“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭9‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Nice thing about being God is you answer to no one. 

No protesters calling you divisive. Nobody waving signs against your policies.  No voting you down for what you stand for or against. 

God answers to no one but himself. 

He makes the rules and applies them absolutely. 

All the god wannabees in the world who believe in their own personal omniscience discover they are also neither omnipresent nor omnipotent.

Since time began, all human attempts at justice and mercy, though bravely fought and well intentioned, have failed miserably at their own standard bearing. 

Mercy and compassion are gifts given solely by the one who created their qualifying criteria: faith and profession of belief in the son he gave.

There. is. nothing. more. required. 

But if you seek mercy and compassion, make the first move and see what happens. 

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard and seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you, the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV

A dozen guys with an identical eyewitness so real that each is willingly martyred in rather than recanting their experience. 

Today we’d call this a cult. 

But history’s billions and billions have drank the Christian kool-aid and lived changed lives as a result. 

They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

One gulp leads to a first and then to a second death. Their ignorance is based on a worldview that opposes God and his rightful placement on the throne.

But isn’t most of our beliefs based on truths we don’t observe first-hand but we trust in the story behind them. Better yet, enacted beliefs prove themselves to be true over and over again. 

We will all believe in something. 

I choose that which people willingly die for to uphold, defend, and consequently have proved over and over for centuries.

If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The world loves it when a professing believer falls. 

They feel great joy when hypocrisy is revealed and chalk it up for a relentless rebuttal of Christianity writ large. 

Truth is, a fall that’s confessed sincerely is forgiven completely and returns us without blemish to the light and fellowship with God. 

Those who lie in wait watching for our inconsistencies just use them to reinforce their ignorance of saving grace and proof against ever obtaining something that doesn’t exist. 

Falling is gonna happen. Then happen again. 

Stop putting on their show, further distancing them from being reconciled to God and get your act together. 

Believers are always on stage and in the spotlight of critics and their bad reviews. 

Get used to it, get help, and get better. 

Not for them, for you, and for your testimony of God’s love and salvation.

Lot, living among them day after day, was tormented in his soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Halloween is just around the corner with its more than usual abundance of witches, ghouls, monsters, and opportunities for a scare or two by characters each famous for its own special history of lawless deeds.

Sodom and Gomorrah was ground zero for an uncostumed display of such lawlessness that left Lot and his family in fear and torment from evil so rampant and on parade, daily life there became no holiday.

Things we see, hear and celebrate in our culture, especially living in Sin City, have become so overwhelming we are, ourselves now underwhelmed by them.

But for many, trying to live righteously in constant battle with our own personal demons is no party and it’s become harder and harder to find and number truly good people in our midst to assist.

Celebrating darkness and all it conjures up is now no big deal. The counterculture now is being prudish on the holiday affectionately regarded as the day of the dead.

We are called to celebrate life and life everlasting.

Halloween?
Not a fan.

“For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Holy Spirit is a lot like our conscience. 

Conscience is the moral arbiter which guides our thinking, moment by moment, setting the best path for our behavior that follows. 

It convicts us, navigates us through every whim and fancy, and carries us past waves of human temptation onto saner shores. 

Jesus said the Holy Spirit is the gift that would follow with power that enables us to follow him through salvation and sanctification when our desires and urges threaten to overtake our sanity. 

God grant us serenity to accept the things we cannot change ourselves. 

The Holy Spirit rewards our obedience with a peace that passes all understanding. 

Having a conscience is what sets us apart from mere primal beings, confirming God’s ways are good, leading us not into temptation and delivering us from evil. 

“There is a way that seems right” is a quote from Proverbs which warns that a path that appears correct to a person may ultimately lead to destruction. 

Relying on one’s own judgment or perception can be misleading and lead to negative consequences because human judgment can be flawed or selfish. 

Seek divine wisdom instead of trusting solely in your own understanding.  

In the words of Jiminy Cricket, let conscience be your guide. 

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Like Dorothy’s shoes 👠 we possess everything we need to take us back home. 

Even when we find ourselves way off course or in foreign lands, the power of God equips us for a safe return when we cry for help. 

He who called you by His glory and goodness will never leave you nor forsake you powerless and alone. 

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬-‭6‬, ‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Peter lists for us a few of those things that give us wings.

Each is an added value to the former like building blocks of a stable foundation and secure structure reaching ever upwards. 

Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance and godliness are markers along the path we choose when what we need and desire most is a critical redirect back on course. 

There’s no place like home when it’s back into the Father’s arms.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Providing an answer is different from providing a defense.

All too often we are provoked into an argument by someone disguised as a seeker but who actually just wants to win a debate.

Each of us has his own reasoning, experience, or both, that was pivotal to our conversion.

You need not be a bible answerman, apologist, or Charlie Kirk to share the reason for your faith and hope with one who asks.

I’m convinced the reason many are reluctant to share is fear that their testimony won’t be satisfying enough to bring another to Christ.

The last thing we leave in any personal encounter is how you made them feel.

Our call is to share our circumstances, reasonings, and experiences. It is God’s job to do the rest.

What we share and how we share often resonates with a sincere seeker, provoking them to further study on their own or, if you’re lucky, with you as their guide.

The word of God can stand on its own. It’s been studied and scrutinized by the best and always wins every test.

Just as you’ve found it to be so, others will take the same journey after you only to discover the same.

Share your faith, not your fears.

Finally, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭8‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Your worldview is the outlook on which you hang all you are, all you believe, and all you do.

Not surprisingly then, your worldview is where change and redemption begin.

Seeing all people as God’s children is difficult when they aren’t like-minded as you. Sympathy, love, compassion, and humility are suddenly in short order as you’re tempted to lash out as if you are owed more of their agreement and understanding than they can muster at the moment.

Your own spiritual journey began with a different worldview than you hold today, but the empathy of angels saved you from that path and its destination.

Be patient with the struggles of others now living by contrary worldly principles but clearly seeking something with more staying power.
That was once you.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Be alert, sober, aware and sensitive to those on this journey but a little out of step.

Most of all, love them through it like it’s a matter of life and death.

Because it is.

For no immediately apparent reason except for having some free time on my hands, I did a weird thing.

I inventoried all the stuff I’ve allowed into my mind over these many years.

Far from complete, it included thoughts, ideas, considerations of evil and good, the unspeakably secret, imaginations and images, and the themes, worries, hopes, dreams and beliefs I’ve allowed to consume so much nogginmatter, complete with smiles, sweat, tears and all.

I do this weird thing every so often.

I find it an efficient method of pride and ego reduction at times when I may be inclined to think a little more of myself than I ought.

A real humility builder.

The list is long. Really long. And while it contains a pleasant number of recollections of experiences good, noble and clean, the dirt, filth and sewage was clearly overpopulating

As a man thinks, so his heart shall be. Proverbs 23:7. Your thoughts shape who you are, and who you may yet become.

Fortunately, most of my head rubbish is from years long past and are long since forgiven. But with an occasional flushing, changing the way you think about the world and your experience in it can mold a new perspective for your future and for your future of influencing those around you.

Weird? Without a doubt.

But I find it’s worth the effort to take a complete inventory once in a while to purge, renew, and redirect the trajectory of my mind.

Where your mind is, there your heart will be also.—a slightly abridged version of Matthew 6:21

And finding your ♥️ is what life is truly all about.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Imagine yourself a serial killer. 

By every moral fiber of humanity, you’re a ruthless POS. 

Our rule of law sentences you to death, preferably a slow and agonizing one. 

That’s justice. 

But how much sin does God propose to forgive? What types of sin constitute an exception to his forgiveness rule?

Justice and forgiveness aren’t mutually excluding conditions. 

Whether your type of sin stacks bodies in a shallow grave or accumulates lies about shady financial transactions, human nature is accursed. 

All fall short, albeit some more than others, but God makes no such distinctions.

He died for the ungodly. Sinners powerless to change their deviances despite how we conveniently rank them to help ourselves feel better about our own depravity. 

While we are still sinners, mired deep in the muck of our terrible thoughts and deeds, Christ died for us. 

For these are what you once were. —1 Cor 6:11