“Guide me, O Lord, in all the changes and varieties of the world, that in all things that shall happen, I may have an evenness and tranquility of spirit, that my soul may be wholly resigned to your divine will and pleasure, never murmuring at your gentle chastisements and fatherly correction. Amen.” —
Jeremy Taylor
“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
the God of Israel is our fortress.” Interlude
Search for the Lord and for his strength;
continually seek him.
1 Chronicles 16:11
Sometimes, I think a day off would be really nice. Employers typically grant two weeks off every year. That seems equitable and fair. At one stint, I worked in the corporate world. Days off are treated as if they were gold.
This verse is saturated with responsiblity–our responsibility. To search implies definite effort. I lose my keys, quite often. I start a search– an investigation, to find them. I inevitably turn the house upside-down. They have to be somewhere! (Typically I find them in my pants in the hamper.)
But to be a searcher after God requires continual effort. He reveals Himself to me, but I never truly apprehend Him. He makes Himself known, but He is unknowable. It’s not quite the treadmill, because we do encounter Him. It’s just that we can’t pin Him down or put Him in a neat little box.
We are told that we need to hunt for His strength. Receiving strength is never a passive thing. This generation that I’m part of is inflicted with this contagion. We are essentially a very apathetic people. It goes against our grain when we step toward the Lord.
This verse ends with “continually seek Him”. We must put effort into this endeavour. For many, Christianity is pretty much a release from this. We come to Jesus, and we want to rest. But we are confused, our discipleship is going to be an effort. Does your walk make you work; does it make you sweat?
A lthough things are not perfect B ecause of trial or pain C ontinue in thanksgiving D o not begin to blame. E ven when the times are hard F ierce winds are bound to blow G od is forever able H old on to what you know. I magine life without His love J oy would cease to be K eep thanking Him for all the things L ove imparts to thee. M ove out of “Camp Complaining” N o weapon that is known O n earth can yield the power P raise can do alone. Q uit looking at the future R edeem the time at hand S tart every day with worship T o “thank” is a command. U ntil we see Him coming V ictorious in the sky W e’ll run the race with gratitude X alting God most high. Y es, there will be good times and yes some will be bad, but… Z ion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!
“Too blessed to be stressed!” The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything. Be Blessed.
If you can’t sue the Lord for libel, what are your options? A Michigan man is about to find out. Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, has filed lawsuits in a Michigan federal court against Zondervan Publishing and Thomas Nelson Publishing, claiming some editions of the Bibles those companies put out call homosexuality sinful, which has led him to suffer discrimination, emotional pain and mental instability.
“Defendant willfully caused me to endure acts of hate, discrimination, and loss of sleep, appetite, by structuring their New King James Bible to reflect God’s distaste of homosexuals,” Fowler wrote in his complaint against Thomas Nelson filed this week.
“By designing this product to promote hate and violence toward homosexuality, because such product is promoted as being the ‘authentic word of God,’ it is a design defect,” says Fowler’s lawsuit.
Fowler is seeking million from Zondervan, alleging their Bibles refer to homosexuality as a sin have made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of “demoralization, chaos and bewilderment.” He is seeking million from Thomas Nelson.
The suit against Zondervan claims 1982 and 1987 editions of the publisher’s Bible declare homosexuality to be wrong in 1 Corinthians 6:9:”Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders.”
Fowler claims the term was edited out of the 1989 and 1994 editions, but consumers were not informed.
“This misrepresentation is a willful and deliberate tort. Fraudulently imposing a written defamation or libel in order to prevent me from marrying someone of the same sex in this state,” his lawsuit states. “This obvious coerced method of mind control and social dictatorship violates the religious [sacred] laws which prevent anyone from adding to the Biblical scriptures or from taking any words away from the text.”
Fowler levels similar allegations against Thomas Nelson regarding the company’s earlier versions of the New King James Bible.
The intent of the publisher was to promulgate a point of view to cause “me or anyone who is a homosexual to endure verbal abuse, discrimination, episodes of hate, and physical violence … including murder,” the lawsuit states.
Fowler said the editions of the Bibles he cites have destroyed his relationship with his family who refuses to support him because the Bible says homosexuality is a sin.
What do you think? Should the publishers of Bibles be held accountable for the pain inflicted by what many readers consider to be God’s word?
Search for the Lord and for his strength;
A lthough things are not perfect
Broken Believers 