BK1110

Praising God for this wonderful update! The more we realize how involved God is with us and the world, the better. God wants every part of us and our lives and thoughts and heart and desire. “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible... all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” -- Colossians 1:16-17 Let that rolls over you in waves again and again. Tell it to yourself over and over in times of doubt: "I was created for God. FOR GOD. He made me FOR HIMSELF." That is infinite purpose and value! You will never cease to exist. God purposely made you, exactly the way you are, for Himself, to be in His kingdom, for all eternity. There will never be a time when He grows bored of you being in relationship with Him, providing for your every need and (holy) desire and receiving heartfelt love and thanksgiving from you. NEVER.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:2-13) Notice the flow of thought: Paul first tells us broadly how to live, then he grounds it on Christ and His example. Again, notice how broad it is; do NOTHING from selfish ambition or conceit. Quite literally then, we should be constantly asking ourselves if what we are doing, saying, and thinking reflects evil selfishness or Christlike selflessness. Notice at the end Paul tells us to work out (live out) our salvation because God is working in us. God is, by His Holy Spirit living in us, supernaturally causing our desire to live selflessly to grow and increase, and because of that we should be working (living) that reality out. It sounds like a chicken/egg paradox. A pastor once said that sometimes we have to do our way into feeling; we realize what we should do, we realize our sin nature makes us not want to do it, but our justified nature wants our sin nature to be changed. The solution is to DO what we know we should and PRAY each day that God would work in us and through us, in and through our doing, to supernaturally change our desires so that more and more it becomes natural and not forced. The praying is key; ask God each day to help you live selflessly. Ask Him to keep His promises to change and grow you as you obey Him. Tell him you want Him to change you so that you increase in your desire for His ways. Remember the cry of the father of the demon-possessed man: And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:21-24) He realized the truth but also realized he was having trouble accepting the truth. He didn't just try harder; he cried out to Jesus to help him fight his unbelief. Jesus responded with a miracle in front of his eyes.

Happy (belated) birthday, and thanks for all your service on Worthy!

Woof, my expectations were low but WOW, what a sham. That was practically a second assassination attempt. The bias was so bald-faced that if Harris still wins the only reasonable conclusion is that so much of this country is so inured and brainwashed that there's really no hope for a return to American greatness anymore. Fortunately this world is not our home because the spiral is just getting faster and crazier.

Yes I agree. If in a culture you are trying to reach a tattoo is taboo and would hinder your Gospel work, you should probably not get one. On the other hand, if you are trying to reach some tribe or village in which tattoos are required (depending on the reasons why), that might be a situation to strongly consider getting one. Just in short, the Biblical texts people use when trying to claim it's definitely always a clear sin to get any tattoo for any reason are old testament Mosaic laws. In order for those passages to still apply, they have to be grounded on God's created order (like homosexuality always being against God's created order from the beginning in Genesis) rather than just being part of the Mosaic law given to Israel to set them apart from surrounding pagan nations and serve as their "guardians and managers" until Christ's redemptive work was completed. I have never seen anyone make a convincing case against tattoos by that standard.

I wish I had known about that beforehand. Despite being on X every day I never heard about it so I just watched the debate with just the two of them.

The process and production and format and even the host were all much better than expected. That allowed it to really just be the candidates answering questions. Unfortunately there was a lot less answering the question and a lot more accusing the other one of being a fiend and the worst president ever. But clearly Biden is not mentally fit. Citing his 10+ year old golf handicap in answer to the question about his fitness (and then having Trump correct him when he said it was lower than it was) was a notably head-slapping moment. Blessedly we can say after watching that debate: Praise the LORD that this nation is not really our home, because the flames just keep getting bigger!

Sister, you are ever in my prayers. As you said, you are trying! Do not discount that as being a glorifying testimony to your faith in God. Even in these incredible trials, you know His will, you desire His will, you are fighting tooth and nail to stick to His will, resisting the devil telling you to give up, resisting the evil one's temptation to end your life before God is ready for it to end. You are fighting hard. You are a warrior. The devil has not defeated you. You are standing for God's truth and His will. Do not think for a minute that God is not very pleased about your show of faith in this time of great darkness in your life. God is allowing the devil to test you, and so far, you have not given in. You have not let the devil convince you to distrust God, you have not let him to convince you to orphan your precious children. You are an inspiration to me (and I imagine everyone else here). When I think of the struggles in attitude I have had at times over the past few months and days with the stress of moving, despite it being nowhere near your level of stress, I can only stand in awe of your faith. I hope one day to grow to be able to fight as hard and as successfully as you have been. Do not hold in those tears. "JESUS WEPT" (John 11:35) Did you get that? Let me say it again. "JESUS WEPT" (John 11:35) Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, very God of very God, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, Light of the world, Prince of peace...he wept! Your tears are not shameful. They are not weak. They are not displeasing to your loving Father in heaven. And guess what the very next verse says: "So the Jews said, 'See how he loved him!'" (John 11:36) Jesus wept openly, in front of others, in front of his disciples, in front of believers, in front of non-believers! Do not be ashamed of your tears. Do not hide them. Do not hide your pain. Do not think it makes you weak or a failure of a Christian. Do not hesitate to keep seeking help. God is not finished with you yet!

"Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses." -- Psalm 25:16-17 Lot of stress and uncertainty about my short term and long term future with the move across the country my family is going through, and worrying for my family's salvation. These verses are precious.

I can't read through all 26 pages of this thing, so forgive me if I repeat others. I think the old Leviticus passage is Mosaic Law that is no longer binding. I think this means it is not an outright, definite sin, at least. More of a matter of conscience. There are some things we should not do because they could affect our witness, even if they in-and-of-themselves are not sins. For example, if I were going to be a witness in the nation of Japan, where there is still a very strong negative cultural perception of tattoos due to their usage by the Japanese mafia (Yakuza), it could very much affect my ability to be a witness to those people to get a tattoo. To get one then would be unloving, as I would be placing my own desire for a tattoo above what is needed to show love to others in sharing the gospel as effectively as I can. However, on the other side of things, I just recently read a passage I had not taken notice of before: "Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek." (Acts 16:1-3) Look at that! Paul himself, the one who openly rebuked Peter when Peter was wavering towards the Jews who were insisting on circumcision, actually had Timothy circumcised! Despite being the one who most vehemently opposed the circumcision crowd, and went to great lengths in his teachings and letters to tell people that they were no longer under that commandments. Why? He did it specifically to remove anything that could have caused the Jews to reject them off-hand. He actually had Timothy undergo a permanent, painful, bloody modification to his body, even though it was not required, for the sake of making sure Timothy could reach the people he would be witnessing to. Could I see a Christian who is going to be witnessing to a certain people group, whether a tribe in some jungle or members of some subculture, who think tattoos are great, getting a tattoo to help them reach out to those folks with the gospel? Hmmmmm.............. I think people considering tattoos should think/pray long and hard about their motivations.

You can tell her honestly, if she does ask, that you confide about your troubles with fellow believers for comfort and advise. You do not need to go any deeper or more detailed than that; if she asks, you can simply decline to answer further. You do not owe her any deeper answer. Something came to mind that might help, at least in some small part: remember that forgiving someone is about whether you hold a grudge against them, whether you demand "payment" from them. It does not mean you simply forget who they are or what they've done, or act as though they are not who they are. It means you no longer consider them in debt against you. You can do this without trying in vain to wish away feelings. What she is doing to you is sin. She is sinning against you. Imagine if this sin were something that is considered sin even more, like physical violence. You would be required to forgive her of that, but would you feel guilty if, even while forgiving, you took steps to protect yourself from further physical violence? Would you think it was your Christian duty to continue to allow her free reign to assault you each day and not protect yourself? Probably not. So yes, forgive. But there is nothing wrong or sinful about you privately, mentally wishing to be free of a person's sinning against you. I do not think it is sinful that your heart sinks when she shows up. It is not her herself that you wish to be rid of, it is her sinning against you that you wish to be rid of. God forgives us of our sins, but only because Jesus has paid the price for them. The sins themselves DO get paid for. They are not handwaved as though they never happened. It is right to hate and loath and want to be free from sin, both yours and other's. That shows you treat sin as seriously as God does.

Admit that you can't. Come to God as a little child, which you are to Him. Admit that you have no power of your own to hold yourself back. Pray for His strength to enter you. We are asking for a miracle here...but it is a miracle God has promised to us: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” -- John 14:15-17

Praying for strength from God to keep it together. May I advise you to pray to God to help you battle the sins of gossip and bitterness? Being around her must make it so hard. Rely on God's strength to see your heart and mind through these trials.

True Christians cannot be demon possessed. Why do you think you might be? It is normal to go through seasons of struggle, seasons of feeling more distant or more close to God. We will not be perfectly committed and together with God until our sin natures are removed from us in the next life. Do you attend a local gathering of true believers for teaching and fellowship?

Without getting into specifics, may I suggest that if you feel distant from God, ask Him to close that gap? Admit your own inability to feel and desire as you should, and ask Him to change your heart and mind by His power, for the sake of His glory.