I Choose Life

        Everyone has joined the conversation this week and I thought I had had enough.  I must, though, add my heart thoughts to this matter.  I will try to be brief.  Yes, women should have the right to their bodies.  Women should have freedom of choice.  At what point, though, does freedom of choice cross over the very first freedom, freedom of life?
 
        Some people say that the sperm and egg, the fertilized egg, the embryo, or the fetus are not a person.  I differ with that thought because once the male sperm with 23 chromosomes and the female egg with 23 chromosomes join together in an a cell formation, then that singular entity with 46 chromosomes, just like a born human, is a person.  If you choose to biologically take a fertilized egg apart you will find all the genetic material for a person to be developed into a fetus, a baby, a teenager, an adult and then a senior adult.  All this is the process of life from the point of ffertilization and God declared it as good.  He did create humans in His image.  So at what point of the maturing process of life is abortion not killing a person?

        I think that we cannot take away a woman's freedom of life, in whatever form she wants, without giving her ethically moral options for this human being, this person, should she choose to not to want to parent and train the child maturing through the decades.  What are alternatives to raising this child herself?  Adoption comes to my mind immediately.  There are many adults who want to have children and cannot conceive.  Co-parenting with someone like the grandparents.  This would have to have the permission of all those with whom she would want to coparent.  Asking another member of the family to raise the child as their own.  This also will require the cooperation and permission of the other family member.  By doing this, the plans of the woman can go forward such as high school, college, or career ladder climbing.

       I also think the woman who does become preganant and finds herself in this crisis needs a support system to help her through this 9 month period and help her with making a decision as to what is best for the child and herself.  In the norm from the past and even somewhat now, women are called names and looked down upon for becoming pregnant out of wedlock.  As a Christian, I do not believe a person should sleep with anyone but their spouse.  However, humans are sinful and things do happen.  When a woman finds herself pregnant without desiring to be, that is not a time for ostracizing her or making her feel ashamed.  That is a time when we should come around her to support her and guide her to all options that are available should she not want to raise the child.  The act of sex outside of marriage is wrong, see Leviticus 18, however, it has been done and a human being has come into existence because of it.  the job of others is to support her and help her choose a healthy life for herself and the baby human growing within her.  It is not a time to make her feel guilty.
        There are two humans now who need to be nurtured and protected.  When God had finished creating Adam and Eve, He gave them a charge to take care of all that is on, above, and under the earth.  That includes other human beings.  Also when God made Adam and Eve, He made them in His image.  Nothing else God created was said to be created in His image therefore He put a high value on humans and on His relationship with them.  This is why humans were created, to be in relationship with Himself.  We were also given a commandment by Jesus in the New Testament to love our neighbors as ourselves alongside out love of God.  If you will notice, the ten commandments are based on these two pillars.  The first pillar is about our relationship with God.  The second pillar of 6 commandments is about our relationship with other people.  Therefore, we are to value others as God values all humans, with great care and love.  We are to make sure that even the weakest in society is taken care of and not pushed to the boundary of society and life.  Jesus came to "the least of these." 
       Abortion does not show God's love to "the littlest of these."  Nor does it show God's love when we ostracize the woman who has become pregnant outside of marriage.  Additionally, it does not show God's love and care when we don't help the woman who has chosen life for this little human.  We must be there for all but we must be even more careful to show love to those who would be most likely to be made an outcast.  If we was to make a statement that abortion is killing a person, then we must also make the statement that God through us loves the mother and child by helping them get through the pregnancy and the next years until they become stronger in Christ and can stand on their own feet. 
        I choose life and if I choose this, I will purposefully be available to support and love a woman and the human growing within her and then help support her as she chooses to raise or adopt out the child.  I choose life.  Jesus chose life for us, too, when He gave His life to be the sacrifice for our sins.  If Jesus chose life, how can we do differently?

 

Know, Hear, Wait, Arise and Go

Readings: Genesis 15     Isaiah 40 

           Abram’s vision from Yahweh  terrified him. The might of God, the ability to tell of the future, the vengeance of God, is shown in vivid detail to him. Who would not be afraid of this God?  

Up to this point Abram had not seen God in action. He had only listened to God telling him to leave his family, his home, and his country. Now, God told Abram his future, being the father of many nations. Yahweh also told Abram the future for His children, Israel, and the punishment for humankind for disobedience, annihilation. In the midst of this, Abram was able to perceive the love of God, a God who not only calls out, but who protects and provides for His chosen ones. No wonder terror filled Abram. Abram glimpsed the judgment and wrath of God and, at the same time, the love and compassion of God. For people of that time, gods were neither loving, nor compassionate, but were an entity to be appeased. For Abram, this was a personal revelation.   

How awesome to be in the midst of God and be made privilege to receive a vision or word from God. The awesomeness comes from the fact almighty God deigns to speak to you, a created being, and shows His power and His heart. It is almost more than a human can take. No wonder when we read in the Bible of someone having had an encounter with God, their faces are aglow and they tell the tale of having had to hide. The glory of the Lord was too great for them to experience. It can be dumbfounding. “Awesome” describes this meeting.  

Abraham received this vision from God; he received a covenant promise from God. Next, though, we hear of Abraham taking matters into his own hands. He knew he had no heir yet, after God’s promise, so he took matters into his hands and lay with Hagar, his wife, Sarah’s, maid. Abraham could not wait the thirteen years for God’s timing, the right time, to create an heir for Abraham, a father of nations. He listened to his doubts and the counsel of his wife, Sarah, and lay with Hagar.   

Do we take matters into our own hands when we sense God must have meant for us to do the work He called us to do in our own strength? Do we strive to become the person we feel He meant for us to be? How many of us have forsaken patience and taken matters into our own hands? When God gives you a Word, wait on it. Seeking “wise” counsel from other humans, other created beings, is a downgrading of God’s counsel. Human counsel cannot understand nor make God’s Word to you come true. Other people cannot understand what God meant when He spoke to you. Wait. Be still and trust God. When the time is right, God will make the Word He gave you come to be.   

How easy for us to get busy for God. How many, upon recognizing and accepting Jesus as his or her Savior, rush to “work” for God just because “someone has to do it?” How many of us, even though we have been following Him for years, still jump in and do ministry instead of waiting for Him to tell us where He wants to use us? God did not bring to pass His Word to Abraham for thirteen years. He did not bring to pass David’s taking over the throne of Israel for nearly twenty years. During those intervening years, God was not sitting on his hands. He was busy preparing these men for His service. God was teaching them to trust Him completely. He taught them how to be leaders, how to be followers, how to be faithful in the midst of trials, how to stay tuned to and perceive His voice, and how to wait for Him to give His direction when to go and what to do. When Abraham applied human effort  to fulfill God’s promise, because of God’s seeming delay, he failed God. A new nation, the Moabites, was born of Abram’s union with Hagar. These Moabites became the thorn in Israel’s side through the centuries. We must wait. Waiting can be wearying, at times, to wait. Waiting appears to humans as inaction; however, in the peace of waiting, we learn many things; we grow.   

God spoke through Isaiah in chapter 40 regarding being in His service. If you think waiting is hard, then in the times to come, calamity and trials will find you disarmed. God had to encourage His people through Isaiah when he spoke in chapter 40, “Comfort my people.” You need to be familiar with God’s heart, His strength, and His purpose before you can go up against the foes of God. How will you understand this unless God prepares you for His purpose? In the walk with God, battles will become great and exhaustion and pain will look unending. You must know God well enough not to give up the fight and the walk. You must know the Comforter, the Warrior and Avenger, and the Provider before you can comprehend in your head, heart, and spirit God will be there with you and for you. Isaiah spoke in his book to remind God’s people He was still there and fighting for them. God had not forgotten or forsaken them. Yahweh said He had provided a place under His wing for them, and for them to take shelter and understand He is God. He said because they were walking and fighting for Him, they would run and not grow weary. “Wait for the Lord,” He said. Gain new strength, mount up with wings, run, and walk, for the Lord your God is with you, goes before you, and carries you.   

This was not just a promise for the Israelites, but a promise for today. God was foretelling, through Isaiah, He would send One who will lay mountains down and raise valleys up. He will be the One who fights for us and does not grow weary or tired. God is the One who will come after the voice crying out in the wilderness. This One is Jesus, the prophesied Messiah, and the Savior of humanity. If you have not waited for God to say go, then you have found yourself grow weary. You have most likely not heard much from God since then other than the small stirring within you, which tells you to return to God. God has already had One go before Him (Isaiah 40), now He wants someone to follow Him and declare the way of the Lord. 

We must be still and comprehend with our heart, soul, and mind He is God. We must be still and understand when and to what He is calling us. God is growing us as He makes us wait. He is making sure we recognize Him well enough so when the fighting for “right” gets fierce, we are acquainted with Him, really recognize Him, and are strong because He is beside us, before us, and behind us. If God is for us, who can be against us? This is the promise God gives us.

Can you Hear?

Isaiah 6:1-8 and John 2:24-25 

In these passages, we distinguish who God is, Lord Almighty and Knower of men, and we perceive humans for what they are, doubters, instigators, and the called-out.  

Notice, the two passages do not show a different Lord from one passage to the other. In both, He is holy and all-knowing. Yahweh, in Isaiah 6, is so magnificent even the seraphim could not gaze upon His face; they covered their faces with two wings and their feet with two wings. Faces show one’s countenance and feet are unclean because of where they have been. This is reflective of human beings. In one’s countenance can be seen their integrity or deviousness, their honor or shame. Before God, every created being is humbled because they are in the presence of the Creator, Holy Yahweh. In John’s passage, before these two verses, we glimpse the hearts of the Jews in the temple outraged at Jesus cleansing the temple, as if He had the authority and power to proclaim what is unlawful. They were indignant regarding His placing Himself so high in power, yet, we find Jesus knowing their hearts and He did not entrust Himself to them. In both passages, we see holy God, Creator and Son, as all- knowing and holy, holy enough to cleanse a temple and holy enough that seraphim automatically know to cover their faces, whereby they hide their inner thoughts, feet, and their external dirtiness.   

What is different about these two passages? In Isaiah, the seraphim know, recognize, and relate to Yahweh as holy, Creator God. In John, the Jews did not know, recognize, nor relate to Jesus as God’s holy Son. Why is this significant? It is significant for what happens after. In the Isaiah 6 passage, Isaiah knows his unworthiness, uncleanness, and sin at once. Being in the presence of God, he recognized his sinfulness. The Jews, on the other hand, did not choose to observe or believe Jesus is the Son of God. They did not choose to recognize and proclaim their unworthiness even to be in God’s temple. The Jews even went so far as to insinuate Jesus did not understand His and their religion when they scoffed at His saying He would rebuild the temple in three days. These chosen people of Yahweh were arrogant and unclean and chose not to perceive or acknowledge their unworthiness to be in God’s temple.  

Why is this important? Consider Isaiah. Isaiah was a Hebrew man. God called him. When in the presence of God, he recognized God as Yahweh and he recognized his sinfulness and unworthiness to be in God’s holy presence. Note Isaiah said, “Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (AMP). It is this that made him able to hear God’s call, “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?” Isaiah did not do something to enable him to discern God’s call; it was who God is and what God had done that made Isaiah be able to hear His call. After those things, it was Isaiah’s recognition of his sinfulness and unworthiness that made him understand the calling of the Lord was for him.  

Now, observe the Jewish men in the temple in John 2.  They were Hebrew men. God called them to be in a relationship with Him as known by them from the Mosaic covenant. When in the presence of Jesus, they did not recognize Jesus as God’s Son, the Messiah. They also did not recognize their sinfulness or unworthiness to be in His presence or His temple. Notice what they said, “What sign can You show us, seeing You do these things? [What signs or miracles can You show us as evidence of Your authority, that You are commissioned to cleanse the temple?]” (John 2:18 AMP) Note they did not consider whether they were “clean enough” to be in God’s temple. They did not consider themselves sinners nor did they have open hearts for God’s telling them they were unclean. These Jews were unaware they should ask for God’s forgiveness because their hearts were closed. They were arrogant. Their arrogance and pride blinded them to their sins and deafened them to God’s Word through Jesus. They could not hear and comprehend when Jesus said he would rebuild the temple in three days, He proclaimed He is the awaited Messiah. They chose to remain closed to this reality because they chose not to recognize their sin and seek forgiveness.  

It is our willingness to let God show us our sin, which makes us understand our need for forgiveness. It is asking and receiving forgiveness that allows us to be in God’s presence. Being able to take notice of God has nothing to do with the recipient and everything to do with God. God is the One who created us to be in a relationship with Him. God is the One who calls to us. God is the One who pricks our hearts when we are unclean and need to seek forgiveness so we can be in His presence. God is the One who speaks to us. Consider Isaiah; He recognized his unclean condition and was in awe in the presence of God and His majesty. Isaiah’s willingness to admit his uncleanness and unworthiness allowed him to discern God’s voice. The question today is can you perceive God’s voice? God is calling but you may not be able to take notice because you are unclean. Ask God to show to you your unconfessed sins and come clean before Him, then you will hear the voice of God calling to you, just as Isaiah did. Have you heard God’s voice lately?

Prayer is...becoming Mark 4:24

Mark 4:34   “When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.”

“God requires us to examine our own souls.” “We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character.” (Oswald Chambers)

Romans 8:26   “Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

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“Prayer can be a weakness,” people say. I have learned that prayer is the blessing of people I know with my intention of asking God’s intervention in their lives. Prayer is God’s blessing of people through us. God sanctifies us through prayer. Oswald Chambers said, “Prayer is God’s answer to our poverty, not a power we exercise to receive an answer.”  

What did Paul say about prayer and our relationship with God in Romans 8? He said,

“But also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body…The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (vs. 23 & 26 [NASB])

Am I struggling with prayer, with my prayer life? Are you? Have you given that weakness over to God for Him to remake you? Are you groaning as Paul wrote in Romans? Did you answer maybe? Perhaps you prayed but not to receive the Holy Spirit. You complain/groan because you would rather not have to work on this.

Sometimes prayer appears to be a futile act. Our teachers of the past taught us prayer is necessary. Many people accept that. Others, however, still do not trust enough to accept that we pray with the “groanings” of the Holy Spirit, the fervent prayer of a righteous heart. James said in James 5:16b, “The effective (fervent) prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

“Fervent” is the key, so is the "righteous heart”. Have you considered that sometimes our hearts are not righteous? Our hearts contain flaws due to selfishness, self-centeredness, and willfulness. Added to this, we are not fervent until extreme situations arise.

Are we diligent? Are we faithful in our prayers? Do we believe in God? Do we trust that God wants to be in a relationship with us? Why are we so apathetic in prayer? Do we not trust God will listen and answer our prayers? Perchance, we do not realize God wants to hear prayer our prayers. From this, we reason there are no answers to prayer. Many people say, "No, I understand God answers prayer."

Are our prayers more like begging or wishing for us? We realize God will do what He wants to do in His own time. He is omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing). Does our wishing make Him do what we want?

We cannot control God, so how can we imagine talking to Him through prayer will persuade Him to do something about what we are praying? That is the heart of the matter. We see prayer as hoping and wishing that God will intervene, but we are unsure that He will. Perhaps that is why we are feeble in prayer. We come to God with our heart’s desires and hope He will answer or act, especially the way we want. Yet does He act because of our talking to Him or because He is omniscient God? Does what we wish for cause Him to act? Our wants and desires do not cause Him to act.

Continuing in this line of thought, if when we ask Him to intervene, knowing we cannot control God, how do we imagine this helps? Is God swayed by our fervency of prayer? Does God do things because we ask or because He knows what is right?

Is praying just wishing? If prayer is wishing, why do we even need to pray? God will do what He will do. This sounds hopeless and is contrary to James 5:16. We trust the Bible is true, so we should trust in the above verse written by James. Paul said in Romans 8:26, “The Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” The mind of the Spirit living within each believer intercedes for him or her to the LORD about the truth, sincerity, and depth of the person’s heart cries to God through prayer. He knows the deepest needs of the heart when we live in a vibrant relationship with Him. When the Spirit lives in a person, He knows the depths of the person. Those depths of the heart are the “groanings” of utter-ness, the “groaning” too deep for words, to God. The words “too deep” in Romans 8:26 come from the Greek word alaletos. This word means “not to be uttered or expressed in words.” The thoughts in the deepness in one’s heart are inexpressible. The Spirit expresses these to God. 

Our daily prayer should be, “Lord, help us to believe that You intervene in the world (which we know and believe) and You do it because of our heart’s groaning in “utter-ness” to You.” Teachers teach us that when we pray with that “utter-ness,” that deepness that is too deep for human words, we are faithfully praying as the Holy Spirit leads and what the Spirit desires for others and us. When we pray in this way because of our close relationship with Jesus, who intercedes for us with our heavenly Father, we are praying what the Lord God wants and His will shall be done. 

Fervent prayer is to get us to a closer relationship with God, not so we can get whatever we want through our prayers to Him. We pray so that our hearts will become more like His, that what we want is what He first wanted for us. Prayer becomes the link of His thoughts and His will from Him to us, His children. Prayer is to get each of us to become more like Him – His image. When we pray fervently with a righteous heart, He shares more of His thoughts and will for our lives through His indwelling Holy Spirit. We become more in tune with Him and grow in Him so we become one (He and us/me) like the Father and the Son are one. Prayer is not weakness. When we pray for others, we bless them with God’s blessing, His best care of and will for them. Our praying for people is our intentional blessing of them with God’s presence, guidance, and help. Praying is holy and is God’s answer to our poverty (spiritual, mental, physical, and financial) and the poverty of other people. Real prayer comes from the depth of one’s relationship with God.

That is why we pray, not to get our wishes delivered to us,

but to become one with God,

like His Son, Jesus – who became one with the Father.