This morning I woke up and saw a video that my son had commented on. It moved me so much to know that there's this whole conversation going on out there, right now, among our young people, about sexuality and Christianity that is deeply disturbing and confusing in it's nature. I asked God how can I be part of this discussion with so many who may disregard what I say. I don't have an answer to that, but I know that my silence only lends strength to the enemy's message (and by the enemy I mean no person, but Satan himself). So this was my response to this video. I hope you will carefully consider it and share or discuss it with others. Here's a link to the video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=577730898958017
For the sake of brevity (haha) I do not actually go into detail about the movie and it's message. I think the movie is heartbreaking and very damaging. I understand and acknowledge the persecution that the LGBT community has endured. I feel like it's damaging because it so subtly twists truth and lies together to evoke an emotional response that leads us away from real truth. To unpack this please keep reading.
This is a very complex subject that I care about deeply, to which this video only depicts one possible view on either side. God is perfect; His word is perfect. Every person interprets scripture whether they have ever read a bible in there lives or not, because the bible is part of our culture and we know what others think it says by what they say and how they act. I love Jesus and I believe the bible is the inspired word of God. But, I also believe that in order to interpret it correctly, one must have an intimate relationship with the author (God). Some of the bible was written to tell us what happened; other parts of it was written to tell us how God wants us to do things. You need the Spirit of God to reveal what applies to which scripture. Many scriptures on slavery and women are misinterpreted because they are meant to reveal what was taking place in that part of culture when it was written. But those same passages DO have a meaning to us today that God wants us to know about, they aren't simply to be thrown aside. Many Christians misinterpret the bible just the same as anyone else who reads it (or hears parts of it out of context). We are all prideful, we have all gone our own way without God and that makes us equal in His eyes. There is a real enemy whose plan is to pour so much pain and confusion into the subject of God and religion that many will never find truth as a result. But let me tell you about the God that I know.
There is no darkness or deception in Him. He is love; no love exists outside of Him. The God I know sent His own son to earth and allowed Him, Jesus, to be a sacrifice, paying the eternal penalty for ALL sin, past, present and future. Because God is pure and sinless, ANY sin and darkness is destroyed in His Presence. But God created us to be with Him; He is a lovesick God, who despite our rejection and obstinacy, pursues us like a star-crossed lover. He knew that the fall of man separated Him from His creations. He had a plan, and that was Jesus. Jesus took on our punishment, our shame and gave us His righteousness (right standing with God) in place of what we really deserved.
God does NOT hate homosexuals; nor does He hate heterosexuals; God hates sin and darkness which are the "things" or "behaviors, patterns, beliefs, actions" that separate us from Him. But He is not like us; He is able to separate the sin from the person. Many people who truly love God and honor to do His will and seek after Him get confused on this subject, and they wrongly believe that hating people is what they are called to do. But just because many people who call themselves Christians do a poor job of understanding and living out the scriptures does not invalidate them. God's word was created before time existed; it does not need mankind to validate it. God does not NEED mankind; He wants us. He desires us. He created us for Himself. We are the only creatures created in His likeness.
There is a spiritual realm that is more real than the physical realm we live in, because it existed long before ours did. This spiritual realm has laws and beings associated with it, that unless you are aware of and begin to understand, you can live your whole life unaware of how it affects your sphere of life in the natural realm. To put it simply, every emotion has a spirit attached to it; a real live spirit being. So I would say to every person who struggles with gender confusion or sexuality issues (including heterosexuals), the truth that you feel a certain thing is absolutely 100% correct, I do not argue that with you. But what I'd like to suggest is that there are spirits behind feelings - when someone is driven to murder or to cheat on their spouse or to rob a bank, there is a spirit attached to those feelings that lead us to do those things. Spirits influence our lives based on our agreement with that spirit. The outcome is bad and sinful; but the feeling behind it simply reveals the desperation and confusion of the person struggling before they committed that action. It's all sin and it all separates us from God.
I will use myself as an example to illustrate this point. I was saved when I was 9 yrs. old and accepted Jesus into my heart. At that time, the Spirit of God came and lived in me and made my inner spirit man come alive. But there was a lot of fear associated with religion that told me that I was barely saved, that I was a wretched sinner and it was about escaping hell. I was taught that being a Christian was about following a list of rules, so I was a good girl, the best. That's what I focused on. But as life happened, my beliefs began to change as a result of my unmet needs. We all were created with needs and if we are unable to get those met in a healthy way we will find an unhealthy way to get them met. I grew up without my dad and had a lot of poor father models in my life. No one was there to instill identity and self worth into me. So when I got old enough to start being in relationships, I looked to get this unfulfilled need met in those. I lived decades (30+ years) of my life in darkness and pain and misery, struggling with overeating and depression because I still couldn't get those needs met. What I know now is that my earthy father was just a part of it, that it was his job to point me to my heavenly Father, and my identity, self-value and love come from my Papa God.
When I tried everything I could on my own and surrendered it all to Him (God), he took me on a journey of self-discovery, healing and restoration. The God-shaped hole in my heart was finally filled with Him, and it changed my life. It didn't happen overnight; I had 30 something years of lies and wrong thinking I had to overcome. But it's His Spirit that brings life, it's His Spirit that brings truth; no other truth is superior to His, not even your reality. Our reality is a result of our beliefs. What we believe affects what we think, what we think affects what we say, what we say becomes what we expect to happen in our lives and that becomes what we live in. Life and death are in the power of our words; that is truth. I lived out of my feelings for 30 years; but now I've learned that God's word is superior to my feelings; that I control me, I control what I walk in, how great my life is, how loved I feel. So when I learned to teach myself truth from His word, being led by His Spirit, I began the process of mind renewal. I learned to say things over my life out loud that began to affect my feelings and change them. I will be on this journey forever. Learning to live out of truth and convictions means that you acknowledge your feelings and use them to diagnose what is going on inside of you, but you do not allow yourself to be driven by them. God's Spirit empowers us to live free and victorious from these cycles that have kept us in bondage in our lives. And whether you're twelve or sixty, it is never too soon or too late to be free and begin your path toward wholeness and victory.
I'm speaking to all people; regardless of sexuality. I lived in sexual sin for 20+ years of my life; that sin is no different to me than homosexuality. The pain and consequences of that were and are still very real. We are all slaves to something in our lives, make no mistake about it. We are either a slave to our feelings and passions, going every which way, doing all sorts of things, never finding "that thing" that will satisfy the cry of our heart - or we can be a slave to Christ which is the only freedom. Jesus was God; he gave up His right to be God for 33 years and put on human flesh so that He could walk our walk, live our life and know the pain, struggle and agony that we deal with. He is the way, the truth, and the life because before He came, the way to God had been severed and we were hopelessly lost, separated eternally from God. Hell is eternal separation from God, and I believe that God loves us so much that He lets us choose what we want and He gives it to us, forever. The problem is the majority of people make that decision not knowing what they're really deciding on because the truth has been so twisted they think they know what they are rejecting.
If your heart has been stirred by any of this and you're confused about what I'm saying or want to know more, please feel free to message me. I would love to talk with you. My heart is to simply have an honest, open, respectful conversation about this and other important topics that so affect our lives. Bless you all.
