PEACE on EARTH

Lately I have been burdened by this need to get down to the Truth and get rid of this sugar-coated Christian life I have been leading. Somehow in the 8 years that I have known the Lord, I have allowed the Christian culture to seep into my life.....a culture that is more guided by the things of this world than by the Word......by what is popular and peace-keeping rather than what may bring persecution and conflict.

In my quiet time this morning I was struck, yet again by this same need. I have been going through the book of Matthew and this morning I came across Matthew 10:34-36.....

34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.

If I were to ask you, before reading this, if Christ came to bring peace on earth, what would your answer have been? Mine would have been a resounding YES. And the thoughts it would have brought about are those of everyone getting along......world peace, if you will.

But this is one of those lies our culture has taught us. We live in a peace-keeping society. We want to make everyone happy all of the time. We believe that because Christ is loving that means we are to be loving (peace-keeping).

When you take a closer look, you see that peace-keeping does not = love in the scriptures. You see that Christ did NOT come to bring peace BETWEEN men but FOR men. Christ came to bring peace to our souls, not to our society. Of course, if all people had Christ residing in their hearts, their would be world peace but scripture tells us that will not happen this side of heaven.

And from this I must take away a resolve to live in the TRUTH, to not always try to make everyone happy, and to not rely on what the Christian culture teaches me but to bathe myself in the Word so that it will reside in my heart.

Are you meek?

This is one I have IGNORED!

Meek- ˈmēk

1 : enduring injury with patience and without resentment : mild
2 : deficient in spirit and courage : submissive
3 : not violent or strong : moderate

These are completely against my nature.....just not my personality......or so I have told myself. Even when I was ON FIRE for the Lord, this was one I justified away. But is this not for ALL Christians? YES!

AND, the question arises, is this a possible characteristic to take on even in the midst of a rebuke? I believe the answer to this is YES as well! In fact, I would venture to say that it very well could be even MORE important in these situations.

Interestingly enough I find that the only time the word meekness is used (in the NIV) is in the context of a rebuke. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-3 Paul writes:

1By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

Is there still sternness? Does he try to "make peace"? I certainly don't think gentleness and meekness = peace maker.

I will have to work on this.

CHANGE

Life has become quite interesting.

Back in April I went into the hospital for pre-term labor and started a blog to keep everyone updated on what was going on. After getting out of the hospital and moving on with life I had people express interest in me continuing my blog. I was surprised to say the least but obliged, thankful for the opportunity to keep record of my kiddos childhood. That way, later in life when my kiddos ask about when they were little I certainly won't be able to remember, I can point them to the blog.

All of that said, I find it quite interesting that I completely forgot I had started THIS blog in February with lofty intentions. Clearly I fell through miserably. It seems that this has been the pattern of my life for far too long. BUT, God has His ways.....does He not? There is SOMETHING he wants me to get out there. He hasn't revealed His purpose in this yet, but I am certain He will and I so desire to be in the middle of His will.

I am ready for change.

I am tired of living as a diluted Christian. I want to live for Christ. I want my life to be a life that brings glory to the Kingdom and thus far it has been an ugly picture of that. I pray that I can use this blog as an outlet to my new life. As some sort of accountability. I pray that some might find a bit of comfort and encouragement in seeing my struggle against the evil one to make a REAL and lasting CHANGE!

The title of my blog still rings true to the desire of my heart......that I am no longer to conform to the patterns of this world. (Romans 12:2) This has become increasingly difficult in a culture of professed Christians who unashamedly live like the world.