Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord, your God will be with you wherever you go.
Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 94:19 When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.
Proverbs 12:25 An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
John 14:1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
1 Peter 5:7 Humble yourselves, then, under God’s mighty hand, so that He will lift you up in His own good time. Leave all your worries with Him, because He cares for you.
I had a tough time with anxiety and worry as a child and teen. My parents were told when I was a toddler and my brother a newborn that my father had developed asthma so badly he required steroids for the rest of his life. I am a huge proponent of steroids for short term usage, usually not more than ten days, but this man was 25 years old and told he needed them for the rest of his life UNLESS he lived a bed to chair existence. That was NOT my father’s personality—he was a worker, he played ball with us kids for as long as he could, he got up and went and helped others whether it be help build a storage unit or a garage or helped friends move furniture.
As I said for short term urgent care, steroids can handle bunches of issues and bring relief. Many cannot tolerate the side effects—jitteriness, unable to sleep, nervousness, ravenous appetite, and possible weight gain and whatever. The few times I have needed them, I have been most thankful for them, and can notice a reduction of the symptoms that had me urgently seeking medical care to begin with.
But long-term steroid use causes many lasting and debilitating effects. He started on steroids when he was twenty-five, had a large stroke when he was 35, and required a kidney stone removal at 37 and the urologist told my mother he had the organs of a 92-year-old man. So long short, he worked at staying healthy, but as kids, we knew he was going to die at a young age, estimated to be about 40 years old. Because of his breathing problems, he worked second shift because it took a couple hours of being up, letting his meds work before he could move about and do his daily things. So as kids, on school vacations or whatever, we knew he normally rose about 9-9:30, and we would get antsy if he did not get up until 10-ish. I would challenge my brother to go get him up, and he’d refuse telling me to do it. But neither of us did—we were too nervous.
I would go along and do well, then sprout a nervous, anxious day and unable to find another reason, would assume there was something wrong with my father. With each phone call, I was reassured all was well. (I have since learned that most times I get those antsy, anxious times, it is Satan trying to instill fear—but I did not know it then.)
But I was always the type to hurry and get assignments done. If we were given six weeks to write a paper, mine would be done no later than ten days later. Yet, I would check, recheck, then check again in the morning to ensure it was tucked into my notebook, safe and sound for delivery.
Sometime as a young adult, I learned about a ‘God bag’ which was simply a place you wrote out your concern and then dropped it and literally gave it to God. It took some practice—my mind was used to worrying, fretting, and trying for some kind of control I never really had. But I knew the purpose of the exercise was to have me give it to God and NOT take it back. I don’t even remember when I learned about placing my worries in a container and putting it away. It was then God’s to handle.
We, as people, ‘in control of our own destiny’—so we arrogantly believe, think we can determine how our lives will go, we can handle all. But wherever I learned this gem of information, I knew by snatching my worries back that showed God I did not trust Him. Yikes! So, as soon as I realized I was fretting about something I’d handed to Him, quick! like my hands were burnt, I pushed it away to Him. And had to do that repeatedly until my mind got into the habit of trusting it was being taken care of. Whatever the ‘it’ of the moment was.
If I had to grade myself during that first year, it would probably be a “D” as I did not do very well. My mind was used to fretting, worrying and after all, what else could I do with my time? Anyway, once I realized I was back to worrying, I would mentally put the subject back in the bag, l closed it and apologized to my Creator and back off saying ‘I know You have this…so sorry.’ Initially, thoughts of whatever I was worried about came back into my mind probably twenty times or more daily. But gradually, I recognized the exercise was working.
I was more relaxed, thoughts of the issue rarely crossed my mind, and sometimes, it was resolved for a couple of days before I realized and thanked God for handling it.
Now, I rarely do the actual exercise of writing the issue and putting it in my bag. I just mentally hand it off to Him and trust that if He needs me to intercede in any way, He will let me know. Like Alka-Seltzer, ‘Oh, what a relief it is.’
I do still have a bag, but rarely do I put a written request in there. A neighbor drinks Crown Royal which I guess comes with a bag, but when I saw it I was ‘Wow, that looks royal. That would make a great God bag, and I can say I’m giving such ad such to my Royal Crown.’ I might actually place something in the bag once every 18 months or so. I know God has whatever my concern. It does me NO good to worry and fret, and He will work it out. It’s like living a different life. This kind of peace certainly surpasses my understanding, but His yoke has made my burdens lighter.
Give all your cares to Him. Your worrying is not going to change the outcome, but You know He has good plans for you to prosper and not harm, and he has commanded us to not worry; do not be afraid. My life burdens and worries have lessened drastically. This was a wonderful lesson of blessing to learn. Thank You for all Your direction, nudging and teaching me in life and with ‘mybellaviews.’
Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:5-21 The Ten Commandments You shall have no other Gods before me; You shalt not make yourself any graven image/idol; You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy; Honor your father and mother; You shall not kill; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness (lie); You shall not covet (want, wish for, be envious of another’s things)
Exodus 20:2, 3 To know there is a God; To have no other gods
Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 To know that He is one; To love Him
Deuteronomy 6:7 Teach the Torah to your children
Deuteronomy 6:16 Not to test the prophet
Deuteronomy 10:19 To love converts.
Deuteronomy 10:20 To fear Him. To be with those who only worship Him
Deuteronomy 12:4 To worship Him as He has ordered and not destroy holy objects
Deuteronomy 18:15 To listen to the true prophet
Deuteronomy 28:9 To emulate His ways
Leviticus 19:16 Not to slander
Leviticus 19:17 Not to hate your brother in your heart; To reprove your brother when necessary; Not to embarrass others
Leviticus 19:18 Not to take revenge; Not to bear a grudge
Hebrews 10:16-17 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Do you think rules are for you? What do you do if a piece of paper flies out of your grocery cart and ends up as trash in the parking lot? What if the sign reads, ‘stay off the dunes;’ is it then okay to let your dog or dogs run up and down and tumble around sliding down the sand? How about picking up your dog’s waste? Do you do it? I certainly have witnessed a number of owners who have not done it on my little street! I will certainly confess that mine has gone, I realized I had no bags with me—the container was empty—but I hurried home, grabbed my bag, and hastened back to pick it up. And I feel mortified to have to run home, get a bag and run back, but I CANNOT leave that for others. It’s very poor pet owner manners. Shame on anyone who walks their pet on a public street and does not clean up after it. I cannot complain about others not picking it up if I don’t consistently pick it up. It makes me a crazy person to see people assuming the sign/rule/law is not for them.
I try to follow the rules—most of the time. Do I push the speed limit? Yes, but USUALLY not more than 7 miles over. Is it still speeding? Yes, it is. For years I had a concealed carry permit, but I carried one day, and then was fearful that my bag could be stolen with my weapon in it; my car would be stolen with my weapon under the seat; what if my weapon was used in a crime, and God forbid a murder? I took my weapons to my storage unit and locked them up and only take them out for target practice. I was confident that I was God’s child and IF someone grabbed and assaulted me, God had this. Even if it was my time to go, I knew where I was going. My only prayer then was that God would reassure my kids my new body was in heaven, lounging in my ‘room prepared for me.’
The rules apply to me. I try hard not to push the boundaries and keep doing what I am supposed to do. Am I perfect? PLEASE, let me tell you just how very imperfect I am and can be!
It puzzles and sometimes amazes me the blatancy of some who disregard rules. Many of us living on the beach plant sea oats and tend them, and certainly tape off the areas as a sign to renters and others to NOT walk across them. They are new plants and need to get established in order to protect the homes along the beach. But there are some who just feel they do NOT need to walk to a beach access, they can climb the dunes in front of their rental and with cooler and chair in hand, start their beach day.
I was here in 2018, and in front of my house the dunes protected us—I am second row. But my neighbors had worked and planted the vegetation for years. We were protected, but as you went from 11th Ave north, there were NO dunes. You walked the road and the ocean was a straight shot, seemingly not more than 150 feet away—nothing to separate the road from the ocean. There were no beach accesses, you walked straight from the road to the beach. There was NOTHING to protect from the ocean coming all the way through.
I walk that most mornings and am amazed. A couple years ago, during the pandemic, in 2021, my friend and I were walking, and I said how much everything had changed since Sept 2018. At the time it was February of 2021, only 2 ½ years following the worst hurricane I had been through. We had dunes back and could no longer see the ocean except under some of the houses on stilts, but there were dunes to protect the view. And here we were living in a world that seemed full of fear, and we walked each morning, got together with other neighbors frequently outside in the evenings, and how blessed we were to be here. It did not feel so scary, so overwhelming. Many of the neighbors, including this gal feared the virus and the possibility of getting it, but still appreciated waking each morning, enjoying the beauty of the area, and certainly enjoyed spending time socializing with other neighbors and friends. We all felt lucky to be here. I reminded all the neighbors each time we were together, we needed to be thankful we were here, living in this environment, being able to be outside often and still get together, maintaining distance, but still having camaraderie.
Anyway, I tend to follow the rules. Sometimes, I don’t like them, think they’re silly or seem to be favoring a certain group, but I still follow them. Maybe partly from fear of punishment, but the other part is that I believe rules are made for the greater good—not always my good, but for the greater good. I may feel they are impeding my right to something. But I still tend to follow; I will delve and find out others feel about the new rule, but I may be shown my thoughts and feelings are all about me, and there is good substantiation, so I try to acclimate my brain accordingly.
The Jewish people had 613 laws (mitzvot in Hebrew) under the old covenant, that’s the Ten Commandments and 603 others, some similar to the commandments, some totally different—foods that were considered clean and unclean, times of life when one was considered clean and unclean, and so on. God knew what He was doing, planking me down during this time and not then. I would be forever responsible for animal deaths and would hate that. Which, I am sure was the point God WANTED to drive into each that something innocent was paying their price!
I still am selfish and judgmental and sometimes think my thoughts and rules are what should be, but that too has changed some over the years. I have more tolerance, seemingly can weigh situations with a broader view. That is directly related to my walk with God. He has shown me how to be tolerant, gentler, patient, kind and loving, and “haha”, more law-abiding. (Although, thank You, I am not living in the desert or shortly after—I could never be obedient to all the rules set up originally. I am so thankful to live under the new Covenant. Thank You, Jesus.) God’s rules are to protect us–from ourselves. We are a sinful, selfish peple and because of our WANTS and DESIRES, we tend to go about that goal disregarding how we succeed. That is against God’s rules. His rules, if followed, will lead us to abundance. If we disobey and continually sin, we walk a more difficult path.
Truly, Lord, I am thankful. I know You have blessed me abundantly and repeatedly. I can see my progress but it must seem so very SLOW to You, but You patiently continue to guide and lead my steps, and I thank You for all you have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
2 Samuel 7:12-16 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, and your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.
2 Samuel 22:51 He is the tower of salvation to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore.
1 Kings 9:4-9em.’” Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statues and My judgments, ten I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statues which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore, the Lord has brought all this calamity on them.
1 Kings 11:11-13 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
2 Kings 2:45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.
2 Chronicles 7:17-18 “As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’
2 Chronicles 13:5 Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by covenant of salt?
Psalm 18:50 He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing love to his anointed, to David and to his descendants forever.
Psalm 132:11-12 The LORD swore an oath to David, a sure oath he will not revoke: “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever.
Isaiah 9:6-7 Isaiah lived about 350 years after David reigned.
Isaiah 11:1-10 read this account—if need more proof
Isaiah 16:5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it—one from the house of David—one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.
Jeremiah 33:17-46 a lot of verses, but God was clear a descendant of David would rule
Matthew 1 The genealogy of Jesus
Luke 1:32-33 The genealogy of Jesus
I would say God is very serious about wanting us to know He made a covenant with David that IF his sons obeyed His statutes THEN He would ensure there would be a descendant of David on the throne forever. Jesus is that descendant. Solomon, the one who was first to succeed his father and after initially wanting to do right, live according to God and the commands—Solomon chose to mess up. He ended up with multiple wives, not all Israelites or Hebrews, but women who worshiped false gods and idols, and sinned and even after hearing from God Himself, Solomon chose his own selfish choices rather than following God as he initially indicated he would do.
When the Israelites insisted they wanted a king so they could be like the other nations, God, knowing that they were rebuking Him, picked Saul as their first king. He warned them they would have to serve the king, pay taxes to the king to support the royal family, many would become workers on the royal property, having nothing to little for themselves. Their sons would be called up to be soldiers, and their daughters would be cleaners, housekeepers, cooks and so forth—not able to easily support and build their own family.
Because Saul was a weak man, and full of low self-esteem, confused when the people demanded he perform a sacrifice (which he had STRICTLY been forbade to do) and he was removed from his position by God. He knew, Samuel, the last judge of Israel, a man who had long held God’s ear was told the kingship was being wrenched from him and would be given to David, a shepherd.
David was a man who almost always tried to live his life according to God’s plan and wishes for him. He cared about what God said, rarely did things that displeased God, and if he did, he was immediately and sincerely repentant. God loved David and favored him.
Because of Saul’s jealousy, he sought to kill David, so for many years David and several men lived in the wilderness protecting neighbors and their flocks of sheep or cattle from thieves. Two separate times David had an opportunity to end the conflict and fight Saul had started between them, but twice David did not harm Saul at all. He did make his presence known, letting Saul know he had been close and had the opportunity he could have harmed him, but had chosen not to.
After several years, once Saul and his sons were killed in a battle, the kingship was given to David, and later he became king of Jerusalem and the southern area. He reigned for forty years, and was considered a good king, reigning in mostly peaceful times, “the golden age.” He was a very good soldier, apparently a fair man to his men, a good strategist, and mostly tried to please the Lord. He listened to his advisors most of the time, but occasionally he abused his position.
He spied and called one of his top soldier’s wives, slept with her, said ‘Thank ye, ma’am’ and sent her home. Then she contacted him saying she was pregnant. Then he tried to have her husband sleep with her when he called him from the front lines during a battle, but the husband, honorable as he was, did not go home and see his wife, and stumped, David ordered that the husband be killed in battle. I am not sure where the man who loved and followed God was there—that was several big mistakes.
However, he certainly was not lord and king over his home. His sons were sneaky and all out to serve themselves to include fighting between them, sneaky behavior, raping a half sister then discarding her once she was conquered, and so forth. And Daddy David did nothing really to correct any of his sons’ behaviors. The family was peppered with jealousy, defiance, disrespect, and undermining sneakiness. They hurt one another caring only for their own wants and needs.
Solomon was next to ascend the throne, although one of his elder brothers had tried to manipulate it by lying and disparaging his father, David’s advisors discovered the plot and when David was told, he crowned Solomon publicly and it therefore did go to Solomon.
And Solomon initially sounded like he had much the same desire to do the right thing to take care of the kingdom as his father. He did not ask for riches, more land, more servants, he asked instead for wisdom to lead and guide. And because of that, God then granted him also riches and more.
But Solomon tumbled into his own arrogance and did not follow God’s admonishment to not intermingle with foreign women who honored false gods and idols. He scurried after all sorts of women, having 700 wives and many concubines. He started worshiping false gods and because of his father’s sins and mismanagement of the home, the entire kingdom began to slowly dissolve. First, Israel and Jerusalem split away, each having its own king, and the people paid taxes, slaved for the king and the kingdom, and the land was being swallowed up. Eventually, Israel was taken over by the Assyrians, many captured and transported and enslaved in Assyria, including the royal family.
There were not a lot of honorable kings in Jerusalem either, but God had promised that one of David’s descendants would always be on the thrown. Beginning with Solomon then to the last Zedekiah, in approximately 586 BC, so the family had about a 400-425 year rule. Babylon came in and enslaved and captured and destroyed Jerusalem. So, although there was no one in the royal line of David on the thrown, their lines and genealogy continued.
God had told David that his seed would be established forever. He never said through which of his sons it would continue.
Although, Joseph, Jesus’ legal father, but not biological father, was descended from Solomon, and therefore to the Jewish people, that fulfilled the prophecy of the Messiah coming from the line of David. But in Luke, the genealogy actually reads from David to his son Nathan. Both Solomon and Nathan were sons of David and Bathsheba. Joseph, the human man God chose to raise His Son, Jesus, was a descendant of Solomon. But when he married Mary, he became the son (in-law and gets equal footing to a biological son,) and Heli, Mary’s father was descended from Nathan. So certainly, Jesus was a descendant of King David.
And for all of us who believe Jesus is God, His is the only lasting kingdom. He has won the kingship, and we await only His return and to see His kingdom.
What a wonderful plan You had all along, Lord. Thank You for including me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Jeremiah 17:9,10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearnace, but the Lord looks on the heart.
Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
Luke 16:15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Galatians 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires
1 Timothy 1.5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
The heart is the center of life, both physical and spiritual. If your heart physically stops, it generally needs to receive a stimulus to get it beating and thus forcing the blood through its vessels, lungs, and throughout your body, both giving life, and returning to the lungs to help usher out the carbon dioxide and to take in the important oxygen to renourish all the organs and cells. A busy little, vital pump!
Yet, the heart drives much of our longings and desires. We say ‘my heart is broken’ with a significant loss of person, pet, but it could be broken with loss of home, war, health and more. Our minds and hearts work closely together to determine what is important to us. And oftentimes, we deem money, material things, education, career, power and all as significantly important, above the most vital in the world, which is God. He gave us all–everything we can see, smell, touch, hear and taste originated with Him. Of course, chefs have experimented with different tastes–but He created the herbs and gave different persons the skills to design the herbs with various products to create dishes. He designed all the beauty we see–sky, lands, oceans, rivers, mountains and birds, all the animals, and so forth. Our lives are so full of beauty.
He created our intricate eyes, ears, and so forth to enjoy His lavish creation. Many do; and many take it for granted. To those who are not over enthralled, it is part of their life’s expectation–it’s always been there for them to enjoy, so now rather than be grateful, it is just a normal part of life, nothing particularly important. But for those who DO appreciate the vast world He created, even if they do not acknowledge His creation and Him as Creator, they appreciate the beauty. But how He loves to hear the words and awe of appreciation from us. It’s like delivering that first two-wheeler bicycle to a waiting child anxious to have the first bike, to learn to ride, to feel that wind across your face, and experience that sense of freedom and independence. I’m guessing God is just that happy and excited with our praise of His creation as that child receiving that bicycle.
But there is much to our hearts and how we govern them. Our hearts can be spoiled wanting more and more. Maybe it’s a desire for more goods, but God wants our hearts on Him and who He is and how He has blessed us, and continues to bless us daily. If our hearts are not attuned to Him, then there is selfishness within us. God wants us to become more like Him, more like Jesus–kind, loving, gentle, good, and patient; and of course, once we love and accept Jesus as our Savior, then we invite the Holy Spirit to live within us, and He helps us develop and grow further into the fruit of His spirit–love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Those attributes are what God wants us to become, to be more like the members of the trinity, and less of our selfish, self-serving selves.
It is at times difficult for me to always try to have the heart God wants me to have, rather than the selfish one that I have grown into over the years. I can see improvements, but I have such slow growth. And like the child eagerly waiting for that bike and the freedom to speed around on it, I want my heart to be right ‘right away, quick!’ But either my growth is slow because I have to repeat lessons several times before I get it right, or He wants me to have a slow process; or the slowness makes me more aware of those who surround me who are so much further ahead and helps me strive to be better just seeing and experiencing their example of living life as better examples for me. (And yes, I can repeat that each of us have a different journey, but I still want my end results to be better, faster, and more like so many others rather than the slow trudging progression of mine. I do RECOGNIZE I am not to compare. . .but it is another one of those sins I am still dealing with. ) There are so many people in my life I admire for their hearts.
God does not want us to kill and sacrifice animals or anything repugnant like that. I believe He didn’t want just the act of sacrificing, but wanted the people to be see how that death of an innocent animal should impact our conscience on a visceral level.
Anyway, He wants our repentant hearts–truly sorry, amazed at our negative and sinful lives have been and He wants to see us truly grieve the fact we have sinned and therefore hurt our Creator, the Son and Savior, and the Holy Spirit. We cannot change our hearts until God gets ahold of them. . .but we have to WILLINGLY turn them over to Him. We have to choose to let Him change our hearts, confess sins and truly want to avoid sinning (which we are not totally successful at). Even though we desire to follow Him, we still are tempted by things we may enjoy or have enjoyed and are enticed to, at times , to disobey.
Or it might not be a purposeful tempting, but a disagreement breaks out and escalates causing you to lose your temper, possibly saying things that hurt, or are unkind, or untrue. and then you might compound your heart issue by gossiping about the argument to others. We need to guard our hearts and strive toward what God wants us to become. Our hearts find things we think we need or desire and may push for us to acquire that. But we need to be reminded of our commitment to follow God to the best of our ability, not give in to some of our desires.
We will sin and need to repent and ask for forgiveness until He calls us home, however our goal should be to try to avoid falling into the pits that cause us multiple sins–anger, being tempted and giving in, being unkind and unloving, thinking and judging something about others, and certainly gossiping.
God sees all; and He is pleased, not when we fall into sin, but when we catch it and immediately truly repent and confess. He wants our true heart–that is the only sacrifice. We have to give up our desires and sinful natures to transform into a person like Christ; which we will never attain, but we walk toward that goal always.
Thank You, Lord for your patience during this journey of transforming my heart. I am so glad I do not have to sacrifice animals for my disobedience, and that I get to chat with You, cry with You, repent with You, and You forgive me, and set me back on my path, and I am relieved to have your forgiveness. What a wonderful journey this has been for me and ‘mybellaviews’.
ZINGERS: Repentance means not only a heart broken for sin, but from sin. To grieve over sin is one thing; to repent is another.
Exodus 22:21 Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things which people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
John 7:24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.
Acts 17:26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.
1 Corinthians 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 3:25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is not favoritism.
James 2:4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
1 John 2:11 but anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
Prejudice and judgment of others has been around almost since the first sin. Adam and Eve lived fairly idyllically from what we can read. We have no idea how long they lived in the Garden, but for enough time to know the rules, and to not be tempted to disobey the rules. At least, they did not disobey for a while.
Then Satan, the Fallen Angel who was thrown from heaven to the eternal pit of hell with his demon minions, spied the relationship God had with the first humans, and crept into the Garden. He eyed his prey, and then approached the woman, and urged her to tell him the rules God had given. She expounded on the rules, and quick shyster he is, he grabbed onto that and assured her she would not ‘die’ if she ate the fruit as she had spoken. She would become just like God, just as smart with the knowledge of good and evil.
God was hurt and angry, warning the devil he would forever slither on his belly, and in time would be crushed by Jesus; and the woman and man could no longer experience the closeness of God that they’d shared. They were banned from the Garden—no longer frolicking and enjoying the bounty, but now to work the land, to gather their own food and so forth.
Eve and Adam had two sons, Cain and Abel, both worked in their capacities, but Cain’s heart was selfish and cruel, and after becoming angry when God accepted with pleasure Abel’s offering of thanks, Cain killed Abel. He was jealous and that jealousy, anger, and prejudice grew against the two brothers and down through their families.
Initially, God would not accept many of the other nations because they worshiped idols and false gods which had been made by their own hands. He ordered the Israelites, whom He had chosen to destroy these peoples and take over their land. He also ordered them to NOT intermarry since they would be risking being taken down the path of worshiping false, manmade gods, and turning from Him, the only God and Lord, the Creator of all.
The behavior of disobeying something we are told not to touch, take, or whatever—usually, initially for our benefit—so we won’t be hurt, burned, bitten, etc. But children test that command. How often have you heard a child told no, to not touch something, then watched as a cute smile crosses the face, and a quick glance to see if he is being observed, then reaching out to touch the forbidden. It does seem to be an inborn part of our make-up to disobey, then blame on someone else, or deny it was our own choice or misdeed.
During the years of moving through the desert to finally obtain the Promised Land, God gave strict orders to not co-habit with these people, and His reasoning was clear. They worshiped false gods, and they could bring down into further sinful behaviors bey worshiping those gods, and partaking of the sins these people did. They self-mutilated, they shared intimacy and sex with many, they drank and did other mind-altering behaviors, and so forth. They DISRESPECTED AND DISOBEYED God. Again, the innate desire to reach beyond the boundaries, because we should make our own decisions and everything will turn out fine. WE ARE NOT IN CHARGE!
God laid down the rules for our safety, benefit. I do wonder if some of them, since so stringent, were also to test their hearts. I will be the first to confess, I would have failed. There were some tough laws to follow, and I know me well enough to know I would have sinned with my grumbling, whining, poor attitude, and probably would have grabbed the head of hair of another female living and sharing chores and not pulling her weight. I would have been truly put out to be out of camp for a week of menstruation, and EVERYONE knowing why. No, I would not have suffered in silence—grumble, whine.
We are sinful beings, and full of prejudice, including thinking we might be working harder than someone else. Unless told, we have NO idea what someone else is walking through and dealing with. We have no cause to judge—yet it’s a pretty common sin within all of us.
I used to wonder why the Israelites were so disgusted with the Samaritans, when the two most frequent stories of the Samaritans tell of a woman who was thrilled to be touched by the Word of Jesus, and went and told and shared with her townsfolk, who rebuked her and her lifestyle at the time. But the other is the Samaritan man who rescued a man beaten and left to die in the street. He was passed by two ‘men of God’—who increased their speed and crossed the street, but not the Samaritan. He cared for the man, paid and enlisted the help of the innkeeper to continue caring for the man, and on his return, he would compensate fully for the man’s care. I wanted to grow up and be that generous, good and loving man. but the Israelites who had not fraternized with other people from other countries, considered themselves pure, while the Samaritans were Israelites who had intermingled with other cultures and people.
But prejudice is and has been real since the beginning of time. Cain killed Abel in anger but because God preferred Abel’s sacrifice, and Cain was the prejudiced against his brother. In our own country, there are/were issues of north vs south, and the lists go on and on.
Please note, prejudice started with us flawed humans—NOT with God. God loves each and every one—He created each and every one. And He created each and every one in His image.
Jesus thankfully did not have any prejudice. He sees the heart and it is the hearts of some He has issues with—Pharisees, Sadducees, and others who think they are higher and more righteous in God’s eyes although they have NO compassion, no love or respect of others, and are full of judgment, not understanding or caring, and continuing to charge high amounts to fill the “church” coffers, that gradually became some of their pockets.
Even Saul was full of anger and prejudice as he traveled throughout the country killing and imprisoning people who believed in the Way. This new man didn’t even wash his hands appropriately before eating. He hung about with lepers, with dirty filthy people, waiting to jump into the waters to be healed, prostitutes, and tax collectors. This Jesus definitely was not worthy and should be killed and all His followers ousted.
Until Paul was touched, blinded, spoke with, and was healed by Jesus, he was an adamant opponent of this man carrying on with Words and loving ways that were not totally of those strict Laws.
I do not want to be a person who has the heart of a Pharisee or Sadducee. Lord, help my heart be cleansed from any prejudice and nasty judgment. I want to be more like Your Son, my Savior. Thank You for Your patience with this work in progress and all You have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Zingers: Some convictions are nothing more than prejudices. Prejudice is a loose idea held tightly. the difference between a conviction and a prejudice is you can explain a conviction without getting angry.
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