GATS Brazil Trip – Part 6

Revelations

I grew up in the fifties and sixties. Yeah, we played outside or inside, but our main entertainment was television. And since I am a redhead with very pale skin, I couldn’t play outside in the summertime like all my friends. The older I got, especially in junior high and high school, I started watching more and more television in the summer, and after school.

From time to time in my life, I have taken extended breaks from television, and as I grew in the Lord, began to change a lot of what I watched. Our eye gate, what we see, is one of the most important things we need to guard. This is one thing God began dealing with me about. At church, during January, we go on a fast. Our pastor strongly urged us to cut out social media or anything that keeps us from deeper fellowship with God.

Television has always been my main “comfort.” For the last year or so, I have focused on watching fifties and sixties TV westerns. During this cocoon time, I felt God show me that no violence I watch is acceptable. I felt bad because I had grieved the Holy Spirit. So, I’m not watching television for six months. At Christmastime, He and I will take another look at it, but I don’t expect anything to change.

That was the first thing God dealt with me about. Next, He told me three stories about priests or Levites. The first, He called “Old Levi,” a model priest, never purposely doing anything wrong, living his life holy. The second was “Harry and Finn, ” contemporary priests based on Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron who burned a strange fire, they had so compromised their call to be priests, that they were immediately judged. Aaron wasn’t even allowed to grieve them.

The last story was Me. He told me my story – as if I didn’t know it. He reminded me of a vow of consecration I took 23 years ago. He reviewed my “decision” to drift away from that because of disappointment and some different directions my life took because of the disappointment. He was gently calling me back to my consecration vow, something I have been contemplating for over a year.

There was so much more. I’ll share a bit more next time and the implications for my life.

Next time, Personal Ramifications