Why Purity?

Wikipedia defines purity: Purity is the absence of impurity or contaminants in a substance. The term also applies to the absence of vice in human character. Thefreedictionary.com: Freedom from spiritual or moral defilement; innocence or chastity: "Teach your children ... the belief in purity of body, mind and soul" (Emmeline Pankhurst).
There's a lot of hype about abortion and Planned Parenthood right now. A lot of feelings and anger running amuck.
My son and I recently memorized these verses and I think they are appropriate....James 1:19-20 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
See, I think we are currently reaping what we sowed. And I don't think being loud and angry at this juncture is conducive to our desired end result. I think it is sin. And sin is always a heart issue!
Growing up I wasn't taught about purity. Sure there was a conversation about saving sex for marriage. But, in health class and sex ed both in highschool and college even though they mentioned abstinence birth control and STD's were given a lot more in depth review.  The hit show Friends was coming on the scene condoning living together and cheapening purity further. Because of a lack of purity teaching (and other factors) the world had a lot bigger voice in my life. We cannot allow the TV to raise our children and then be mad at the outcome. Because Hollywood nor the liberal media are fighting for purity.
It is our job to invest in the next generation, our job to fully accept the spiritual well-being of our children.
With this in mind I work very hard to instill purity in my children. I teach my kids daily that they are created in the image of God. I teach them what Jesus' death on the cross meant/means. I teach them what sin is and what purity looks like at their age. I have opened the lines of communication about our bodies and sex. J and I are careful about what we watch on TV, where we hang out and what we allow in our lives/hearts/minds. With my daughter I've already begun teaching her to dress and act modestly. All of these things we do so that when they are 13 we don't have to start from scratch. Hopefully they will be ready to just keep building their solid foundation. I don't want my kids to have to wonder and thus just follow the crowds aimlessly...I want to build them up and teach them to know the Lord themselves so they will know how to make decisions.
I don't know what the future will hold and I'm sure I am failing at many things...but I hope that having a game plan and strategy will reap an intimate relationship with Adonai.
We have to teach our children why we believe what we do and why we say no to certain things. I don't want them to fear legalism....I want them to yield relationship. Luke 6: 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Relevant

The word relevant has been bouncing around the cavern on my shoulders for several months now. How relevant is the Bible to you? How relevant is your spiritual journey to you? Is it at all connected to the decisions you make or the beliefs you hold? Does your relationship impact every facet of your heart, soul, mind and spirit?
The Bible says:
2 Timothy 3:16-17New International Version (NIV)
¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God^[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.


2 Corinthians 5:17New International Version (NIV)
¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

Romans 12:2New International Version (NIV)

² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 

I am thinking of the word relevancy and how it correlates with our foundations. We all have world views, things we were taught and caught while growing up: behaviors, beliefs, opinions...

Worldview

What is your worldview? This is probably not something most of us sit around thinking about and yet it impacts every decision and action that you make in life.  Thefreedictionary.com defines worldview: The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. 2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or group.

 

I guess I’ve been pondering this because of all the stuff going on in our worlds…abortion, medicine, elections, Muslim curriculum, common core, ever present attempts to fuel a race war, Hollywood’s continued push to desensitize us to sin…the list is really endless! I don’t really want to even talk about any of these issues specifically. I just wonder what our worldviews really are.

 

For instance: if you are a Christian (we’ll define this as someone who loves, honors and obeys the Lord, Adonai) do you really believe the Word to be true, living, and useful in every moment of your life? do you believe the Holy Spirit dwells within you to help you become more like Christ and to lead you? Is your belief in the Lord and the Bible and His Spirit unvarnished? Or is it tainted/influenced by the world that we live in? Or do you believe in the Lord and karma? Or the Lord and self? Or the Lord and America? Or the Lord and power? Or the Lord and my doctor? This list is also endless…

 

God has really been working hard and heavy on my mind and my heart and my worldview and challenging it to the very core. I just wonder what our world would like if we allowed the very depths, the entire Truth to totally saturate and challenge everything that we hold dear. I would like to share the way that God has been redefining my worldview, but I want you to understand that I am not saying you should find my worldview, although I do hope that you will find my God and that you will totally and blindly adore and honor Him and maybe, just maybe His light will shine brightly from my heart like a beacon straight to Him. I am a military brat, from quite the career military family, raised to be a patriot and having experienced life in another country and culture, the spirit of entrepreneurship and pulling oneself up by ones bootstraps runs deeply, the American dream taught and demonstrated. Now, I find myself at a place where I’m not an American. I am a Christ follower. I don’t want to pull myself up and be another rags to riches story. I am a Christ follower. I don’t pledge allegiance to a flag. I pledge allegiance to Adonai. This is not my home. I belong in Heaven. I was not created long for this world. I was created in the image of God with eternity in mind.

 

Do you remember the Israelites that walked in circles in the dessert for 40 years? The chosen people who witnessed the 10 plagues 1^st hand, they saw the waters part and the Egyptians swallowed up, they received the 10 commandments on stone from God Himself, they saw the beauty on Moses’ face when he came down from being with God (and much much more, hopefully you get my drift). They made golden calves and worshipped idols and later begged God for a king to rule them. And God said He was their King and they continued to beg for a human king to rule them. And well, if you’ve read the Bible you know that did not turn out so well.

 

I am not saying to be a rebel. I am not saying not to support America or to vote. I am just saying that we should look different. I am a rebel. And lately I have noticed it rearing it’s ugly head over and over again. Some of our cultural/Christian/church traditions make me crazy. You don’t have to look far to figure out that many of our traditions are dead and serve no value and yet we hold onto them with tightly clenched fists. They have absolutely no Biblical backing and yet they have become like law. I am not interested in what we call church anymore, I am bored by our traditions and our version of wandering aimlessly through the dessert. I am interested in looking different. I want the church (not the one on every other corner but the actual church which the Lord defines as His body of believers) to look different. I want the statistics to reflect people who have done a 180 turnabout. I don’t want to just be a people that darken the doorstep of churches 3-4 times a week. I want to be part of a movement where the church is the church. I wonder what our country would look like if we hushed our mouths and bruised our knees. If we stopped with the soapboxes and the boycotting of all things of the world that we are supposed to live in and we fell to our knees. Again, do we really believe that the Holy Spirit is God? That He is alive and welcome here in America? What would happen if we stopped bashing presidential candidates like the rest of the world and just let the Holy Spirit do His thing? Do we believe what the Word says in Romans: that there is no authority in place that He has not allowed. Are we willing to look different? My worldview is still a work in progress and I am definitely a sinful saint. I am blunt and hyper and often wrong. But I am so grateful that Adonai loves me and continues to fight for me and humbles me and transforms me more and more every day.

 

Many many folks think we are living in the end times and that Jesus is soon returning. I still believe that we will not know, He is coming, but no one knows the day. Nevertheless, let’s live lives that say: I am ready for your return Jesus. And since He wants that none should perish, how about we show the world all the love He has given us. It is easy to love a loveable person, but let’s love those that are more difficult. Please remember from where you came. I have probably written it before…but my favorite story in the gospels is of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her alabaster jar of perfume and her tears and her long hair (LK 7:47). And Jesus told the naysayers: those who have been forgiven much, love much. Let’s remember how much we’ve been forgiven and that any and all sin separates us from God! We are all in such desperate need of a Savior!