acknowledge the pain and hurt and the fact you're at your end.

Fortunately, we DO have someone who understands that!

" Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:26-28 (ESV)

The Holy Spirit intercedes for us!!  Isn't that great to know?  Even when we're at the point we feel our words fail and that no matter what we say and beg and plead and cry that it doesn't get through to God the Holy Spirit groans out for us in ways we cannot express ourselves. 

I want to encourage you today to let the Holy Spirit have more of an impact in your life and this is a great way to start.  Instead of spending all your prayer time in petition to God about something that's been a long time need or heart's desire spend that time silent.   Just lay before your Lord and let the Holy Spirit do all the talking and groaning.  Give God yourself with no conditions or demands on your part and the Holy Spirit will make your case for you.

It's not going to be easy...most humans like to talk!  However, it could help you develop your relationship with God to a new level of intimacy.

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There's a movement...even among some people in the Christian community...that Christians shouldn't be involved with the government in any way.  They march the party line that people who despise Christians try to shove down our throats that we shouldn't impose our will and our beliefs on everyone else.

Well, I'm here today to tell you that is nothing but a lie of Satan.

Now, if you're not in America, this might not apply to you.  However, if you're in a country where the right to vote has been given to you by the government then this can apply to you.

I've heard all the arguments that Christians shouldn't be involved in politics on any level.  You get the people who says Jesus never dabbled in politics without mentioning that Jesus wasn't a Roman citizen and as such couldn't have an impact on his government even if He wanted to do so.  They say that we're not supposed to force our beliefs on other people because Jesus said:

"Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." - Matthew 7:6 (ESV)

If you throw Jesus in the faces of people, they're obviously going to fight against it because they dislike having their sin on display.  (Just like myself and every Christian I know!)  They resent being in a situation where they can't have their truth ebb and flow however they want so they can do anything they want to do.  The last thing they want is to have to be required to follow something they don't believe in.

Yes, the government does put us in places where we are forced to do things and if the government is following a Christian principle it's forcing others to do things in those principles.  However, if it's not, it's forcing Christians to do and accept things that aren't Holy and run against our faith!  Christians will be forced to do things that they don't believe in and to many people...even some who call themselves Christians...seem willing to make the compromise!

I look at it a completely different way and I base it on Jesus' words in Matthew 22:21 (ESV):

""Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

We know that in the specific instance, Jesus was referring to money being given to the government.  However, I believe this can apply to anything that is connected to our government and that includes voting.

In America, our republic is driven on the "right to vote."  Without it's citizens voting for it's leaders then the government itself will break down.  Your taking the time to exercise your vote based on your beliefs, your views and the way you think people should live life is as vital and necessary to the government functioning as the republic is intended to run.  That means your rendering your vote unto the government is the same as rendering taxes to Caesar!

What is the right to vote?   It's the right to go into that booth and pick the person you feel best represents YOU in the government.  It's not who you think is best for the country despite the lies you've been told.  You are supposed to pick the person that best represents you and your views and values.  If you want to go into that booth and vote based on your Christian beliefs then you have that right and no one has the right to take that away from you.  In fact, it's your obligation to do so.

Now, this is where you get the activist groups trying to legalize sin and force Christians to compromise their beliefs using the government as a weapon like to jump in.  We even have Presidential candidates who talk about faith and then say it needs to be "kept in check" for the "good of the country."  (By the way, nowhere in the Bible does it say it's OK to be a Christian everywhere but when you're voting.  You can't turn off your Christianity like a light if you truly believe.)

Don't listen to the lies!!!!

The very same people who keep telling you not to vote on your Christian beliefs are the same ones organizing people who feel like they do to go and vote on their beliefs.  The reason they tell you that you shouldn't vote your Christian beliefs is because they despise your views and if they can get more people in the ballot booth than Christians they get to impose their will on you through the governement!

Now, I'm not gonig to tell you who to vote for because that's not my place.  You need to pray, you need to be informed and you need to make what you feel is the decision you feel God leading you to make.  I am telling you that it's your responsibility to go into that booth and vote the way you feel God leading you to vote based on your Christian beliefs and values.  That is who you are and as a citizen of a country where you're to vote for the person representing you the choice has to be made based on your values.

Don't let the lies keep you silent.

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I was out for my morning walk and was talking with God when I had my thoughts going darker and darker.  I began to ponder a subject that is not something many of us like to discuss yet the more I tried to push the thoughts out of my head the more I felt God saying I needed to blog on this today.  So if you're having one of those days when you don't want to see a dark, disturbing topic I suggest you skip this one today. 

I was thinking this morning about suicide.  We all know the pain that suicide causes families and the ways it can affect entire communities.  It doesn't matter if it's a young student in school, a college student, a single mom in her 30s or a drug addict in his 50s...suicide always leaves a mark on much more than the person who actually makes the choice to end their own life.  The questions always linger afterward and many of them seem to revolve around "Why?"

Why did they do it?  Why didn't they ask for help?  Why would they do this to their families and friends?  Why didn't God help them?  Why didn't they just trust that the Lord was going to make everything better?

I want to try today to help you get into the mindset of someone who is thinking of doing this horrific act.  There are people right around you that are actually thinking about this as an option whom you would have no idea are considering it.  That doesn't mean they're going to do it but the thought is there...and it's even in people you might consider "great Christians" and "strong believers."  Christians are not exempt from this situation and many Christians have a hard time when someone who seemed so on fire for God ends their own life.

As with anything, there are many issues that can drive someone to suicide (or the thoughts of it.)  One of the biggest in my mind, and likely one of the issues that is a part of almost every suicide, is the mindset that someone is alone and there's no one to help or understand.  Right with that is the thought that no one is going to come to help them or at least make the pain (real or imagined) any more tolerable.

" Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." - Genesis 2:18 (ESV)

Obviously this is talking about Adam and Eve but it just as easily applies to any human being.  Think about when you're alone and you don't choose to be in that situation.  Is that really a pleasant feeling?  When you want to have someone there with you and there's no one?  

Right now, I guarantee there is someone you know at your church, school or workplace who lives alone and NEVER gets any visitors.  Sure, they may come to your place or they smile at church on Wednesday and Sundays but their heart is crying out for someone...anyone...to show them concern and love.  Yes, they know God but sometimes that's not enough.  Look at the verse...wasn't God all that Adam needed?  Yet He chose to create another person...Eve...to be a companion to Adam.  We are no different from Adam.

When that person spends all their time alone it begins to wear them down.  Doubly so when this person is someone who has a truly giving nature and invests themselves in so many other people.  When those people sit home night after night without a single phone call from a friend it begins to dampen their spirit.  When they go literally months without a single person showing up to visit them it can make a person feel unwanted, unappreciated and unloved.  These feelings, if they continue unabated for a significant period of time, can drive someone's self-worth into the cellar.  It leaves a person wondering the whole point of even existing when it's clear they don't matter to anyone.

Now, every person matters to someone in some way.  However, in their mind, they're completely insignificant to the big picture.  Satan loves to twist that in people's minds because if he can get you to kill yourself he thinks he's won.  (He hasn't unless someone hasn't accepted Christ as savior.)  After all, you're the temple of the Holy Spirit:

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." - 1 Corinithans 6:19-20 (ESV)

Satan stands always ready to destroy any temple of the Holy Spirit.  He can do it slowly through drugs, alcohol or sexual immorality or he can do it quickly through suicide.   The common thread is that many times people feel unloved, unwanted and ignored.

Now, you might be thinking this is all well and good but you don't have suicidal thoughts and never have had them.  What does this blog have to do with you?  First, if you've never had them, thank God right now that He's blessed you so richly that you've never felt the pain that someone who's held a gun to their own head has felt.  That is a blessing beyond measure and you need to really give thanks to Him for that in your life.

Secondly you need to open your eyes to what's around you.  I promise you that you know at least one person who is right now wondering what the whole point is to continuing on this planet.  Yes, even "good strong Christians" that you see at church all the time.  Even people running ministries you see on TBN or hear on Focus on the Family or see on the internet and/or MySpace. 

When is the last time you took the step outside of your comfortable box and paid a visit on someone who might need it?  I promise you that things that would seem insignificant to you could make a giant impact on someone who feels as if there's no one in the world who cares.  Jesus Christ called us to love one another as we loved ourselves.  He called on us to be the ones that radiate His light in the darkest places. 

Here's a simple thing you can do....sit down and think about your friends, your family, your social circle and your church family.  Get out a piece of paper and write down the names of three or four people who you know live alone or are perhaps a single parent.  (A single parent with no support system has a whole new level of pain and stress that even the lone single doesn't have in their life.)  After you make that list, pray over it.  Ask the Lord to show you what you can do for these people to show them Christ's love and be His hands and feet to reach out to them.

You see, I believe that especially when Christians commit suicide and no one saw it coming that it means His people weren't answering His call to love that person.  It's easy for someone to say "well, he/she should have trusted God more because He would have helped them through it."  Well, He helps people through us.  We are his hands and feet.  If you're too busy to be His hands and feet then you might be the person who didn't deliver the love from God that the Lord wanted to send.
 
I know that's blunt and harsh but I don't believe it's wrong.  If you feel God lay someone on your heart and you blow it off to watch Oprah or 24 or American Idol then you bear some responsibility for ignoring God's call.  You could be the person who stops someone from ending their own life and that is an incredible honor and blessing to be God's messenger of love and mercy to the wounded. 

I know today's blog was a hard topic and I know I'm being pretty hard in my choices of language and presentation.  This is what I feel led to write today and I'm letting the words flow through this keyboard.  I don't believe this message is mine...I believe it's meant for someone who reads this blog.  We are God's love and it's time that we stop talking about it and start showing it.  There is someone around you today who needs you.  Now go.

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It's hard to sit here today and not write a blog relating to what we all saw today in Blacksburg, Virginia.  What was on display today was the embodiment of selfishness and uncontrolled desires.  It was nothing less than pure evil coming to fruition.

It's times like this it's common to ask the question "Why does God allow evil to happen?"  People naturally assume because God is all-powerful that it means He is the one responsible for everything that happens.  The fact is, however, that evil is NOT created and put upon you by God.  Then who is responsible for evil?

The people responsible with evil are all of us.  Every single human being walking the Earth right now.  The problem is that we all have free will and there are most of us who choose to exercise that free will to sin.  We choose to take that free will and do whatever we want to do and expect no consequences about it.  We rationalize what we do and pretend that it's OK.  Sometimes that selfishness...and make no mistake, that's exactly what it is...overflows when combined with anger and results in what we saw today at Virginia Tech.

It's not a new situation although a lot of people want to pretend the world is more evil than ever.  The feelings in the hearts of men haven't changed since the days of Adam and Eve:

"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" - Romans 5:12 (ESV)

Plus, the Bible flat out says that people will choose the dark side over the light:

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil." - John 3:19 (ESV)

It's free will that brings the evil and sin to action in the world.  Now, the next logical question is why did God allow free will?  Wouldn't it have been much better if God didn't allow us to have free will because then there would be no sin, no pain, no problems in the world?

While, yes, that would be a utopia it's also not what God was seeking.  God wanted people who chose to love Him because that is what real love is about.  You never really love someone if you're forced to love them.  You may go through the motions of loving someone and you may say all the right things and do the right things but in your heart you despise that person.  God wants us to love Him with all our hearts and to choose Him.  That's why we have the free will to choose Him or reject Him.

That means that we...you and I...don't often choose God's will!!!  What happened today wasn't God's will.  It was the actions of a selfish, angry man who chose darkness over the light.  He wasn't choosing to follow God and His teachings of love, compassion and mercy.  We ALL fall under that sometimes even people sold out to God like Paul!  That's why he wrote:

"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." - Romans 7:14-15 (ESV)

Now, you may think I'm capitalizing on a tragedy here to witness to you.  If you feel that way, I'm sorry...that's not my intent.  I wanted to put an answer out here for the inevitable questions about why something this horrific happened today.  I know people are asking the question and I wanted to try and provide the best answer as I saw the situation. 

Remember to keep all the people involved in prayer, their families and their friends.  Also...let's all take a lesson away from this and strive to be more like Christ and fight the selfish natures of our flesh.  Let's strive for purity, for love, for mercy, for grace...we can all be better off for it.

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When you face struggles and trials it's very easy to ask yourself if God is cursing you.  The whole of Deuteronomy Chapter 28 is about God's blessing and God's cursing depending on if you're following Him and the commands that He has given to His people.  In that chapter, it's interesting to note that only 14 of the 68 verses concern blessing!  There's a huge warning to us regarding the troubles that can come when we're out of God's will.

I'm not going to quote the whole of Deuteronomy 28 but I'll put two sections to show the dichotomy:

"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God." - Deuteronomy 28:1-2 (ESV)

"The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me." - Deuteronomy 28:10 (ESV)

The natural tendency of most people is to focus on the negatives.  Many times when Christians read that chapter they see all the curses and think of the problems in their life and say "well, obviously God is cursing me!"  After all, it says clearly that if you don't keep God's commands you're going to be cursed by the Lord.

Let me give you a strong, solid, Biblical answer to those who think God is cursing you.

He's not.

Wow...deep, eh?

"Wait, BB!" you say.  "Are you saying God's word is wrong?"

No, I'm not.  I'm saying if you are a believer in Jesus Christ then you have something that the people of the Old Testament didn't have and that's the salvation that comes from the sacrifice of Jesus.  The first command that comes to you from God to be faithfully obeying Him is to accept His Son as your savior.  Confess Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.  You do that, you're in God's will at the basic level.

God will not curse you.  He may not bring you blessings but that's not in itself cursing you because you are professing His Son and you know that if you pray He will forgive your sin.  (Maybe not take away the consequences for your actions but that's not from God...that's from your own sin that He never condoned in the first place.)