I really like David. He was so “real.” David was in touch with his feelings, inspired and able to communicate to us exactly how he felt. He had a demonstrable and full range of emotions. I like that because I do too. Full range. And, if you catch me at the right moment, you’ll see them – full range.

But, when we look at David in Psalm 51, we encounter a humbled David. Nathan, the prophet has spoken with David and convicted him of his sin. I can only imagine the depth and weight of what David was feeling at the time. Afterall, he had committed adultery and arranged for a murder to cover up his indiscretions. Yet, even still, David, recognizing his depravity went to the Lord with a cry out for mercy. He opens the Psalm with a request – have mercy!

He is very clear and doesn’t spend time beating around the bush with the Lord. He recognizes that he is in need of mercy from our Righteous God. And, he recognizes that he needs it in abundance for he says “have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” [KJV, verse 1] Now, this is significant. David is not looking for “a little dab will do ya” type mercy. He is asking God to have mercy according to His own attributes. He is asking according to God’s loving kindness, which is limitless. He is asking for mercy according to God’s abundant mercy when he says “unto the multitude…” God is never short on anything and David, in full recognition of his state and God’s ability, is asking for mercy. He is crying out to God for as much mercy as possible.

And, when he makes his case here, he then goes forward asking God to blot out his transgressions. Oh, he knows he doesn’t deserve this to be done, but he is asking in faith that it might be done, according to the attributes of God.

We sin too. For some of us, we go to the Lord seeking mercy. We are humble before the Lord in the same spirit of reverence like David. Yet some of us do not approach our sins this way. Sometimes we get stiff neck and defiant when confronted with our sin. We approach forgiveness of our sins in our own strength. But I wonder what would happen if you would just let go of your own strength and depend on His. Would you humble yourself and admit that you have sinned, confess your sin and then go to the Lord and ask Him to have mercy?

I remember a time when sexuality and sexually-charged emotion was a private matter.

I miss that time.

Now, it seems that I see people displaying their affection for each other rather publicly. I'm no prude, but man! Somethings go a little too far. Let's just say it this way, if I can sense that your respective ovens are heating up, you've done too much in public.

Am I to shy away as if I never saw you about to turn a park bench into a bedroom?

Am I to alter my plans and take another route to avoid having to encounter your promiscuity?

The sad part is that most of the time, it's young people -- young, unmarried people making out in public places. Something saddens me when I see a young girl getting groped by a young guy with that look in her eyes that compromise "ain't nothing but a thang"; that look that says that she'll do anything to keep and/or please him. It makes ME wanna snatch HER and talk to her about her self worth. But, I know better than to do that. She'd probably snatch me! Some people have told me that I just need to walk away but what happens if I cannot just walk away?

What happens when I cannot take another route? Well, let me just tell you what happened on one transatlantic flight...

Excited to come home, I joyfully took my seat in economy. The plane was 3x4x3 (number of seats) for each row. Everything was looking good - I had the aisle seat, an older business man had the middle seat and then came trouble.

This young fella, unmarried, tattooed....with a scantily-clad girlfriend asked the pleasant business man to change seats with him so that he would not have to be without his girlfriend for the entire flight. The guy agreed. Everything was good until the wheels were off the ground.

The couple started making out - little by little until the girlfriend's head was near MY lap; his hands were up her shirt; tongues; breast; heavy breathing...at 35K feet.

I notioned that I was uncomfortable - they didn't care. I mentioned something to the flight attendant. Nothing was done. Finally food was served. They stopped long enough to eat. Thank God.

I went to praying hard. Real hard.

The enemy flared up - they rebelled against me. But, in the end, God had the victory!

They had a fight because he started drinking. She was turned off. He drank. He got sick...at least I think so. He came back to his seat looking a little green. And, then, he went to sleep for the bulk of the remainder of the flight. When he did get up, he watched a movie. A pleasant ending to a flight that started out not so good.

I wish that people would know a few things:

1. God has reserved sex for marriage
2. There is an intimacy that cannot be replaced in marriage which makes love making beautiful - not some ravaged animalistic act performed for the enjoyment (or disgust) of others
3. Teenagers cannot really know what love making is. No, they cannot. They know urges and they know sex as promoted commercially. They don't know turning to one another and enjoying the whole person. They know how to enjoy parts. Some adults are stuck on the parts and not the person, so there's much work to be done to communicate God's design for this type of union
4. God has a way of making wrongs right - hold your peace; pray and He will take care of everything
5. Sin will not prevail. It has an expiration date
6. God loves you more than anyone else ever could
7. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

So, now, that's all I have to say on this issue. And, if you find yourself in a dating relationship, please for the sake of us that don't want to watch Cinemax while flying or walking in the park, please keep your PDA (public displays of affection) to a minimum. Tame your PDA. It is much appreciated!

Do not lie to me. That's a pet peeve of mine that God is helping me with. I get really irritated when someone lies to me and I know that they are lying right as the words are coming out of their mouth. Don't get me wrong, I also get rather annoyed when I have believed something only to find out later that the whole thing was a fabrication. There is no reason to lie - not one. Telling the truth, even when it is not good news, is essential.

Lying is nothing new. But it is something that must be identified and stomped out in the life of the believer.

Why is it so hard to speak truthfully? Well, it really isn't. What gets complicated is telling a lie to cover another lie and another lie and so on and so forth. Lies build bridges to eternal damnation. Truth appeals to Heaven.

Speaking the truth in love is healing. Speaking the truth in love is life.

We can get mixed up when we get out of synch with God.

Take this example: We try to spare somebody's feelings and end up telling a lie.
End result: the person does not have hurt feelings but you have sinned. Not good. What if God was prompting you to tell that person the truth in love but you, in your own assessment, decided what was best for that person - to lie to them instead to spare their feelings. You have just interfered with God's business. It's not your business to decide what is best for someone else when God has given you a directive.

He directs us to be truthful in our speech. Tell the truth. And, do it in such a way that it can be received well. Ephesians 4 tells us to speak the truth in love!

Our speech should be loving and it should be kind.

One of the greatest things we can do for others is to show them love by giving them truth. It is when we are ready to be truthful that we can impact the world for Christ with a strong and powerful witness. So, go ahead, speak the truth in love when God gives you the go-ahead. Let God set the pace and timing - don't lie and try to do things on your own.

I like to say this - when God sends the mail, all you have to do is deliver!

Be Blessed,
Sanya

Hey Bloggy Friends!

I need your help. I've been trying to find this document that lists the sins of our nation and God's response. For instance, this study suggests when Roe v. Wade was made law, there was a direct correlation to crime. It lists things of this nature. And, by now, I'm sure there must be some colloration to the movement to take "In God We Trust" off of our money to the things we are seeing in our economy. It seems that too many unqualified home buyers put their trust in banks instead of God. The problem therein is that the banks were making risky deals on those mortgages and well, here we are. Wall Street and Main Street are suffering the consequences, but it goes deeper than that.

Panic and fear has the nation - no, it has the world - in its very grip.

So, if you've seen anything like document mentioned - please let me know. I want to pull the information together for something that I'm working on. So, please help a sister out!

It's a perfect time to reemphasize the gospel. As a nation, we are on our knees and now, it's time to get back to the discipline of prayer.

Have a great weekend!