Food for thought

I thank God each and every day for the truth He reveals to me for there is no greater joy than to be in the presence of my Lord.

Tolerance or love? You cannot have both!
My Lord is the Lord of love, not love and tolerance. One is life, the other is death. Strong words, I know. Read on.

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10

This verse brings a drowning feeling of helplessness, and it should, for we are the ones drowning. It is a narrow gate that leads to air and it is a breath of Heaven indeed that we so desperately need to live. In our society, in our own lifespan, up to now, we have watched life's moral "bar" lowered. Those who have spoken in defense have been called every name in the book. No wonder very little revival of the heart has come. The water is very deep, and we are drowning in the water of tolerance. Our language and understanding is drowning with our society as well. We have been led to believe that tolerance and love have the same definition. Webster's Dictionary defines tolerance as "the act or practice of tolerating; sympathy or indulgence of beliefs or practices differing from one's own, capacity for enduring or adapting, the allowable deviation from a standard."
Love is defined as "strong affection, warm attachments, attraction based on sexual desire, a beloved person."
God's ways are not our ways. Tolerance and love are not one and the same. America needs to wake up, step up as a nation under God, and with great sacrifice, follow after Christ. It takes great faith in God and we are drowning as a nation. When push comes to shove (which it has), the line is drawn. Which side are we choosing? The world's definition of love as tolerance? Or God's Holy Word as our definition of love? "Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friend" and Jesus also said, "I call you friend".
By our tolerance, we are not a friend, but by our willingness to lay our lives down. Down to what? I believe many of us stumble here and fall into stressful traps of others' expectations of us. Jesus came only to do the will of His Father, not to live up to someone else's ideas of Him. Jesus did not tolerate sin at all, He came to abolish sin, so "whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life"..."I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me".
I cannot even begin to tell you how many conversations come up in the name of tolerance. I believe it is because that is the question. It is the very line drawn in the sand. Are we going to compromise to give the false impression of love? Are we so brainwashed (deceived) that we believe this lie as a truth? If so, we have decided to drown, not to run the race of a good saint. We have chosen this life over eternal life. Tolerance is not love, it is death. Death to our beliefs and our faith in Christ Jesus.
We all must choose. Either we adapt to this world, or we choose God, there is no two way street here. We choose life or we choose death. Love is sacrifice, it is the laying down of one's life. It is not an ooey gooey feeling of giddy happiness or a puffed up feeling of our acceptance. Jesus did not tolerate sin, but He loved the sinner! Yes, we are to come as we are, so we may lay down our lives. Demanding our own rights is and never was an option. People will always demand and "we are never going to win the war if belief is what we're fighting for" to quote John Mayer. Why? Because it has already been won! "No one comes to the Father except through Me".
Are we living what we profess to believe or are we trying to find a solution in our human mind of reasoning, playing into the hand of the traitor by buying into acceptance and lowering the bar. This is not love, you cannot love as Christ has loved if you tolerate any thing other than Christ. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me", it doesn't get any plainer than that. Now, what is the question? We are to love as Christ has loved, and dying to ourselves is the only way we can experience true love for others. Tolerance or love? You decide. But they will remain on the opposite sides of the great divide.
"I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back."
Heavenly Father, burn these words upon our hearts. Kindle the flame within us so that we may share eternal life by the dying of our selves for You alone. Let us know the incredible joy of the laying down of our life for a friend. In Christ Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Love to all in Christ Jesus. C:)