"Looking For Love in All The Wrong Places"

"As He says in Hosea, 

I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one."
(Romans 9:25)

I heard their voices...

floating in the distance....

piercing the silence....

And then,..... I saw "them."

While sitting and waiting quietly in the early morning hours..

in a lobby, at a hotel in Chicago..I was startled to see two ladies walking quickly toward the main doors just past the front desk.

They seemed out of place as they clung to each other for support. The younger of the two had a hazy glaze to her tired, crystal blue eyes.

The hotel clerk cast a sideways glance in their direction...

undisturbed..

I, on the other hand 

was immediately disturbed.

As they hurried past me

I couldn't help 

but feel 'suddenly grieved..'

Everything about the situation unfolding, 

told me quickly, that these two women were living their lives on the 'razored' side of darkness.

With crazy instinctive immediacy.. And quickly trying to somehow reach them..

As they passed I  looked deeply into their weary worn and tired eyes.. Kindly I said "good morning ladies".. 

I was somehow instantly hoping they would respond to the searching and concerned look in my own eyes.

   

It's funny how many thoughts can pour through your mind all at once..

'They were little girls once..'

'They had dreams...'

'They belong to you Father...'

'Someone..may be looking for them....'

'Someone...besides their pimp....'

How my heart dropped as they passed through the main door

disappearing around the outside of the building, only to emerge moments later..huddled in the back seat of a car, I stood there and watched these precious souls being secreted away into the dark night....

by a mysterious man sitting low, in a black sedan.

Returning to my seat, I sat alone..safe in the lobby...

Left alone with my thoughts...

I thought of Jesus and how He came for the unwanted, the desperate, the lonely..the despised..the forgotten..

I remembered that He came for 'them' in the same way He comes for me or you..

Sadly..sometimes we think more highly of ourselves than we ought...(Romans 12:3)

Even though the scriptures refer to the sinless Christ..as 

"despised and rejected of men."

(Isaiah 53:3)

When we think upon the ones society despises and rejects 

... we sometimes think of 'them'. Do you wonder as I do, how that makes Him feel?

I could have no more..ignored them, than I could have ignored my own sin.

In fact..all of our sin comes in different shades of white, "gray" and black ..

....yet, it is sin nonetheless..and it is ours.

Penetrable only by the true Light that shines in the darkness.. 

I prayed for these ladies and have since...

That God might redeem their times...

That He might....

somehow, someway... set them on a course marked with freedom.

I pray, I will always remember that the very Christ who came for them...

sees me in the same light 

as He sees 'them..'

He came with a purpose beyond our understanding..

He came for such a time as this...

The next time you see someone being whisked away into darkness by their sin..

Remember...they are not alone..

Application: Is there an area of your life that has quietly whisked you away and snatched you from the freedom you were meant to live in? 

Remember:  

He came for "them" in the same way He comes for me or you..

In fact..we are "them"!!

..only, in a different shade of gray..

(reprint and revised)
"What Color is Your Sin?"

"Keeping it Real and Taking Inventory"

According to Ellison Research...

“Sin,” as defined by the research organization, is “something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective.” 

 When you sin, do you find yourself ...."beating yourself up"??..

The following are just a few of the sins that keep us from freedom...

Galatians 5:19-21  "When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,  idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God."

I thought so...We have all been there...Sometimes our hidden and not so hidden sins keep us enslaved
either to the old sin...or to brand new ones to 'replace the old ones'...
What???...That sounds crazy,..right??....

It's crazy behavior for sure....but sadly quite true.

Or sometimes we try to 'fix' sin by thinking that virtuous behavior can sanction our sins.
Though it may appease, it does not teach us how to 'escape' sinful habits.

According to the "Ellison Research Study":

"Americans overwhelmingly believe in the concept of sin whether they are religiously involved or not.."

So what do the scriptures teach Christians and those inclined to at least reference the scriptures as a source of truth?

We have all messed up * 

Romans 3:23  "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard."

We are not alone*

Isaiah 64:6 "We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind."

We have the Way to be free*

Proverbs 28:13 "People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy."

We have His Hope*

1 John 1:7-9 "But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.  If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness".

There is really only one way to escape sinful habits..

And that is by beginning again, with the Only One, who can save you from yourself. 
He is sitting here right with you as you read these words.

Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."

Make no mistake, sometimes sin just creeps into your life, and at other times we put on blinders and run headstrong into it...

Either way...we find ourselves separated from living the life we were born for.

Don't you think it's time to take some spiritual inventory? You won't surprise God.

And He will meet you where you are and love you though it all. 

Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."

1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ."

For more on this topic check out July 1st, 2012

"A New Day, Time To Start Again"

Simply scroll through the blog archive at the top right of this page.

To read more on the Ellison Research Behavioral Study

http://www.christianpost.com/news/study-behaviors-americans-consider-sinful-31504/#CCRixzvMgIAcyS3T.99