When We Are Tested (and We Will Be Tested)

 As Christians, we know that we will be tested. When we are tested, we have to hold on strongly to everything we believe about our Father. That He is with us in everything. That He has not left us orphaned. We need to know that this world is not our reward, our home, or our final place. 

We are dealing with illness in my family. The situation is testing us all. I was thinking that we are always so thankful for the blessing we see as being positive. What this situation is teaching me, as have other situations, is that we are to be thankful even in suffering. Blessings come in many forms, and not those that we always see as being blessings.

Whenever I am in the center of a storm of troubles, I feel like Peter when he walked with Jesus on the water. I start strong and end up faltering at a point. However, once I come through something, it is always with a little more love for my Lord and a little more faith. Right now, I still feel like I'm floundering. I was trying to remember the lyrics to a beautiful song, "I Know the Master of the Wind".

My boat of life sails on a troubled sea
Ever there's a wind in my sail
But I have a friend who watches over me
When the breeze turns into a gale

I know the master of the wind (ooooh)
I know the maker of the rain
He can calm the storm
And make the sun shine again
I know the master of the wind

Sometimes I soar like an Eagle to the sky
Among the peaks my soul can be found
An unexpected storm may drive me from the heights
May bring me low but it cannot bring me down

He has never left me in my troubles, but sometimes I find myself looking for Him in my feelings. I don't always feel safe. I don't always feel calm. But mine is not a God of emotions. He is God, the I Am. So, I have been trying to keep in mind the last verse of that song:

Let Jesus calm your storm
And make the sun shine again
He is the master of the wind

Yes, He is. I hope this helps you hold up when you go through troubles of your own.

Peace

--Free

Master of the Wind was written by Joel Hemphill

Christians and "Christians"

 As a Christian, I don't put my faith in politics and worldly power. However, I do realize we live as citizens under government rule. I know that, one day, the world will be tested by a satanic government. For much of my life, I wondered how on earth Christians would be fooled by that demonic ruler. 

Let me stop here and say that I don't view the current U.S. White House administration as the Antichrist. In my lifetime, I don't think there have been any W.H. administrations that were Christ-focused. As Jesus taught, this world is not his kingdom. What I do notice with the current administration is that citizens are being tested on how far they will let a rogue leader go. I'm not surprised by the W.H. Chief Resident (that's as far as I will go in giving him a title) being egged on by his faithful followers. I am surprised by how many Christians are either silent or complicit in this social experiment (and, yes, that is what I think it is).

When rich people target the poor, sick, hungry, young and elderly and least empowered, Christians should not be gleeful. When laws and rules are ignored, Christians should not be okay with that. When a powerful leader uses his position to cause undue chaos, Christians should not be cheering him on.

Where is common decency? Have we forgotten about all the manners and rules that we teach our children to follow? 

I believe that a lot of Christians believe the politicians who say that they will do away with legalized sinful behavior. And a lot of politicians will say that to get elected - while they themselves are participating in those same sins! 

I don't agree with sinful behavior being legalized or normalized. I don't support gay rights, abortion or drug use. I don't support sin of any kind, but I believe that people are free to sin. I do pray that they will repent, and I pray for their struggles. I am not sinless, but I am not happily and unrepentantly sinful. Sin is a struggle for all of us, so I am not pointing a self-righteous finger at anyone.

It's so difficult to watch people who call themselves "Christian" while they let hate motivate their actions. I recently saw one person wearing a shirt with anti-Semitic slogans at the same time they were proclaiming to be Christian. I don't know if some people realize that the Christ of Christianity was born a Jew.

It's hard for me to understand a well-fed Christian hating any hungry person. I can't understand a Christian who is poor hating another poor person. I really cannot understand a Christian fanatically supporting anyone, let alone a very obviously non-Christian. 

My heart breaks when I see "Christians" proclaiming that their faith is a man - be he their pastor, teacher, or government leader. Our faith is to be in Christ alone. Our actions are not to be based on our feelings or biases but on the teachings of Christ.

If I see a hungry, sick, hurting, or frightened person, I don't care whether they are gay, Atheist, black, white or whatever. I am going to feed them or help not because of my personal feelings, but because that is what my faith calls me to do. How can I proclaim Christ to someone when I won't approach them with the love of Christ? 

How can I call myself a Christian when I won't love the way that Christ did? And loving someone doesn't mean that I am okay with their sin or that I will tell them that I am okay with it. Loving someone means loving them and hating their sin. Maybe they will want to know where I got this love from.

Back to where this started. I know now how the Antichrist will win over some "Christians". He will speak to their hate and ego. He will tell them how they can be in power on this earth. He will make them feel like their kingdom has come.

Christians, we need to pray for each other, We need to pray for our leaders (yes, even the one currently in power), and we need to reach people for Christ with love and honesty, not with our personal power and strength. Pray that God puts the right words in your mouth to reach people. Pray that we can hold out until His kingdom comes.

Peace

--Free

Just Going to Sit This Here & Walk Away

 Feeling so blessed to be with family and friends yesterday to celebrate Thanksgiving, I skipped reading any news. This morning, I made the mistake of catching up on the news. 

One of the first things I noticed were the holiday wishes coming from prominent figures and personalities. On the social media sites, I saw two very different messages from two very different men. 

This is from the outgoing President Biden. The one message was part of a video he posted. The other (which I only partially captured) is part of another message that included a Thanksgiving card image.

That's a pretty standard presidential type of message to citizens - from an outgoing president who was not popular in the last few years.

This is the message from the former (45th) and future (47th) president:

I watched a YouTuber speak about the two messages and mention how few people - in the news and among the MAGA-verse - had anything to say about the tone of this unhinged message. The YouTuber wondered what reactions would have been had the word "Left" been with "Right" (or MAGA, which has taken over the Right)? 

This is the comment I left on that video, and it's pretty much what I have been wondering for a few years now:

It's more discouraging for me that many people who call themselves Christian support this man, despite the behavior. I'm Christian and I believe character, behavior, intentions, and morals & common decency matter. Of course, there is much about the Left I disagree with, but we are beyond parties at this point. When people wonder how the Antichrist will get the support of so many "good" people, this is the blueprint. (For Christians who disagree with me - and there are many I personally know - I just ask that you look beyond party alliance and deep into your hearts and study on this.)

I'm going to probably wonder the same thing for the next four years.

Peace

--Free