Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Ecclesiastes 11:10 (NLT)
10 So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

Trust the Lord. Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will. Follow his path. Don’t worry, and stay healthy. But, remember that this life is short, and youth is even shorter – “when the mind makes a promise that the body can’t fill!” (Time Loves a Hero by Little Feat)

We want to hold on to what we have, this life, our youth. But why? Fear? Are we really having such a great time here that we don’t want to give it up for the presence of God?

At the jail Thursday night, as so often happens, I was called out and the person doing it didn’t even know. I’ll let him know this Thursday. It was about prayer and how I pray, how often I pray. Not with the trust I need, not often enough, not with enough conviction. I’ve been depending on my own understanding far to much, which might be why the path isn’t as clear as it should be. My vision, my way, clouds God’s plan. I’m not alone on this path.

Psalm 34:14 (NLT)
14 Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

Proverbs 18:15 (NLT)
15 Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.

Turn away from evil, search for peace and maintain it, learn. Grow. Sounds good right? A no brainer?

Or should be. Porn is pure evil – pure, pure, pure evil. Human slavery is pure, pure, pure evil. Nearly ½ the people in porn are victims of sex trafficking (a heinous form of slavery). Click here for yet another set of numbers on the subject. Yet we aren’t stopping it because the demand is there. It’s the demand, the want, that’s the problem. Just like meth, fentanyl, etc. Those problems are there because of the demand. The violence of M13, in Chicago, are results of generations of abuse – the demand is there.

Do good? Peace? Follow the Lord? Those are the answers and are totally counter cultural.

Leviticus 5:5 (NLT)
5 “When you become aware of your guilt in any of these ways, you must confess your sin”.

We carry a lot of sin. This stuff exists because of it. Our sins, others sins. The first step after confession is change. We need to change the demand, and only happens in your and me, not them. If we get enough you and me, when we grow that circle to be bigger and bigger, then them is you and me.