Good morning! It has been such a long time since I posted anything on this blog. The time has come for me to improve on the discipline of journaling. So here I am ready to get started.
This morning I discovered another amazing aspect of God and His amazing love and mercy. No matter how sinful we are or might become, He never gives up on us. We can participate in the most evil practices, and yet God constantly extends His hand to us. Are you familiar with the story of King Manasseh? It is an interesting true account of transformation. The things Manasseh did are relevant to us even today. The Bible tells his story in 2 Chron. 33:1-20. He became king when he was twelve years old, and reigned for fifty-five years. Early in his life he "did evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Chron 33:2) The Bible lists these actions of Manasseh as evil:
* he raised up altars for the Baals (pagan god worship)
* he made wooden idols and worshipped them
* he built altars for idol worship in the temple
* he sacrificed his own children on a fire
* he practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft
* he consulted with mediums and psychics
These are sinful actions, and as Christians we are called never to participate in them. The bible is clear about it, yet the world will tempt us to participate in them. There are commercials on tv advertising psychic networks to call. We see the acceptance of sorcery, divination, and witchcraft in books and movies marketed to youth. And who among us can escape from the temptation to form our own idols? We might not carve an idol out of wood, but we can make idols nonetheless. Some idols I've stuggled with in my past include money worship, material possession worship, and body image worship.
My encouragement comes from the rest of Manasseh's story. We, like Manasseh, will fall into temptation to sin against the Lord. God is never finished with us when that happens. God doesn't want to see any of His children fall into destruction. He is serious about saving us all, each and every one of us. He loves us too much to watch us fall and get hurt. After all, we are His beloved children. He created us!
Manasseh hit rock bottom as a result of his evil ways. God attempted to warn Manasseh and save him. Verse 10 of 2 Chron 33 states, "the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen." Ok, I have to ask you here, if God spoke directly to you with a warning, would you choose to ignore it as Manasseh did? Manasseh ignored God's warning and he was captured by the army of the king of Assyria, bound in chains, and carried off to Babylon. In his "rock bottom" situation, Manasseh finally was wise to realize he had sinned. And "when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; God received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom." (2 Chron 33:12-13)
This is God's great promise to us. No matter what path we are taking, we can always repent and God will renew us. The word repent means to turn around, to change our course, and I love to think of it as doing a complete 180. It is so simple for us to cry out to God, confess our sin, and receive His amazing love and mercy. What a message of hope for us today!
Now, I must get on my soap box just a little for the day. Over the past couple of years I have become passionate about stearing clear of evil influences. I believe the evil one is working very hard to make each of us fall. The evil one does this subtly. He causes us to think evil is really not so bad. The example I refer to is the Harry Potter book series. The world promotes it as great entertainment. In fact, I've been teased about refusing to read or watch any Harry Potter installment. I won't expose myself to it because it is all about sorcery and witchcraft. The bible explains those are sins. Manasseh got into a lot of trouble for participating in them. Why in the world would we buy into it? My theory is because the evil one makes it seem not so bad.
Please, please stay away from the tempting influences of the evil one and this world. Witchcraft, sorcery, and divination are making a huge comeback. Wicca is becoming a very popular religion among young women. Please don't fall into the trap. There are even movies and books like the Twilight series that glorify vampires. Seriously, vampires are part of the evil one's army. So don't follow the world, stay true to God and His love for you.
In conclusion, I find it much more compelling to follow God because His amazing love and mercy never cease.
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