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LENT DAY 8
From all false doctrine, heresy, and schism….
Good Lord, Deliver Us.
Genesis 1:31(a) (The Message)
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good!
Psalm 8:4-8 (NIV)4
What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?[a ]5 You have made them[b] a little lower than the angels[c] and crowned them[d] with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their[e] feet…
John 3:16 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16-18 (The Message)
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
Recently, I listened to a podcast of a woman bashing Christianity and how it de-valued people. She complained that she was raised in a church where she was constantly told how sinful she was, how there was nothing good in her and was constantly guilted into being terrified that God was out to get her. Her hostility toward God was now seething and as she read scripture, all she could see was an angry, uncaring God. I wished I could tell her that I did not believe in the God she did not believe in either.
I think we need to read some scripture today to remind us where we came from, and where we are going. God’s word is the best shield against false doctrine, heresy and schism (division). I spent most of last week bashing our sinfulness and rebellion against God. I am not however bashing God’s creation; for He made us to be good, very good. We are wonderfully put together, and He loves us so, so much. Our value to Him is immeasurable. If God carried a wallet, your picture would be there. He thinks of you all the time. You were created with love and designed to be loved by God. God stands against your rebellion and its consequences, not you, nor me.
God is in love with us and has been since before Genesis. However, we are often confronted by false beliefs, false doctrines, heresies and divisions that directly challenge the truths in the passages above. We know how people twist scripture to fit their own selfish agendas. Heresies have given rise to racism, prosperity theology, legalism, the worship of Mary, and most recently Q-ANON. You can name dozens more. False doctrines isolate us, divide us and destroy us, resulting in a world that can’t see Jesus for all the garbage and lies we pile up in front of the truth.
How do you confront this ? First, commit yourself totally to the truth, commit yourself to have a real and deep faith, sealed with a personal relationship with the Living Lord Jesus. Next, study the character of Jesus and you will understand the character of God. (Colossians 1:15) Faith is not the adherence to a doctrine or denomination, a culture or your personal creed. It is not American, it is not red, it is not blue. It is not Protestant, nor Catholic, Apostolic or Orthodox, it is about knowing Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Lastly, test all “truths”, all doctrine, all teaching against His love and His character – if they don’t fit – they are not true.
Faith is about opening the door of your soul and letting Jesus in. Be all in. Do not live a divided life. You cannot be the person who reads their morning devotions and follows up with reading their horoscope. You cannot be the person who claims Jesus as Savior and Lord but who worships your political positions, or national pride. God paid the price for all of you, not just the parts you want Him to have. Be His and be free.
Good Lord, deliver us.
Peace. Phil Parsons
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From Rodger:
Just a few little tidbits to add in to what Phil says. Think of this today perhaps as “flavoring.”
- Re the woman on the podcast. Phil is right: if only we could find ways to help people who have been so harmed and hurt by religion! It’s really not her fault – Luke 17: 1 – 2 17 Jesus[a] said to his disciples, “Occasions for sin[b] are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come! 2 It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to sin. (This prompts me to work on a post about an incredibly talented artist I got to know online some years ago – she shared the utterly horrible trauma of being brought up in a strict Jehovah’s Witness family, and the scars she still carries when she left that abusive environment, including the knowledge of the “religious funeral” they held for her that led to none of her family every speaking to her again.)
- Phil said “God made us to be good, very good.”s So true: Remember that on the 6th day of creation – the day God got around to creating us – The writer of that particular creation story in Genesis (I think this is the “P” or Priestly source., whereas the 2nd creation version in chapter 2 is the “J” or (Yahwist) source) did not say “Behold it was good” like on the other days. On this day, it’s 31 God looked at what he had done. All of it was VERY GOOD (my emphasis)! Evening came, then morning—that was the sixth day.
- “We are wonderfully put together.” Psalm 139 is actually more clear than a lot of people give it credit for: ” 13 You are the one who put me together inside my mother’s body, 14 and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt.” (Every time I encounter a raging homophobic person ranting and raving about how gay people are “broken” or “distorted” or whatever negative they choose to use – I ask them that, if they truly believe what they are saying, then do they know who to blame for that person being the way they are? Hint: It ain’t mama, daddy, any woke “groomer” or bad toilet training: At the root of it all, blame God, since God is the one who created them that way.
- And finally: Phil “goes there” today – sort of. He mentions Q-anon, and everyone should take the hint that sooner or later – if we are going to be honest with ourselves and with the way we experience and struggle with Cranmer’s Great Litany – it’s gonna get political. We might as well deal with that now. Some of the prophetic language in Scripture – and in the Great Litany – deals with the reality of our nation, where we are, where we’ve come from, and where we might be going. Isn’t that what Lent is all about? An HONEST and deliberate examination and reflection on our brokenness and need for Jesus.
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Buckle up Dorothy: “Cause Kansas is going bye bye.”