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 for 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.

 

 

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

  

 BLN

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.

BLN

Do You Think You Can Pick Which Bible Verses to Believe?

What things influence your values? I pray you are not among the many Christians who are accepting cultural values that mock our Lord's commands.

In 2015, when the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples could marry with legal approval of the government, I grieved that our country had officially mocked the Lord and approved something that promotes the damage of people's souls.

When I asked for prayer about the decision on the BLN Facebook page, a professing Christian left a comment calling me an unloving bigot, telling me to stick to the gospel. 

This is one of many proofs that many who claim to be Christians have no clue what the gospel teaches. They believe Jesus would have approved things that grieve His heart. And the reason many people accept cultural values is so they won't offend non-Christians. 

 

True believers, however, know that popularity is a false god. We trust our Lord who said:

"If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." John 15:19 

We have a choice: We can study God's truth and speak up for it in love, or we can become people of whom Christ is ashamed (Joshua 24:14-15; Luke 9:26). 

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See Are You a Gospelphobe? and Sexual History.  

 

And I highly recommend the Bite Size Bible Study: What the Bible Teaches About Certain Sexual Sins.

 

New Testament Scriptures which clearly warn against homosexuality:
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Romans 1:26-28
Jude 1:7
Mark 10:6-9
1 Timothy 1:9-11

Check out these two books that give you solid biblical truth:

WISDOM FOR LIFE: Do you know the story behind my book Wisdom for Life? You can read it HERE. 

LIES IN DISGUISE: Check out the subject of each chapter, the endorsements, and the important purpose of Lies in Disguise HERE.

 

I also encourage you to sign up for a free subscription to Bible Love Notes HERE. 

    

 

 

BLN

Can a Genuine Believer Continue to Live an Ungodly Lifestyle?

Are people saved if they make a profession of faith, but continue living an ungodly life?

No. 

Genuine Christians are serious about dealing with our sins (Philippians 2:12-13; 3:7-9). 

“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” 1 John 3:9 

When genuine believers sin, we're convicted by God’s Spirit and by our love for God.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17

We must not deceive ourselves: 

“Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (See also Jude 1:7 and Romans 1:26-27.) 

True salvation is described in 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16, so let's continue to share God's truth with unrepentant loved ones who have made an outward profession of faith.

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For more on this subject, see Why Salvation Requires Repentance and The True Meaning of Repentance.

 

BLN