Friday, May 11, 2012

Weary of Holding it In

"But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."
Jeremiah 20:9

If I don't speak, I am going to explode. Smoke is already coming out my ears.

Since President Obama's stance on on gay marriage "evolved" (I prefer the word "exposed"), my heart and spirit have been in knots. I am BURDENED for our country. I am BURDENED for my children. I am SAD to watch the decline of morality.  Marriage is a picture of Jesus Christ and His BRIDE. It is one of the great MYSTERIES of the Bible! Jesus and His Bride! 
 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—  for we are members of his body.  “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  This is a profound MYSTERY—but I am talking about Christ and the church."
Eph 5
Who do you think wants to twist and distort that picture so that man cannot see His Savior? The enemy is a COUNTERFEITER! He counterfeits the real thing making is twisted and evil in order to destroy. Marriage is a NEON GOSPEL SIGN to the world. Who do you think wants that message stopped? I believe marriage is one of the greatest weapons against the enemy. He HATES marriage and will do all in his power to destroy it so that men cannot see Jesus.


Yes, there are many verses clearly stating homosexuality as a sin. It is sin. You can re-interpret Scripture all day long and there is no way you can get around that... UNLESS YOU CHOOSE TO NOT BELIEVE IT. It is sin. 

"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." Heb 13:4

Not only does it plainly call it sin, Romans 1 also says it is sin to APPROVE of it..

 "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;  they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."



Now, homosexuality isn't the only sin listed in Romans 1. We all need to tremble over OUR OWN sin. Judgement begins with YOU and with the house of God. We all have bents toward sin that we have to gain victory over. We are all tainted with sin. We ALL, like sheep, have wandered away from God and gone our own way. But, our loving Shepherd seeks us out to bring us into safety. Jesus preached REPENTANCE. We don't want to be the man who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself immediately forgets what he looks like! We have to get the planks out of our own eyes and after that YES, GO GET THE SPECK OUT OF THE OTHER PERSON'S EYE. People either are too overwhelmed by their own plank that they don't remove it or try to remove specks with it in. Remove your plank so you can see clearly and then you are TO GO AND remove specks! 
 "first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matt 7:5

That means turn from sin. He has given you the power to do it. You CAN turn from ALL sin. Titus 2 says Christ has set us free from ALL wickedness. ALL. ALL. ALL. You are no longer a slave to sin... whatever the sin is that has you bound.


I have been watching people's reactions on facebook (in shock). This issue and abortion truly do expose hearts quickly.  People who have not embraced the Word of God have no compass other than their feelings. Evil is called good and good is called evil.
"What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter." Isaiah 5:20


I don't know that I have EVER been more thankful for the Word of God to be my lamp in the darkness because it is getting DARK.  Without the Word, people will simply do what is right in their eyes.
"all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." Judges 17:6
And as the heart of man grows more and more wicked, what is right in their eyes also grows more and more wicked.


The most commonly used Scripture in the Bible used by non-Christians is 
"Do not judge" and then they go into a rant about how we are not allowed to judge. Well, lets see what the Bible says.. 
It does say "Do not judge". We are not to judge people but we sure can judge THINGS and ACTIONS!! God has given us His Word to be our guide.


"The spiritual man makes judgments about ALL THINGS",1 Cor 2:15 


"Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the THINGS of this life!"


 1 Cor 6:3

It is crazy to say, "Do not judge". What if someone came and kidnapped and murdered your child? Could I 

say to you, "Don't judge them! That is the way they were created?" Well, it is true. They 

were created that "way". In a sense, we all were.

"For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard."
Romans 3:23

No way you would say that! 


We judge things every day. Every person judges. People just don't like having their 

sin exposed and having light shone in on their darkness because they love the darkness.

It talks about this right after John 3:16

"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."



Things are happening SO FAST. The red carpet is being rolled out for the return of Christ.  Sometimes I mourn that I wasn't born into the 50s when morality was the norm instead of immorality. But, I have been very convicted about that lately because Acts 17 says that God CHOSE the exact time and place for me to be born AND the exact time and place for my children to be born...
"and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live." Acts 17:26

So, if God chose 1976 as the exact time for me to be born, then He placed me RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW for a reason. He chose RIGHT NOW for my children to be here. So that we can know Him and serve Him. The boys and I pray daily that our family would shine like stars in the universe as we hold out THE WORD of LIFE. 
 "Do everything without complaining or arguing,  so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—" Phil 2

The Word says that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
"We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one." 1 John 5:19
He is the prince of this world (for now)...
"Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out."
"because the prince of this world now stands condemned."
He gained temporary control when Adam and Eve chose sin over God. We give him more control in our lives now when we choose sin over God. The enemy is going to do as much damage as possible because he knows his control is temporary. He knows the Jesus secured a way for every human to receive eternal life on the cross. All they have to do is cry out to Jesus for forgiveness. How much easier could he have made it? No rules. No check list. Just BELIEF. Jesus paid it ALL. 
So, as believers, how do we live? God chose YOU to live in this crooked and depraved generation too. He wants to use you to share the gospel. To know His Word and to share it. The enemy is a great intimidator. He loves to gloat and intimidate in order to paralyze us. He wants to distract us. He wants us to be so fearful that we lock our doors and hide in our closets.
Last night after the baseball game, Reece said, "Momma. There was a runner on second base when I was playing short stop that came going.... "Hey! Pssssst. Hey!". He said, "I finally looked at him and he said, "I like your shoes". I said, "Reece, he was just trying to DISTRACT you so you wouldn't be ready when the ball is hit to you.
IGNORE HIM!".
That is what the enemy does to us... "Hey! Psssssst. Hey! Psssst." In order to get us OUT OF THE GAME so that we aren't alert.
Listen to what Jesus said...
"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." John 17:15
That is another prayer I pray for my children. That God would protect them by the power of His Name.
 "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--" John 17:11
Child of God, DON'T SHRINK BACK. Jesus is coming!
"For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and WILL NOT DELAY...But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." Heb 10:39
Time is running out.
We are living in the "days of Noah". I believe it with all my heart.
"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."Matt 24:37
The Ark is complete. The door is open. All are invited. But, God will close the door and there will no longer be opportunity to escape the coming wrath.
"A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD closed the door behind them." Gen 7:16
Isn't it cool that Jesus said "I am THE DOOR."?
He is the way out. You still have time to escape.
That door will be closed.
Judgement is coming. 
Believer, God has chosen you FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS. He knew the exact place to put you and He has given you every weapon you need. Do not shrink back! Do not be distracted by the tactics of our enemy. He stands condemned. Now,
 GO and shine your light! Your light will shine SO bright as you hold out God's Word. 
I have so much more that I want to write but I am busy raising up the next generation of the Church so I have to run without spell-checking or finishing all my thoughts. I pray you are ENCOURAGED that God has considered you one of his BEST Soldiers to place you in these last battles. FIGHT. STAND FIRM. GO. PREACH. STUDY TO BE APPROVED. SERVE. TEACH. STAND. STAND. And after you are done standing, STAND.
Much love and be blessed~
Steph


“On Tuesday my state of North Carolina became the 31st state to approve a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. While the move to pass amendments defining marriage is relatively new, the definition of marriage is 8,000 years old and was defined not by man, but by God Himself.

In changing his position from that of Senator/candidate Obama, President Obama has, in my view, shaken his fist at the same God who created and defined marriage. It grieves me that our president would now affirm same-sex marriage, though I believe it grieves God even more.

The institution of marriage should not be defined by presidents or polls, governors or the media. The definition was set long ago and changing legislation or policy will never change God’s definition. This is a sad day for America. May God help us.”

Franklin Graham

ps Don't attack me through anonymous comments and messages. I won't post them or read them so you are wasting your time.
I know you "like my shoes". :) But I have a game to play.
Jesus loves you. I hope you will respond to His great love and get on the Ark before the door is shut.



17 comments:

Unknown said...

An Amen is due!!!!
You are correct it's all in the Bible if they continue to sin, they aren't listening to the Bible. We are headed in the WRONG direction as a country!!

Jubilee said...

I agree with you 100%. I'm horrified how few of my peers and fellow christians disagree with me. Sin is sin. We are all born with our own "bent" or our own inclinations to sin. It doesn't make any of us or any of our struggles with sin "OK".
Thanks for posting this.

laura said...

Thank you SO much! I was bothered very much by some comments on Facebook from so-called Christians about not judging... I hope you don't mind if I share the link to this on Facebook!

mary anne said...

Excellent post Stephanie. I take comfort in knowing that God will judge this man better and more thoroughly than i ever could. I had to endure the traffic yesterday and possibly today because I live in the same area where his fundraising took place. Soooo sad that this city, LosT Angeles is so lost and deceived...

Love Being A Nonny said...

Amen.

Erin Southwell said...

I love you so much, Stephanie. I needed to read this so much tonight!! Shine on Supernova!!!!!

P.S. The distraction tactic reminds me of a greeting card I saw in the grocery store several months ago. Two dinosaurs standing on a rock looking out at Noah's Ark sailing away and one says to other, "Oh shoot, was that today?"

Erin Southwell said...

Came back to say that when I was growing up I wasn't allowed to watch Dirty Dancing because it was rated PG-13. Yesterday I was flipping through the tv channels and it was on ABC FAMILY during prime time! Unedited. Seriously!

Anonymous said...

Love, love, love your post! Amen Sister!

-Teresa

holly ann metcalf said...

Can I get an amen praise God.

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

am amazing post....I needed those words...Have been so sad to hear Obamas words

Katie said...

Well written sister!!

Abby Davis said...

BEAUTIFUL post, Steph!! Well done : )

Tiffany said...

Couldn't agree more and really appreciate Franklin Graham's statement on this issue. It breaks my heart and is rather terrifying that so many "Christians" are all for gay marriage and are defending the president's decision after a series of lies, omissions and "evolving" on the issue. God warns of people turning away from His Word in the last days. May those of us who love and fear Him stand firm and be courageous even under attack. May we not wave the "Christian flag" but live as though we do not know Him. 2nd Timothy 3:2-5

HIS Child said...

I love you Steph, your heart is motivated to speak HIS TRUTH!
Matt & I were not suprised by the change is his stance. If you have watched him at all you see the degradation in action and deed.
May the Lord continue to bless and keep his family indivisible through His Word and His Truth.
Until HE shouts,
Celeste

Anonymous said...

Amen! Well said!

Anonymous said...

truth.

and the truth sets free.

Alyssa

Emily Copoer said...

Steph, I am just now catching up on your blog posts and wow! how I needed to read this as I have been saddened and discouraged by so many of my fb friends that agree with gay marriage. You start thinking am I the only one that is against this?!? thank you for your boldness and speaking the truth! Emily
P.S. so glad you guys are feeling better and praying it continues!! that crew is a doll!! i can't wait to see him in person!