 My Father created me
A Good Father, that is He He set my will to free So I can walk in victory The Lamb of God I see He shed His blood for me On that cross at Calvary So I can walk in victory The Holy Spirit lives in me He guides and lets me see The joy with which to be Now I'm walking in victory
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 We can learn so much from the Word of God. The Bible is our instruction book on life and in it the Lord tells us everything we need to know for any and everything you can possibly think of. In His “Book of Life” the Lord provides us with the answers to every question we could ever have. We just have to get in there, read it, and spend good quality time with Him there to understand. It is easy and it’s not. As I have noted in previous blog posts, reading and understanding the Word of God is not always an easy thing. But, if we truly want to learn about God and His will for our lives, it is imperative that we commit time to being in His Word. (As an FYI, I have found it hugely impactful and enlightening to listen to Bible teachings online. Might I suggest Faith School with Keith Moore?) Today, I wanted to share a lesson that I have learned that many of you may not understand or agree with, and that is ok. However, I feel pressed by the Holy Spirit to share it with you nonetheless. In Ecclesiastes chapter three, the Lord tells us that to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. In verse eight, He says, “a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” Let’s talk about a time of war, shall we? Why war and why now? Because, dear brothers and sisters, I truly believe that we are in a spiritual battle like none we have ever witnessed before. There are demons striking terror into the heart of our great nation. And, they have been at this warfare for quite a few years now. And, I have had enough! We MUST take a stand and we MUST FIGHT! To share the words of Pastor Gary Hamrick: “I am angry with the spiritual forces of evil that have hijacked the hearts and minds of people in an effort to try to capture the soul of America. And I am angry with demonic principalities and by extension, demonic principles that have influenced millennials, Gen X-ers and Gen Z-ers with godless philosophies and the doctrines of men. I am angry with politicians who are either knowingly or unknowingly pawns of darkness instead of agents of light who are advancing a godless agenda that is destructive to our country. And thus I cannot be silent. I will not be silent, and neither should you. America needs to wake up and it starts with the Church of Jesus Christ. We need to wake up, Christian, we need to wake up Christian, this is a battle, this is a war. This is not a game. It's a spiritual battle that we are facing for the heart and soul of America and for the heart and soul of the next generation. I have never felt as passionate for and concerned about America as I am today. We, as the Church of Jesus Christ, are God's restraining force in the world today against evil. And if the Church of Jesus Christ does not rise up and fight the good fight of the faith, who will? If we abdicate our role and our responsibility as ambassadors for Christ and as agents of truth, then evil will triumph. It was Edmund Burke who said the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. And so I, I can't remain silent and to do so would be evil. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor in Germany. It was part of the German resistance that opposed Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer said this, quote, "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil and God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act" end quote.“ I am talking about politics here. And, I know what you are thinking: religion and politics should not mix. For whatever reason, this ideaology has been tattoo’d on our brains – but it is NOT true. Here is the real truth, again from Pastor Hamrick: “For the first couple hundred years of American history, pastors would preach election sermons. And I only get to bring these books out every four years when I do an election sermon. But I have two volumes here of political sermons of the American founding era from 1730 to 1805. These are published sermons of what pastors used to do, how they used to get up in their pulpits and talk to people in their congregation about the social issues and call out the politicians. Why? The reason is because they wanted their folks to be biblically literate so that people could make an intelligent decision based on their sanctified conscience about the social issues and the political candidates and how they either did or did not align with the Bible, which is the source of all truth. The truth is that God has been at the center of our religious freedom and faith and politics have been intertwined from the very beginning, from the founding of our nation in 1776, not 1619. Wake up, but 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was penned. Listen to the various references to God in the Declaration of Independence. It starts with, quote, "the laws of nature and nature's God" in the first paragraph, it establishes that our, quote, "unalienable rights come not from government," but from, quote, "our creator". That's paragraph two. It appeals to, quote, "the supreme judge of the world". That's the last paragraph. And then it invokes the protection of, quote, "divine providence" in the signature line of all fifty-six signers when they pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. And then Congress actually instructed churches to read the Declaration of Independence from their steps so that everybody could hear across America. Churches were demanded by Congress to do such a thing. In fact, the Falls Church, the Episcopal Church, the old Falls Church in Falls Church was one of those locations where in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read from the steps of the church. That's how the news was dispersed in a day without social media. It was pastors who led the charge with the American Revolution to sever ties with Great Britain because of the oppression and tyranny of the government, in particular oppression into tyranny of religious freedom. Pastors led that charge. Pastors like Jonas Clark, who formed the Minutemen militia in Lexington with 70 men from his congregation who fought against and defeated 700 British who marched against them in the first war, The Battle of Lexington, in the first battle, the Battle of Lexington, of the Revolutionary War, April the 19th, 1775. So enough of the history lesson. Here's a little Bible lesson. One of the earthly institutions that God ordained and put in place to help mitigate human behavior in human life is government. That's Romans Chapter 13, and God tells us in Romans Chapter 13 through the pen of Paul that the purpose of government is to basically cultivate the good and punish the evil and that God ordains a ruler or a leader, whomever that person might be, be it a king or be it a prime minister or be it a president to be instruments of his righteousness. I'll put Romans 13 verse four up on the screen. The ruler is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. Again in other words, God's intent for government is twofold to help cultivate the good and to punish the evil of a society. Government is not the savior Jesus is. But government can cultivate the good and punish the evil to help maintain a prosperous and orderly society. And thus when we have opportunity in our land to be a part of this process, to vote in the free country in which we live, then we as Christians must choose leaders. We must choose men and women who best represent a biblical worldview in terms of policies and procedures that will cultivate the good and punish the evil. It is our responsibility and a privilege that we've been given. That when we are voting, we're voting for policies and procedures that will then give a mandate to government in terms of how they are to conduct themselves and the rulers regarding policies and procedures to cultivate the good and to punish the evil in our land. Listen, this is about policies and procedures. This is not about personality. Presidential race is not a personality contest. Get over it. It is not about personalities. When there is a choice between policies and procedures and personalities, I'm going to choose policies and procedures every single time. Every single time. Because that is what will affect the daily life in a society, a nation will rise and fall on the policies of a king, not the personalities of a king.” I am sorry this was so verbous – but as Pastor Hamrick already told us, it needed to be said. We need to know American history and Biblical history. They go hand-in-hand. As Americans we need to be educated. But, I feel like as Christians we especially need to be educated. Why? Because there are times in life we need to fight. Now is a time of war. And, we need to be well prepared as we possibly can be. And that means we need to be on God’s side. And guess what? God is on our side! He sent His Son to die on the cross for not only our sins, but our freedom. So, Christians, suit up. It’s time for battle. While we already know that God has the victory, we still have a vital role to play. We are God’s hands and feet and voice. We must proclaim the victory. We must stand firm on His Word and not falter. We must speak the truth of God’s Word to anyone and everyone we can. We must educate our brothers and sisters on the history of this great nation and the fact that our Founding Fathers devised it so that God would be at the center of it. And, believe me when I tell you it will be a battle royale because the devil does NOT want us to know the truth. He wants to control us; our hearts, minds, bodies, and our nation. And he will use every trick in the book to bring us down in an attempt to make us lose all hope. That is where he wants us: hopeless. For if we are hopeless, we will lose sight of God. DO NOT LOSE HOPE AND DO NOT LOSE SIGHT OF GOD. There is a remanent of us believers who know the truth. And that truth WILL set us free. That truth is that God is for us. God loves us. God wants us to live in freedom. And, just keep on trusting and believing and praying and fighting. WE WILL WIN! I urge you to watch Pastor Hamrick's sermon. I have watched it multiple times. He was gracious enough to send me the text so that I could share some it with you here. Watch him in action here. #fightthegoodfight #atimeforwar #spiritualwarfare  A while back I learned about the Japanese art form of Kintsugi. Kintsugi means "golden joinery." It is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. The philosophy behind this is to treat the breakage and repair as part of the history of the object, rather than to just disguise it.
Isn't this just beautiful? As you can see from the photo above, I think it makes this once ordinary bowl breathtaking, don't you? This is what God does for us as human beings. He takes our brokenness, our hurts, and our sorrows and with His heroic love He starts to make us whole. The Lord's love is not just any old love, His love is a triumphant mix of mercy, grace, tenderness, forgiveness, and kindness. His love heals us. His amazing and potent love; His combination of ingredients makes us golden. Over time, as we bask and grow in His love, we will go from glory to glory. And, as such, we will become more and more like Him. One might even say more golden. (See 2 Corinthians 3:18) This is what it means to grow spiritually in Christ. And, I don't know about you, but I want to be more golden--more like Him. And, we are all broken, aren't we? Each in our own way. Some of us are more broken than others. But, praise God, He can heal us. All we have to do is ask Him. I know that sounds too easy--too good to be true. But, it IS true. How do I know? Because, not only does the Bible tell me so, but I have personally experienced it for myself. I may be broken, but because of God's love for me, I am now beautifully so! My cracks are being sealed with God's golden love for me. His love makes me whole. And, as typically happens with me, this reminds me of a song I need to share with you that reinforces this thought: Beautifully Broken by Plumb. Here are the lyrics: Every tear, every doubt Every time you've fallen down When you're hurting, feeling shame When you're numbing all your pain When you've lost your way And feel so far away You're not You're beautifully broken And you can be whole again Even a million scars Doesn't change whose you are You're worthy Beautifully broken Every fear of being loved For who you are no matter what When you're stumbling, with each step And you're haunted by regret And the darkness closes in Just listen You're beautifully broken And you can be whole again Even a million scars Doesn't change whose you are You're worthy Beautifully broken You're beautifully broken (beautifully broken) You're beautifully broken Oh, the god who made the stars Is the god that made your heart And he's holding you right…  Photo by Robert Koorenny on Unsplash I am blessed to be part of a Bible study in my neighborhood. We are currently studying the book of Romans. The gentleman who leads us each week thought that Romans would be a great book for us to study because it is so applicable to our current times.
Ever since we began our study back in July, verses from Romans have been springing up in my life all over the place. Verses from Romans have been showing up in my social media feeds, in my daily devotionals, and my meditations. It is funny how that works! Anyway, a few weeks ago we studied chapter eight. As I was reading through this relatively short chapter, verses that I have heard often and that have become commonplace to me jumped off the page at me. Verse after verse. Honestly, I was taken-aback at how many I know and love come from this one chapter! And, that is why I am here to share them all with you. I am sure all of these are familiar to you as well. Here are the ones I am referring to:
There are only 39 verses in the whole chapter--and it just chock-full of goodness and truth. If you need a quick pick-me-up, read this chapter. It, like our Father God, is so, so good! |
WELCOMEI am so glad you are here! I am Erica Strickland, a girl who loves God. My goal here is to simply share His love and light. Categories
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