My response to that No Longer Quivering lady, Vyckie Garrison- I remember when that Quiver movement came out in the church. I was attending Mercer Island Covenant at the time and the Bible study materials made the rounds. I looked them over and thought they seemed sort of legalistic so I didnt do the study and embrace them. That was my conscious thought, anyway. But really I didnt do them because of a feeling I had about them, that somethings not quite right feeling I get in my spirit and by which I decide many of my actions. (What can I say, Im an emotional person!) Im sorry I didnt really look into it at the time. But as a responsible Christian Ive learned a lifelong lesson. Test everything. If a human wrote it, you can assume that somewhere theres probably a mistake in it! Test what every person says to you that they declare is the way youre supposed to follow God. The Bible is more than just a few, singled out, scriptures. (Why are those often just the negative ones?) Were not here to follow man or to fear another human. Were equal in Gods sight and responsible to keep the Gospel true in ourselves and not to follow a different word based on an error. The point is this. Theres only one way to serve God perfectly, the world perfectly and your family. Through love and respect. Heres a scripture. Micah 6: 6-8- 6 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. In other words, it isnt about how perfect you act or how many rules you follow. Its about treating people right, being kind and compassionate towards others, and realizing that Gods grace covers all of your sins and Hes the only One who loves perfectly. Its always been a heart matter with God. Isaiah 29: 13,14- 13 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. 14 Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” God has gone and done wonderful things. He brought Jesus to the world in a splash of miracles. Angels sang in the sky. A dove came when Jesus was baptized. Water became His road, loaves and fishes multiplied exponentially, virgins gave birth, earthquakes and grave openings and veils ripping by themselves in the temple. But the best thing Jesus did was prove His love. He battled a devil and all the demons and downed them with a word. He carried the grime of other peoples sins on his shoulders. He healed people with a hand made gentle with compassion. And he said to the thief on the cross that his sins were forgiven. Then because He loved us, He died. Now, you may think that following Him is abusive, and raising kids to follow Him binds them up in rules. But how can love be abusive? How can serving others hurt them? What are the Ten Commandments and all those laws really about? Do you suppose that God really wants us to expend all of our energy trying to follow rules without a single mistake until were brought to the point of break down? Instead arent we to skip along joyfully holding His hand, seeing the beauty He gave us in the world around us, trying to learn His lessons of love, and asking Him for forgiveness when the inevitable happens and we fall down? Give yourself a break, Vyckie namesake! That Jesus you tried so hard to follow- who never required you to be abused by a controller in order for you to be His, the real Jesus if you ever did know Him- the real Jesus loves you. The law is a legal matter. Jesus paid all the fines. Why do parents give rules? So their kids will be safe and will be able to live with others in the world once they leave home. Galatians 5 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Im sorry there was abuse in your life. Im sorry you felt compelled to live under a yoke and burden of crushing rules. But the good news is that Jesus died to set us free from all of that. I know it seems to be saying- be free and dont sin. I get what your objection is. But what it really means is; NOW that youre free, why not live a good life? SINCE all your sins are covered, why go on living in them? Focus on mercy and forbearance, which means bearing the stuff other people do and holding back on the rotten stuff you could do in return. Remember joy. Laugh a lot. Give all your big, unsolvable problems to Jesus and have peace. Be kind. Nice. Friendly. Be good and give to the poor and needy. Have a gentle hand when you deal with people. And control the nasties inside yourself. Mostly- love. First in any of Gods lists. Its good you realized the mistakes in how you were living. But I dont see why you want to throw away the One who loves you best. Perhaps it was Jesus who showed you your error and took the blinders off. Because He loved you He told you to get free of legalism and walk away from abuse. Take hold of wisdom and tell the ex a few things about the freedom of love and pray for the guy. But dont let the mistakes you and that man made cheat you out of what you deserve. My Jesus is sweeter than any tantalizer and His heart is handsomer than any movie star hero. The Fathers hand is tender and He wants to hold you on His lap. The Holy Spirit gave you wisdom and wants to whisper gentle words of peace and encouragement to your soul. And you have a mansion waiting in Heaven. Hold on to them!
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 15:40:57 +0000
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