Found this sitting in my out box – didn’t get sent.

Sunny today, interesting winter, this, one day we have 1.5 inches of rain and fog, next day it is sunny and warmer.

Blaze loved it.  He went outside and acted like a puppy, running and bouncing around.  He still is skittish, still doesn’t understand how to play, but He is doing okay.  

Mathew 10:33-35 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

³⁴ Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

³⁵ For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

And yet, we are also told to:

Philippians 2:14-16  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

¹⁵ That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

¹⁶ Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Are these two messages in conflict, do they cancel out each other or should we ignore the one we like better and discard the other.

In my opinion they very much complement each other.

The world, (and, unfortunately, many churches,) looks at Jesus as a peaceful individual.  He is portrayed as one who loves everyone and tells us to love everyone.  He would never offend anyone because that would be wrong.  Jesus just went about His day preaching love and healing people.  He was very tolerant of everyone – don’t cha know.

But Jesus, Himself, said that He was not going to bring peace into the world.  He was divisive and that was His mission.

We are either in Gods’ camp or we are not.  That is the dividing line.  God was clear about that in the Old Testament:

Isiah 35:8-10 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

⁹ No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Jesus reaffirmed that message, there is no fence sitting with God.  You either accept Him and His Word or you do not.  You either accept Christ as the Savior, or you do not.  The refusal to accept God on HIS terms is rejection by Him.

Mathew 12:30  He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Jesus did preach love and compassion.  He did perform miracles and healed the sick, He did cast out devils.  But these were just part of what He preached.

He confronted the Leaders as to their false teachings and false hearts – and it was not a gentle conversation taken over tea.  He corrected, bluntly, His disciples when they would try to dissuade Him from His work.

His love for the people was the same as God’s love for the people.  However, He was also a realist, He knew that not all people would accept Him and the message given to them through Him by God.  His prayer was for those that accepted Him, and He was clear He was not praying for those that did not.

John 17:8-10   For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

⁹ I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

¹⁰ And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

BUT, He had preached to them none-the-less, He wanted them to accept His Word.  The rejection of God may seem to be a simple thing to those that do not love Him.  It may seem that the message just interferes with their time of fun and enjoyment.  But it is very serious and the consequences are deadly when we reject God.

How terrible it would be to be sitting down in a group as Jesus came by, praying for each person individually, touching them, hugging them and giving them encouragement; then as He approaches me He just looks at me, looks through me as if I do not exist – and He just passes by without praying without touching me.

We know that is happening to those that do not accept Him.  However, we also know that there was a day that He would have done that to us – passed us by in His prayers - but when we accepted Him as Our Savior that changed, we became one of ‘HIS!’  We are the subject of His prayers now, and, when we stand before God the Father.

In our world today, even in our nation, there is great turmoil.  There are many divisions between men.  There is hatred, there is violence and there is destruction of buildings and, even worse, of men, women and children because one faction hates the other.

Tolerance is a word that has come to mean, if you agree with me you are tolerant – if you disagree you are intolerant and subject to ridicule and lawful persecution.

While we think there are many divisions, such as white vs black or rich vs poor, there is really only one, we are either for God, His Laws, His Love, His Son – or we are not.  All the hatred, all the violence, criminal and terrorist activity comes from the rejection of His Word and of Him.

I am very mindful that man uses God’s Word to justify bad behavior – twisting it to appear they are righteous.  But God’s Word can cut through that pompous attitude and behavior and bring people to their knees before Him.

Jesus is gentle, He does love – and that unconditionally, He does have compassion on/for everyone, but He is not weak nor is He going to forsake God’s Word and Commands just because the world defines Him as so loving He would not condemn anyone.

He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

My desire is to always, ALWAYS, show the Spirit of God in my life and strive to reach that holiness that He has told me He wants to see in His followers.  Not to glorify myself, but to glorify Him.  May all of my thoughts and deeds be with Him.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again