Question: At my recent class reunion the conversation turned to more socially controversial topics. When asked my opinion, I froze. I was afraid that if I gave my biblically based view, they would not like me anymore.  How do I be stronger next time?

Answer: It’s true that in these days and times, it can be easy for Believers to feel intimidated during conversations on socially controversial subjects. Most of us have seen for ourselves how expressing our biblically based views can be met with a great deal of retaliation by those who disagree with us.

Retaliation can come in a variety of negative reactions.  On one level, we might find that we are no longer invited to certain parties. We may lose longtime friends. We may even be shunned or disowned by our families.  Of course, the loss of these relationships hurt us deeply.

On a different level, we might find ourselves facing backlash on our jobs or during our community activities.  For example, your co-workers may want you to join a union that uses your dues to support political candidates and policies which go against the teachings of God’s Word. Refusing can at the very least make you very unpopular or even hated by the others.  Refusing to go against your Christian beliefs can even lead to you losing your job in some situations where you get accused of being intolerant.

Or, if you choose to participate in a peaceful political rally or protest, you could be threatened by opponents. Recently this happened to a pro-life lady praying in protest near a clinic of the nation’s largest provider of abortions, Planned Parenthood.  In this case, the person doing the harassing was a state representative.  He posted a video showing himself making derogatory comments to her, and he offered to give $100.00 to anyone who could give him her home address. Then he could make her information public and pro-abortion supporters could protest outside her private home.  (See story here)

This behavior is obviously wrong — as wrong as it would be for abortion opponents to physically harm anyone running an abortion clinic. But in our world today, fueled by social media, holding a different view on an issue can potentially be dangerous.  People representing both sides of a variety of issues often receive death threats against them and even against their spouses and children by those who disagree.

Understandably, knowing the possible backlash we could face makes us hesitant to stand strong for the teachings of God’s Holy Word. The Apostle Paul himself even had some of these concerns. Read Ephesians 6: 18-20. He asked his fellow Believers to pray for him “that utterance may be given to me (by God’s Holy Spirit), that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel…that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” ( vs 19-20 NKJV ).

Therefore, Christians are to pray!  Pray for God to be glorified in every situation. Pray for revival in our land. Pray for all those who haven’t already done so to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And, pray that as Believers we follow God’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves. And be bold like Paul to stand strong for God’s Word!

Question: I can believe God’s promises for other people but not for myself. Why?

Answer: It’s not uncommon for many people to accept that God is a loving God. But yet, they can find it hard to accept that God loves them. This can be especially true if they feel that they have sinned too much for God to love and forgive them. Or, they think of their relationship with God the same way they think about their relationships with people.

In many of our lives, we’ve had various people disappoint us, mistreat us, break off their relationship with us, or even abuse us.  We come to learn that there are people who cannot be trusted. These people may even be family members or close friends — even those who have been in our lives for many years.

But our Almighty God loves us greatly, and He can indeed be trusted! His Holy Word tells of His great love for us. In fact, “God IS love.” (1 John 4:8 NKJV)  And Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him; And He shall direct your paths.”

Unfortunately, instead of listening to these truths of God, we start to listen to the lies of Satan.  We forget that he is our enemy. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come  that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

So when you are experiencing those occasional feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness,  lack of confidence, or unworthiness — or just feeling plain unloved — know that these feelings are not from God.  They are from our enemy Satan. He tries to capture our minds so he can pull us away from God.

But don’t lose hope! God is able to bring the victory of healing in these battles that go on in our mind. Sometimes He heals us directly. Sometimes He uses others like trusted Christian counselors, doctors, and pastors to help you through these mental struggles.  Thank God for providing these wonderful people in our lives to be a blessing to us!

Remember the good news God gives us in Jeremiah 29:11:  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Of course God’s greatest show of love towards us came through His only Son, Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)  So repent. Ask God to forgive you of your sins, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior!

Read God’s Word. Learn about the promises, hope, and love He has for you. Pray to Him about your needs. And know that unlike people, God always keeps His promises. He does not lie so we know we can trust that His Word is true! Lean on God and stop letting the devil steal your joy! Start living the “abundant” life God has planned for you!

Question: Why are some Believers quick to judge the sins of others but not acknowledge their own sins?

Answer: It’s usually easier for people to point out the sins of others especially if the others are people they don’t like very much.  They are also less likely to point out the same sins in people they do like. And while Believers are to call out sinful behavior, they are to do so in the right way and at the right times.

As Jesus says in Matthew 7:2-5, “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck out of your eye’; and look a plank is in your own eye?'”

“Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.” ( NKJV)  So, yes you are to try to stop others from sinning.  But, first you must stop your own sinning!

Remember,  other people are watching what you say and do. If you call yourself a Christian yet they witness you committing or supporting sinful behavior, they will think your faith is a joke. You become a terrible witness for Jesus Christ! Instead of drawing unbelievers to Our Lord, you turn them away from Him!

So, carrying around a Bible, quoting scripture, and going to church on Sunday are not enough.  You can’t be doing these things on one day then for example lying, cheating, stealing, and mistreating people on another day. (Read Romans 1:18-32)

Also, while the Bible tells us that none of us are perfect “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), we are expected to be “salt and light” for our Lord!  We are to live our daily lives to show the love of Jesus to our fellow-man!

And, when we do mess up and sin — and we all will — repent and ask God to forgive you of your sins. And He will!  For 1 John 1:9 says, ” If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”

Remember all of this so that you don’t become a holy hypocrite!

”

Question:  Should we give thanks for unanswered prayers?

Answer:  Yes, give thanks to God because He always answers our prayers.  Remember, His answer may be yes, no, or not yet, but He always answers.  We are reminded of this in       1 John 5:14-15, ” Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (NKJV)  Note that what we pray for must still go along with God’s will for our lives.  God’s will and our desires may not match.  That said, God very much wants us to continue to pray to Him for the things we feel we want or need.  We usually enthusiastically give God thanks when He answers our prayers with a “yes.”  Of course, when we do this, we are doing the right thing.  However, it’s very important to remind ourselves to give thanks even when God’s answer is “no.”  Believers know that while we may think we know what is best for us, God truly knows what’s best for us in every situation of our lives.  We must also know that our ways are not necessarily His ways, and our preferred timing for things to happen, is not always His timing for things to happen.
Here are two examples of God knowing what’s best for us better than we do.  Consider the twenty-something young lady who has a strong  desire to get married and even has her eyes set on the exact young man she considers her perfect match.  He’s handsome, successful in his career, and regularly attends church.  She prays to God to bless her to get married to this fine young man.  After the two have dated for a while, the young man seems to lose interest in her and goes off to eventually marry someone else.  Our young lady is crushed, and she doesn’t understand why God didn’t answer her prayer with a “yes.”   Twenty years later, we find our young lady happily married to a wonderful man she first met in her thirties.  She is surprised to learn that the young man she prayed to marry decades earlier is now on his third divorce.  According to his ex-wives, he had been a terrible husband.  Our lady is now very happy God answered “no” to her earlier prayer.
A different example:   a middle-aged man prays to God to get a new career position that he thinks is just right for him.  He’d be working for a great company and making a much larger salary than he’s making in his current position — something especially important as he starts to get closer to retirement age.   However, this man watches in disbelief as someone else gets that prized position.  He can’t understand what he had done so wrong that God would not reward him with the job of his heart’s desire.  Later, it turns out the person taking his dream job lasts less than a year.  The company down-sizes and that position gets eliminated.  That person is now unemployed.  Our middle-aged man is happy he still had his job.  He’s also very happy that God answered his earlier prayer with a “no.”
If we are being really honest with ourselves,  most of us can probably recall times in our lives when we were very upset when God said “no” to us.  Likewise, as in these two examples, we can look back at one or more of these “no’s” and be thankful.  We now shudder at the thought of how things would be if God’s answer had been “yes.”  As believers, we know that we will never understand in this lifetime, why God answers us in the ways He does.  Also, God knows, understands, and cares when we are hurt and disappointed when He doesn’t answer all of our prayers with a “yes.”  He wants us to trust that He knows what is best and take comfort in this knowledge.  We must pray to have stronger faith and trust in God.  Then, we will be spiritually equipped for those times when we need to be thankful for NOT getting what we wanted!

(Reposted from my November 21, 2013 Blog Post)

Follow me on Twitter: @ValClarksPlace

Helpful Links:
Focus on the Family    http://www.focusonthefamily.com
Crown Financial Ministries   http://www.crown.org
The Christian Broadcasting Network   http://www.cbn.com
World Magazine        http://www.worldmag.com

Question: After hearing about so many scary events happening in the world, I’m almost afraid to leave my house. Help!

Answer: From natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes destroying cities to increasing local crime and terrorist attacks, there’s plenty of news to cause fear.  But dangerous events  and crimes, while seeming to be on the rise, are actually nothing new.  Jesus told His disciples to expect various types of troubling events.  In Matthew 24: 6-7, Jesus says, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.” ( NKJV )

Our God IS an awesome God!  He wants us to remember that He knows that Satan spreads evil in the world.  God knows there are many things that make us fearful. But, as the Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  As Christians, we are to put our faith and trust in God.  We are to pray to God to protect us wherever we go. And, pray for wisdom to know when we should stay where we are and not go in order to avoid danger.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, asked Him to forgive your sins, and repented of your sins, you know your life is now in the hands of Jesus. He has empowered you with His Holy Spirit to guide and protect you.  He will keep you in His loving care until He decides to call you home to heaven.  Until that time comes, God wants us to continue to live our lives and to live our lives in the ways that please Him.

Therefore, you should continue to enjoy life with your family and friends.  Enjoy being the hands and feet of Jesus by helping those in need. Enjoy doing all you can to show God’s love to others…especially to those who are not yet Believers!  Pray for wisdom to know when and how to avoid dangerous situations.  But do not make yourself a slave to the fears caused by that “thief,” the devil.  Remember the words of Jesus found in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Amen!

So, go out and enjoy that abundant life God has planned for you!

[Re-posted from October 2017]

Follow me on Twitter: @valclarksplace

Question: My religion professor says that there are many ways to heaven. Is this true?

Answer: No.  What your professor said is not true! There is only one way to Heaven and that way is through Jesus Christ.  Jesus Himself said in John 14: 6, ” …I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJV)  Jesus made this clear. And, Jesus does not lie!

However, we are regularly fed spiritual lies by some of the people around us. Sometimes they tell us falsehoods out of their own ignorance.  Other times, people know that what they are telling you is not true.  Satan uses people to tell lies that would lead others away from God’s truth. In fact, Jesus says that Satan is the father of lies. (John 8:44)  He lies to keep people in the bondage of sin.

But by reading and studying God’s Holy Word, we can break free from Satan’s grip.  John 8:32 says,  “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  Verse 36 goes on to say, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

Therefore to be free we must first accept God’s only Son Jesus Christ as our One and only Lord and Savior. We must accept that He saved us from eternal separation from God in Heaven. He took  the punishment of death on the cross that we deserved for our sins. We must ask for forgiveness and repent of our sins.

In doing this, we can pray that God’s Holy Spirit will give us discernment to recognize truth from lies. For example, when someone comes to us saying their message is from God, yet their actions go against God’s teachings, we can remember 1 John 2:4.  “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

So, when we hear people say anything that goes against God’s Word, we know they are telling lies.  Even when these people come across as very likeable, intelligent, and caring, we must test what they are saying. For example, are they lying by telling people that they don’t need to be accountable to God for their actions – that they can just do whatever seems right in their own eyes? If so, they are liars!

Especially beware if what they say denies the unbreakable bond between God the Father and His Son.  In fact, 1 John 2: 22 – 23, puts it this way:  “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

So, don’t be deceived by the liars. Seek God’s truth. Pray to learn to discern!

Follow me on Twitter: @valclarksplace