December 31: A MATTER OF PERCEPTION

As we enter a New Year tomorrow, one new reality that comes from the closing events of the old year is the lack of a common moral standard. There is no longer a unanimous view of right and wrong. We are now two generations removed from a people who had a general Bible knowledge and participated in ongoing Bible Study. The result we deal with now is there is no objective statement or principle. As long as the Bible was the standard, we had one guide that was uninfluenced by emotion, surprise, or personal prejudice.
Today, it is a matter of perception, how each individual sees the situation. Anything may be right or wrong. You are your final moral law, how you subjectively feel about it is what matters. If you feel like you want to do something, just go ahead and do it.
Have you noticed the increase in the number of murderers who are captured who are described as “showing no remorse”? That’s the result of living by perception.
If you quote John 14:6 (NIV) where Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me” you will surely offend many who will gladly tell you that is just your perception, not to be held by all.
When each person does what is right in his own eyes, there is moral chaos resulting in societal chaos. If children are being raised without an objective standard of “right” their lives are rootless, they act out their lack of roots with extreme acts of violence and disruption. Lawlessness begets lawlessness.
Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death.” It’s happening everyday!
You can’t change society alone, you can’t even change your street. But you can make a difference in your house, with your family. Read the Bible daily together. It can be the objective guide for your family. Obey it whether you feel like it or not. Don’t trust the twisting winds of your perception. You will live to regret it if you do. Pray for help.

“God, You say about your Bible that it is a ‘lamp for my feet and a light for
my path.’ Give me the inner fortitude to walk in that illumination. Amen”

READER PLEASE NOTE: With this Blog, I complete the assignment I had from the Lord. Thank you for sharing with me the last 365 days! I trust that you have been at times inspired or informed or simply challenged to strengthen your walk with Jesus. These writings will remain at this site for your re-reading in 2008. If you want to E-mail me, I will be faithful to answer. IN HIS JOY! Pastor Charlie