Yes, But.

"There is no room in God's salvation for barriers and fences. Except the one put up to keep the devil out."

DIVIDED BY governments, cultures, propaganda, men stood on opposite sides, firing death at one another. Each side thought they were right. Both saw only their differences and the words spoken by those leaders over them. Yet, years later, tears in their eyes, these who'd fought to kill the man in front of them, offered forgiveness and shook hands.

Who was right then? Which side had spit correctly on the other? Well, if you can hock up one big enough, you'll make your point. And you did. But just how angry you were and how angry the people behind you.

Wars and rumors of wars still swirl around us, and we are told to choose sides. Vanilla cake or chocolate creme, lemon citrus or burnt rum. Keto, gluten free. Whole hog. There are many layers of cake. Some appeal to us and others don't. But at the table set by Christ all are offered, and He doesn't force feed us any flavor over the other.

He doesn't choose sides. When someone eats in error, enters the wrong room for the wrong reason, pulls out his chair and flips it around backward, He is not going to make an example of that one. What happens instead is we hear His voice in our heart, saying to love anyway.

There is no room in God's salvation for barriers and fences. Except the one put up to keep the devil out. But we're painting the boards with personal advertisements, hoping our paint runs over those who worship over there. Worse, we'll make a joke of them. An example. A social media post.

Did Jesus do that? Let's consult the Word. He did call the Pharisees hypocrites. Yes, but. Put down your "He's a" flag. He's human, and as human, Jesus died for him, for her. How about instead of preaching against people, we preach FOR VALUES? How about we plant seeds of love of compassion and let the Holy Spirit draw them?

One day, I stood at the edge of an abyss, and I cried out, "HELP ME!" Do you know what happened? God spoke. God acted. Did I deserve saving? Does that one you have judged? Answer is no. Answer is, we are all equals under grace. Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, Hindu, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant. How many years did other nations use religion as an excuse to argue? Did that make it right?

Or did the blood of Jesus on the cross cover the sins of humanity? I'm pretty sure He killed our hatred, and even if people are dead wrong, love is our answer. Even if they are horribly confused on who God is, what people are, what building to enter, or perhaps they hate the whole thing, the only one qualified to know the thoughts and intents of the heart is the One who died to save them.

"And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness." (Psalms 9:8)


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com