Genesis 12:1-4 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him
Deuteronomy 7:6 “You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”
Joshua 7 (it’s a long chapter, but explains why the Israelites lost a battle as one of their own stole things from the town. God knew and dealt with it in front of all the Israelites.)
Acts 17:25-28 He gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 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. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
1 Kings 3:8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.
Psalm 105:43 He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy; he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws.
Over the years, I have had several people accusingly ask me why God could kill so many people in the Old Testament, and often I didn’t have an answer either. It kind of bothered me that we were calling God good, kind, and loving and He had totally annihilated peoples. Frustrated at not knowing, I wondered how much I understood about the bible reading and God and who He truly is and was, and wondered if maybe I was so flawed that I would never get it. I found it pretty upsetting.
But I continued to read; and in all honesty there was much about the Old Testament I didn’t like or want to read—Leviticus, Job, Deuteronomy—and all the good and bad and difficult names. Who except God could keep them straight? I persevered, attended bible studies, listened to various preachers on television and certainly attended services regularly. I hung out with other Christians and read a lot of bible teaching books and so forth. And each time, I gained more understanding, a deeper appreciation, and a lot of my questions have been answered by the Holy Spirit and my self-education, although often a question I have, is answered that week in a bible study or a sermon! God is so good, and I am frequently amazed how my concerns and questions can be answered when they are.
So back to my original concern about how a loving, kind and generous God could wipe out peoples. He designed man/woman to live with Him. They however, decided they wanted to be equal to Him, and chose to sin to gain the knowledge that would make them equal to God. So the same arrogance and pride that resulted in Satan being thrown out of heaven, the serpent Satan, used to tempt and encourage Eve to first sin, then pull Adam into her mistake. And the resultant sin separated them from God.
Good and bad; thus resulted with some people choosing to be obedient and many other people choosing to be prideful and live separate from God, worshipping idols (blatantly disobeying the first and most important commandment). God would have to step in, and using His chosen people, He conquered the lands, killing many, and at times enslaving others.
The Israelites had done nothing special to be CHOSEN by God—they had good, and not so good, obedient and not, but God chose them to be His first children. He gave them laws, taught what was acceptable and what was not, and He knew when there was disobedience and took care of it promptly. Death is the result of sin. And Achan and his family, all his animals, the things he stole—gold bar, silver, and a Babylonian robe were all taken outside the Israelite camp and were they stoned and killed, then burned and stones covered the area where they all died. This was to stress to God’s chosen that sin is not tolerable and would immediately be punished–and not just the sinner but all the family–everything belonging to them was to be considered tainted.
Nothing is hidden from God. Many in my life feel they do not have to commit to God, they don’t understand having a RELATIONSHIP with HIM, and will justly say, “I’m a good person. I do….or I don’t do…I try to do mostly right…” They hold dearly onto their hearts and ways and do not let God take them in and love and care for them, and most importantly they do NOT believe they are sinners. Yet every one of us sins, and thankfully, for those of us who know Jesus, we confess our sins daily and are forgiven and ask the Holy Spirit to help us do better each day.
They shrug when I say no one is good and pure except Jesus and it was He alone who could and did free us from our sins, and will ensure we can approach God. Our ‘good’ is not God’s standard of ‘good.’ And believing that justifies you, is false. Accepting Jesus, acknowledging Him as Savior is the only way. I still sin—daily. I am not, never will be perfect. It is not about being perfect. It is about knowing He willingly gave His love so we could live in eternity with Him. That is freeing.
I am not big into violent movies which I am sure was a big part of not understanding how God could kill so many, seemingly uncaring. But He is the creator of all. He breathed the world and all into existence. He is the only one God—there should never be another god before you. He is God. He knows and sees all. He designed all in the world, knew you and me and each of us before we were born. He is worthy to be praised and heralded as the only God because He is the Creator, omniscient, omnipresent, without sin, and full of love and kindness.
Because He was with the Israelites, He showed them repeatedly that if they were obedient, He was with them. But if they chose disobedience, then He could destroy them—as He did with those in the countries invaded and conquered by the Israelites. Those worshiped idols they made from metals or wood, and repeatedly sinned in many ways. That is why there is so much violence in the OT. God CHOSE Israel for no special reason, other than those were who He chose, and He started a nation through one man, Abraham. He recognized that Abraham was obedient and loved Him in His heart, and from him, He would produce an entire nation. And He instructed them, guided, and lead them, loved them, help them prosper, supplied them with food and water during the many years they spent in the desert.
He asked for obedience and that they honor and worship ONLY HIM. He created all we see, all we are and have, and He is certainly worthy of our honor, thankfulness, praise and recognizing His glory.
He showed repeatedly He did not want or would not tolerate forever sinfulness. Sin leads to death and compete separation from Him and eternal life in hell. I do NOT want to spend my eternity in hell. So although I sin and will never be perfect, I want a closer relationship with Him, and I will continue to repent of my sins, ask the Holy Spirit to guide my steps, give praise and thank Him for all He has done for me.
Father, You have been abundantly generous to me. I am so thankful for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Psalm 72:18,19 Praise to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Psalm 73:28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.
Psalm 145:18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Matthew 28:20 “And behold, I am always with you, to the end of the age.”
John 14:16-17 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. . . This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
I was raised in the Catholic church until I chose to leave when I was 16. My father was upset, angry, yet listened to my reasons for pulling away, and did not argue with me. He weighed my words and feelings without confronting. I believed in God, but I resented the confessing to priests for forgiveness. I resented much of the church, and now believe that the lead pastor was a Pharisee.
My father had been raised in the church, including parochial school, and even prior to that he and my uncle were living in a Catholic orphanage for three years while my grandmother was hospitalized. This was all my father knew; he’d served as an altar boy and performed all the tasks of a ‘good Irish, Catholic lad.’
But he listened to my reasons for refusing to go to that church in any form again; not going to Mass, no volunteering with the children, no CCD classes, not attending the weekly youth group activities, nothing again.
While as a youngster, sitting in that church, I always felt as though Jesus was watching and approving us. There was a mural on the ceiling, showing Jesus looking down from the sky and watching over us. It made me feel safe, cared for, and certainly I believed in Him. But there were other things that I had issues with as I grew older. The readings never had anything to do with the priests’ subject of sermon—and it seemed weekly that they were asking for money all the time. I wanted, even then, to know more about Jesus, what happened when He was alive, what did He do, I wanted to know Him.
One of the issues that developed was the priest implying that God was separate, and only available to priests, we had to confess sins to the priests, and they dictated how and what you had to do to receive forgiveness. There was an arrogance and pompousness with the priests there, and I was aware always of a trepidation, and a desire to remain out of notice. The nuns were there when I was in grade school, and most of them were cranky and bitter, their rebukes to 6-8 year old children sharp. Those instances confused me; they were in such contrast to the Jesus mural which smiled down at us.
So, for me and my siblings, God was a powerful, angry, nebulous being. He was not approachable, He could dole out punishment at will, and the way to Him was through the priests. My parents reassured us that God heard our prayers as we knelt at our beds each night, praying mostly rote prayers, but ending in sincere prayer for grandparents, and others we loved that all would be healthy and kept safe.
That was not my idea of what God was supposed to be. Probably my ideas of having a loving God came from bible stories for young children—I don’t remember, but He still felt nebulous and powerful and distant. That did not set well and comfortable with me. My own father was loving, patient, caring, interested in what was going on in our lives, and I always knew I was deeply loved. My idea and feelings were that God was supposed to be like my earthly father.
As a young adult, I was attending a protestant church, and was stirred. Here the gospel readings were given an explanation, and education of what the passage meant, and how it related to us now. I sucked it up; I had a hunger for the teaching. Sure, I continued with believing that God was not truly approachable to all and that was a slow learning process for me to see the truth. He is available to all who believe in Him and choose to worship Him intently. But I did learn, and grew in my confidence, and began exploring the bible on my own, and listening to different bible teachers on tv, as I looked for a church to attend.
God was seeming less nebulous, less of a dictator, less of an impatient ruler, and of course, I loved the stories of the New Testament. I found the Old Testament difficult and ‘far away.’ It seemed to have nothing to do with my life. Why do I have to read this? How is this important to me?
It has taken years for me to connect all the dots. . . . well, many of the dots. I’m not sure I will ever have them all connected! But what a wonderful education it has been.
God, the Father, Son of God and the Holy Spirit are joined and available—yes, AVAILABLE to each of us, if we ask, seek and knock on the door for entrance. He loves us. Each being of the trinity serves a purpose to help us, comfort us, heal us, guide us, teach us, and to show us what LOVE is. God is not nebulous and unapproachable. He loves being approached and revered by us. He loves us and wants us to be His children, to have a true relationship with Him.
Yes, we are to revere Him, honor Him, but He is accessible to us. God is not a dark, nebulous unapproachable being. He has not changed. The rules and commandments God sent through Moses to us have not changed. Sin is still sin. But no longer do we have to sacrifice an animal to atone for our sin. He used those in the Old Testament to impress on all the people how an innocent animal was being slaughtered for THEIR sin.
But that all changed when the Son of Man-Son of God, fully man and fully God willingly took upon Himself all our sins, and asked that we follow Him and repent of our sins and spread His good news to all; to open their minds so all have the opportunity to be saved, forgiven and to develop a relationship with Jesus. That is what is important. We need to have a relationship with Jesus. As in all relationships, the more you interact with one another, the better you get to know each other, and the trust and friendship grow deeper and you look forward to spending time with one another. THAT is what God desires, a relationship, friendship, yes with a reverence, but he wants us to turn to Him with all our concerns, illnesses, worries, fears, and our thankfulness. Yes, He deserves our honor, our reverence, and devotion.
I am so thankful that I was able to find all the ways available to me to really get to know my Savior. I read the bible—it always amazes me that as often as I have read the words in the bible, I still find new information, a better clarity, and I grow in knowledge. What a blessing! I have been freed from sin, from a idolatrous church, and into a body of others who yearn to know more of Christ and His Father, and the Counselor, and will eagerly continue to seek and grow in my knowledge.
Thank You for helping me walk closer to You and for growing me and ‘mybellaviews’ closer to You.
Psalm 66:18-19 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
1 John 1:8-10 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
I am abundantly blessed. I have a wonderful people in my life, came from a great and loving family, and had everything I needed growing up and throughout all but a few blinks of my life. I liked school, and although I have to study to get good grades in most areas of learning, I liked it, so it usually was not drudgery for me. Many friends probably thought I was a weirdo finishing assignments that had a six-week timeframe, a few weeks early, delving into subjects we were not yet learning about, enjoying writing.
As a child I did not ever have good running ability, so although I did not excel in that area, I had some good friends and we all would pal around. The mothers shared information back and forth when some of the kids misbehaved, so all adults were kept up to date as to what we were doing–including who was misbehaving. It was a close-knit neighborhood, and discipline was somewhat shared. If I was caught misbehaving, sneaking a cigarette, a neighbor would scold me, but my mother would know about the incident before dinner time. We learned respect for all elders, and we kids were a tight bunch of friends; for a few years we were respected as the ‘Robin Road gang.’
The only gray cloud that hung over our lives when we (my siblings and myself) were young was the fact we knew our father was going to die at a young age. Due to severe asthma first appearing in his life at the age of 25, he was put on steroids for the rest of his life (this was the mid 1950’s). Although it was known this was a wonderful drug for short term usage, at that time it was also known to be dangerous for long term usage. There were no substitutions or chronic care medications for this then.
So, a young father with a toddler and a newborn, he decided to take the medications and live his fullest life. And he gave us his best; I walked away respecting honesty, always doing your best even when you don’t feel well, being involved knowing what is happening in your children’s lives, and when physically able, he was out throwing a football or baseball. He couldn’t run the bases or the field, but he could encourage you to. We knew he loved us.
I think many don’t know that kind of love and life, especially now. As much as I am thankful for immediate internet knowledge at the press of a few buttons, I resent seeing people out to eat, and each has a cell phone in hand and yet they are not talking to one another. There seems to be no relationship. Seeing that always hurts my heart. There is no communication, full expression, listening and understanding, or at least trying to understand.
When I am out with friends, phone usage is not part of the table. We are there to visit, to communicate face to face, and listen to one another. It is not the time for being involved with something on a cell phone.
While during this time, with the COVID segregations we have had, it has been awesome to have the technology to be “with” and see the folks we share bible studies, attend church services long distance, get other online learning in a multitude of different subjects, to keep up to date with distant friends and relatives, and to be able have some contact with friends and family although things were certainly different during 2020-2021.
Entertainment is a touch of a few keys on a computer, cell phone or tv control. Many of my friends are admitting to being closer through technology, and spending more time with God, as there seems to be more time to read, listen and study. This is an adaptation of our once normal coming-and-going, and now there needs to be thought and planning to go out to do errands and to shop.
So although I had a very blessed childhood, I must admit, I was frequently a brat. I was self-righteous, selfish, self-centered, and very spoiled. I was always trying to scheme to figure how to steal jelly beans over Easter, or chocolate over Halloween, and had no problem trying to use bribery or any other means to get my desire from my siblings.
Thankfully I learned this was so wrong and hurtful. Initially, I was sorrowful and overwhelmed to learn what Jesus had done for me. But once saved, I thought, ‘okay, I’m going to change and be good all the time.’ It didn’t take long before I was being called out for something I had done. To my shame now, I remember trying to excuse the behavior, there was a reason, a really, really good one…..hmmmm, no, Kathy, you were wrong. You need to acknowledge your sin, not decide it had an excuse.
And immediately that bratty, self-centered, selfish person was there arguing and carrying on. . . until I heard myself. Maybe He gave me His ears for a few moments. I’m not sure, but I was appalled and ashamed of myself. Perhaps, I had still not fully believed in His power of love and forgiveness, but I was heart-broken. I just knew I had lost my connection with God, and justly, I would spend the rest of eternity in HELL.
I was fearful, apologetic, and full of “I know I am not worthy,” but I was still sure I was no longer heaven bound. He had closed the door, the narrow door anyway, so I was out in the courtyard.
Thankfully, I have biblical people in my life, I have persons I can discuss this with, I enjoy listening to different theological teachers, and learned that I was redeemed, and I would never be perfect, and worthy to enter the kingdom. I was IN because of what Jesus did. It has nothing to do with me, although God wants to see progress in our lives. He wants us to be repentant, confess our sins, and continue in a relationship with Him—all of Him; the Father, Jesus the Savior, and the Holy Spirit.
Part of that progress is admitting when we are wrong, or when the Holy Spirit corrects us for something we did not realize, such as making a comment that is snide, or perhaps gossip, or we are not even sure if it is true. We do wrongs that are slight to us until they are pointed out and then we are conscious the next time. I know I do not want to offend God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit in any manner. But I am a work in progress.
I do not have to worry about spending eternity in HELL, because He has saved me, redeemed me, and is never letting me go. I believe this through faith in Him. How awesome. I don’t have to be perfect and never will be. I want to live obediently because I love Him.
All of my life, I have been blessed. You are so vital to my life and mybellaviews.
Joshua 1:9 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 cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sens out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries ina year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
Luke 12:25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about , but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Before I had a relationship with God, I thought I was in charge, and burdened myself with thoughts on responsibility, duty, keeping all the balls in the air as though they were uncooked eggs. Nothing could fall to the ground, everything had to be handled. And of course, I worried about “what if…” And the spins my mind could whirl and twirl around were horrific. Sleeping was intermittent, as negative dreams would spur me into wakefulness, and the worries would trip over themselves like a running stream.
And of course, NOW I know that not one of those worries helped me; IN fact, I think they were detrimental to me and to my family. I’m sure I was cross, preoccupied with anxiety, fear, and really….”what if…?”
Yes, that devil Satan was alive and well in my mind, consistently showing me my flaws, my failings, my mistakes, and my LACK.
I certainly didn’t totally know God. I knew Him in a nebulous, cloudy way; I certainly did not have a relationship, did not expect answers to questions, and am fairly sure my prayers beside my bed each night were recited as rote. They were not heartfelt, they were dutiful…although I really believed that “Now I lay me down to sleep…” was wrapping me in His protection.
I tried to control outcomes all the time; I certainly had to keep the eggs in the air. Smashed raw eggs are such a slimy mess to clean!
But then I learned more about Jesus, and in all honesty it took a long while for me to grow in a relationship. I had trust issues, worth issues, control issues, and was frequently frustrated seeking an answer and WAITING. Did He answer and I missed it? Is this not important enough for Him to guide me? Am I being foolish with this so He is not going to help? Am I not good enough and He really does not care about me? Maybe I am one of those that He just cannot endure. He is SO busy taking care of everyone in the world, and I am so bad…He must just be disappointed in me all the time. And on and on and round and round my worries circled.
Gradually, I learned more, grew in the knowledge He is not dismissive and one to hold a grudge, or not forgive. But it was a slow process for me to develop the trust needed to believe Him, believe that He is Truth and Light. And how could I give up control for this being I couldn’t see, and trust that He truly cared about me and my life and choices. So I tried to stubbornly cling to the things I did know, and of course the process stalled with me pulling all my doubts and “what if…” over and over. How can anyone have so many of those? They are catastrophic scenarios, and they drain the energy away. I felt that I was being drained and stressed, but I did not see another way then.
But then I realized how many wonderful things I have—eyesight to enjoy beautiful birds, flowers, the many blues of a sky, the varied colors of the ocean, the mountains, the autumn colors especially up north, the smile of pleasure and surprise on a face of someone important to me. But wait, that’s not all… I can hear those pretty birds, they also sing and praise God daily, the ocean has a quiet splashing to a mighty, strong and vicious roar, there’s a babbling brook, the sound of leaves falling to the ground and then the swish as you walk through them, and with that pleasure and surprised look on a precious face, there is an exclamation of joy, pleasure, and maybe thankfulness.
Satan loves to lie, to fill us with fear, anxiety, and worry. His goal is to fill us with upset, unease, and negative thoughts. “He comes to steal, kill, and destroy…” John 10:10. Steal your joy, kill you from eternal life, and destroy your peace and harmony and prosperity. The goal is our death—no eternal life, no forgiveness, no peace, no freedom and no confidence that one day you will see Jesus face to face!
How could I spend time worrying about catastrophic scenarios that MIGHT happen, when I have so much to be thankful for, to enjoy, and realize the abundance of gifts I have been granted. I know that no one is worthy and we are each forgiven and given eternal life by grace, by a GIFT, if we accept Jesus as our Savior.
Satan was certainly alive and well and chatting away to me reminding me how terrible I am, how unworthy, and on and on. And because his voice was familiar, it was easy to agree with him. It took a long time to convince myself he was lying—it had to be a repetitive mantra until it finally sank in, and I was able to face his lies and tell him to move on out of my life. And it happened often, because he would try to weasel his way back into my mind.
Such a waste of time I committed worrying about things that could happen, and feeling how unforgiveable I am, and being anxious because of it all. Certainly, I am so relieved and thankful I finally believe He loves me, He has taken my place, and I am awarded eternal life and He has prepared a special place for me. John 14:2,3.
How different and smoother, easier and more pleasurable life feels now. Worry is not something I have dealt with in a long time. I have confidence that nothing can mess me so badly that God will not be there to help me deal with it. It is so freeing to not worry, to not feel burdened, and there seems to be even more things in my life to be thankful for. I am blessed and freed and saved!
Lord, I am so thankful that You saved me from all the torment I spun and helped me realize that your love is true and sure. Thank You for all you have done and given to my and ‘mybellaviews.’
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 11:16-21 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain, and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land of the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
Proverbs 7:3 Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Psalm 40:8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.
Psalms 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Jeremiah 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Before the 1900’s electricity was not in every household, and when darkness of evenings came, folks depended on candles and kerosene lamps, and the family would gather around to listen to one of their members read the living word of God. Without the outer distractions of television, electricity, music from all sorts of devices, folks tended to spend time as a family, gathered in the living room or family room, and reading, perhaps while the females worked on craft projects of needlepoint, crocheting or knitting, or repairing a piece of clothing for the family. Reading was common and enjoyed. And much of the reading was from the bible; not always, there were certainly a few novels available, but they were commonly thought too “abrasive” for female ears. So many families had the bible read each evening, or most evenings, by a male member of the family.
I think many of the things which we are dependent on for the most part, have hindered our involvement in reading His Word; the Way, the Truth and the Life (and the Light), and something we all need to know, to seek, and to develop. Without it, becoming familiar with the passages, and coming to know who God truly is and what He wants from us, I believe our society suffers. We spend more time playing on devices to try to entertain our minds, which don’t like being totally idle. So instead of reaching for a book—maybe THE book—the bible, perhaps a novel, a research book, we reach for something else. Perhaps it is an action movie, an animated romance, a puzzle or a game, or listening to music and filling our minds with tunes, but we are not seeking His word, and getting familiar with the bible.
We have shortchanged our learning how to get to know God by filling our minds with distraction—electronic gadgets, social media, gossips, games, and almost anything can be found on our devices. We are NOT engaging our minds with the things God commanded us to know, remember, and imprint on our minds.
This is not His plan, and I believe we are gravely hurting ourselves being distracted with gadgets and games, and not learning who God is, and how to develop a relationship with Him. And we have hurt ourselves as a society and as a country because we choose alternatives to reading the bible. “The curse of this age is over-stimulation of the senses, which blocks out awareness of the unseen world.” Sarah Young Jesus Calling published by Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2013, pg 174, June 15 devotion. We spend so little time conversing with each other, and not seeking Him, and choose to play with gadgets. In a few years I wonder if anyone will have a relationship, a true relationship of knowing another, let alone recognizing the need to know God.
My pastor quoted a speaker he had heard a couple years ago. The first gentleman had said, “I feel less concern about the weapons of mass destruction at this point, but I have grave concerns about the weapons of mass distraction.” And there are many things to distract us. And certainly I can easily have my mind temporarily sucked away from my prayer time, my time with my Creator. I am convinced that Satan is tempting us with tv, radio, news programs, phone chirping, text messages beeping, and all trying to pull us away from our time with Him. And it is not just electronics—at least it is not in my case. The dog urges to be let out, the cats are encouraging the dog to race and chase, and I might hear the birds bump onto the window feeder and the sound has me looking up.
My mind’s calendar will jump up to interrupt my communication with the thought of some appointment—and immediately I have to do a check—at least a mental check as to the day, and if the appointment is actually then or the next day, and if today, what time do I have to leave. But point is, DISTRACTION. This interrupts my concentrated time with Him. Even my own mind can cheat and run out on me at times. Yes, after a moment or so, I can pull it back and return to my prayer time—but now somewhat distracted, not on the same plane as I had been. And although I don’t actually hear this, I swear I know Satan is chuckling his raspy, evil giggle.
“Google, Wiki. E-books. Prints and paperbacks. Facebook, Podcasts. YouTube. The billions and billions of pages on the Internet. Our world will make more information available in the next decade than has been discovered in all human history….We live in a very noisy world–full of external voices. Who knows how many voices–helpful or not–we have in our heads? With all these voices (pardon the graphic illustration), be sure you are regularly removing the wax from your spiritual ears, so you can accurately hear God’s voice.” Christine Caine Unshakable Zondervan Publishing, 2017, Devotional June 26, pg 187.
As much as I appreciate much of the modern conveniences, I know they have caused a huge breach in seeking God. We are so busy searching for this and that, playing games on our devices, listening to music, stories, or anything but we are falling right into Satan’s hands and giving him success in distracting us from the true purpose we should all have of seeking God. This is evidenced in my own family. They are all too busy to go to church, most do not routinely read the Word, although may open a devotional and get a daily word on the computer. But there is no time spent recognizing that He is the most important thing in life. They are busy with their own entertainment on weekends, taking children to each of their organized sports events then must go home and complete homework. There’s too much time spent on other events and not on the important things of life. And they seem to all believe they are in charge of their own destiny. The idea that any are so busy they can afford to seek Him and will die never knowing God and having a relationship with the only One who can give everlasting life, breaks my heart.
My prayers are that when something vital interrupts their “busyness” they will each turn to the God who created them and blessed them with all they have—children and so much more. For some reason, many in this country believe the goal is the latest toy, the finest of whatever, and although they work hard, the competition at times feels real to them.
I think often that God is trying to pull our attention back to Him with many newsworthy events occurring. There are an increase in gun events, murder is just a shrug and shake of one’s head, there seem to be many more natural disasters—multiple fires burning acres and acres of land in different states, increase in tornadoes and hurricanes, outbreak of a world virus that brought much of the commerce and normal living to a standstill worldwide, COVID19—causing people to be out of work, many small businesses closed, restaurants and bars severely damaged, while liquor stores thrived—too much time people drinking by themselves at home. And this vicious circle increased the stress and hardship of families, children were not allowed in school, more social isolation, finances were stressed, folks were scared and mistrustful, and all sorts of violence increased. I firmly believe God wants repentance, wants the world to turn to Him, as He is the ONLY God as He has repeated throughout the bible, and is sending events in the hopes we will find the Truth, the Way and the Light and repent and reach for Him.
As His history shows, He only tolerates sin so long before He stops it; and punishment is given. It may be invasion, in maybe the imprisonment and isolation and annihilation of a peoples/culture/or country one does not want in the way any longer. We need to remind folks that God is alive, well, and in charge. And those who refuse to believe in Him and believe within their heart He is the Savior and repent of their sins and let Him oversee their lives. Troubles don’t disappear but life is easier recognizing He is in charge and handing over some of my issues and asking for guidance and getting to know Him and listen to Him. He is alive and well, in charge, and only wants each to choose Him. Repentance and following Him, loving Him and the reward is forgiveness, reassurance, and grace, and eternity in heaven, not hell.
One of my daily prayers is that my family members will reach for Him and have a relationship with Him. He is not distant and nebulous, He is patient, waiting, and wants a sincere heart.
I pray this country learns the danger of distractions. We need to be spending time in prayer, communication with our Creator, paying attention to what He tells us while in prayer, and reading His word that although written over several hundreds of years, is still pertinent to us today. It is the Living Word of God. Repent and return to Him–He has the only true and lasting gift—eternity.
Lord, I pray for revival and for all to come to seek and find You. I thank You for all Your blessings for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!