Has the world hated on you lately?

New dusty idea is being separate from the world. Some people might say thats not new nor is it dusty. I would beg to differ with you. 

We start off this idea with John 15:18-25. Jesus says if we're not of the world the world will hate us because it hated him first. It's not possible to use the same teachings of Jesus and try to be Christ like and not get the same result.

Have you ever compromised with entertainment because the crowd/family wanted to do a certain thing, or watch a certain thing even though it went against your conscience as involving Christian living. What about if you're the only person that doesn't want to watch an "R" rated movie even though the ratings from outside sources give it 4 out of 5 stars. We have to understand that the person giving that rating probably isn't concerned with the moral value, or if it is something that God would approve of his saints watching. Usually if you're the only one in a group that doesn't, someone is gonna hate on you for it. You're gonna be the lone hold out and the stick in the mud. You're gonna be that religious guy that thinks he's better than anyone else and someone is gonna let you know it. At that time remember John 15:18-25, the world hated on Jesus first so you can expect nothing less.

If you haven't been hated on lately, you're probably doing something wrong. This is just one example above and no one in my family needs to decide that it is directed at them, just a random example.

Matt. 10:34-39 states that Jesus didn't come to bring peace but a sword. A persons family members could be a source of ridicule and degradation. 

One of the best tools satan has today is the movie theater and the television. The world is setting the agenda for the programming on both of those venues. I'd like to say that again:

THE WORLD IS SETTING THE AGENDA ON THESE ENTERTAINMENT VENUES!

If anybody is keeping score on these venues:

Immorality with sexual content and overtones - 1

God - 0

Success, not what it use to be....

I don't know if this is a dusty idea, I just think it is.  I think the idea of success isn't what it use to be.  We are going to compare the most successful person that ever lived with what we consider "successful" today. 

When you talk about long term success, how long term are we talking about here.   I would suggest that long term success can be viewed as eternal. Short term or preparatory success should be considered the 80 or 90+ years we have here on this planet. 

The most successful person who has worked his way through this life never had a house or a vehicle. He didn't have any furniture or a bed. He was basically a homeless person that traveled from city to city. His name was Jesus and he was despised of the people and laughed to scorn. 

But he lived this life without sin, which makes his the greatest long term success story ever.

What made him successful? Material possessions were of little or no value. Important things were high morals, mercy, grace, justice. I've heard it said that Jesus died so young just about 33 yrs. old. I think he was ready to go home. Most people want to go, but they just don't want to go right away, possibly Jesus was ready to get off this rock and go back to his Father. 

I sometimes don't know what perks people are looking for, or have, to stay here in this body, in this life. 

Being successful in this life by most peoples standards can probably be summed up by the amount of money in Checking, Savings, 401K, IRA, Real Estate, Cars, Trucks, Boats, Antiques, Furniture, Sports, etc. 

Jesus' success was from having the Father and doing the works of the Father that sent him. If Jesus had success with this plan then its probably the plan he left behind in his testament for Christians to follow and implement. Not the high paying job that ignores the Lord's day and/or compromises ethics and morals so we can be "successful" in this life. 

It might be said we need success in material ways so we won't have to want or worry about anything. 

A good definition of worry would be a lack of faith that God will do what he has promised.

If we are successful on God's terms then we shouldn't have cause to worry about anything. 

Kicking out the cobwebs on Time....

I guess the dusty idea we're bringing out today is the idea that we don't have to fill our calendars up. I guess if you are always saying we just don't have time to do this or that, this is for you. Why do we plan all our time away? Do we really have to know every move we're gonna make over the course of a week or month? If the Lord is walking by our side does his calendar match ours? More correctly does our calendar match his?  

We only have now, the present, and eternity. This blog will be concerned with the present.  Jesus makes it plain about the present when he said in Matt. 6:25, 31 and 35 not to take thought of tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself.  The present day has enough evil to go around. I am paraphrasing and I hope that makes you feel compelled to check that out.

What areas of time would satan have us concern ourselves with? He really would love for us to live in the past I think. To be able to dredge up every little and big thing that we've ever done when we missed the mark. If he could just get us to dwell on that portion of time, and rub our noses in it. It can be debilitating. 

I think satan would also like for us to be anxious for the future. Both of these positions keep us from focusing on Jesus in the present, thats the entire crux of the matter. Satan wants you to think about how you have thought of Jesus or how you didn't think of Jesus, and how you're going to think of Jesus. Anything to keep you from thinking about Jesus right now, the present.

It might be helpful to remember that Jesus was never big on making any plans other than the one the Father gave him. Not trying to be silly, but I don't see any reference to the holy calendar of future deeds in the new testament. Being Christ like is going to have to make us all think, including myself, about our choices for the present as we go through life.  We don't have any choices to make for the past, and the future is in God's hands as always. I don't believe not having a full calendar makes us lazy and unproductive.  I believe it just leaves time open for God to work in our lives more fully.

Ideas on the Shelf...

  I wanted to lay in this first post the purpose of  "Dusty Ideas". 

     Dusty ideas are what could be termed crazy or old style thinking that isn't popular these days. Dusty ideas are the concepts that people have left on a shelf and aren't about to pickup and look at anymore, they're collecting dust. A lot of the time these are ideas that are "tried and true", but they don't carry the ability for people to further self-gratification and materialism that has replaced moral and character development. 

     A General overall lack of spirituality, lack of believing that God is real and is really out there and that he is the God of the universe has contributed to putting a good thick layer of dust on universal truths as defined by the maker of this planet, solar system and universe. I can hear the dust bringers now saying, "Another Bible thumper's opinion". Well you'd be right, and no apologies offered. 

     The first thing dust bringers are short on is patience. The idea of having patience with our fellow man is a stupid and foreign concept to dust bringers. "What do you mean I have to wait?" This is an outrage, I have to wait so everyone here is going to have to listen to me and have a bad day. The dust bringer also thinks that it has every right to stuff our souls with nonsense, expletives, gossip and nonsensical philosophies while they "suffer" in waiting mode. The first thing that would help us all in general would be deciding that being kind to our fellow man would be preferable to chastising them for having to wait. We need to take the idea of gaining some patience and kindness with not only strangers but more so family members. Family members are people too.

We'll drag out another dusty idea soon.