April 23, 2020

Good day to all
Last night our GO group meeting began with small talk as it normally does for a few minutes before our group leader ropes us into control. One of the subjects that came up during small talk was the music of an artist from the late sixties. There was a difference of opinion regarding her talent.  Someone mentioned that during that time of American history, we made all kinds of folks famous.  There was truth to that statement and my mind turned to possible reasons. I thought that one of the reasons was the drug culture of the sixties and seventies. The reason for that thought is that I remembered that while at sea during the eighties, I was excited when the ship's store got a shipment that included one of my favorite bands from my teen years. I was excited when I had some time to find a corner to myself, popped the tape into my walkman, and prepared to take a journey down memory lane.  As the band began to play, I asked myself: "How in the world did I enjoy this music in the past? This is terrible." I was able to only listen for a few minutes before turning it off.  In a conversation with a friend about my disappointing experience , we came to the conclusion that the years when I had enjoyed that, my mind was normally altered and this was the first time I had listened to their music straight and sober. When I had enjoyed their music, my sense of reality was skewed and what was terrible actually sounded good. 

There are other things that twist our sense of reality to such a degree that our thoughts are based on untruths. We may lose our temper, feel a sense of despair, say something inappropriate for a child of God, or behave in some other manner that we recognize as a hindrance to a sound testimony. What often happens in cases like that is that thoughts such as: "you are a bad Christian"; or "Where is your faith?" and perhaps even "Am I really saved?" will begin to haunt us. Sometimes those thoughts are planted by the enemy, sometimes they are the self-generated. Such thoughts are as far from the truth as the music from a band that only sounds good to those under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 

Here are two thoughts to keep us focused on what is true. Those of us who have proclaimed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are bound to Him by none other than the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:13 [In Him you also, when your heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.] The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not only promised to us who receive Jesus as Lord, but is promised as seal of guarantee for an eternal promise. 

Even those times when our behavior is not what it should be, the truth, the reality that can not be altered, is that our relationship with Him is stronger than our moments of weakness and our future is secure in Him.
Have a blessed day
​Vic