Things to think about

I know this guy.  I'm happy that he, like myself, came to Christ later in life and his life is going well these days.  That brings me joy.  We stay in touch on social media and I like seeing the posts about his family and the ones he shares about Jesus.  A couple of them have been quite timely.  I'm always grateful to God to know friends have come to the Truth.  I'm grateful that I can call him a friend.

This same friend shares other stuff too.  Political stuff that often is not based on any known or researched fact.  I wonder sometimes how people can see Truth but be blinded to things that are true and based on reality.  Sometimes I wonder if the two things conflict when pointing others to Jesus.  I think about things like that in my own life.  I think it's part of why I feel convicted by the Holy Spirit to stay out of the politics that happen on social media.  I still have my own views, but I'd like to think I'm smart enough to not believe the lies I'm told from either side.  Often five minutes of research online can help me decide what's true and what's not.

Someone I know shared that some "we" were gonna take America back on social media.  I wondered to myself:  Back from whom?  Other Americans?  Americans of color?  Democrats?  The rich people that are really pulling the strings behind the scenes?  I watched in horror in January as some Americans yelling "stop the steal" were trying to do what they were purportedly trying to stop.  They weren't trying to take America back.  They were trying to take America OVER.

I wonder if that's not the implied message of the post.  I think about that.  The way to take America over is at the ballot box.  I think about Christians and the damage they do with blindly supporting one particular party.  The abortion thing I get but that is going to be remedied with a 6-3 Supreme Court and it's time to start looking elsewhere for issues we need to be about.  Issues.  Not party.  We need to care about ALL life; not just the unborn.  

I think about that too.  A lot.

Some other things I think about:  There have been a couple of sex scandals that have rocked Christianity in America the last few months.  I get how these things happen, but what if we foster a climate where after the first fall, a brother or sister in prominence felt able to, at the outset, come to someone for help and forgiveness.  I get there are going to be consequences for that person, dependent upon position, but the eternal sometimes needs to take precedence, so the number of people hurt is limited.  It doesn't just hurt the victims or the families of those involved.  It affects all of us and it makes our ability to witness more difficult.  We need but look at the Catholic church scandals and how keeping it secret instead of dealing with it outwardly and forthrightly has done a different kind of damage.

I'm mindful too, that Christ's church is going to prevail.  It's His.  But as one of the members, and a sinner myself who is very much in minute-by-minute need of his Savior, I think about what actions I have taken or could take and how that would affect my own testimony.  I'm not perfect...not by any means.  But something I became acutely aware of last November was a word from the Holy Spirit....everybody's watching you to see how you handle this.

When we profess faith in Christ, when our lives start to change, well...everybody starts to watch, waiting for a moment you fail to go....Aha!!! See what so and so did!!!!  That's a thing I think about.

I live alone, but you can walk in my home anytime. Anybody can ask for my phone and I could hand it over without hesitation.  My browsing history is equally available because I thought about some of those things.  I remind myself in times of temptation, like with puppy dog girl, that it cost me nothing to walk away.  I think that's a good thing to think about too.

I think about lots of things during the day.  These are but a few of them...