Many countries in the world view the economic and social status as a keymarker for the "health" of the country. For example, if Singapore were to experience continuous hyperinflation or years of recession, some people would say, "Singapore is dying".
And yet, God gives a different twist to the story of whether a nation survives. One determinant he uses is the level of sexual purity in that country. In the book of Leviticus, he clearly explains sexual sin and the definition of what is unclean and unlawful.
Towards the end of chapter 18, he says, "Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you."
Note: (The group of people he was addressing was the Israelites, and the groups of people he spoke about that were driven out due to sexual immorality (or were killed) were the ancient Egyptians and Canaanites.)
At face value, it may seem like a joke. Ever seen a face on a plot of land? Nope. Vomiting sounds all the more ridiculous then. Thinking a little harder, how many "natural" disasters have we had? How many nations have had people being killed not by another person, but by the physical land that they live on? And interestingly, how many times have people blamed God for them?
No one can fathom the events of the end of the world. Maybe these "birthpains" are a good sign that justice and righteousness will soon finally take their place. However, the birthpains are also huge smoke signals that the world will keep getting more evil till the day of Judgement, and that we're running out of time to reach out to those who need to hear about what is right and true: God's gospel message.
God, give me the strength and ability to stay faithful to you for the rest of my life. Help me keep pure, set apart for you, harvesting the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) every day, and to share about your love with those who need you. Amen.
*.* My take on the AWARE saga... *.*
I am a Christian. These words from the Bible reflect what I'd like to tell the women from the ex-new Exco..
1 Peter 3: 8-16
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,
"Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
Who is going to do harm if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.Having a personal relationship with God gives us the privilege of viewing things from His perspective. The key issue of sexual immorality, in this case, is probably viewed with horror and possibly disgust, because in our hearts, we know that sexual immorality or wrong sexual behaviour displeases God.
The important question is, where do we go from there? Making a stand for what we believe is important, and I think we should, but let's do this in love. People who do not believe in God, and therefore are not under God's Law, will not have the same way of thinking. All we say may be foolishness to them, but our role is not to judge. That's God's job. (and he does it extremely well) Instead, we should love, in the way God loves, and pray, always remembering the hope that we have, and that at the end of the day, justice and righteousness (God's standards) will prevail.
To end this off...
John 3:16-17
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
God bless you:)
