The Kingdom of God

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.                                                                                                Romans 14:17-18

So much of human life is focused on the things we and those around us do. Our current culture is food and works obsessed, like it was in ancient Rome. This was magnified for me as I tried to unravel our family's medical mysteries. When you begin talking to people about disease or sickness, ancient advice rolls out:

            "It's the food today. We're all being poisoned!"

                    "You need to switch your eating habits and go sugar free/paleo/gluten-free."

                            "Use these herbs and do yoga."

                                    "This isn't God's way, it must be spiritual warfare."

Trust me, I've heard it all and tried many things. Do you know what worked?

Medicine.

Medicine and scientific information has greatly helped me. In fact, God led me step by step to the doctors who've helped me feel better.

In Romans 14, the apostle Paul is writing to the Romans about judging one another's eating habits. The Roman Christians were judging one another over what they ate or didn't eat. They argued about what days they were or were not celebrating, and because of this, some were putting unnecessary obstacles in the paths of their brother and sister's faith walk.

He tells them, the kingdom of God isn't about eating or drinking. It's not about what we put into our mouths. God is the only one we have to answer to and his kingdom is about...
                      Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

He also says this, "So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves." (v 22)

What amazing advice for us modern people. God is our leader and he will show us the way - the way each of us should go on our own faith walk. Ask Him to guide you today.

                                                                                     He is faithful and wonderful!

Joy

The joy of the Lord is a strange, and yet wonderful thing.

Have you ever been in one of those situations that seems hopeless? Where if you looked at your life from the perspective of an outsider, you could think of nothing good to say? I'm in just such a place. If one of my friends was experiencing the crap and continual crisis I'm dealing with, I'd say, "Girl, I've got no help to offer. Only God can fix this one."

It's a good thing I'm looking at it from Jesus' perspective. It must be his perspective, because I am filled with joy. Unexplainable, inexplicable joy! At least for right now, and since right now is all any of us can count on, I'll happily take it.

The "Joy of The Lord" is a gift from God. Ignatius of Loyola called these gifts "consolations" and described them as follows: "I call it consolation when an interior movement is aroused in the soul, by which it is inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord...I call consolation every increase in faith, hope and love, and all interior joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly and to the salvtion of one's soul by filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord."

Our God is the God of peace and quiet and it's because of Him that even though I'm in crisis, I can say, "It is well with my soul."

I hope your soul is well and that Christ will give you His consolations today!

               The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
                   because the LORD has anointed me
                   to preach good news to the poor.
               He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
                   to proclaim freedom for the captives
                   and release from darkness for the prisoners,
               to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
                   and the day of vengeance of our God,
               to comfort all who mourn,
                   and to provide for those who grieve in Zion -
               to bestow on them a crown of beauty
                   instead of ashes,
               the oil of gladness
                  instead of mourning,
               and a garment of praise
                   instead of a spirit of despair.
               They will be called oaks of righteousness,
                   a planting of the LORD
                   for the display of his spendor.
                              Isaiah 61:1-3
                                  

Massacre

The other day I took my kids to see The Amazing Spiderman at our local movie theater. It was a good film packed with action and a weak moral message about responsibility vs. violence for the sake of revenge.

The previews leading up to this movie however, were packed with violence.

                LOADED with it.

Images of weapons, destruction, blood and vengeance assaulted us, along with the noise of explosions and "light" expletive. It was all very glamorous.

As I watch the aftermath of the Colorado movie massacre this morning I think, this was inevitable.
Do we really think if we allow Hollywood and the media to assault our minds with this stuff, that it's not going to play out in real life?

My kids laugh at me for being overprotective. For keeping them in the dark and not exposing them to sex and violence in their early years. They laugh at me and are embarrassed because they didn't realize there was anything other than The Disney Channel and Disney Radio up until 6th grade.

Now they're fully exposed to "The Real World" (and boy are we dealing with the terror of living in that.) How do I explain to my children that there are "safe places" when not even our schools and movie theaters are safe anymore?

    Sorry kids, it's back to sanitized children's channels for you! Except no, wait. That's not even safe anymore.

Last week I saw a show called "My Babysitter's A Vampire" on The Disney Channel. It's about ordinary teenagers whose parents unwittingly hired a vampire for a babysitter. She's good but there are bad ones and she and her mortal charges fight against them. In this recent episode, the bad ones waited for the premiere of a new vampire movie. They dressed in costume as - you guessed it - vampires, as did many of the audience members. Then they locked the theater doors and got up front in their costumes and taunted the movie goers before they attacked them, killed them and sucked out their souls. Later, the good guys were able to resurrect their souls and they were left with a bad headache.

The series' original slogan was:  No Parents. No Rules. No Pulse.

We need to wake up, start training our children in the ways of good and not breed a generation of people desensitized to violence (and bad tv). We need to take a stand for God and for good and not create our own homegrown terrorists, because that's exactly what we're doing.

Peace begins in the heart and in the home.

"O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure." Psalm 7:9

Heavenly Father, I pray for the many families victimized by the Colorado movie massacre. Send them your peace. Send them people of peace to be with them during their time of grief. Help us in our own grief Lord, and give us the strength to stand and fight for the generation of people behind us. Amen.