When "Love" = Hate

Many people of influence in the Christian community are questioning God's wisdom. (See Did Jesus Draw Lines or Circles? and Why Christian Leaders Are Judged More Strictly.)

They do this when they redefine moral behavior apart from clear Scriptural guidelines and according to popular culture. They miss one of the most important points about God's commands: they are given because He loves us and knows what is best for us.

God's commands are perfect, refreshing, trustworthy, radiant, and precious (Psalm 19:7-11)! 

Questioning, downplaying, ignoring, or contradicting God's commands is the same as doubting His love and wisdom.

Pastors, speakers, authors, and musicians who redefine sin, are badly deceived. They think they're being loving to those involved in behavior forbidden by Scripture. But no one can be more loving than God (1 John 3:1)

We might not understand every aspect of God's commands, but we can trust Him as our creator. He is perfect. He always leads us out of darkness into the light.

Approving what God disapproves is a hate crime against God and against those enslaved to sin. Let's pray that Christians in positions of influence will clearly understand this. And let's pray that Christians will reject the teachings of those who compromise and redefine God's truth.

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Memorizing Scriptures To Improve Your Walk with the Lord

I highly recommend that husbands and wives memorize Scripture together and singles memorize with a friend. It can help with our daily joys and challenges. Let me give you an example.

 

My husband and I are going through a difficult time with loved ones walking away from God, personal health problems, and a number of other challenges. So we've started memorizing passages such as these:

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18

 

“In me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 

 

We want to remind ourselves that our present sufferings are insignificant compared to our eternity with Christ and to remember that we can have peace in the midst of them. 

 

Years ago, I memorized Philippians 4:6-7, and it's a great passage no matter what you're facing:

 

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

God's Word is alive (Hebrews 4:12). It affects our hearts and minds like nothing else (Isaiah 55:11). 

 

What Scriptures do you need to memorize this week? See some ideas below.

 

Do you want to better understand God's grace?

See the Scriptures in We Need It: Grace

 

Do you want to start your day with encouraging Bible verses about your relationship with the Lord?

See 8 Statements Christians Should Make Each Day 

 

Are you having trouble handling correction? See Accepting Correction – 10 Scriptures

 

Are you wanting to be more thankful?

See 10 Scriptures About Thankfulness

 

Would you like to pray Scripture? 

See 10 Good Prayers from Psalms 

 

Do you need to improve the way you communicate?

Our Words Matter – 26 Scriptures 

 

Do you need encouragement to live your faith more fully?

See the Scriptures in Works Is Not a Dirty Word

 

Do you want to develop more self-control?

 See Scriptures for Developing Self-Control 

 

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4 Aspects of Christian Growth

When we're saved, we're forgiven and redeemed, but we're still sinners, and we need to be drawing closer to the Lord each day.

1. Christian growth is a PROCESS: It's called sanctification, and it's the "working out of our salvation" (Philippians 2:12-13).

It doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen unless we're committed to the process. 

2. It's PRODUCTIVE: There should be outward signs of inward changes (Galatians 5:24).

It changes our hearts, minds, and behavior in noticeable ways.

3. It's PURPOSEFUL: It improves our witness, making us salt and light in our world (Matthew 5:13-16).

God has wonderful purposes for us (Ephesians 2:10)! 

4. It's PERSONAL: It involves dealing with personal sins and being humbled personally (1 John 1:8-10; James 4:8-10).

One obvious sign that we're seeking to draw closer to God is conviction of sin. God's conviction is constructive, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have an "ouch factor." 

If you haven't felt God's conviction about sins in your life for a while, I encourage you to take time this week to evaluate your Christian growth and seek the Lord in prayer and Bible study. 

For more insights, see 3 Important Aspects of Growing in Our Faith in Christ and 3 Steps to Greater Maturity in Christ. 

Free Subscription to 1-Minute Bible Love Notes. Have a one-minute devotion like this one delivered to your email each weekday.

10 Reasons You'll Love the Book, Wisdom for Life. A collection of 100 one-minute devotions from Psalms and Proverbs and a great gift for people who love God's Word.

Full description of the Book, Lies in Disguise. A much-needed book to uncover half-truths that misuse Scripture and weaken Christian faith.

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How A Centimeter Can Affect Our Walk with the Lord

A centimeter is less than ½ inch. Seems insignificant, doesn’t it?

But sometimes, something very little can cause a big problem. I’ll explain why this is significant to me, but first let me apply it to something more important: God’s Word.

When it comes to the teaching/presentation of God’s Word, if we overlook small errors, we'll end up overlooking large errors (Luke 16:10). In fact, most false teachings are based on small errors mixed with truth.

Millions are excited by popular books, movies, and teachings that make the gospel look attractive. And they are ready to defend small errors as being unimportant, as long as some of the Word is getting out to a wide audience in an attractive way. 

But why would we want to change God's perfect, pure, firm, and righteous gospel even a tiny bit (Psalm 19:7-11)? 

I had a hip replacement last year, and one of my legs is now 1 centimeter longer than the other. No big deal, right? Wrong. Every step I take is slightly crooked, and I need shoe inserts to adjust that slight difference, or every muscle and joint in my body feels miserable.

My problems are insignificant compared to the way our walk with the Lord is damaged by accepting small errors in presentations of God's Word. We may not feel the pain, but it affects our entire relationship with the Lord.

I will deal with my crooked leg length the rest of my life, but all we need to do regarding our walk with the Lord is respect His Word enough to defend it against "small" all errors. 

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 For more insights on this subject, see Attention to Details and For the Want of a Nail.

Lies in Disguise is designed to help Christians recognize and address tiny and large half-truth errors that many Christians believe. Why? To help us avoid false teachings and keep our walk with the Lord straight and steady. Click the image to find out more: chapter titles, reviews, and where to purchase it.

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When God Says Your Worship Is Meaningless

God says seeking reconciliation with others takes priority over worship: 

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24 

When Christ gave this command, before the New Covenant was put in place by His death, making offerings was a form of worship. Christ was saying that genuine worship requires a heart seeking His truth and obeying His commands. And refusing to seek peace with others makes our worship simply external.

We can sing beautiful songs of praise, lift our hands, or bow in worship, but if we refuse to make genuine attempts to reconcile with others, our worship is meaningless.

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24

True faith forgives and loves even when it's difficult (1 John 3:14; John 13:35; Romans 12:10).

Romans 12:14-21 tells us to bless those who persecute us, do our best to seek peace, seeking to “overcome evil with good.”

If someone has something against you and refuses to discuss it, you can do nothing but pray and treat them kindly. But if anyone is seeking to work through relationship problems and you refuse, your disobedience makes your worship of God meaningless (1 John 3:14).

Don't let this happen, dear Christians. True faith does the hard things out of love for Christ.

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See Weak Faith and Broken Families and Biblical Problem Solving.

And please check out Lies in Disguise. Among other half-truths, it offers insights into some of the half-truths that have encouraged relationship problems.  

 

 

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3 Lies That Take Our Focus Off God

Many devotions focus on knowing how special we are to God. But I think our real problem is realizing how special God is to us.

These lies encourage a focus on ourselves:

1. I can't love others until I first love myself.
This comes from a false interpretation of Mark 12:30-31. 
See Do We Really Need to Love Ourselves before We Can Love Others?

2. I can't serve others until I feel whole and confident.
Serving others is often the best way to gain confidence and joy (Philippians 2:3-4). 
See Beatin' the Blues.  

3. God wants me happy.
God wants us sanctified and mature, which brings joy, but not always happiness (Hebrews 12:1-3).
See Should Happiness Be Our Goal?

Here are three solutions to these three lies:

1. Focus first and foremost on loving God (Matthew 22:36-40).

2. Treat others as we want to be treated (Matthew 7:12).

3. Quit thinking so much about ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4).
 

Our spiritual health is dependent on our understanding of our Creator, so let's seek to develop an increasing awe and love for Him. 

 

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Free subscription to 1-Minute Bible Love Notes

10 Reasons You'll Love the Book Wisdom for Life

Full description of the book Lies in Disguise 

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Why We Cannot Understand Everything About God

A reader responded to Answering a Rude Question About God by asking: “Why would a God who doesn't need anyone or anything, create a universe knowing we will rebel, and yet choose to do so, fully planning to kill his son. Why would our Lord, who is all holy choose to become sin?”

As with all questions about God, we must remember that faith is based on trust in God’s goodness even when we can’t see or understand something He does (Hebrews 11:1; 1 Corinthians 13:12).  

We’re given everything we need to trust God and live for Him while on earth (2 Peter 1:3). And it makes perfect sense that finite human beings can't understand every detail about our infinite God. My analytical mind wants to understand every detail, but I'm glad God is perfectly wise, perfectly holy, and perfectly loving because I'm none of those things.

God doesn't need anyone or anything, but He finds pleasure in us (Psalm 149:4). So instead of destroying the universe after mankind's sin, He chose to test and teach and save those who would have faith in what they don’t “see” (Hebrews 11:13).

He loves mankind in general (John 3:16), offering Jesus as atonement for anyone who believes. And He loves His followers in a special, specific, and eternal way (John 15).

But perhaps the ultimate question is why He chose to die for us—our human minds cannot fathom that kind of love!

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In Chapter 8 Lies in Disguise addresses four common questions about God: 1. Why would a loving God send people to Hell? 2. Why did God put the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden? 3. Why did God create Adam and Eve with the ability to sin? 4. Why are we punished for Adam's sins? 

Lies in Disguise is designed to help Christians discern half-truths, but it also offers help in answering these questions you might encounter when sharing Christ. Click the title link to find out more about it and where you can purchase it.

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Our Jealous God

I remember the first time I heard that God is a jealous God. I didn't know what it meant. 

 

“Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 4:23-24

I'd always thought of jealousy as something bad. But understanding how and why God is jealous is an important biblical principle. 

 
There is an appropriate type of jealousy. For example, a loving husband is jealous of his wife's affection, unwilling to share her with other men.

 

Similarly, God doesn't want us flirting with the “gods” of pleasure, wealth, popularity, selfishness, and lust (2 John 2:15-17), nor with Pagan Influences like Yoga, Reiki, and the Enneagram (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). These things destroy our relationship with God.

 
Human jealousy can be contaminated by pride or envy. But God's jealousy is purely inspired by His love for us. He's perfect, awesome, and never wrong, worthy of all praise, glory, and honor—the perfect Father, Shepherd, Creator, Counselor, Helper, etc.  

We owe Him our ultimate love, faith, and devotion. And the more we trust Him, the more we are blessed by His love, wisdom, and respect.

To have such a wonderful God jealous for our affections is something that should leave us speechless! 

 

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For more insights, see: 

Psychology, Boundaries, Marijuana, or Scripture? 

And don't miss the Bite Size Bible Study: Our Jealous God.

 

 

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If You Have "Beautiful Feet" You'll Avoid the Wide Highway

“When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.” ― C. S. Lewis 

Our world is running toward a cliff that drops into Hell, and the road is paved with every sin described in Scripture. The rest areas advertise “Sexual Freedom,” “Reproductive Healthcare,” “Yoga,” “Progressive Christianity,” etc.*

At the service plazas, people can pump lies and propaganda into their think tanks.

They must carefully ignore God's warning signs with His detours back to truth and life.

The wide highway is popular with the majority, and they beckon us to join them. But Jesus says:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14   

Christians, we must give careful thought to our steps on the narrow road, fixing our eyes on Jesus (Proverbs 4:25-27; Hebrews 12:1-3). 

And we must do our best to share truth with our loved ones heading toward the cliff. If we do this faithfully, God says we'll have beautiful feet (Romans 10:14-15). Check out the Scripture...I'm telling the truth.😊

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* Each quote is linked to a pertinent devotion. See also: 3 Ways of Looking at Popular Pagan Practices.

 

To recognize and understand the many "small errors" deceiving Christians, check out: 

Lies in Disguise. This link offers:

 

✔ Chapter titles

✔ Endorsements

✔ Where to purchase

✔ Important reasons to read it

  

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Which Is Your Preferred Method?

This will be a difficult post to read. It was difficult for me to write. But sometimes it's important to fully understand what we are fighting against. My prayer is that you will understand how important your voice is.

Methods of “A” typically used after the baby can feel pain (source/source) 

Suction: “The cervix is dilated and a strong suction, 29 times the power of a household vacuum cleaner, tears the baby’s body apart and sucks it through the hose into a container.”

Dilation and curettage: “After dilation of the cervix, a sharp, looped knife is inserted into the uterus, the baby’s body is cut into pieces and extracted.”

Dilation and evacuation: “Forceps are inserted into the uterus, grabbing and twisting the baby’s body to dismember him or her. If the head is too large, it must be crushed in order to remove it.”

Saline injection: “A 20% salt solution is injected through the mother’s abdomen into the baby’s amniotic fluid. The baby’s skin is burned off. The baby ingests the solution and dies of salt poisoning, dehydration, and hemorrhaging of the brain.” 

Before 12 weeks (when it's believed the baby can't feel the pain), the pill is the most prescribed and is often used without medical assistance, despite the hardships it can bring the woman. See The Truth About the "A" Pill by an OB/GYN doctor. See also "A" Victims.

Please warn those who call this “reproductive health care” that they are grieving the heart of God.

“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?”  Proverbs 24:11-12 (emphasis mine)

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For God's undeniable view about this subject, see What Scripture Says About the Unborn. And for encouragement to stand firm, see Expect Hatred.

I also highly recommend you check out my book Lies in Disguise because it addresses this subject with clarity, grace, and God's Word. It will prepare you to recognize and correct half-truth claims. 

Those who advocate the killing of the unborn refuse to be honest about the evil that they support. For more proof of this, see Focus on the Family.

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