Sunday Motivation
Jan. 5th, 2025 06:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apachefirecatBut somebody had to pray FIRST!
A Prayer For Letting Go
Be Careful How You
Your Mouth is a Weapon
People Are Not Really Who They Portray To Be
More People Should Be Like This Little Girl
I've Crossed A Line
A Lot of Young Believers Are Like This -- And they may need YOU to help them find their way!
This song makes me think so much of my own husband. I've tried scouring the Web a bit tonight looking for the right stories to share, but I just can't shake the feeling that I need to share our experiences with whoever may be reading these...
Not all of God's professed people are actually His people. My Grandmother was beaten every day by the Preacher she was married to; it was a poor construction guy who rescued her one day, right out of her own yard, beating her husband down when he'd been beating her and carrying her to safety. My husband's great-grandfather badly abused his family, and he was a Preacher as well.
Far too many of God's true chosen ones are being chased away from the Faith, from His Faith by people who are claiming to be His. Even Revelations tells us:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.
- Matthew 7:21-23
I think many of us are accustomed to this verse. I know I myself clung to this bit of Scripture so much in my travels between religions, between faiths. I've been Pagan before, tried to be atheist even, but nothing ever set right with me.
And it is largely because of people like the two Preachers mentioned above, and like so many others of their score, that I have spent so long away from the Father. People like this is also why my husband still suffers in his own beliefs. He has more belief in Jesus Himself than almost any man I've ever known, yet he cannot call himself a Christian or even cope with going to church. It isn't that he doesn't believe in God; it's because God's so-called people have turned him away so many times.
Jordan and I both have spent several years in homelessness (even now we live in a storage shed). He was first made homeless with his mother as a young boy, and then again, alone, as a teenager on city streets and yet again alone as an older teen, but still a teenager, still a child, in the snowy streets of North Carolina. He spent both Winters and Summers feeling very alone and out on the streets in all elements.
He had to fight for a while, when he was just a boy, to be able to feed himself and his sister. When his homeless in North Carolina, it was actually because of his grandmother's abuse. My story is tragic enough, but my poor husband's is even worse. It's no wonder, with everything going back to his great-grandfather, who again was a Preacher, that he has so many issues with the church and Christianity. The people he encountered, who claimed to be of God, when he was homeless in North Carolina did not help. He was turned out of churches because he smelled (without the ability to take a bath) and dressed in ragged clothes. He once approached a woman who was well-known for her church life and "faith" and asked her if he could just have a sip of water from her garden hose on an especially hot Summer afternoon; she said 'yes' -- then turned the hose ON him when he went to drink, pelting him with the water!
Even with the way he's been treated by God's so-called people, my husband still tried to make a church life in my old church. It was on the very day that we attended Sunday school, despite working so late the night before, and agreed to partake in the next week's reading (which was something I'd never thought I'd see him volunteer for, especially as he won't even read very often when we're reading something together), that a spider bite he'd gotten the night before at work was making him so sick that the elder members of the church feared him. They shunned him. He even showed them the bite -- and out of fear, as this was during the time of covid, they told him he should not have come to God's house while sick and told him he needed to leave.
Needless to say, despite the fact that two of my Great Aunts (who are not even remembered by the crowd that now goes to this particular church) were founding members of this church when it was first built (my Great Aunt Georgia even served as Secretary there for over 60 years and wrote a book on its history), we have not been back to that church since. Nor will we.
This isn't too different from how another Preacher at this same church treated my Father. My Dad always had his faults, but he did try. He tried harder than I realized until many of the lessons I've learned since his passing. He was, according to my Great Aunt Georgia, the best Sunday school teacher she'd ever known, in her lifetime (and she lived to be 96, and was still telling these stories in her final days by the Preacher.
We really need to stop and think, as Christians, how are we treating people? Are we turning people away from God, or to God? The smallest word or action that we take may be a mountain to someone else, or even the final proverbial nail in the coffin. Words don't always hurt less than fists, and sometimes they do even kill like bullets. They just take longer.
It took me years to realize it, and reading my Father's journals after he passed, but losing his Sunday school life, the way that Preacher treated him, took a major toll on my Father. It, just as much if not more than the other things that were happening in our family, took a huge impact on him, causing him to bury further into his drink and turn away from God. This plunged him into Shamanism, Druidism, and a whole bunch of other such religions. Yet, when he was dying, that Preacher was the only one who would come, he was very sorrowful for how he had acted, and there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that my Father went home to Jesus when he passed. Wanda and I were there, holding to his hands when he breathed his last, and I have never felt such a sense of peace as came into that room when he left his mortal shell. He could not speak in those last hours, but I've no doubt at all that he accepted God and Jesus again and went Home to peace and joy at last.
How To Know What God Wants You To Do
Stinking Thinking
Joyce Meyer on What NOT To Do as a Good Woman Today
Let's take another look at that famous Scripture from before, shall we?
"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask Him?
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Not every one that saith unto Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
- Matthew 7
I'm not saying, by any means, that it will be easy to treat others right, or to forgive others. I know from first-hand experience that it is definitely NOT, especially when it comes to those who have hurt you. I struggle every day with the fact that my mother, who molested me, is still in my life, still living on the same land as Jordan and I, and is entering her '70s with no other family to care for her. But I've also seen time and again what happens when God's so-called people drive people away from Him through their cruelty or even just general lack of kindness and mercy.
Let us consider a few other verses that warn us to treat others with God's kindness, generosity, love, and mercy:
"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."
- Matthew 7:12
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
- Ephesians 4:31-32
"But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."
- Luke 6:35
"And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live."
- Luke 10:25-28
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the US.
In 2022, 49,476 Americans died by suicide. This is ONLY Americans, and equates to 1 death every 11 minutes.
This is also only the successful number of known suicide attempts. In addition, at LEAST 13.2 million seriously thought about suicide, 3.8 million planned for suicide, and 1.6 million attempted suicide.
(I want to add on a side-note here that our men and elderly are especially under attack. One would hope that, when you reach a certain age, these desires and desperateness go away, but that is clearly not the case -- people ages 85 and older had the highest rate of suicide in 2022. In 2022, men died by suicide 3.85 times more than women; white males accounted for 68.46% of suicide deaths in 2022.)
Our young people are also very far from being exempt in this. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every one suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14% of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it.
Bully victims are between 2-9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University. A stud in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying. According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying.
How many adults are led to suicide every year by bullying, or the cruelty of others? We may never know as adults don't speak as openly as children, and our men especially are taught that they should not speak openly of their emotions. Words do make a difference!
If we want people to see God, to find God, we have to show them BY EXAMPLE! And the best way to do so is by LOVING GOD'S CHILDREN!
CDC Suicide Prevention
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Monique Burr Foundation For Children Prevention Education Programs
REMEMBER: You never know what someone else may be going through, from that person you just spoke to to the cashier in a bad mood to your friend who let you down for whatever number of reasons to even that person who just cut you off in traffic. You never know who else may have said or done what else. YOU may be the only chance that person has of seeing God, of feeling mercy, of knowing that someone, ANY one cares!
We are not guaranteed the next moment. Any one of us may take our last breath at any second, or be the last encounter of someone else before their last breath is given. DON'T be the reason someone turns FROM God! Be the reason they KNOW someone cares; be the reason they know Someone loves! Lead the sheep to the Good Shepherd, NOT away!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven."
- Matthew 5:16
