So

 

I go to the Doctor the other day for my ear infection and I'm sitting there and there's a Gideon's Bible on the table and of course I cant help but pick it up and start looking through it.

I turn to the first page and here is the list:

and I am immediately drawn to Warning in time of INDEFERENCE. Some of the others were calling out to me to but that one was by far the subject I was most drawn to.

Galatians 5:19-21

King James Version

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

I went with the King James version on purpose and I'll provide the definitions of some of the wording that we may not be so familiar with today:

fornication:

sexual intercourse between people not married to each other.

lasciviousness:

filled with or showing sexual desire : lewd, lustful lascivious acts/thoughts arrested for lewd and lascivious assault …

Conduct often considered lewd and lascivious acts includes:

groping,

indecent exposure of genitalia,

sexually touching someone else,

getting someone else to sexually touch the defendant, or.

convincing or forcing others to touch each other in a sexual manner.

What does variance mean in Bible?

discord, strife, conflict, contention, dissension, variance mean a state or condition marked by a lack of agreement or harmony.

What does the Bible mean by emulations?

1 : ambition or endeavor to equal or excel others (as in achievement)

Sedition

se·di·tion

/səˈdiSH(ə)n/

noun

plural noun: seditions

Conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.

 Heresies

Belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious (especially Christian) doctrine.

Revellings

The last sin mentioned by name in Galatians 5:19-21 is revellings, translated from the Greek word komos. This word refers to drinking parties that extended late into the night usually ending in sexual debauchery.

Have I been guilty of some or all of that in the past? You betcha I have. It's one thing to continue to do it, its quite another to turn away from it.

Like I was saying...

Hebrews 10:26-31

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I'd be getting my soul ready if I was you...

I went on and read verses 32-39 as they Resonated pretty strongly as well for someone in my unique position these days:

Hebrews 10:32-39

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,

“In just a little while,

    he who is coming will come

    and will not delay.”

And,

“But my righteous one will live by faith.

    And I take no pleasure

    in the one who shrinks back.”

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Posted April 13th 2018:

I will not shrink, 

I will not waver, 

I will not do anything to diminish 

or scale back the task 

thats been put in my lap. 

I will not apologize and I absolutely do not care who I offend or upset for doing what I've been commissioned to do.

People think I'm crazy for living like I'm living. I think they're crazy living with their mortgages and debts up to their eyeballs so what's the difference? I'm crazy? They're crazy? Blah blah blah...

The truth is this.

When you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that's its all true? You wont care so much about the things of this world any more. You just wont. It's like you just cant, cause you know it doesn't mean anything.

"because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions."

We sing it every Sunday when being dismissed from worship:

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in his wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace"

Some of us don't just sing it, we live it, because we know what's waiting for us is so much better than anything we could experience in this realm.

So who's the crazy one really?

Meanwhile I'll be riding to covered bridges waiting for late June to get here :-).

I love you baby.