Fed Up

Good morning my sweet family and friends!
(er afternoon~eveningish...this post took a long time to write)

I wanted to tell you thank you for all of your encouraging and uplifting comments, messages and emails. It's one thing to be reprimanded when you are being a stinker and unkind, but it's another thing to get that when you are really trying to do your best for your family, for your friends and for the LORD.

In my sweet Sugarbears words "That weally thtinkth!" (that really stinks)

No biggie.
Not trying to whine...
o.k....maybe a little...
I DID get the wind knocked out of me for a bit.
But that's o.k.
God is sooo good and here HE gave us a brand new day on this side of eternity to enjoy and glorify HIM!

You all know that Our sweet Shauna left us this year (No, I still can't say died) .
I had cancer this year.
I don't feel a little focused on Heaven.
I feel a LOT focused on Heaven.
Again, I'm not "ALL that".
Yikes, I have so far to go.
But I LOVE MY LORD, HIS WORD and MY FRIENDS.
I know my goal, and I am so thankful that my sweet Savior knows ME,
knows my heart,
knows my intentions.

So, I was a little fed up.

I admit it.

You see, my family is stuck with me.
My dear LORD and Heavenly Father are stuck with me.

That leaves you, my friends.

You, lucky folk that you are , are not stuck with me!
You can "unfriend" me if you want to.
Just take me right off of your friends list if I offend you.
It will NOT offend ME or hurt my feelings.
It's o.k.

I would rather you did so, as a matter of fact, rather than you leave ugly and unkind comments on my page. I do not put ugly or unkind comments on my page directed towards you, nor do I post them on your wall. I have a very strict rule for myself to try to only leave uplifting and honest comments for others. If I have something to say that might be construed as confrontational, no matter how carefully I say it, then I will send it to you in a private message.

That is my Biblical understanding of addressing a matter of disagreement in the church. If you believe me to be sinning, please be so kind as to call me, message me, email me and let me know. I am open to discussion. You are on my friends list, because I think you are my friend.

But anyway, onward and upward...

Before even opening a facebook account we had a lot of family discussions. We discussed getting ad blocker first, to avoid the often pornographic ads that pop up on the side bar of facebook, which we did. We discussed family rules on what would and would not be appropriate content on our pages and on our friend's pages. (We have sometimes had to talk to our children about comments they have left and what some might construe from them and had to remove them. We have open access to each other's passwords and pages)

So after much discussion and thought, I finally opened a facebook account, this social networking venue, to reach out to my friends and family and share God's word with them. Our family uses facebook to grow spiritually ourselves ( I read tons of Bible articles on here), and to try to uplift and edify others.

Sometimes that means I have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h and grow a bit.

Sometimes I might be trying to encourage you to s-t-r-e-t-c-h and grow a bit. Sometimes I get my heart pricked and realize there is an area I need to do better in. Sometimes I try to pass that on to others, because surely I am not the only Christian that has some maturing to do.

So, see, I am going to continue to study and write Biblical articles. That's the point of my life. To grow and do what I can in my little corner of the world for my Father.

If you are on my friends list, I'll be writing to you, too.
Like anyone that writes Biblical articles,
I spend a lot of time in study and prayer each time I write.
I try to go over everything with a fine tooth comb.
I won't say it all perfectly but I will do my best.
Yes, there are others with more knowledge than me.
I think that just about everyone can say that.
I don't claim to be spiritually mature (or think I am, ahem, not a nice dig by the way).
But I'm not a babe in Christ.
I do have years of study under my belt.
I have sat at the feet of a lot of Faithful, sound, Godly men and women and taken their sound teaching to heart.
Some of you guys as a matter of fact!

It just doesn't make sense to me to do all of the study, prayer and preparation in writing and then to say, "Don't worry, I'm not talking about you, or to you, just ignore this article!"

That would give you a free pass to NOT do some self examination, which is the whole point of a biblical article. How much good would it do me if, before I read an article, the author gave me a disclaimer, "Debbie Heck, don't worry this article is not about YOU, to YOU or for YOU. Keep on the path you're on and don't examine yourself!"

Now onto the comments as to the need for patience, grace, mercy, humility towards others...

Any of my friends that read what I write on a regular basis knows that is my "battle cry" so to speak.

I try so very hard to encourage others to show the great love,
mercy
and patience
that Christ has shown to us, to others.

However, along with that undeniable and necessary attitude of agape love, we must be aware that some sins cause others to stumble NOW.

Some sins must be stopped NOW.

We can't keep on fornicating, or raping, murdering, looking at pornography, molesting children, stealing, lying, etc. These sins hurt and effect others.

So does the sin of immodesty.

You have no idea how many men are involved with pornography in the congregation you attend.

You have no idea how many hurting couples have come to us and complained about the way Christian daughters and mommas are dressed and the temptation it puts before their sons and husbands. The problem is church/world wide and epidemic.

You don't know how many private messages I got from Godly, good men that were grateful this issue of immodesty in the church was addressed because they can't hardly serve on the LORD's table as they pass the plate over exposed thighs and cleavage.

I am tired of the cry, "Men need to not look...they are just bad, dirty men. " Of course they need to look away. They are trying. Hopefully you won't be the one with grape juice spilled down your chest as they close their eyes over you while they are passing the fruit of the vine.

They're not bad or dirty.
They're men.
They are your husbands, sons, brothers and daddies, trying their best to get to Heaven pure,
and one of their biggest stumbling blocks is often their sisters in Christ.
What a shame that is.

While discussing this subject with my Dear Father in law, he said "God made men this way. They are visually wired, and it effects both young and old.
I don't know at what age men aren't effected by it."
They have to work hard all day every day every where to guard themselves. It is not right to have to do it in the Lord's worship service as well. It should be the one haven of safety that they are afforded.

ONE sin can forever alter the course of your life. One act of fornication. One time to purchase pornography or take that first drink. Sin is HORRIBLE and it's consequences are NOT to be taken lightly. We get so calloused to the idea of one little sin, one little area of sin in my life that I need to improve on, that' I'll get to eventually. Yikes.

If you want to be angry about something, well, to be frank, don't be angry someone is asking you to cover up your boobs. Be angry about sin.

So, from this long blog you can see that I have been "fed up".

I chuckled to myself
(now)
as I typed that.

Because I thought and prayed almost all night long.
I cried, a lot. Eek, you should have seen my puffy eyes this morning.
It weren't pretty.
I vacillated between down right boiling mad, to indignant and sorry.

I felt fed up.

Then I asked myself, as I often do, to examine my every emotion, and who/where/why it was coming from.
God or Satan.
It's a frequent family discussion at the Heck household.
Who are we trying to please, which one?
Why are we really aggravated?
And I reasoned in my little old head that anger would only be pleasing to that old liar the devil. I was feeling fed up? Well, maybe I should get "FED" up to the full with God's word.

So, you see, initially I felt "fed up" with people being defensive and angry.
Some of my friends were "fed up" with my Biblical articles and evidently with me.

Many of my friends were "fed up" with those friends comments. (Which I have to say, I did appreciate your love and support...what can I say...I'm human.)

But, with a lot of prayer and study I'm thinking we should just all be "fed up" with God's word.
As in "fill yourselves us with His word and His will.
Eat up His word, not each other.
Hide His word in your heart,
not anger.

Let's all be FED UP TO THE FULL in our Bible hearts/minds with His goodness and humility and don't be bent out of shape with each other, or even for each other. (Ahem...but did I mention that I appreciated, and NEEDED the support you gave to me my sweet and tender friends!)

God is SOOOO Good.
Sin is soooo bad.

Let's all be on the same team guys. It's a hard road ahead.

But, if you're still aggravated with me, hit "unfriend".

It's o.k.

My Father's got big enough shoulders for the both of us.

I love you all!
I hope your day is super duper!
~m