“By this, the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son in to the world so that we might live through Him.” –1 John 4: 9
I read a truly awful news story this morning on the sex trafficking of young children. We all know it goes on but it’s always shocking to me to hear the stories. Just horrific stuff as you can imagine, of how sick and twisted minds indulge in their most deviant fantasies with the click of a mouse.
Shortly after that I went to my little neighborhood church where the pastor gave an inspiring message on why Jesus came in to the world. Yes, He came to die on the cross and save us from sin, bring light, preach the gospel, etc…but He was sent do this by God the Father and Jesus’s purpose was to glorify Him through obedience. It was this act of perfect obedience by Jesus that allowed God’s will to be done and continues to allow His plan to manifest.
This all got me thinking that so much of what’s wrong in the world is due to lack of boundaries and disobedience; or better yet, people who think such things don’t apply to them. There is evil yes, but it’s only filling up the vacuum left by our decaying cultural values and increasing embrace of moral relevancy, where truth sprouts from whatever makes a person feel good.
Sex perverts ordering children on line like take out food, mass shootings of innocent concert goers. Corrupt politicians daily lying to our faces; even worse is that they know we know they’re lying. A movie industry that thrives on the exploitation of young women now hypocritically eating one of it’s own over sexual assault charges, white supremacists marching in the streets, black supremacists tearing down historical statues, the lunatic college campus Marxists and their violent intolerance, the list goes on.
Chaos reigns in our environment, but that’s merely a topical symptom. It’s the outward showing of warped inner hearts turned dark by denying God and His instructions on how to live.
This is certainly nothing new for God, as His people throughout time have turned their backs on Him only to do an about face when things get rough. It’s happened so much, I often wonder why He hasn’t just pulled the plug on this whole human race experiment.
Yet, sitting there in church today I felt very comforted by the message of Jesus’s obedience, for it speaks to a larger plan unfolding beyond the muck of every day events. Things that we too have roles to play in through our own obedience and purpose.
It can be so easy to get caught up in the negativity and fear our culture thrives on, it can even get addicting and become part of your identity. Instead of participating in the mudslinging however or checking out all together, how about pausing and just asking God if there is anything He wants you to do about it? You might be surprised at the answer.
“The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned”-Matthew 4:16
so spot on Tricia—you’re keying in on “obedience”—that being really the bottom line—we are not obedient to God..and the trickle down effect is devastating….
LikeLiked by 2 people
Trickle down effect, that’s a good way of putting it Julie. Sadly very true!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s deeply concerning how desensitized our society has become…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed it is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😔
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s actually… “Good fences make good neighbors”. From Robert frosts ‘the mending wall’. One of my favorites from my favorite American poet. Try Edward Thomas too
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good post Tricia. If we would only pay attention to Jesus, we would seem the solutions all of the world problems.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Wally. It seems to be an eternal issue with us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well…maybe not eternal, to be picky. Someday all of our imperfections will be erased, and we will finally get it right!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true Wally!
LikeLike
Recovery not going so well is it, Mike? Seems you have fallen off of the recovery wagon. I bet the blog host would appreciate a comment related to the comment of the post, though, instead of being corrected on her title by the Man Who Knows Everything and is glad to correct the World.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi wally. Have a wonderful day
LikeLiked by 2 people
You too preacher LOL.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Will do. Actually did. Thx
LikeLike
Gosh I’ve never heard of that Robert Frost guy and his writing on “good fences” Mike, thanks so much for pointing it out. I shudder to think where we would be without your instruction.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Frost was a great poet. His Road not taken portion was an interesting story on how it came about. Either way I loved the mending wall too. I hope you enjoy it as well
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, Frost is a master writer. Being from New England it was mandatory we started reading him quite young.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Like the porridge in the three bears………….
……………..just right Tricia.
Awesome. Timely. True.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
God is certainly more forgiving than any flawed human. I think he hasn’t “pulled the plug” because his patience and forgiveness is much greater than ours. I don’t believe he views us as a failed experiment. I believe he views us more like a mouse in a maze. The solution already exists; it simply takes different mice different amounts of time to discover the answer. For some, living in the maze within its safe confined boundaries, but limited freedom their entire life becomes their destiny. The biggest difference, however, is the FREEDOM in choosing which type of mouse and result we emulate!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahhh, yes Jonathan, you nailed it. We all have that inner freedom to make good choices and go after the right kind of cheese.
Some days I sure do feel stuck in that maze. It’s a good thing God’s patience and forgiveness is much bigger than ours! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen, Tricia, this was a great post! Sorry I’m late to the party.
One thing I try to do is fight the cultural message that the world is going downhill, to seed, that we’re all falling apart. Under the media onslaught,it’s hard to remember that actually crime is down,people are living longer than ever,and we enjoy a quality of life that the kings and queens of old didn’t even have. It’s complicated because we want Christians to see sex abuse and to care and to act,but we don’t want to rot our souls in the process. In order to genuinely help people,we need to be the bearers of hope,lighthouses on hill. We want people to see what “normal” looks like,especially those kids. So sometimes just standing in the Word,standing in the good news, refusing to let mediated reality define reality for us, is obedience,it is what we are called to do. Hope is a precious commodity and Jesus is the hope of the world,so however we can show that,it’s a good thing.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh such an excellent comment IB, thank you for that. I really like what you say about not letting the rot get to us and refusing to let this bizzarro world reality define us. Jesus hands us the light of hope, the least we can do as actually shine it for others!
Better late to a party than never too…..;)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Forgot to add you are so right about our living standards today being better than what kings and queens had. That is very worth remembering!
LikeLiked by 1 person
For Christians, I’m sure this beautiful post is a message of hope and very reassuring. As a non-religious person, (as you already know), my feeling is that there really is little else we can do that would have any more impact than living a good life and treating others as we would want to be treated. Imagine this world if we all believed in that, Muslim, Christian, Jew, etc. I think maybe the Buddhists are on to something similar to this already.
P.S. Are you doing OK with the fire warnings out there? Don’t forget the acronym “LIVE” that people should be aware of in that region. Hope all is well in that regard.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey Al, I appreciate your comment and yes I know you are not religious which is why appreciate your balancedness even more. Interestingly enough I don’t really consider myself to be religious either, but I do believe in God and Christ.
I know, I sure do wish we all, no matter the belief, would treat others as we would want to be. My own selfishness continues to get in the way of that but I do try and I know you do too!
Where I am at, so far we are good The fires tend to be more inland but you never know. It’s going to be a bad fire year I think. What is the LIVE acronym?
LikeLike
Just read about that the other day. As far as I can recall it stands for L=Leave when you are told to; I=Inform yourself by listen and watch newscasts; V=Value your life more than your possessions and leave the material stuff behind; and E=Evacuate, i.e. don’t spend time hosing down your house until becomes too dangerous to escape. Love it and live it, we don’t want to lose any precious conservatives out there!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I like that, thanks!
LikeLike
A sign that God has not given up on us humans is the rainbow. That is Gods sign.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love rainbows!
LikeLike
It is a very spiritual world for sure. There is alot of good but also alot more evil than you can even comprehend because it is hard for someone of your good character to believe the bad some people can do. There truly are demons as stated in the Bible who possess people so they have no empathy. It is not in the average person’s scope of comprehension to even consider it much less believe it. What Jesus says in Revelation 8-13 is very true and should be heeded by all. As we know, Lucifer is the greatest deceiver of all, and he is able to hide it right in front of our eyes to see. John 8:32 “And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” But you must be open to the truth and abide by what Socrates says “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” Thus, you cannot have any preconceived notions, but understand you must be open to everything as when you walk in the proper ways, God will guide you in the correct direction.
As you know, I am insane which is really sane in an insane world!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes we are insane I think!
LikeLike
Christians are just about the most sane people around. God is the definition of sanity. His followers do their best to view His Creation and each other as He does. It is when we insist upon viewing the world from our own point-of-view we hallucinate, that we imagine that everything is all about us and not about our Creator.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Revelations 3:8-13 is what I mean. I cannot edit it.
LikeLike
I have wondered at times why God has not pulled the plug on us humans. Very fitting and encouraging words at the end. Asking ourselves “what can we do” is so important. We all have an important part to play. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
We do all do indeed have important roles Carl. Thanks for coming by and have a great week! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person