The prophet Joel paints a vivid end-time description where the Lord is to sit in judgment in the valley of decision. Joel 3:14 says, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”

In Joshua 8, there is a similar gathering of the Israelites in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim for a ceremony where the people were to choose to pledge their loyalty to God. And He, in turn, pledges to cherish and bless them as His own, a nation in covenant with the one true God. However, if the people chose not to follow the Lord, there were curses.

Are you in a valley of decision? And what are the fruits or consequences of your decision’s choices?

In Deuteronomy 27, Moses spoke of how the children of Israel would soon enter the land given them by God. They would make offerings unto the Lord, rejoice, and “become the people of the Lord thy God.” During this ceremony in the valley, there would be a declaration of the blessings for obedience (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) and a declaration for the curses caused by disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). In Jewish tradition, these curses were called the tochacha or “reprimand.”  The purpose of this was to serve as a wake-up call to prevent the people from falling into sin and apathy, a clear understanding of what would happen if they did not follow the precepts of the Lord.

Consider that these blessings and curses are a metaphor related to fruit, both spiritual and material. In the tochacha, when the people were disobedient, there would be no fruit, and many difficulties would come (material and spiritual).  But when they were obedient, they were not only blessed with material fruit but spiritual joy.

These essentially are the natural consequences found in God’s law. Is this not so in our lives today? There are blessings when we follow the path of God’s law, and there are great difficulties when we do not. In reality, our decisions or choices are a natural determination of whether we experience blessings. In my opinion, this is the result of the laws of nature and of nature’s God. The blessings for obedience are, by God’s nature, both material and spiritual.

In John 15:1-4, Jesus metaphorically teaches that apart from Him, we can’t bear fruit, saying, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit… As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; neither can you, except you abide in me.”

He said in John 15:10-11, “If you keep my commands, you shall abide in my love—just as I have kept my Father’s commands and stay in his love. I have said this so that my joy may be in you, and your joy be complete.”

Blessings are the result of choosing to keep relationship with God, choosing to do right because it is right and pleasing to Him. This way, His will becomes our own. So much better than the alternative!

Are you in a valley of decision?

Posted in The Daily Jot

The state-sponsored sexual grooming of America’s children must stop. Public schools, national, state and local government, media, Hollywood, and many large corporations support a sexual agenda aimed at confusing children about their sexuality. Who can imagine such debauchery would be allowed against kids? If adults outside of these institutions approached children with these sexual undertones, they would be labeled sexual predators because the laws protect children from such. However, public schools are, by policy, not only allowing but supporting sexual predation on school children. And since it is government, it appears that they can do this under legal protection. This must end.

Parents Defending Education (PDE), an organization working to stop harmful agendas in schools, has compiled a list of school districts by state that have openly stated that district personnel can or should keep a student’s transgender status hidden from parents. While PDE says the list is not comprehensive, it is extremely disturbing.

PDF cites 1,040 school districts with 18,335 schools affecting some 10.7 million students subjected to these kinds of policies. That’s the schools they know about. There may be many more that are unreported. These districts and teachers are withholding information from parents that puts children at risk of irreversible reproductive health decisions as well as placing them at high risk of suicide. Parental rights are purposely being violated by policy directives, and the consequences are horrible.

Some courts have blocked alternative policies that require parental notification of changes in a student’s sexual orientation because it would be “detrimental to transgender youth.” They are ignoring the vast majority of students and the detrimental impact on their mental and physical health. Moreover, this agenda is causing tremendous pressure on kids who are normal–sorry–who know they are male or female.

Case in point is a Gettysburg, Pa school district that hired a male tennis coach in 2018, but in 2022 he became “transgendered” and changed his name from David to Sasha — even though there were incidents where he had all his male parts and not only changed in the girls’ locker room but also followed a female student into a bathroom, trying to strike up a conversation with her. The school district rehired this guy.

Virginia’s largest school district, Fairfax County Public Schools, announced it will defy the state’s Department of Education pro-parent’s rights policies requiring school activities and bathroom use be restricted to students’ sex assigned at birth. Prince William County schools also joined the rebellion.

What is the solution? First, take your kids out of public school. If that’s not an option, parents, grandparents, and anybody who pays property taxes should attend school board meetings and pull an Ephesians 6:20 to “speak boldly as I ought to speak” as an ambassador to the gospel, which recognizes that God in the beginning made them male and female.

Yes, trans and queers have civil rights like all human beings, but not rights that trample those of parents over their own children… that is, say it with me… Stupidocrisy.

Sources:

https://defendinged.org/investigations/list-of-school-district-transgender-gender-nonconforming-student-policies/

https://www.foxnews.com/media/virginias-largest-school-district-defy-governors-guidance-bathrooms-pronouns

Posted in The Daily Jot