Truth & Hope OR Lies & Sin?

I was reading a profile off of a popular "connect to your friends" community this morning. It was one I have known about, but until this morning, haven't had time to read. It's actually someone I know...or used to know...a family member. It's shocking, actually, to realize that someone in the same family as you...within the same gene-pool, can have views so opposite from yours. This is actually true in most families, I suppose. But the defining factor is whether or not those views are violently opposite. If you disagree on certain moral issues, that's one thing. If you disagree and mock the other's views of those issues, that's a whole separate ballpark. I'm one who can disagree with someone and state my point, believing in my mind that they are wrong. I'll even argue my point, if the situation calls for that. BUT...unless the topic is open for conversation, I generally won't bring it up. And if the other person can't see the error of their thinking (snicker, snicker), I don't look to humiliate them or mock them. So here's the deal...Why is it when people disagree with your views on Christianity, their argument is based on misconceived ideas that are not scriptually based? Why do they feel the need to not just disagree, but attack your faith? Oh, I could generally say that it's a lack of maturity or that the person is insecure in their lifestyle. But really, that lifestyle lends itself to a warped view of thinking. And that warped thinking only comes from one place. 1Peter 5:8 says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." When we sin, no matter if it's a "little white lie" or a life of choosing sinful behaviour, we have chosen to let the devil snap his teeth at us, and even pull off some of our flesh. The devil wants to literally eat us up! He desperately wants us to give in to whatever sin we find ourselves facing in life, thus we place ourselves in a position to be devoured. Part of giving in to that sin, while rolling our eyes at Christianity is desiring to make Christianity a fanatical form of wierdness or nothingness, so as to attempt to take away the truth and hope of another and place them on the same miserable level as the ones who truly have no hope. Thus, it's not just a difference of opinion or beliefs, but an all out attack on any form of truth. God grieves over those who have been manipulated by the enemy...those who won't accept His truth. Those who seek to defile His truth and mock it.

Here's some truth for you...the devil can't stomach the fact that his time is nearly up, so disagreeing simply isn't enough.

He wants an all-out war.

And guess what?

He's going to get one.

Only for a Season

Sin...it's great fun! You feel free to do whatever you choose. You feel free to break away from the boundaries put around you by well meaning and loving people. But feelings lie. And when the season passes, as God has promised in His Word, the destruction of sin becomes visible. You start to desperately search for those boundaries that you fought so hard to remove. The well meaning and loving people are still there, but the boundaries have forever changed. A situation so aptly described in Genesis, and one in which God actually grieves when we find ourselves there. In fact, He grieves when we come to the point of decision. He knows the exact faulty step, and precisely when we will take it. He knows that our decision to step out into what is perceived as the "greener pasture", will reap a harvest we can't handle. A harvest that will bring heartbreak, destruction, regret, and eventually-for those who love Him...restoration. That is my story. And Joel 2:25 describes Gods faithfulness to me, for I am truly RESTORED.