We are told we will have a temperature of zero tonight.  Joy.  Hasn’t been THAT cold for several years.  We will deal with it.

The second part of the KODL Coffee Break show is below, posted by Teresa.  I did ask the young lady at KODL if we could do this and she said yes.  It should also be on their web page under pod casts pretty soon.

https://youtu.be/83Gem4rt3fI

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Luke 23:44-49  And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

⁴⁵ And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

⁴⁶ And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

⁴⁸ And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.

⁴⁹ And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

Only the thief on the cross spoke out for Jesus.  A criminal condemned to die who recognized his sentence was just.  No one else. 

What would I have done?  Would I have been like Peter, who chose to attack in the garden, only to be told by Jesus to back off?

Would I have been like Peter at the trial, denying that he even knew Jesus?

Would I have been like so many other of the Apostles that did not go to the trial in fear and did not watch Him undergoing the torment and torture?

We can’t fully answer that question, of course, because we were not physically there during this time.

But we do have indications.  How are we treating Jesus now?

Do we live for Him regardless of who is around us?

Do we speak of Him often?

Do we explain to those that do not understand who He is, that He is the Son of God, the Savior for all who truly believe on Him and accept His guidance?

Do we leave Him at home when we go out and about, doing our daily routines whether at work or at play?

How do we handle the people that bully us for our stand in Christ?

As we know many Christians through the year have been persecuted, prosecuted falsely, incarcerated for their beliefs and even sentenced to death for not denying Jesus the Christ.

I have never had that degree of persecution, bullying from those that would try and shut me up.

As I was reading an article on Stephen, the first martyr, how he stood his ground and even though he knew it could mean his death he preached Jesus as the Christ to the Sanhedrin where he was brought to answer charges against him.

He was eventually stoned to death.

In the news lately we are reading and hearing how young people cannot handle real world experiences and are needing ‘safe places’ to deal with their traumatic experiences – experiences such as seeing a police officer, in uniform, in a restaurant and begging management to send him out – which they did by the way; or seeing Trump signs and feeling insecure.

The list goes on, of course.  They can’t deal with their feelings because they have never been taught to deal with them.

If they had trouble in school it wasn’t their fault, it was the teachers and principal’s fault. 

I don’t like bullies, as a police officer I dealt with a number of them.  Husbands, beating their wives, bar fights, challenges because they were walking down the wrong side of the street, etc. 

But back then, most people learned to deal with it.  We were called in and we protected them the best we could, but there was a survival instinct in most people.  While they may not be able to protect themselves, they learned how to walk away, they learned how to find help – unless the bullying was life threatening (and it often was even if the wife or other victim wouldn’t admit it) they didn’t need a safe place.  We did often help them leave the house, or we arrested the perpetrator who would eventually get out.

While there were and are, indeed, safe places for the abused person, most didn’t look for that as a first resort.

Most people didn’t just cover themselves up in a fetal position over minor things that we are seeing now, they dealt with them. 

But we seem to have raised a generation of kids who don’t know how to handle adversity, so they cringe and instead of teaching them how to deal with it, they have been so protected and pampered they lose control of their emotions.

Personality plays a big part in this, of course, it is easier to bully someone who is quiet by nature and more introspective – while the next person just lets the problem go off their back; or challenges the bully, who will often back down.

They haven’t been taught to deal with adversity, they have been protected and coddle to the point that they are virtually worthless in the real world.

How are they going to handle real adversity in their lives?

I have seen many Christians in that same mode.  They are challenged and they don’t know how to handle it.  They work on the emotions of being a Christian, but not on the actual knowledge of how the Holy Spirit works within them.

None of us have all the answers.  Where we may be strong in one situation we find ourselves weak in another.  And, of course, there really are times that it is best to remain silent until another time.

But the Holy Spirit really does help us in our dealings with assaults on our character, emotions and even physical assaults, we just have to accept Him – I know easier said than done.

AND, I haven’t fully figured that out yet, I really do need His help.

Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

⁴⁸ And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.

WE know what was done, and need to stand up for Jesus, not just beat our chest.

Later, Art (-: