Ever notice how the people that make it a point to put up signs in their yards like “Hate doesn’t live here,” or those who openly say that there needs to be more love and understanding in the world, are the first to express anger, judgment, and mean-spiritedness when someone disagrees with their viewpoints?

We have seen censorship from the government, big business, and even the news media. Hard to imagine that those who are supposed to bring truth in the news censor truth. The censorship and hate boil down to those who have a worldly view being offended by those who have a Godly worldview. Today’s censorship and animus are aimed toward Jews and Christians who stand for what is right and good.

It’s very easy to get wrapped around the axle of this ongoing attack on our values and faith. I know of people who have had to quit watching the news because it makes them anxious. People of faith are disconnecting from society. Churches are losing congregants, especially among young people. But are we to disengage?

Christ said in Matthew 24:9 that “you shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” He also said in Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” And he advised in Luke 12:12 not to worry about what you will say when you are brought before the authorities “For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” Like God told Moses in Exodus 4:12 that when he went before Pharaoh, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

If the Lord is teaching us what to say to these hostile people, it stands to reason that we would respond with wisdom because we are ambassadors of the living God.

Christ said in Matthew 5:38-39, “You have heard that it has been said, ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for tooth,’ but I say unto you, that you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

A study of Jewish law reveals that a slap on the cheek is an offense of insult that requires remuneration. By turning the other cheek, it means that you are not going to react with revenge—or return evil for evil—but to wait on the Lord for direction and vindication. Herein, the Holy Spirit directs us. We are not to just shrink back and silently tolerate evil but rather respond to it with guidance from the Holy Spirit. As a follower of Christ, you are set apart unto him.

In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar required everyone to worship the golden image or be thrown into a furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused. They were careful and, quite frankly, Holy Spirit-guided in their answer:

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But if not, be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up.”

They did not respond in anger. They obeyed God rather than men. They had faith. They were confident in God’s decision, irrespective of the outcome. In the end, the king had a change of heart and blessed God. This is an example to each of us. Be encouraged to speak boldly as you ought to speak, and be at peace that God’s will shall be accomplished.

Posted in The Daily Jot

One way to destroy a country is to destroy the family core. The “woke” extremists, the current darlings of the Biden Administration and leftist news media, are taking aim at every kid in America. It’s a coordinated attack from the White House on down to state governments where the LGBTQ+ agenda has been turned loose on the sons and daughters of America in an all-out effort to evangelize, confuse, recruit, groom, and conscript into a lifestyle that leads to a lifetime of depression and often suicide.

Joe Biden has endorsed this child predation, saying on March 30, “We celebrate the activism and determination that have fueled the fight for transgender equality.”

Every child is at risk from this activism. It must be stopped.

Biden thinks that every kid should have the opportunity to choose their sex. And some of the most liberal states in the Union are trying to codify in law the LGBTQ+ ability to prey on our children.

It wasn’t enough in California to ban gas stoves and gasoline-powered vehicles; now, the state is going after children. Already a “sanctuary” state for children fleeing from conservative states that protect minors from transgenderism, now the state’s Judiciary Committee passed the bill allowing mental health professionals to place children in residential facilities upon a minor’s request, even if the children are not experiencing abuse or neglect at home. And the mental health professional can determine whether parents are notified.

In Washington state, the state House passed a bill to allow licensed overnight youth shelters housing a minor to inform only the state’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families and not a child’s parents if the child is “seeking or receiving protected health care services.” The bill defines protected services as including “evaluation and treatments for gender dysphoria, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and gender-affirming surgical procedures.”

The bill’s sponsor, Democrat Senator Marko Liias, says, “This legislation allows licensed shelters to contact the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) in lieu of parents in certain additional instances, like when a young person is seeking reproductive health services or gender-affirming care.”

These bills are legalizing government-sanctioned kidnapping by the LGBTQ+ extremists.

Your kid can go to school one day and disappear to some mental health shelter, and you won’t know where to find him, and the authorities won’t tell you where he is. It’s all done under the assumption that the parent is causing mental health issues in the child by not “affirming” that they think they are another gender. In reality, it is the LGBTQ+ activists that are causing the mental health problem by confusing the child.

Think about how this can be extended to those whose faith requires opposition to the LGBTQ+ perversions.

Christ said in Luke 17:2, “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

This is arguably among the most egregious offenses of children. Stand strong against it.

Sources:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/30/a-proclamation-on-transgender-day-of-visibility-2022/

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB665

https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/liias/2023/04/13/legislation-to-protect-trans-youth-seeking-lifesaving-care-passes-the-house/

Posted in The Daily Jot