The Destruction of Acceptance

Hebrews 13:8 - "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

It seems that the world is becoming more and more accepting of sin everyday; abortion, homosexual relations, premarital sex, divorce, and so much more. The luxuries of sin urges us to want to accept more and more sin in the world. Society wants to live in their evil ways, therefore, they want to change what the Bible and God says, so that they can continue to live the way they want. The lack of acceptance that Christians have is being raised as a problem, when in reality, the issue is that society is accepting sin, and going against God. 

Revelation 22:18- "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.

Revelation 22:19 - "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book."

God clearly states in the Bible that we are not to take away from the Bible, nor are we to add to the Bible. This means that whatever the Bible states is what stays. It's not a matter of acceptance or no acceptance, it's a matter of whether or not one chooses to follow what the Bible says or not. Christians are not being "mean" by not being accepting of others' sins, they are following God. God is also not being "old fashioned" for not being accepting, people are simply becoming accustomed to living against God. 

It is becoming seen as a good thing for people to be "accepting." People don't take the time to see that they are sinning by doing this. If we want to follow God, we can't accept everyone's sins. Instead of accepting peoples' sins, we need to tell these people about God, and the salvation that they can receive if they are willing to give up sin. Not accepting others' sins does not mean that we are to treat them badly, but it means that we care for them enough to tell them that they are sinning against God, and giving them the opportunity to see God for who He truly is. 

We as Christians need to stand up for what God has given us to live by. It doesn't matter how many years passes, the Bible will still hold true. We can't make God who we want Him to be. If we are to change the image of God to hold the characteristics that we want Him to possess, that is taking away from who God is. Just like He loves us, we need to love Him enough to abide by His word. We have to use what God has given us, not change it. 

Today is the Day to Change Your Life

2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

When God saves us, we are made new, but we have to be willing to give our hearts to God, and this doesn't always happen instantly. When I got saved, I kept a lot of my bad habits, even though I knew that they were wrong; I wasn't strong enough at the time to give them up. As time went on, the guilt kept building and building inside of me because I knew that I was sinning against God. I am now at the point that the burden is becoming too much to bear, which is why I have decided to make some drastic changes. 

Throughout my life, I have made many mistakes; the biggest one for me is how I have shut my heart off to love. Even after becoming saved, I did this, which is incredibly wrong of me to do. I haven't loved my family like they have loved me. I haven't said 'I love you' like I should, or said 'thank you' like I should, but I have decided to change that today. No longer am I going to let love feel like a weakness to me, because it's not, it's the greatest strength that we could ever have. Today is the day that I'm going to devote to having a more loving heart, and to express that love better than I ever have before.

I want to be held to this commitment that I am making today, which is why I am posting it in a blog post. I want others to see that I am making a devotion to God, and it should be kept no matter what. I want to be held accountable for what I do. It's about time that I take this leap of faith, and I hope that others will not wait like I did, and change their life today. 

A New Name

After the resurrection of Jesus, Saul, a Pharisee in Jerusalem, vowed to rid the city of all of the Christian Church. The high priest gave him orders to arrest all the Christians that he found. One day on the Damascus Road, a bright, blinding light came from the heavens. A voice came about him as Saul felt to the ground saying, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Saul replied, "Who art thou, Lord?" and the Lord spoke saying, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." Saul was terrified and asked of the Lord what he would have him to do. The Lord told Saul to go into the city, and his will would be shown unto him. Saul had been blinded by the light, so the men that were with him led him into the city of Damascus. He was blind for three days and he did not eat or drink.

A disciple in Damascus named Ananias was called upon by the Lord in a vision and he said, "Behold, here I am, Lord." The Lord told him to go into the street, which is called Straight, and to go to the house of Judas in search of a man, Saul. Ananias was concerned because he had heard of the great evil that Saul had committed, but the Lord told him to go because Saul had been chosen of Him. Ananias went and put his hands on Saul and prayed unto the Lord that He would give Saul back his sight and that he would be filled with the Holy Ghost, and it was so. After Saul received his sight back, he was baptized and fed.

The city was very shocked to hear of the baptizing of Saul because he had destroyed so many in Jerusalem. Saul tried to tell the Jews that it was Christ' work, but after some days, the Jews decided to kill Saul. The disciples took him one night, and entered into Jerusalem. Barnabas took Saul and saw that he had indeed heard from the Lord.

After some time of doing the Lord's work along with Barnabas, Saul's name was changed to Paul because of the change he had made.

The story of Paul shows us that the Lord can change anyone's life. When he was Saul, he was an awful man that persecuted those that followed the Lord. He hated everything of God, and he wanted to get rid of all those that praised Him. Though, God was merciful and He allowed Saul a way to come to Him. He used a great disciple of God, Ananias, to do His work. Even though Saul had worked against God, God saw a bigger plan for him. God allowed him to receive the greatest gift, which is receiving God into his heart, and He allowed him to do His work. God took Saul out of his wicked ways and placed him into a great position of God. Due to these great changes, God blessed him with a new name, Paul.

The Lord can take the most wicked man out of darkness and bring him into light. Nothing is too big for God. God can use men of God, a blinding light, or anything else to show people that they need the Lord. From a different perspective, those that are followers of God needs to keep their hearts open to God because they might be the one that God calls on to help bring someone out of darkness. It's never too late to receive a new name. If the Lord is calling for you, answer His call, and he will make you anew. If the Lord is calling unto you to help someone else, answer His call, and he will bless you for it. God has His own ways of leading people to the Lord, and we must all keep our hearts open, so that can be the blessed one that is called upon to do His work.