Daily writing prompt

What’s a book that completely surprised you?

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Advice from a book that always surprises me:

Loosen your fiery grimaced grip. Open up your hands and your heart to God and to people. Turn your tight fists into unfolded palms of praise and full surrender to the risen Jesus. Replace your grimace with a loving smile.

Let Christ live in you and lighten you up with the glorious light of His hope-filled presence. Depend on Jesus to protect the things that you are so desperately clinging to. He can defend you so much better than you can. “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you.”

Refuse to bow to golden idols. Be like the three men in the Bible who refused to honor, respect, and bow to a giant golden statue of the head of state. The king was so angry he threatened to throw them into a fiery furnace.

The three men replied: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from your majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)

The king was furious. He blasted the three men with the full force of his anger and had them tied up and thrown in the furnace. Then someone who looked like a supernatural being appeared in the fire with the men. He and the three men were walking around unbound in the furnace. The three men walked out unharmed and they didn’t even smell like smoke.

If you want to experience true greatness and true strength have the courage to reject the idols of anger and hatred and religious self-righteousness. Then begin to faithfully obey the living Jesus who said: “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you.”

Never allow anyone or anything to cause you to put any country or any leader first. Jesus is Lord. Only He (and He alone) deserves to be first in your life!

A guy on Facebook told me to give him some evidence that mixing politics and Christianity together is a dangerous thing. Then he said, “You can’t because it doesn’t exist.” Here is my response to him.

Thanks for asking. Read about the Spanish Reconquest and the Spanish Inquisition. The government and the church teamed up to torture and drive out hundreds of thousands of Jews, Muslims, and protestant Christians. Also, read how European kings and churches used the concept of “the Divine Right of Kings” to justify the persecution and killing of Christians (and other groups) who disagreed with them, in the name of God and Christianity. Another example is the multiple Crusades that religious European governments launched against Muslims and even Eastern Orthodox Christians. Read how the English government arrested thousands of Quakers because they wanted to be led by God’s Spirit instead of by government sponsored religion. Read how politicians and government officials in the Southern states of the USA twisted the Bible and tried to use Christianity to justify holding black people in life-long servitude and selling them to each other like cattle. That’s a few examples for you. When a government feels sanctioned by God, they frequently feel justified in abusing and even killing people who disagree with their faith and their theology. All God’s best to you.

Freedom of speech is a God-given human right. In the USA it is guaranteed by the Constitution. To insult or attack people for expressing their opinion is anti-American and anti-Christian.