A SLIPPERY SLOPE - Abortion

All Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version

          How much value do we put on human life? Do we put the same value on human life as God does? God puts an infinite value on each and every human life as He created each one of us. It doesn’t matter whether we are able-bodied or disabled, the Lord puts the same value on each of us. In fact, all through Scripture, we see the Lord commanding His people to take special care of the weak, poor and vulnerable among them. “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.  If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” (Exodus 22:22-24)

 In Jeremiah 1:5 the Lord told Jeremiah that He knew him before he was formed in the womb. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

          There is a lot of debate around the question, “When does life begin?” This question is answered for us here. According to the Lord, the life of every human being begins even before we were formed in our mother’s womb, long before we were thought of by our parents. The Lord knew us way back in eternity as we were already in His mind. It is even confirmed by Genetics and Embryology that at the moment of conception a new and unrepeatable human being with his or her unique DNA and gender is created. (Information from Peterborough Pro-Life)       

          In Psalm 139, it speaks of the Lord seeing us being formed in our mother’s womb. “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book, they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.” (Psalm139:13-16)
          With it being true that every human’s life begins at the moment of conception, how can anyone, doctors, nurses or mothers justify abortion at any stage?  As there is currently no abortion law in Canada, a mother has the legal right to have an abortion at any stage during her pregnancy, even right up until the umbilical cord is severed. In a globe of close to 200 countries, Canada is one of only a few countries with no restrictions on abortion. (Information obtained from Peterborough Pro-Life)           

 On February 2^nd of this year, a mother and drug abuser wanted an abortion at 38 weeks along in her pregnancy, almost at the time of giving birth. Even though the staff at the Scared Heart Hospital in Quebec offered to adopt the baby, the mother still wanted an abortion.

“The pro-life organization Campagne Québec-Vie (CQV) is asking that decision-makers, at the provincial and federal levels, to once again consider the issue of abortion, in light of a report by a whistleblower that an operating theater team at Sacré Coeur Hospital in Montreal killed an unborn child at 38 weeks gestation by lethal injection.” (Information found online)

"At the request of a mother who was no doubt in difficulty, the personnel of the Sacré Coeur hospital in Montreal allegedly put to death a 38-week-old baby, that is to say a fully formed child, who could have easily survived birth and make an adoptive couple happy," said Georges Buscemi, president of CQV. (Information found online) There was nothing medically wrong with the child.  (Information found online)

If doctors, who have taken an oath to do all they can to preserve life, are aborting fully formed babies in the womb, who knows how far down this slippery slope they will slide? What will be next? Is it possible that a baby born with a birth defect would be left to die in the delivery room? If this thinking was popular when I was still-born, perhaps the Intern would not have spent half an hour trying to get me breathing. I would not be living today.   To me, killing a 38-week-old baby in the womb, or leaving a baby born with a birth defect to die is outright MURDER. By allowing things like this to happen, we as a society, are breaking one of the Ten Commandments, “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)

Baby Daniel is an unborn Canadian martyr who was aborted (purposely murdered) by lethal injection. Why? Simply because his mother could not care for him as a result of being in great difficulty. Nor did she want anyone else to care for him as she had many staff members at the hospital willing to adopt him. (Information obtained online) This was a very selfish act on the mother’s part. I wonder what she or any other mother who has had an abortion will say when they stand before God on judgement day.

 Going back to the Pro-Life information, we learn that just 45 days after conception, the baby’s own heart is now beating with the preborn child’s own blood. An ultrasound at the same 45-day mark tells us the baby’s brain waves can be read. It is also at this point that all the child’s organs are not only fully formed, but are fully functioning. It is also now that the baby is sensitive to light, pressure, sound, heat and pain. At 2 ½ months, the baby has his or her own fingerprints. (Information obtained from Peterborough Pro-Life)

Now for some sobering facts. The Abortion Rights of Canada tells us that one million children died by abortion between 2007 and 2017. Statistics Canada tells us in Ontario alone, there were 42,100 abortions in 2014. In 2015, there were 100,104 children who died by abortion.  Numbers like that are hard to fathom. (Information obtained from Peterborough Pro-Life)

Let us as Canadians show we care in some way. God is going to judge us one day. A society is known by how they treat the most venerable members of their society. I would say a baby in the womb is indeed the most venerable member of society, especially in this day and age.

If you have had an abortion and are truly sorry for taking the life of your baby, there is forgiveness with God. Stop carrying that load of guilt and turn to your loving Heavenly Father. Pray this prayer, “Heavenly Father, I repent of aborting my baby and ask You to forgive me for it and all my sin. I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I want to live for You. Amen.”

If you have a Bible, or can access one online, start by reading the Gospel of John, which is the fourth Book of the New Testament. It will tell you how much your Heavenly Father loves you and what He has done for you by sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the Cross for your sin.   

                              By Cindy Mead

 

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 18:10

Photo Courtesy of ChristianWeek February 2, 2023 edition

 

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In July 2022, I was Shortlisted with The Word Guild. I give the Lord all the glory. 

WHO IS TO BLAME?

      Why are we so quick to blame God for everything that goes wrong in our lives or in society as a whole? Let us go back to the very beginning when God created the earth. He created a perfect garden, and every herb and tree was in the Garden of Eden. The Lord also created every kind of animal on the earth. The Lord provided everything man would need to sustain life. Last of all, the Lord created man, perfectly in His image, from the dust of the earth. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7). When there was no helper found for Adam among all the creatures which the Lord brought to Adam to name, God formed a woman from one of Adam’s ribs. It was God’s heart’s desire that mankind would live perfectly in the Garden of Eden and have constant fellowship with Himself. In the cool of the day God came and talked with Adam.

          The Lord gave Adam and Eve just ONE simple commandment to obey. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17). However, one day while in the garden, the serpent tempted Eve. “And he (the serpent) said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” (Genesis 3:2-3). After a bit more enticing by the serpent, Eve gave into the temptation and took of the forbidden fruit and gave some to Adam, and he ate. Adam and Eve directly disobeyed God. They had sinned, and fell.

As a result of man’s disobedience, the whole human race, as well as all creation, is paying the consequences which God laid out before Adam and Eve. God is not to blame for man’s wrong doings – the suffering and pain we see all around us can be traced back to man’s disobedience to God. Because God is Holy and cannot look upon sin, He laid out the consequences before Adam and Eve. God told Eve that she and all women throughout history would give birth in pain and that her husband would rule over her. (see Genesis 3:16). God told Adam that the ground would be cursed and in toil man would eat of the ground’s fruit. The ground would bring forth thorns and thistles. In the sweat of his face, man will eat bread. (See Genesis 3:17-19).  

The Apostle Paul states that all of creation has been groaning ever since man first sinned. Like us, creation cannot wait to be liberated from the corruption it has suffered until now.

“The creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:21-23).

Ever since the beginning of time and man’s history on earth, it was man who sinned and is responsible for all the suffering and pain that is in the world today. God desired that man would live in a perfect world. But man threw all of that away when he chose to disobey God and eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For that reason, no one can blame God for the way the world is today. Someone might ask me as a disabled person if I blame God, or think He is fair for allowing me to be born this way. My answer, first of all is, “No, I do not blame God for being disabled. We live in a fallen world, and these things just happen as a result of man’s sin. Do I think God is fair for having allowed me to be disabled and in a wheelchair all my life? My answer is, “Yes, I do think God is fair for allowing my disability. All my life I have wanted to use my wheelchair as a platform for the display of God’s grace and glory.”

There is another incident in Genesis, just a few chapters over. When men began to multiply on the earth, and the sons of God were taking wives of the children of men, God was displeased. “And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with men forever, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3).      

We come to the time when the Lord was sorry He had created man on earth because of his wickedness, and the thoughts of man’s heart were evil continually. The Lord was grieved in His heart. “So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:7-9).

The Lord told Noah that He was about to destroy the earth and all that was in it.   But because Noah found grace in His sight, God told him to build an ark with specific instructions as to how to build it. “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” (Genesis 6:22). Then the Lord instructed Noah as to which animals and birds should be with him in the ark. “For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made. (Genesis 7:4).

When the flood was over and all the water had receded from the earth, the Lord told Noah that he, his family and every animal, every creeping thing, every bird and whatever creeps on the earth could be released from the ark. The first thing Noah did, once on dry land, was to build an altar and offer a burnt offering to the Lord. If we had just been delivered from a very lengthy trial, would we, like Noah, offer a sacrifice of praise to the Lord? Would it be the very first thing we would do?

“And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21). God made a covenant with Noah that He would never again destroy the earth and everything in it with a flood. “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.” (Genesis 9:13).

Now we can ask the question, “Who was responsible for causing the flood?” Although God used it as a way to purify the earth of man’s evil intentions, it was man and his evil imaginations, and violence, and continual wickedness that led to it. Left to himself, man always turns from a holy God instead of towards Him.  

 Instead of blaming God for everything that goes wrong in our lives as individuals, or in society as a whole, let us remember why everything fell from its perfection in the first place; man’s disobedience to God. Ironically, the very One we tend to blame when things go wrong, shows us unfathomable mercy by providing a way out of this hopeless disobedience, suffering, and death. God redeemed mankind to Himself by sending His Son, Jesus, to live and die on the cross so we could be forgiven of our sin and live forever with Him.

Would you like a relationship with the One who made you and offers you such an undeserved gift? Would you like to repent of your sin and turn 100% to living for Jesus and having a personal relationship with your Heavenly Father? If so, pray: “Heavenly Father, I repent and turn from my sin. Please forgive me and let me live my life for You. Amen.”

If you have a Bible, start reading in the Gospel of John, which is the fourth Book of the New Testament. If you don’t have a Bible, try accessing one online. The Book of John will explain how much God loves you and what Jesus has done for you in dying on the Cross for you.  

 

                                        By Cindy Mead

 

 

*All Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version

HAVING A GOAL

Here we are, standing on the starting line of a New Year. The slate has been wiped clean from the year which has just passed. Have you let go of both your failures and successes of the past year to make room for whatever lies ahead for you during this New Year? Or, are you holding on to the pain and disappointments of last year? Maybe you had a goal for last year which never materialized, and now you are scared to hope anymore. Are you holding on to your successes in case you don’t have any victories in the coming year?

          Do you have a goal that you want to accomplish during this New Year? Paul, the Apostle said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Philippians 3:12, New International Version).

 If we really want to accomplish our goal in this new year, we need to press on to be the best that we can be at what we do. How do we become the very best at what we do? By doing what Paul did. He “pressed on” even in the midst of great trials. To “press on” means to “forge ahead” or “to preserve.” We need to “preserve,” to keep going when we don’t have any more strength or energy to pour into what the Lord has ordained us for.   We should not give up on the goal or purpose the Lord has given each of us when it gets tough, or we feel discouraged. Perhaps other people have told us our goal cannot be accomplished, especially by us.

 Just remember, it was the Lord who ordained you for the particular ministry you are in, not the people who are telling you that the ministry cannot be accomplished by you. The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5). It is an awesome thought that the Lord knew each and every one of us before He formed us in the womb. I don’t know what goes through your mind when you think of that. But when I think that the Lord knew me way back in eternity past, and knew I would be disabled, and still He ordained me to be one of His writers, all I can do is marvel. The Lord knew I would only be able to type with one finger, yet He still chose me to serve Him as a writer. No wonder all my life I had an intense desire to be in ministry. I count it an awesome honor to serve my Lord, and His people with the gift of writing which He has blessed me with.     

 Maybe your goal is more difficult than you thought it would be to achieve, but that is no reason to quit trying. We all need to be like the Apostle Paul who laid hold of the purpose that the Lord had for his life.

          Paul knew that in order to press on, he had to stop looking behind him and keep his focus on what was ahead for him. “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14, New International Version). We, like Paul need to focus on what is ahead, and leave the past behind us and not allow the negative experiences and voices, whether our own, or those of other people, to haunt and torment us. None of us can move forward when we are still holding onto the past with one hand, and stretching to hold on to what is waiting for us ahead with the other hand.  

          Once we have been able to really let go of all that has held us back, we are ready to embrace all that the Lord has in store for us in the future. Paul said in the verse quoted above that he is “straining” for what the Lord had planed for his life. If we are going to achieve our goals in life, we need to strain, focus on, and put all our effort into accomplishing our goal or purpose, for which the Lord has created us.

At the end of his life, Paul had an assurance that he had accomplished the Lord’s purpose for his life, that he was able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7). Are we so focused on the Lord’s purpose in our lives, and putting 100% of our strength and energy into the race the Lord has set out before each of us, that we would be able to make a statement as Paul did? I ask the Lord constantly, “Lord, am I pleasing You and fulfilling Your purpose for my life? I pray that I am.”

The Lord rewards His faithful servants. We are told in two separate Bible passages that we will never be able to imagine all that God has in store for us. A prophet in the Old Testament tells us, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You. Who acts for the one who waits for Him.” (Isaiah 64:4). Paul reiterates this truth in one of his Epistles. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).       

In 2023, let us all leave the past behind us, as we strain and press into all that the Lord has for each of us.

 

                                        By Cindy Mead

 

(All Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version unless otherwise stated)