Poetry Am I Walking with Jesus?

Walking with Jesus should
Make a difference.
Do I?
Does it?

He keeps his promises.
Do I?
He is willing to forgive, forget.
Am I?
Do I?

He seeks truth,
is truth.
Do I prefer my assumptions to His truth?
He is loving and kind.
Am I?

Or do I rationalize negative attitudes,
And respond accordingly?
He hates evil, sin and wrong,
knowing they destroy.
Do I love and trust Him enough to fight against them, too—
In my life, family, community, nation?

Am I willing to follow His way, not mine?
Allow Him control, to live within?
Realizing walking with Jesus means
Becoming all He created me to be

For in letting go,
I find forgiveness and hope,
And a Savior friend who never lets me go.

© 2021 Carolyn R Scheidies
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Devotion God Hates Sin: Loves the Sinner--ME?

Read: I Corinthians 10:1-14, 23, 31

There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it. --1 Corinthians 10:13

Eve listened to the serpent and ate of the forbidden fruit. Did she smile when she turned and tempted Adam? Did he merely wish to please his wife when he chomped his teeth into the fruit and ignored God’s plain admonition to not eat it?

The serpent said doing so would enlighten them. It did that. What he failed to mention were the consequences, already clearly laid out, that disobedience would open them to the world of evil as well as good. They found death, terror, and fear. They lost their innocence, their security, and their dependence on their Creator.

They forfeited an intimate relationship with God and a perfect world for momentary pleasure and a world twisted by evil, hate, loneliness, and death. Is it any wonder God hates sin? He knows the devastating results.

Joseph’s older brothers became so consumed with hatred and jealousy, they lost their reason and critical thinking skills. They were so focused on hatred they planned to murder their own brother until they found a horrifying alternative--sell him into slavery. They meant what they did for evil. From then on, uncertainty, fear and guilt followed them—even after discovering Joseph was alive.

What of Korah? Was he not as important as Moses? He thought of himself so highly he chose to not only defy the leader God had chosen, the man who led them out of years of slavery in Egypt but also misled others in his rebellion. The consequences were grave--death for the rebels and their immediate families.

God hates sin because it leads to harm of self and others. It is destructive, and a vehicle for more evil. Out of fear, the Israelites refused to go in and conquer the Promised Land. Their disobedience brought them 40 years of wandering in the desert until the adult population died. Their sons and daughters were the ones who entered the land promised by God.

David committed murder out of fear his adultery would be exposed. It was revealed anyway. The son of that affair died soon after birth. Though his repentance restored his fellowship with God, the seeds of his actions took their long-term toll on his family and his people. God really does hate sin, because he knows there are always negative consequences.

How lightly do we take sin--if we admit that word into our vocabulary at all? Do we fudge on taxes, cheat on a test? Have we taken towels from a motel, glasses, etc. from a restaurant? Have we taken the mind we gave to Jesus and filled it with a profusion of adultery, fornication, violence, greed, and other sins in our search for “entertainment?”

Do we rationalize our sin, calling it by some other name? Excuse ourselves? Do we not realize there are consequences for not following God’s principles? Our choices matter for ourselves, our families, and who knows how far our choices for good or evil will reach. What we do in the privacy of our homes, with our families, and on the internet does matter.

Help me, Lord, maintain a clear and clean conscience before others and before You. If there are things in my life that do not please You, show me and give me the courage and strength to eliminate them from my life and home. Amen. 

Meditations:
Monday: Numbers 16:1-14
Tuesday: Deuteronomy 1:19-36
Wednesday: Genesis 3
Thursday: Exodus 20:1-17
Friday: Romans 6:23; I Peter 4:12-19
Saturday: Psalm 37:27-40; Acts 24:16

c) 2018, 2021 Carolyn R Scheidies
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From Listen! Who me? 
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Poetry He Gave Me Hope

He gave me hope
When darkness clouded mind and soul
When pain beyond reason
Clutched and tore the fabric of my insular world
Left me bleeding from every
Physical and emotional pore.

He offered life
When my own ebbed and I
Wished only for the end
Yet, I clung to that nameless something
Implanted deep within
This cannot be all there is!

His gentle voice called, comforted, cared
Even in my rebellion,
Even in my indifference,
Even in my anger
He showed me sacrifice
Someone even dared to die—for me!

Love held Jesus to that cross
God became man—lived, died.
Rose again—for me, for my pain
For my anguished cries
Of heart and soul and mind.

Jesus offered forgiveness, life, hope
He stretched out His hand
My choice. And I, in dread anticipation,
Clasped His palm--Found Him.

Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. —Psalm 119:114 KJV

(C) 2018  Carolyn R Scheidies
From God’s Love Letter to you
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Devotion Poetry My Center

God meant us for peace and prosperity
Of mind and soul,
Forgiveness found
Only in the death of He
Who gave His life at Calvary
For all who come, accept and live
For Christ

Will I kneel,
Have the mind of Christ
Know His love
Have His mind inside;

Or will I be blinded by ignorance
Rationalization,
Tradition
Daily living for myself?
In the business of life,

Will I choose to give Him
The best of my time and all I am and find...
Living for Him instead of Me
When He is my center,
I am truly free.

I Thessalonians 5:21-22 (KJV) Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.

(C) 2016, 2020 Carolyn R Scheidies
From First I Bow
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