Don't Let Others DefineYou!

Most of the great men and women of the bible weren't flawless people. Paul is such a great example to study. Prior to his real conversion to Jesus Christ, was heavily involved in religion. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews and had all the right credentials of the culture to be a religious heavy weight. He enforced religious law and persecuted people who did not practice the law and he was ruthless. Yet one day on the road to Damascus he had an encounter with the risen Christ in a vision and his whole life changed..

He had allowed the religion of the culture define him, but somewhere in his heart of hearts he thought he was doing it for God. His education and prestige meant nothing in comparison to who he was to become.

Acts 9:4And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

When he heard the voice of Jesus, I think it is interesting that Paul responded to to Jesus's question by saying "Who art thou LORD?" and further along in the conversion he asked,"LORD, what would you have me to do?"

When Jesus used the phrase, "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks", he was was using and illustration of the goad that farmers used to keep their animals in line when plowing the fields. The goad wad a stick with a pointed piece of iron on the end of it. The farmer used it to poke an animal in the right direction. When the animal kicked or rebelled against the goad it drove the metal piece into the flesh of the animal. This how evil works.

When a person rebells against God, life gets harder and harder because that person has decided to live without God. The world is full of hardship and problems because of the evil influence that exists since Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve chose to follow another voice in the garden of Eden.

God allows freedom of choice. Man can choose good or evil. Paul had a lot he could feel guilty for. Once Jesus Christ entered the scene he was pulled up and out of the quicksand and was redeemed. His past life could no longer define him. He had something that could really help people. He wrote some of the most important books of the Bible explaining the reality of having Jesus Christ as his Lord.

God wanted Paul to move forward from his past. Evidently God knew his heart and knew he would be the one he wanted to explain grace. When the Christians of that time saw the big change in Paul and heard him teach, they knew something big had happened in his life. He made Jesus Christ his Lord and understood the meaning of the the resurrection of Christ. He tossed aside his great credentials and religious authority as a law-abiding Hebrew to become a new Paul defined by God.  

Strength in the Challenges of the Times

 The most recent election in Virginia proved that something very important is going on in this country.  The election wasn't really about Republicans or Democrats. The real heroes of this election are parents who regardless of their political affiliation or lack there of made their voices known with a righteousness that reverberated across the country. Parents are responsible of their children! The government has no right to determine what is right curriculum for children.  Developing curriculum is an educator's job but it's has its boundaries. Teachers should be aware of what their boundaries are. Teachers are not to force students to accept their ideologies. 

God expects both father and mother to teach their children how to live a godly life and encourages children to listen to them:

My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Proverbs 1:8

6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.Ephesians 6:1-3

Raising children is especially difficult today in light of the culture we live in.  Anti-God  propaganda  pops up in school curriculum, throughout media programs, and TV shows. How often do TV shows display virtue and morality or give us the answers we need in life.  No entity or  person should take the place of a God-respecting parent who loves God in teaching their children. Sadly  friends or relatives may even disagree. The individual family unit is bombarded with well-meaning advice from many directions.

It is pure joy to see parents standing up and declaring their rights, because they are God-given rights. There is a very strong group in the state I live in and these people may be just what the state has needed for a long long time. One candidate for governor is standing up for parent rights and individual freedoms.  The existing governor just repealed a bill making it ok for minors to keep their parents in the dark about an impending abortion. Such legislation is so wrong on so many levels. It hurts children, disrespects parental care rights, and displays the hubris of government officials who think this is the right thing to do.

It is so great to me that God makes the gift of holy spirit available to every believer in the New Testament era we live in.  In the Old Testament, spirit was give to certain men and women who led God's people. During this wonderful age of grace, men, women, children, dads, moms and people in all walks of life have the ability to hear from God about whatever the situation they are presented with. The whole purpose of God sending his son was to destroy the works of the adversary.The holy spirit is our connection to both God and his son and each other to continue this purpose!