Oh, That Men Would Praise Him

Perhaps you knew that you are responsible toward God to believe the truth? You are also called to not believe a lie. In other words, if you believe a lie you will be held responsible for that.

1Kings 13:1 "And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of Jehovah unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. 2)  And he cried against the altar by the word of Jehovah, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall they burn upon thee." 

Here we have the account of a young prophet of God sent by Jehovah to the new King Jeroboam, king of half of Israel. He decided to make idols and places of worship in his half of the kingdom, and God was not happy. So, he sent a prophet. Jeroboam didn't like what the prophet had to say and put forth his hand to capture him. His arm was struck by judgment from God and Jeroboam changed his mind, inviting the young prophet (who had healed Jeroboam's arm) home for refreshments. 

1Kings 13:8  "And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place; 9)  for so was it charged me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that thou camest."

Here we have a young prophet who preached against what King Jeroboam had done and the golden calves he had made. The King wants him to come home with him, but the young prophet says, no, Jehovah has said do not stay here or eat bread or whatnot and he leaves to go home.

But here's where the plot thickens. 1Kings 13:11 tells us: "Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el...1Ki 13:13  And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass; and he rode thereon. 14)  And he went after the man of God, and found him "

So the old prophet heard about the young prophet, he follows him, and he finds him. The old prophet invites the young prophet to come home with him for a meal. The young prophet repeats that no, he can't come home, he has to leave because that's what Jehovah had instructed him to do. But the old prophet has news for the young prophet.

1Kings 13:18  "And he said unto him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him."

The young prophet believes him, goes home and eats with him, then the old prophet tells him... As they are sitting at meat the old prophet has more news for the young man:

1Kings 13:21  "and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient unto the mouth of Jehovah, and hast not kept the commandment which Jehovah thy God commanded thee, 22)  but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy body shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers." 

And as the young prophet leaves to go back to Judah a lion comes upon him and the young prophet is killed. The old prophet hears about it and brings his body back and buries him in his own sepulchre. 

2Kings 23:16  "And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount; and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17)  Then he said, What monument is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el. 

Many years later when King Josiah (the king of the prophecy) is ruling in Jerusalem and is purging the land of the idols this prophecy of the young prophet is fulfilled. I don't know why the old prophet lied to him. Maybe because since the young prophet had a monument and his bones were left alone, the old prophet figured his would be left alone as well:  

2Kings 23:18  "And he said, Let him be; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria." 

Psa 107:9  For he satisfieth the longing soul, And the hungry soul he filleth with good. 10)  Such as sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Being bound in affliction and iron, 
11)  Because they rebelled against the words of God, And contemned the counsel of the Most High: 
12)  Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and there was none to help. 

13)  Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble, And he saved them out of their distresses. 
14)  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And brake their bonds in sunder. 

15)  Oh, that men would praise Jehovah for his lovingkindness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men! 16)  For he hath broken the gates of brass, And cut the bars of iron in sunder.
17)  Fools because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

God is Not Dead

There was a headline or a poster quite a few years ago that affirmed that God was dead. I don't know if the author of that particular headline ever came to realize their mistake, or if he/she carried it into eternity.

Acts 14:15  "and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good tidings, that ye should turn from these vain things unto a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is: 16)  who in the generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17)  And yet He left not himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness."

In reading a short excerpt from a Memoir by Clarence Thomas, Judge Thomas related how his father and grandfather believed you should live the life you are dealt. Not that a person can't better their life but at that time there were forces out there promoting violence as a way to overcome race problems. Don't go to college, don't get an education, and do not go quietly... This was in conflict with what Clarence was told at home, and I for one am so glad that he listened to the voices of reason.

I have not read his book, but it is on my list.  The statement 'live the life you're dealt' brings up some thoughts. I don't know the story of the original author of the 'God is Dead' motif. I don't know who, what, or why this person felt this way. It seems that it was at the time of the 'hippie' revolution when unknowing young people felt the need to assert their independence. These people would make shocking statements just to shock people.

I have seen people who appear to have a rough hand dealt to them. Like the father who named his first son 'Winner' and his second son 'Loser', just to find out if a name predicted a person's outcome. In that instance, it did not. 'Win' went on to never succeed, and 'Lou' (as Loser was dubbed) did well in his life, retiring from the position of being an honored police sheriff.

Being angry with God for the life we are dealt is futile. God is not dead, we can look around and see that regardless of our circumstances what God has given each of us. As it says in verse seventeen above; 17) "And yet He left not himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness."

In thinking over the pictures I've seen of the 1960s and the young people of that era, they seem like kids on a rebellion streak. They didn't want restraint of any kind. I'm sure there were older Christians who were sure these kids were prophesied of in Timothy:

2Timothy 3:1  "But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. 2)  For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3)  without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good..."

The '60s leached over into the '70s and '80s—like infinity and beyond. Our younger generations have not been reclaimed. The revolution continues, fanned by the 'authority' figures such as college professors that arose from that time frame and subsequent eras. Those in the religious communities have been losing their young people to the world as they graduate from high school. But here we are wondering what has happened and how we lost this generation. 

I think we lost them because we lost ourselves first. I was not raised as a Christian, so that was against me. My husband was raised as a Methodist, but he wasn't serious about it. We both came of age during the late 60s early 70s, and rebellion was everywhere. It might have been in the water, but definitely was in the air. I don't know if there was any remedy for it. Public school has trained kids to seek the approval of their peers. No one wants to be a stand out from the crowd. We are conditioned to fit in. 

I would tell parents today stop attempting to fit in. Pull back from the crowd and teach your children to get used to being unique. Especially if Christian parents want their children to remain Christian. As one of my children said the other day, I want my kids to be smart enough they don't want/choose to go to college.

James 1:5 "But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6) But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed."

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

There is no Peace

One summer I was planning on studying Latin. All the further I got was Pax Vobiscum and one or two other phrases which I've managed to forget. 

Pax Vobiscum- peace be with you. In these days it is as if peace has evaporated. I would like to think that most of us would choose to live peaceful lives, yet for some reason, it is as the song says, 'No tranquil joys on earth I know, No peaceful, sheltering dome; This world's a wilderness of woe, this world is not my home'.  |

Jeremiah 8:11 "And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace."

 America was founded on the idea of liberty and justice in law. However, as in any society, it is a burden upon its citizens to be self-regulating. Under the ten laws of the Old Testament, the first four laws dealt with man's duty toward God, and the second six laws dealt with neighbor to neighbor laws. Or in other words how God expects his citizens to behave toward his laws, and how he expects his citizens to deal with each other. 

Mark 12:29  "Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: 30)  and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. 31)  The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." 

Jesus calls to remembrance Deuteronomy 6:4 &5 out of the Old Law, which the Jews would be familiar with, and this is a summary as our Lord says 'there is none other commandment greater than these', or on these two commandments hangeth the whole law. 

Love God and love your neighbor. That's it in a nutshell. Not so difficult is it? Yet as Trey Gowdy said in a speech at Second Baptist Woodway, Christianity is hard. And he quoted G.K. Chesterton's words, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried ."

We are living in days of chaos and turmoil. Where do we go when our country's laws break down? In one of the campaign debates, then-candidate Trump was asked how do you address breakdowns in society such as Ferguson? and his response was, 'rule of law'. 

That is exactly what is needed in response to anti-fa, and white supremacists, and black supremacists, or all of these terrorist groups. If common people are constantly afraid of being attacked and aren't safe as they go about their business something needs to be done to protect them. 

Former Governor Mike Huckabee had a piece about taking his family to the Holocaust museum in Germany and how he was concerned about his young daughter, who was perhaps eleven at the time. There were some horrible gruesome images depicting the happenings of those days. He was afraid she would not understand. She stopped to sign the guest book as they were leaving and he stopped to read what she had written:

Why Didn't Someone Do Something?

A good question for all of us in this troubled time. 1Chronicles 12:32 "And of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do..." 

Often this is the problem, not knowing what to do. We can become paralyzed because we don't know what to do. When we spend time in prayer, lots of time in prayer, we get unexpected answers. In these troublesome times, we need to all be prayer warriors. Stand up, oh men of God, and— Ephesians 6:18  "...with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints," 

Hallelujah! What a savior!

Why Do We Care? Or Do We...

Proverbs 26:17 "He that passeth by, and vexeth himself with strife belonging not to him, Is like one that taketh a dog by the ears."

Today we might say it as, Not my monkey, not my circus. It's a humorous way of saying 'It's none of my business.'

Luke 10:29 ' But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 30)  Jesus made answer and said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31)  And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32)  And in like manner a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33)  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion, 34)  and came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35)  And on the morrow he took out two shillings, and gave them to the host, and said, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come back again, will repay thee. 36)  Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers? 37)  And he said, He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."

This is where the phrase 'Good Samaritan' comes from. In Jesus' time, Samaritans were looked down upon. They had been some of the people from other nations that had been brought in to the land of Judah at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Nebuchadnezzer was the Babylonian king that conquered the land of Judah. His reign occurred from approximately 605-562 B.C. His practice was to take the captured people and spread them around throughout his kingdom, never leaving enough of a group of people together in one place to prevent an uprising against his rule. 

Thus strangers were brought in from different nations to occupy the land. These people intermingled with the remnant of Jews who had been left in the land, marrying their sons and daughters. This was strictly forbidden under the law of Moses, but such things never stopped the Jews. This created a spirit of animosity between the strict keepers of the law and the Samaritans. 

Suffice it to say that Jesus took an opportunity to teach that there is a time and a place to make something our business. The priest and the Levite, both supposedly holy men in God's service, had already passed by as far away as they could away from the Jewish man. The Samaritan stopped and helped. 

I'm not advocating stopping and helping people alongside the road. Years ago we did often stop, and sometimes we still do, but with the advent of the cell phone, most people do have help on the way. What I'm looking at is in today's society we often hear the phrase, "don't judge me. The scriptures tell us not to judge", and so forth. 

What we have here are people who only know one or two verses of scripture, and those are the ones on 'don't judge'. The scriptures don't tell us not to judge at all, but not to judge with hypocrisy. That doesn't mean we have to wait until we are perfect to be able to tell someone that something they are doing is right or wrong. 

When I was in middle school a song called Harper Valley PTA became popular. It was about—if I remember right, a young widow being told by certain members of her community (Harper Valley PTA) that certain things she was doing weren't right. And in the end, she, the widowed woman, Mrs. Johnson, tells the local PTA  their sins and they are just a bunch of hypocrites.

There were a number of wrongs in this song and in this scenario. None of these people on either hand were competent or compassionate judges. One wrong was the sins of those pointing the first finger, but that finger does not excuse the honorable 'Mrs. Johnson' in her sin. Part of the problem is that we all are part and parcel of society. 

We ought to have a say in the standards of that society. In order to form a more moral society, we need better standards. That doesn't mean we should judge harshly or be hypocritical. It does mean we should be able to use good standards for all people.  

If we decide we don't want people walking around with their breeches down around their knees and their underwear hanging out then no one would be exempt. Not men or women. There was at one time a 'foul language ban'. There used to be community standards, some were enforced some were not. At one point some were enforced then became obsolete and are still on the books. 

I don't wish anyone ill, but the phrase, 'what I do in my bedroom is no one else's business', doesn't cut it anymore. We have come to realize who we are in private influences who we are in public. Second place, when people start bringing what they do out of not just their closet but out of their bedroom and parading it down the street it becomes societies' business. 

In the above-mentioned song what the 'hypocrites' did in private (they weren't parading around publicly) influenced Mrs. Johnson to flaunt her sin publicly. We have currently the closet society that has 'come out' publicly. Now we have child love arguments for that twisted behavior. These are both wrong, just as adultery and fornication are wrong. And we need to be able to say so. 

There are a number of things that on the surface don't look to be any of my business but they are because as the poem says 'no man is an island'.

Genesis 4:9  "And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?"

Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

On the Wrong Bus?

A few years ago I heard of a passenger who ended up on the wrong airplane. There was quite a kerfuffle, and I don't remember when or how it got sorted out. I can't for the life of me understand how such a thing happened. However, most of us have had times we've been lost, or in the wrong place.

A few weeks ago several of us at church were chatting when the subject of going the wrong way on a one-way street came up. It was a small group, but most had that experience. What was surprising is that no one had been injured or caused an accident.

I was in my early thirties and on my way to a doctor's appointment when I turned one light too early and found myself on the one-way street. What to do? My initial response was that I should make a U-turn so I'd be driving in the right direction. Since there wasn't any traffic, it would have worked, but I didn't do that because I thought maybe I would get rear-ended by a car behind me...

Okay, that wasn't my sharpest moment. Point number one there was no traffic coming toward me—that was good news. Number two, I was going the wrong way, and God forbid anyone should be following me.

Luke 15:11  "And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12)  and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13)  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country; and there he wasted his substance with riotous living. 14)  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that country; and he began to be in want."

Most of us know the parable of the 'Lost Boy,' or better known a 'the Prodigal Son'. The son that thought he knew better than his father. The young man took all his inheritance and got away from home and family. He was FREE! Of course, it's the old story of fair-weather friends that helped him spend all of his money on wine, women, and riotous living. When the money was gone so were they. He scrambled to find anything to feed himself, and so he was hired to feed the hogs. When he hit bottom, he thought about home and family and decided to go home and become a servant in his father's house. But what about those he left behind? 

Luke 15:20  "And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."

It has been suggested that the father was watching for him; longing for him to come home. Having had children leave the nest, I know that does happen for a time. Yet after a time,  be it weeks, months, or years, a parent has to come to grips that your bus travels on, and for the moment that child isn't on your bus. 

Never-the-less, the father saw him coming and ran to greet him. Welcomed him home, and reclothed him, put new shoes on his feet, rings on his fingers and whatnot, as if he'd not left. Took his son back as a son, not as a servant. 

There are two major decisions in life we each must make. The first is whether to become a Christian. As long as you're on that bus, you're heading in the right direction. I know people who choose to follow their own way tooling down the road of life. They see nothing special about the Christian bus, but as we studied in Vacation Bible School this year Jesus said:

John 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me."

The second major decision is if and who you choose to marry. When you're on the Christian bus you want someone who will help you on your journey, and ultimately someone who will spend eternity with you and Jesus. It is said that as a Christian you will not go to heaven alone. The sad thing is that as a non-believer you won't go to hell alone either.

If you're on the wrong bus get off now. Nothing really matters as to how what when or why you are on that bus. What matters is that you get off that bus and get on the right one. Remember the Father wants you to come home.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Not Forever

No human person is perfect. I've known some who had a lot of perfection about them, but none of them had perfection down perfect.

And no one or thing on this earth or in this life is forever. Many people struggle with these two aspects of life here on this globe. How many times do people say, 'You can't judge me, you're not perfect.' 

That brings to my mind this story: 

"A priest and a pastor are standing by the side of a road holding up a sign that reads “The end is near! Turn around now before it’s too late!”

A passing driver yells, “You guys are nuts!” and speeds past them. From around the curve, they hear screeching tires—then a big splash.

The priest turns to the pastor and says, “Do you think we should just put up a sign that says ‘Bridge Out’ instead?"

Side note here, someone suggested this ending: The pastor answers, "No, I think we need another sign that says--"You're almost there, speed up...".

There are times when no matter how you try to help people, they just take offence. Do we have to be perfect to tell people what they're doing is not going to work? In day to day situations the only thing to do is stand back and let them do it their own way. Sometimes there is a second chance when it doesn't work out, but most often there isn't, and in the end it just is what it is. So, we're not perfect, and our body isn't eternal. There of course is the rub. Our spirit will continue on eternally. Our clay earthen vessels will some day wear out and return to dust—as they say 'ashes to ashes, dust to dust, "for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."Genesis 3:19 But 'You're almost there, speed up,' is a very poor choice as well.

It makes me very sad when I go to a funeral and the survivors all praise the deceased for living their lives and 'doing it their own way'. That's all well and good on this side of eternity, but the survivors can't see the spirit that has left the clay vessel. The vessel is like the shell of a katydid, a butterfly, or any creature that forms a new outward being, and it's the left behind thing. Perhaps the spirit is pleading that the survivors won't follow his/her example. Pleading that those left behind will heed God's warnings and God's Words.  

We can't do it our way, unless our way is God's way first. This is the sad fact of this life. An even sadder fact is that if all of us would do it God's way our lives would all be better. It begs the question, since God is perfect, He can judge us (and will one day), the person saying "You can't judge me, you're not perfect," isn't being quite honest are they... 

2 Corinthians 4:7  "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;" 

 In the last few years we've had a number of prominent people who've committed suicide. With the last person's death some have come out and blasted the person for their selfish act. 

• first off, yes it is selfish. At least it's thoughtless for our loved ones who will have to deal with the aftermath
• second, not knowing why the person saw this as a solution, blasting them and calling them selfish is like trying to close the door after the cat has escaped
• third, reaching out before the person comes to that point is crucial. Let me repeat, before they reach that point
• and final, blasting a dead person for anything is fruitless, and in its own way selfish

Here is an excerpt from my upcoming book "If I Should Die". Ruth's mother had been murdered two years earlier, and the exchange goes like this:

Ruth broke the mesmerizing silence. “Thank you for the fries and shake—and for all you’ve done, Julius. We’ve been praying about this matter for a long, long time. We try to fix everything ourselves, and when we can’t then we take it to God. We should take it to Him first.” 

“What about your mother?” Seth asked. 

“Excuse me?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Shouldn’t God have done something to save her?”

“The important thing isn’t that we will die, or how we will die, the crucial thing is our spiritual condition when we die. Mom obeyed the Lord Jesus. Evil didn’t destroy her faith.” Ruth frowned, and examined her hands as they lay in her lap. “I miss my mother, but we can’t turn back time.”

“There are no magic wands in life.” Julius looked sideways at Seth. “You shouldn’t allow Satan to sidetrack your mission.” Julius glanced in the mirror at Ruth. “The question goes, ‘if God is so powerful, why do bad things happen’? We live in an uncertain world. One that Eve and Adam chose—sometimes bad things happen.”

“True. There are no guarantees, and our spiritual condition trumps everything else,” Seth said.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Dues Vult / God wills it

 I found the comment to be intriguing:
"Walsh is correct. Modern churches have done their utmost to become all things to everyone, and in their homogeneous wanderings, have lost sight of the core principals of Christianity. Values. Honor. Respect. Sacrifice. Perseverance. Decency. Tradition. To stand against evil, even in the face of death. These are the things the Bible teaches, and our Faith demands. Until we return to the foundations of our Faith, darkness will continue to run rampant in this world."

The comment was taken from an article by Matt Walsh, and was labeled Marty P and Deus Vult, lest I be accused of not giving credit where credit is due.

That observation coupled with this quote is by G.K. Chesterton:

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."

~ G.K. Chesterton

 Resonated with me as I read and hear so many in the Christian community trying to analyze why we are losing so many of our young people into the world. Hello, my brothers and sisters in Christ. If you line most of our Christian youngsters up alongside their worldly peers you honestly can't pick them out of the group. They are shuffled off to the same secular day-care centers, eventually to be shuffled into the same secular schools. They are taught the same secular (and in some cases horrid nonsense) of public schools, and we wonder at their turning away from what we perceive to be Christianity. 

At it's core Christianity is a giving up of one's self:
Matthew 16:24  "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." 

We haven't taught our children to sacrifice for Christ, in word or deed. Those in authority are afraid to teach their members on this as well. Often we hear platitudes about sacrificing, but that is as far as it goes. Look at the list in the above comment: Values. Honor. Respect. Sacrifice. Perseverance. Decency. Tradition. To stand against evil, even in the face of death.

Well, well, 'Values'. What does it mean, Values? Perhaps honor and respect could be the first of the values?

• Ephesians 6:1  "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2)  Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise)," 
• 1 Timothy 5:17  "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching."
• Romans 13:7  "Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."

Sacrifice? I've been in this situation more times than I can list. You are at a different congregation, or in a different scenery at least. After introductions, invariably the question is asked, 'What do you do? What kind of work are you involved in? It is seldom thought that as a wife that your number one 'job', would be in the home. And if you answer, "I work at home" there is a void. Everyone knows what you do 'in the home', so what would the next question be? There is a plethora of questions  and conversations that could follow, but it is so seldom that we get that answer most of us don't know what to do with it. What does this have to do with sacrifice? Historically men have been the 'breadwinners' of the family, and families lived on what the goodman brought home. Made do with what they had. Now, of course prices are so high there is no way families can make do with less than two incomes. To live on one income would require...sacrifice. And indeed, it would be a sacrifice, I don't say that lightly. 

It would show that we value something above money. That we would rather obey and follow scriptural principles than sell our soul to the highest bidder.    

So, honor and sacrifice would be a beginning, followed by perseverance, decency, and even tradition. How important is our faith? How important are our children, and that they be taught truth? How important that they be taught to stand against evil, even in the face of death? If we can't or won't stop following the crowd, do we really expect our children to do so?

"These are the things the Bible teaches, and our Faith demands. Until we return to the foundations of our Faith, darkness will continue to run rampant in this world."

The comment  taken from the article by Matt Walsh, from Marty P (Deus Vult), is on the mark. I don't know who this person was, but unless we as Christians stop howling in anger against those who would try to tell us the truth and turn back to following the Lord, we're doomed.

Philippians 4:12  "I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. 13)  I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me."

Hallelujah! What a Savior!