Random Thoughts

I feel:: contemplative
What song is on a loop in my head right now:: Alanis Morissette~Utopia

So, I had this weird dream last night. It was me and Sally, and someone else I couldn't see. We were traveling across country, walking. We had stopped to sleep in a little closet in a grocery store(?). No one knew that we were sleeping there. I can remember walking around inside the store with a buggy. So, we decided to go out of the store and walk around. When we got outside, everything changed and the time period was 18th century. I can remember that we were walking down kind of a Main Street and seeing ladies and gentlemen dressed in that sort of clothing. I can also remember seeing horse drawn buggies. We walked down the street and came upon a field with a huge wooden boat in the middle of it. It kind of looked like a Viking ship, but there was a horse tethered to it. I unhooked the horse, got on and rode it into the barn(which is funny b/c I've never ridden a horse in my life). When I got into the barn, a bunch of alarms started going off and we got scared and started to run(electrical alarms in the 18th century?). I remember from looking at the house, that I thought the people who lived there must be Dutch, but when the man came running after us, he had dark curly hair and looked like he might be Hispanic. He was lighting fires all over his field, but they were in certain shapes. Some were in the shape of a pentagram and others were in the shape of a star an still others were in the shape of a heart. That's all I remember, because after that I woke up.

What is it exactly about humans that is made in the image of God? Is it the fact that we know good from evil? We weren't designed to. Only God is allowed to know good from evil and be eternal. Angels do not choose, they don't have that privilege. Sometimes I wish I didn't have that privilege. I could just do the will of God and I wouldn't know anything else. If God created everything, then He created everything about us. That would mean that He created the good as well as the evil. Satan is not the opposite of God, but His creation. The devil cannot MAKE me do anything, but I justify and rationalize my own actions or inaction. The devil merely takes advantage of my rationalizations. As a creation of God, Satan is on a heavenly leash. He goes no further than what God allows. God evidently allows a lot.
God says in His Word that I, since I have put my faith in Jesus, that I am seated with Him in the heavenly places. So that would mean that the devil and his demons are subject to me in the name of Christ. I am also free, every moment of every day, to choose whether or not I will serve my fleshly nature which I inherited from Adam at the Fall. Christ set me free from sin with His sacrifice on the cross. Unfortunately, my flesh still hampers me. Does it indicate a lack of maturity and faith when I give in to my flesh? For that matter, what kinds of spiritual doorways do I open when I give in? Is it just the one time of sin, or does it have to be habitual to cause bondage? The scripture says to him who knows what is right and yet does not do it, to him it is sin. So, I'm back to my original statement. The devil cannot MAKE me sin, but I justify my actions or inaction when I do sin. I sin because I have a fleshly nature. I can rationalize practically any action or inaction. So, I should keep it simple. What is good is what the Lord commands and what is evil is what He forbids. I need to grow in grace, thank God that He is merciful. I need more faith. Can you get more faith? Like you get more groceries? Was I born with a certain amount of faith and that's all I'll ever have?

Peter only denied Christ 3 times. How many times a day do I deny Christ either by what I say or don't say? Do or don't do? How many people would know of my faith if I never told them? What actions of mine distinguish me from the world? Jesus said that we must be in the world, but not of the world. I have a severe problem with not being worldly. Jesus asked Peter 3 times if he loved Him for the three times he denied Christ. How many times will Jesus ask me if I truly love Him? What will I say when I finally face Christ and He asks me why I couldn't give up everything and follow Him? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said friendship with the world is enmity toward God. A person cannot have two masters. When I present myself as a slave to my flesh, I show that I am an enemy of God. When I am wallowing in the world, I show myself to be an enemy of God. If I truly loved God, I would not be this way. Does fresh water flow from a bitter spring? Do figs grow on thistle bushes? No they do not. I am double-minded and should not think that I will receive anything from God being as I am in this state.

1 Corinthians 1:20-25
"Where is the wise Man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of god. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

1 Corinthians 10:12-13
"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

1 Corinthians 10: 23-33
"'Everything is permissible'-but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible'-but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others."
"Eat anything sold in the market without raising questions of conscience, for, 'The earth is the Lord's and everything in it.'"

"If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you,'This has been offered in sacrifice,' then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake-the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?"
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews or Greeks or the church of God-even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved."

Colossians 1:9-14
"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."