2 posts tagged “happy thursday”
I don't know if former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean
is a believer but this I do know, if you go against the world values
you better have all of your ducks in a row. One thing I have learned in
today's news is that every rock will be turned over when you are in the
public eye so it's best to come clean about everything if you want that
lifestyle. Did she not think about the topless photo of her would not
come to light? Did she not think that it would not come out that
confirm that they[Miss California pageant officials] paid for Prejean’s
breast-enhancement surgery? Should that make a difference? In the
world's eyes "No." But if you are Follower of Christ..."Yes".
We are not perfect(Followers of Jesus Christ)...never have been...never will be. Heck I know I will make mistakes sometimes today because we all have a fallen nature but what disturbs me are two factors that are growing more and more.
The first is the fact that our youth don't think twice about their actions. When i was coming up if you screwed up you could move to another town or if you have said something that you later regret it would take ions for it to catch up with you...not today. You can take a racy photo in the morning and within a day or two it can be plastered over the web. We can be photographed by cell phones (I myself have began taking pictures of landscapes with my BlackBerry and I have to admit, the photos are not bad). I can't really blame the youth or get angry at them because it is up to the parents to instill in them value. It's up to them(parents) to tell them that your decisions, your actions today...especially in this technology world can cost you big time down the road.
They have watched too many high profile people in the world, whether it has been a sports announcer (remember the incident with Marv Albert), with Robert Downey Jr. and his in and out of rehab, with Kobe Bryant incident in Colorado and after a while it is all but forgotten. Let's not forget about business corruptions, I mean people listen to former Governor Eliot Spitzer, Mark Fuhrman and others who worked in law enforcement and have manipulated the law and now are listened to by thousands or even millions of people in regards to their views and judgements of others and not blink tells me that if parents do not instill in them moral values it's going to get worse before it gets better.
The second thing that really disturbs me are Christians. Me being a believer myself I heard something Dr. Charles Stanley say a couple of years ago and I try to follow this principle:
it's a difference between "a Follower of Jesus Christ" and a "Christian"
I am so amazed how many people say they are a Christian and continue to believe in things that the Bible surely teaches against: from having children out of wedlock, to homosexuality, living together and not married but can come out and put someone else on "Full Blast" From Governor Sarah Palin to Dr. James Dobson...it amazes me that many who are believers in God and yet can look over their faults and their family faults and make comments about others. It amazes me how the Christian community can circle the wagons around former Miss California and not really find out about her past. Should the church hold that against her...No.
But in the world this is why many people do not come to Christ because we beat people down but at the same time we don't live by Christ teachings. She [Carrie Prejean] could have a stronger leg to stand on if she did not have skeletons in her closet. I don't care for Perez Hilton but don't give him ammunition to take you down and that is what happened to her What really makes me nervous is that the "Christian" community will get behind her and brush over the fact of the mistakes she has made and not hold her accountable for her actions. I'm afraid my Brothers and Sisters in Christ will claim she was attacked because of her beliefs but I ask, what is her beliefs? They will try to brush over the fact that she posed topless and say, "she didn't know any better because of her age (she says she was 17 at the time of the photos) they will brush over the fact of her breast enlargement when Christ teaches us that our body is our temple and a "pimp my body" type of deal.
I hope I'm wrong and this post will be another, "rant' but I have a strong feeling I may not be wrong...we will see.
for previous devotions and my reflections on life visit my site, theologyntechnology
Life’s Storm-Tossed Sea>>>more
devotion from rbc ministries
Do you worry? Do I worry? Yes I do God's know our heart so their is no need of me putting on a front. Do I worry as much a I used to...no. This is because the more you lean on, just in and live by God's principles and commands you sleep much better.
When I used to live outside the will of God I found myself living by the way I wanted to live, spending money knowing that money was needed elsewhere, saying things I know I would live to regret or making promises I know I could not keep. Giving things away I know that I would need down the road. Then would get upset with God because He did not come through for me. Pleading for a miracle when knowing deep down it would not come to pass because of the way I was living. I hit rock bottom in latter part of 1997. I was living with a woman I was not married to and I knew she and i fell out of love with one another. I knew deep down she wasn't the one for me and I wasn't the man for her but wasn't man enough to tell her. We dated off and on for 7 years, living together off and on but we both knew it wasn't going anywhere. I was afraid of being alone, I was behind close to 3 months in the rent(I was trying to take care of everything on the meager salary I had, trying to be a man but was a scared little boy inside) and everything was spinning out of control.
I told her I didn't want to marry her because I knew I wasn't the man for her and she wasn't the woman for me. She was furious because she felt I wasted her time(and by right I did...we broke up, we made up, we broke up...that should have been a hint to me, right?). She moved out and I was stuck with everything. The meager job I had I just lost, the car I had...repossessed, me and mother was and never have had a great relationship and I was determined not to move back home to Madison, Illinois because it was more depressing there and I fought so hard to get away from there. Was I worried, every night and day.
But then I cried out to God...not for a miracle, this time it was different. I was tired of living the way I was living. I remember praying to God, "If I find someone good, if I don't, that's okay as well. I know I'm not living right and I'm tired of trying to do things my way. I'm tired of running and going around in circles". A big weight was lifted from me that night. Did someone with a big check come and wipe out my back rent and give me a brand new car? That would be great wouldn't it but no it did not happen that way.
I called my landlord(I prayed before I spoke with him) asked Him could he work with me. Told him my situation and God had mercy upon me because he had every right to evict me from his property but God touched his heart to give me a chance to work through this ordeal I put myself in...yes I put myself in because I could not blame no one but myself.
I applied for a hotel job in December of 1997, received a call from the hotel in early January 1998 letting me know I was hired( I had the 3rd shift). I caught the bus but God shined down upon me again because the bus dropped me off in front of the hotel where I worked so I only had to catch one bus...left that job in a month to work as a contracted security guard at a large company, worked there for two years where I met my wife (a year and a half later we married). She had been there around the same time but we never noticed one another. I was living one day at a time. Some days were good, some were bad but one thing was different, I worried less because this time I was in partnership with my Lord and Savior. Did I slip up from time to time...yes because I'm human but God had my back so the bouncing back was much quicker for me because I was learning from my mistakes.
I'm been married for 6 years now and there are rough patches we go through from time to time but this time I am better prepared, a much better communicator, and much stronger in the Lord. I know that by doing His will, being in covenant with Him because He will not do everything for me because God is not my bellhop. I try to live according to His Word each and everyday. I sleep better now, because I know with Him, I would not be here sharing this with you today. This is my way of sharing how God has turned things around in my life and how He can change your life as well. One thing I come to realize, the same way I dug myself in that "hole" is the same way I got out that hole...one day at a time and by allowing God to lead and direct my steps and I had a inner peace I can not describe.
Be Blessed, Be Safe, & Have a Great Productive Day.
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