what man will do to man........

Last night we watched tv, just Mike and myself. Thursday is supposed to be an enjoyable night of television as there are two shows we like one right after the other. We watch CSI and The Mentalist.

Although the shows are about criminals and how they get caught last night's shows we especially disturbing.
First, CSI was about a vampire and werewolf convention. Of course, someone was killed, but it was done is a very gruesome way. Then the Mentalist was about this cult called Visualize and it reminded me of the cults we have heard about in the news.

What bothered me the most is what man will do to man. In CSI, the man was killed basically because others didn't agree with his choices and who he fell in love with. So, the poor guy was brutally killed for loving someone. In The Mentalist, the cult group was not only controlling but also manipulative. A guy was shot at the end of the show, again, because he fell in love with a girl another guy liked.

This attitude I find very unsettling. who are we to take someone else's life just because we disagree with their choice of love? Who are we to decided that someone else's life is ours to take?After reading this you probably think I am anti capital punishment but that is a different story for a different time. I do agree, on some level, with capital punishment.

Man will steal, murder, cheat, lie and then try to hide it all. You may not think you are a bad person but you are. So am I. You have lied more then once, So have I. You may not have stolen anything from a store but I'm sure you have taken pens or things from work and brought it home with out permission. So have I. You may have not killed anyone but you have hurt others with your words at times. So have I. We were created in God's Image. No stealing, no lying, no cheating, no hiding it. Where have we all gone wrong? Why are we so opposite of God?

God gave us all free will. He gave us the ability of mind to pick and chose. He gave us a conscience to know what is right and what is wrong. Why do we not use these God given abilities? We, as a human race, decide to follow our own thoughts and put God's aside. Why do we do this? Because we are an arrogant species. Arrogant, prideful, self-serving, narrow-minded are just some qualities that hinder us in our relationship with God.

Ok, how does our feeling good about ourselves and having a desire to fulfill our desires stand in the way of our relationship with God? When we live like this we put ourselves first. We put ourselves in a status above God. He becomes second place, or worse yet, he's further down the list. We drive a wedge between God and ourselves with this arrogant, prideful, self-serving personality. This wedge becomes like a wall that blocks our view of Christ.

I have also been reading Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand. This book describes the life Richard who suffered under the bloody regime of the Ceausescus in Romania for 14 1/2 years on the middle of the 1900's. He tells the somber tale of Christian martyrdom in the 20th century. He paints for us the portraits of men, women, and children who suffer because they are in love with the Saviour. If only I was like that...... In my humanity, to die for another seems unrealistic. It makes no sense. How would my death benefit another? It wouldn't in anyway. But God......... Well, God's life, the life of Christ, is worth so much more then mine! His life is LIFE. His life covers all sin. His life washes us clean as clean can be. His love passes all our human understanding. To my simple human brain I still can't fully comprehend or appreciate that.

But in the heat of the moment, as they say, when push comes to shove, when it is deny Him or die, I know with all my heart, I know with out any hesitation, I know with out blinking an eye that He will sustain me. If it means I have to die rather then deny him I know He will give me the strength to do so.

Humans are a cruel, cruel race. I am ashamed at times to be part of them. To think that humans will do unspeakable things to each other in the name of feeling good about one's self. In the name of  standing up for our thoughts and opinions. In the name of because we want to. I just do not get that!!! Why do we, as the human race, feel that we can do what we want as long as we find it pleasing? Why do we feel that we deserve to get our way? We feel that if we get rid of the "higher power" then we get our own way? How self-centered!!! God made us in HIS image. Who are we to throw that away and to slap God in the face by saying He doesn't exist.
I just don't get humanity. I really don't.

I do know that I love my God in every way I can imagine.

Give me wisdom and give me grace....
To teach my children to seek your face.
                                     Amen