Ring Tones

I have ring tones on my phone for certain callers. One of them is the lyrics of a song, "I've got a lot of things to say, and you'd be wise to listen good."

It is true. 

Sometimes.  Other times, it might be wise to ignore my opinions.



I have an opinion about everything.  We all do.  Some of us are quicker than others about sharing them. Some of us think more highly of our opinions than we might ought to. Some of our opinions are tainted by factors that may or may not be what is God's truth.

I would like to say my opinion is always based on His truth.  I am quite sure it too is sometimes twisted.  The enemy has the capacity to use all sorts of things to put his twist on God's truth, using it to tear down. I wish I could say his tactics always fail, I wish his assaults never succeed.  I wish.

I WANT to be compliant to Him in all things. It is a struggle. 



Every time that certain ring tone sound comes from my phone, I purpose it to be a reminder for me to "...be wise to listen good."  Not to opinions of other people, but to the only opinion that matters.  My Creator.



In a salon filled with gals often much younger than I am, it becomes increasingly important that my opinions are based on truth.  God's truth, not my own version.  I do have a lot of things to say.  Yet sometimes, the wise one should be me.... keeping quiet.

As Paul told Timothy: "Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God's people.

Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. 

Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple.   Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they're not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul. ..."

(2 Timothy 2:14-16 from The Message)



Father God, You do have a lot of things to say.  And I certainly would be wise to listen good.  Remind me of that truth BEFORE I open my mouth to share what might not need to be said, but lived out. 

Slippery

I remember a lot of sermons about some slope that was slippery.  I didn't pay a lot of attention to it in my youth, after all, young people seem to be very confident in their own judgments.  I didn't see how Elvis's shaking leg was such a big deal. Elvis's style of dancing is certainly not shocking today.

I knew drunkenness was listed in the Bible as a sin, but drinking a can of beer wasn't drunkenness, but doing so was supposedly an act committed on the edge of the slippery slope. 

As I have grown older, my perspective has changed some.  I see the tiny compromises made in the culture around me as time has passed, and I see the huge effects that have come about. 

Once, it was not ok to have sex outside marriage.  (Now, don't call me judgmental, argue with God about it.  He is the One who set the marriage thing up.  It was His design and intent, not mine.) Today, I daresay it is almost expected that couples have sexual relationships, married or not. 

What my Sunday School teachers called petting may very well have been only a few steps away from that dreadful slope. 

In my lifetime, I have personally known young woman who had abortions.  It was a deep dark secret they kept.  Today, it is a topic of conversation and open consideration at the onset of most any unplanned pregnancy.

 Again, don't accuse me of  'judging'... God is the Creator of life, and life begins in the womb.  "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.." (Jeremiah 1:5 NASB)

Today's news truly is shocking to me, even after I look back and see all the many tiny steps it took to get here, killing a full term baby is horrendous.  However hideous it is, it is not a new thing.  It is thought that several civilizations have made child sacrifices.  Even Solomon, the wise son of David, fell into wrong thinking and behavior as he was influenced by ungodly wives he had chosen. 

"Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done.  Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods." (1 Kings 11:6-8 NASB)

Molech was a god to whom children were burned in sacrifice. We don't claim a Molech.  We call it different things. I could list dozens, but they all boil down to one thing.  Self. 

I'm not ready...
I can't afford...
I don't want...
The father is...

Me. Me. Me.

All the while, there are hundreds of good solid couples who would love to have the child who interferes with a life as planned. 





Back to the slippery slope....where will this thinking end?  Are we standing just steps away from a slope that will decide for me when my life will be snuffed out?  If I become old and sick, will my choices be overridden by the 'me' society that has decided for millions of babies?  Will that mindset find my life of similar low value? 

Ugh.  God help us.