“SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS!”
(See Romans 5:8) ~ ...while we were ‘still sinners’ Christ DIED for us!
Do we really know the meaning of this Scripture? Take that child (or grown-up) who is very
bad & what do we do with them when they are? We ‘push them away, scream & yell at them,
give them dirty looks, send them to their room, whip them (or, in some cases ‘beat’ them), tell
them they are ‘bad’ & our ‘attitude’ toward them is REJECTION & I don’t love you (right
now) because you are bad.’ So, the ‘rejection & hate’ they FEEL INSIDE turns to hatred & a
‘get even’ spirit outside. They ‘feel’ they aren’t wanted, become jealous of other siblings (or
other kids) & begin to ‘let’ Satan take those ‘actions of ours’ & destroy the mind of the child to
the point they are now constantly getting into trouble at home & school. All they want to really
know is: DO YOU LOVE ME? ~ EVEN WHEN I AM BAD? Somehow, this is hard to
‘BELIEVE’ (Jesus would die for me while I am BAD?)
YES HE DID!
Now, for that child to learn that he/she is loved (even when they are bad), we must
CHANGE our way of ‘reacting’ to them when they are!
Yes, they must be punished, BUT NEVER REJECTED! Hateful looks, sarcastic remarks,
favoritism to ‘other’ children (the ‘good’ ones) needs to go. (Remember: Jesus was not a
‘respecter of persons’ ~ He showed NO ‘favoritism’). And, even though we are upset with their
‘behavior’ we must always show them we ‘still’ love them. We ‘show’ it by (after corporal
punishment) giving them a hug & telling them we love them but not their ‘bad behavior’. There
should never be more punishment for ‘one child’ when they are bad that you would not give to
one of the ‘other’ siblings who did the very same thing! If you didn’t see the “whose at fault”
child, never take one child’s word over the others (the ‘good’ kid vs. the ‘bad’ kid). Either
punish both (all) ‘equally’ or none at all unless the ‘guilty’ one “confesses”. Then, because
they ‘confessed’, punishment should be ‘lighter’ because they TOLD THE TRUTH (&, believe
me, telling the TRUTH is a very, very important thing to instill in a child at an early age, for
then you can trust them later on in life, especially in their ‘teenage’ years!).
The Lord has been showing me that EVERYONE needs to be ‘touched’ in a meaningful way
(not sexual) several times a day (pat on the head, hug, hand on the shoulder, etc.). This
‘reassures’ them they are loved. And I KNOW the tendency is (when a child or grown-up is bad)
to ‘push them away’, but we must LEARN to draw to them ‘anyway’. This will also help us to
really & truly understand & ‘BELIEVE’ that JESUS WOULD DO THIS FOR EVEN ME (a
‘really bad’ person)! Because the more we see ‘our sinfulness’ ~ & the older we become, the
more sinful we get ~ we begin to think God (& Jesus) wouldn’t & couldn’t love ‘me’ ~ just the
way I am! And a lot of this thinking comes from how we were raised (rejected & shunned when
we were ‘bad’ ~ ‘loved’ when we were ‘good’) ~ being ‘instilled’ in us from childhood ~ that
‘root’ of rejection ~ growing so deep inside us that God has to ‘operate’ & cut it out of us (a very
painful thing for us & we don’t understand what He is doing & THINK He doesn’t love us
because we’ve ‘been bad’! What a vicious circle we get into & oh how much ‘work’ God has to
do just to get us to the point of BELIEVING He REALLY DOES love us THAT MUCH (that
He’d ‘stretch out His Arms on a cruel Cross’ for you & me)!
Confessing’ the fact we are as bad as He says we are (admitting ~ telling the TRUTH) is ‘so hard’ for us, because if we do this, we think God will ‘turn away’ from us, not coming to us (see 1st
Jn.1:9). Oh, how many years I ‘ran away & hid’ myself from Him because of this same thought instead of coming ‘quickly’ to Him when I sinned ~ in ‘confession & repentance’ of that sin!
If we can only see why this Generation does NOT respond to ‘The Good News’, we’ll fall on our
faces, seek God, & CHANGE OUR (WICKED) WAYS & ASK Him to ‘heal us’ so we can, in
turn, reach out & respond IN THE ‘RIGHT’ WAY to the World around us!
Pharisees ~ “I’m the ‘good kid’ & God loves me” & so many ~ like the Publican¹ [but never
getting past the point of feeling sinful so they can be ‘used’ by God]. GOD’S Children at odds
& ‘jealous’ of each other (the ‘good’ kids vs. the ‘bad’ kids)! ‘Splits’ in The Church ~
‘divisions’ & ‘wrangling’s’, ‘gossip’ (I’ll ‘get even’ with you!). Unable & refusing to be UNITED (as ONE BODY) of Believers! (Oh God, what a TRUTH!, now I know why Satan was trying so
hard at Christmas to destroy me by getting me to become bitter & resentful & taking my
‘Robe of Righteousness’ ² OFF!!! when all of these ‘problems’ began to arise!).
STAY FAITHFUL ~ IN the storm, my child, & GOD will ‘teach’ you & ‘show’ you much!
AND ~ the ‘World’ stands by ~ looking on at ‘The Church’ ~ & laughs in our faces (look at TV
‘sitcoms’ & ‘talk shows’)! My dear Children, it ought not to be so! For they think: if we can’t love our ‘fellow denominations’, then surely, they DON’T love us (sinners as we are) & if ‘they’ don’t love us, THEN GOD doesn’t love us either, so we may as well be as ‘bad’ as we can be!!!!! That ‘touch’ from GOD (through The Holy Spirit) is what we ALL need, but if the devil can KEEP US CONVINCED ‘God doesn’t love us’, we will continually keep Christ at bay so that He can’t touch us (as we won’t let Him).
¹ I was like the ‘Publican’ who beat his breast & asked God to forgive him, yet I couldn’t get
past the point of ‘feeling sinful’ (even though I knew, in my head, God FORGAVE me of my
sins) so I could be ‘used’ by Him, until the Lord showed me that it is CHRIST’S Righteousness
(not mine) that makes me ‘able’ to be used by Him to help others. He has given me a ‘Robe
(washed in HIS precious Blood) of Righteousness to put on so Satan cannot defeat me & make
me feel worthless to God. But, I must LEARN to KEEP that Robe on whenever I do sin
(remember, I am NOT perfect), yet come to Christ in ‘true’ remorse & ‘humble’ myself &
confess my sin QUICKLY to Him so I can continue my journey, FREE of guilt & condemnation.
² Remember the Prodigal son’s Father gave him a Robe & also a Ring (for power) & Shoes (for
son-ship ~ he wasn’t a servant any more [as servants in those days wore no shoes] ). The Robe
stands for ~ RIGHT standing with God because of JESUS & what HE did). (See Luke 15:22).
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