For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways

Since my last post seems to be lost in Blogger oblivion I wanted to share this post.  It has been a subject heavy on my heart for some time, but the words haven't come to express myself properly.  Jessica wrote it perfectly.

Some subjects are difficult, but they need to be discussed.  When I read Jessica's post I felt the love and heart-felt yearning of a true Christian woman of noble character.  I tend to shy away from controversy on my blog, not wanting to upset readers.  I believe everyone has a right to their opinion.  But, when one proclaims the desire to live a Christ-like existence there is no absence of controversy.

Humans are drawn to discourse.  This paragraph from Jessica's post states perfectly what I have been wanting to share, and how we are "more cruel than generous" in our discourse:

"We in the Christian faith have become known more for our outright rejection of others and each other, our stubborn refusal to discuss with openness and our lack of generosity. We eat our own. We expect others to grant to us a common courtesy we ourselves are not willing to give. Patience. Support. Thoughtful word. Silent listening. Embracing each other as human beings first whether we agree or disagree. We are called to love. To love God. To love fellow man. We wonder why we are ineffective and powerless... We have come so far down the road of needing to be right that we miss the fact that we are all wrong."

If you look at anything too simply you tend to miss the point.  God is complex.  The Bible is complex.  Humans are so multifaceted that to dismiss anyone, their ideas, feelings, or beliefs, is the epitome of dismissing God.  Did He not create us all in His image?

If we look at anything too closely we become judgmental critics.  Holding ourselves in higher esteem than those who truly get the meaning of "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind." Deuteronomy 5:6

I consider myself an imperfect, non-denominational Christian.  My walk is with and for Christ.  He alone judges me, and I alone will stand before Him to answer for my thoughts, words, and deeds.  If you were to ask me my religious affiliation I would probably say I tend to follow more of a Baptist faith.  I am not one to agree blindly with any doctrine though, so consider me open to the Holy Spirit and more spiritual than religious.

I also hold the Bible as the full authority and truth in my life.  I strive to follow the laws given by God in the scriptures.  I do not see it as a book full of stories, half truths, or myths.  It is the Holy Word of God, and in it is the only truth we need. 

I pray that I learn to not turn my face from God.  That I learn to love my fellow man, and grab the chance to minister to the broken and homeless.  That as a woman of noble character I don't hide my talent under a bushel, nor hide my light for all men.  I will cling tighter to Jesus, but I will also search for Him more closely in the eyes and hearts of everyone I meet.  Love will endure!

Let me finish with the scripture I am meditating on this week:  Isaiah 55

 ¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

² Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.

³ Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

⁴ See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
   a ruler and commander of the peoples.

⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not,
   and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,
   for he has endowed you with splendor.”

 ⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
   and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

 ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.

⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,
   so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
   It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

¹² You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

¹³ Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”