Drunk with Consumerism

Well it's "Black Friday" and most Americans were shopping today (except me lol). I looked online for a few deals I wanted but they were gone before I could even click on them to purchase! I saw so many deals for my daughter and photo printers for $10 that I felt that uneasy feeling in my stomach, that I refer to as the monster.

"What do you mean monster?" you may be saying. The monster of wanting to put things on a credit card. The "oh I will pay it off later.......this is just too good of a deal to pass up right now!" The one that subjects you to the chains of debt. However thank the Lord the words rang through my mind of lessons learned in recent years.....If you can't afford it, don't buy it!

How many people today whipped out the plastic? How many got drunk with consumerism today? I looked on a few news websites today to see what I expected to see: people getting into fights over deals, shoving each other, mass crowds lined up for hours to buy buy BUY!!!!! I gotta have it! I gotta get it! GIVE ME GIVE ME!

One of the saddest pictures I saw of this whole ordeal today was one of a small toddler asleep and slung over his mother's arm while she shopped and shopped and shopped, all the while ignoring the fact that her baby could use a nice bed! Chances are she woke him early from his bed to start the spending spree, caring for who?? Herself? The deals? Surely not her child.......

Well I will "try" and step off my soapbox now. I refuse to give into the mad rush of buying, most doing it on credit cards and piling up debt and pulling the chains of their slavery even tighter. Charge it!

My question is, What Would Jesus Do? Could you really see Jesus rushing into a store pushing others in a mad frenzy to get a deal? Nah, I didn't think so either. Can you hear Jesus saying "Charge it!?"

FYI: Mastercard reported their customers alone were spending 20 BILLION dollars TODAY!! Guess who is happy today? Can you say MASTER CARD?? =0 As Pastor Davis said in one of his classes: You are stupid if you pay interest! There is a lot of stupid people huh?

I saw a picture of 1 guy paying with CASH! It was so odd that they videoed it and put it on a clip online HA!!!!! I say for that guy YOU GO!! Way to only buy something you CAN AFFORD! ; )

"Oh wait....how are we going to afford to pay for all this stuff we put on the credit card today dear?" "Why honey, you can just get a job and put the kids in daycare.....!" "What a great idea, let someone else raise my kids so I can go work to have MORE STUFF!"

Points in Favor

I had read the following true story right before church tonight, I actually had been reading a lot on anger (don't ask lol)....from books to online articles and came across this and I saved it. When Pastor preached tonight, he talked for a while about anger and then this came back to my mind!

Points in Favor

When John D. Rockefeller ran the Standard Oil Company, one of his senior executives made a mistake which cost them over $2 million. Most of the other executives thought Rockefeller would come down on him 'like a ton of bricks.' But, they were wrong! Before he called the man in, he sat down, took a notepad and wrote across the top of it - points in favor of this man! Then he listed the man's virtues, including how he'd helped the company make the right decision on other occasions and earned them millions in profits.

One of the senior executives who witnessed it, later said, "Whenever I'm tempted to 'rip into' someone, I force myself first to sit down to compile a list of the good qualities they have. By the time I've finished, I have the right perspective and best of all, my anger is under control. I can't tell you how many times this habit has prevented me from committing one of life's costliest of mistakes - losing my temper! I recommend it to anyone who must deal with people."

Author Unknown

Character Counts

People are often unreasonable,
Illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,
You will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
People may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
Someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
They may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
People will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
And it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
It is between you and God;
It never was between you and them anyway.

Mother Theresa

I AM My Brother's Keeper

I came across a great post, well actually 2 great posts, on a blog a week or so ago and I even shared it with my husband. Then in church, a preacher recently spoke on this topic, mentioning we should carry our brother when he needs help! It was then that this post came back to my mind: I AM my Brother's Keeper! I asked the lady for permission to share it here on my blog and she said that would be fine.

I AM MY BROTHER'S KEEPER

Cain got it all wrong.See, the thing is, God CREATED us to live in community and fellowship with one another. How do I know this? Because the first "not good" in the Bible is for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Even before sin entered the world, something was missing when it was just Adam and God. Even in a perfect world, Adam needed human companionship. He was created to live in community with other people. If in a world without sin, things were still "not good" until fellowship was established, how much more "not good" is it now when we try to live completely independent lives from each other?

The Bible tells us that Christians, collectively, are the body of Christ. I don't know about you, but my body is interdependent. What happens to one part of my body affects the rest of my body. If I have a splitting headache, no matter how great the rest of my body feels, my entire body is going to be taking it easy on the couch. If my right hand gets slammed in a door, then my left hand has to pick up the slack until my right hand is better. If that's the way that the human body works, shouldn't that also be the same way that the body of Christ works?

I need people, and people need me. I do not only a disservice to myself, but also to others when I act like I can do life on my own. I can't. I wasn't CREATED to do life on my own.

LIVING IN COMMUNITY

Still don't think that you need other people? Well, even Jesus needed others. Remember His disciples? You could think of them as the original "small group." If God Himself, while He was walking around this Earth needed others, how much more do YOU?

As a Christian, you are interconnected with all other Christians. You were created to work WITH others. Your life is at it's BEST when you work with others.

God created us to share our lives with others.

Ecclesiastes 4:8-12
8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. 9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. 11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? 12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Our lives become meangingless when we don't live in community with others.

  • The author of this is Hubbadah, not sure on her real name but that is her blogger name. I just wanted to share this great post with my readers, hope you enjoyed it and how true it is!

Entangled

Galatians 5:1

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
2 Peter 2:20

"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning."
Entangled:

1. to have within, to hold in
a. to be held, entangled, be held ensnared
b. to be engaged with, set one's self against, hold a grudge against someone

1. to inweave
2. of a thing: to entangle, involve in

What holds you and ensnares you? Is something inweaving itself into your life and polluting your holiness before the Lord? This was the just of the message and it hit home with me.

There were some things in my life that God had been dealing with me about to get rid of. I kept pushing it away, saying "Well what is wrong with it?" All the time I knew exactly what harm it WAS doing to me and how it was starting to entangle me. So guess what I did? I got rid of what was entangling me and trying to ensnare me!

Pastor Davis commented that if this church wasn't going to be a holiness church then we should just burn it down. So true....its high time to live holy and not let the pollutions of the world set in.

2 Corinthians 6:17

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"
Separate:

1. to mark off from others by boundaries, to limit, to separate
a. in a bad sense: to exclude as disreputable
b. in a good sense: to appoint, set apart for some purpose

What are you waiting for? Separate yourselves and don't let things entangle you. Quit having talks with the devil about "What is so bad about it" You know exactly what it can do......

Some humor

Eleven people were hanging on a rope under a helicopter, ten men and one woman.

The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one had to leave, because otherwise they were all going to fall.

They weren't able to name that person, until the woman gave a very touching speech.

She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because, as a woman, she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids, or for men in general, and was used to always making sacrifices with little in return.

As soon as she finished her speech, all the men started clapping their hands...

Spectators

What is a spectator?

1 : one who looks on or watches

There are so many people that look on and just watch. As Pastor Davis put it, they sit on the sidelines telling others what to do and what not to do but never getting in the game themselves! Sound familiar?

I did not want to be a spectator in my life for God, so I took a stand......I'm not ashamed of God's church or my leaders or my beliefs! Are you?

Mark 8:38

"Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Romans 10:11

"For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."

Notice, the Bible doesn't say "let the redeemed of the Lord be spectators"......its says "LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO!"

Psalm 107:2

"Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;"

How about that neighbor that doesn't know God that you see day in and day out. Have you shared with them the glorious news of the Gospel? Or are you ashamed at what they might "think" of you?

You make time for the things you think are important. Why are people always waiting on someone else to do it? Let's not wait on another.....arise to do whatever God has called you to do......leave the crowd of spectators! Take a stand and ARISE for God!

There are spectators in so many things. People that just sit there and do nothing but watch! It's easy to just sit and watch the game ......but I want to be in the game!

The Accuser of the Brethren

The religious hypocrites were always looking for a way to get rid of Jesus. They constantly searched for faults, so they could bring accusations against him. Their agendas were very clear......they wanted to do away with Jesus. We know that satan is the accuser of the brethren.

Mark 3:2

"And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him."

Luke 11:54

"Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him."

The Bible tells us to not marvel if the world hates us. We know that a Christian loves, forgives and does not hate or keep bitterness in their heart against another. So why is it that some are feeding their fires of bitterness by constant slander against Godly men and women? If they are truly of God, should not they love, forgive and have no bitterness in their hearts?

It is plain by their works, who they are of, it is not of God. It is plain to see whose bidding they are doing. satan is the one who works on tearing down the work of God. satan is the one behind agendas set to defame Godly men and women. satan is behind the constant searching for accusations and yet another defamatory script to write.

Why would people want to rail against God's men and women and his church?

1 John 3:12

"Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous."

It was jealousy, envy, and hate that did it back then and it is the same today. Let's look at the persecution of the Godly a bit more:

Psalm 37:12-15

"12 The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. 13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. 14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. 15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken."

2 Timothy 3:12

"12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

The wicked:
  • Plot against the just
  • Gnash on them with their teeth
  • Slay those with an upright conversation

All that live Godly.....will suffer persecution, we learn in 2 Timothy. He did not say some, he said ALL and SHALL. If you are living Godly you will suffer persecution. It is not something strange, it is common for the Christian.

The wicked will always try and destroy those who have good character, walk upright and live for God. You have these haters of all things Godly bursting out at the mouth in pure slander and hatred for others. Do not they have to love to make it to Heaven??

1 John 4:20-21

"20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also."

Thanks be unto God that we can come away from all that. God can forgive! We can let the blood of Jesus cleanse us from our wicked ways and love one another! We can have good works and leave the evil works behind!