"The World Is Morally Bankrupt"

"The world is morally bankrupt, and the gold that redeems it from its bankruptcy is righteousness. And what is righteousness? Righteousness is holiness in longing. And holiness is a hunger for God's approval."
Calvin Miller

I just added this quote to my page this morning. I LOVE IT! It comes from the book "Conversations With Jesus" by Calvin Miller. I find his writing to be so refreshing and so touching. The book is written in the perspective of a person seeking Christ, and what Christ's response might be. It's just so different than any other devotional type book I've ever read. If you're looking to have a time with God each day but you don't have much time - I'd definitely recommend this book!

So... "the world is morally bankrupt" That is an understatement. It really is quite sickening to take a look around and see what people think is acceptable. I'm embarrassed to watch TV commercials with my kids sometimes! I mean, let's face it, Victoria doesn't have any secrets!! I think the lines of morality have been blurred so much that people don't know which side is which. Right and wrong is relative? It's different for you, it's different for me.... Where do people get these kinds of ideas? Even non-believers have a certain level of morality - knowing right from wrong. One would think then that believers should be held to even a higher standard of morality. I admit, in an effort to survive in this world, I find myself struggling to know how far is too far. I feel bombarded by the world and its ideas about what is O.K. or not O.K. One thing is for certain, that straight and narrow path that leads to eternity is so much harder than the smooth, paved, wide one that most travel to nowhere.

I think many measure themselves against the world's standard and not God's standard. What a difference it would make if we would compare ourselves to Christ instead of those around us. Jesus is the standard. That's convicting, huh? When's the last time we hungered for GOD'S approval? Holiness ~ hungering for God's approval...that's what I long for. That's what I need. That's what He wants from me.

Chilled....

BRR.... it's cold here, 37 degrees over night and a high today of around 70 - that's an improvement from the initial forecast that gave a high of 58. I do love fall though, so I can't even complain... it's just that it seems so crazy to turn on the furnace on October 16th. :) I think what's worst about it is that Luke is a stinker about the thermostat in our house, we're supposed to be comfortable in the summer with a house that's close to 80 degrees, but then in a matter of a few weeks we expect our bodies to adjust to 67. I know that I can speak for most women when I say... "I don't think so!" I guess I'm a wimp. ha ha. But seriously, I think my body thermostat has issues, because it's a rare thing that I'm comfortable, I'm either hot or cold. I know... old age does that to a person. Tina has never been exposed to such extreme temperatures (100 in the summer and 30 and below in the winter)so she is really whining about how cold it is. I think she asked me 3 times yesterday when we could go shopping for some warmer clothes for her, so I told her we'll go buy a coat and some sweatshirts this weekend.

Speaking of chilled, I guess I'm more chilled since my last post. My bloodwork came back normal and even showed that I'm not showing any signs of early menopause - which is a relief cuz I was starting to wonder about that. So, that's good news, but then what is causing the swollen optic nerves? I did get an appointment for the neurologist on November 1st, so I hope that I'll get answers then. I wanna know about the cyst and I hope he'll be able to tell me more about it from looking at the MRI. I guess the way I feel about it is that the neurologists look at this stuff every day so they should be more trained to know what is there since they have others to compare with. I find that encouraging somehow. So for now I am chilled. :)