Verse of the day5/22

[rl69]

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.Galatians 5:13 ESV (https://www.biblegateway.com/button/votd/bcv)

[square butte]

Amen and thank you

[Pine Baron]

Thanks, rl, another great way to start the day.

[Boaz]

Thank you rl69 , another verse very relevant to us here in the Chapel .

[buckwheatpaul]

Putting others first is the right thing to do...to minister and be a good example for other....thanks, Paul

[Victor N TN]

Amen...

[Blackwater]

A big Amen here, too. I have a notion that "freedom" and taking it for granted as an excuse to pursue our more prurient interests is the biggest root of the reasons America is failing today. Will we pull back from the brink at the last second? I don't know. The signs aren't good, though. And that pains me, but I can't and won't lie about it. Sometimes, recognizing unpleasantries like this can avert catastrophe, but this one depends on ALL of us, and it's so common to see so many being willful, caught up in their own desires, and neglecting and even turning completely away from God.

I just came back from Applebee's, and our seater looked like a transexual. I honestly couldn't tell if he was a male or female. So I just said "Thank you," instead of adding in a "Miss," Ma'am" or "Sir." Most of the watiers are college students, and mostly female. Our waitress looked to be just a young girl who may not have been a student. It's amazing what you see in restaurants today.

Kind'a gives a glimpse of what all is really out there in our land today. And a lot of it ain't good, but it is what it is. There were a good many who seemed to display the kind of joy and love that Christians are noted for, if we'll just let it flow from us. Others were more serious and thoughtful looking, and could have gone either way. Mostly, it's just a little "game" of sorts that I play at times. People have many, many ways of revealing what's really going on inside them. Anyone who's ever worked in law enforcement has had to develop this ability to read what we now call "body language" to the best degree we can. It's a matter of survival on occasion, to know what a bad guy is going to do BEFORE he actually makes his move. Sometimes, you can even avert his actions if you do the right things. Sometimes nothing works, but the effort at least, gives some chance of minimizing the effects of the outcome.

So many, many, especially among the young, and maybe moreso in the college crowd, seem to be thinking ONLY of their sexuality and physical "needs" and don't even seek anything beyond those. I think that's sad, but .... it is what it is, and it's real and it DOES affect our nation, and where we're headed and how we'll fare when we get there.

We've essentially taken a God-fearing and respecting country, and turned it into a playground for all our prurient interests, and there's just simply a price for that. Always has been, and always will be. I wish some of those I observed today could and would simply contemplate that verse a while, in honesty and sincerity. I wonder if some could even take in the meaning of it any more? I don't know, but God does, and I highly suspect He's not very well pleased with what we've let this country become.

And sadly, it's us Christians, by sitting by and allowing it, and not addressing the downfall more aggressively, that has allowed us to get to this point. If we look for blame, I think there's plenty of it to go around for all of us. This is why I can be fairly aggressive at times in my support for my beliefs, at least in debates.

It's as much MY fault as it is anyone else's. I know that. And what I try to do now may be too little too late, but at least I've raised a good son and two fine young grandsons, and I've ceased standing by and letting the secular progressives rule the air waves, here or elsewhere.

I may not be the best suited person to try doing that, but I'll take what I have, and use it the best I can, and at least then, I'll be able to say at the Throne of Judgment, that I shook off the lies of PCness, and at least gave it all I could before the end. That's kind'a like damning me with faint praise, I guess, but I simply cannot and will not allow lies to go unchallenged. God often uses very imperfect men like you and me and all the rest of us Christians to do His will with.

We're his mainmost "right arm" here on this plane of existence, and all He seems to really want or need to achieve His ends. That's an awfully humbling thing, for someone as flawed and weak as I am, to be used by God to achieve His ends. It's one of the reasons I've long thought humility is the greatest hallmark of a true, maturing Christian.

RL, you really help me SO much in getting myself focused each day on something righteous. Thank you. It matters.