False allegations, an epidemic.

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on February 15, 2015 at 4:43am

As stated in the other discussion this is nothing new. I understand your concern and am not attempting to minimize it, but these things have been happening since the beginning ... how many people went to their deaths in the arena at the hands of the Romans simply because they were Christians? We must seek to lay our lives down into the hands of God that He may take them up and live through us ... our lives are not our own for we have been bought for a price.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda on February 15, 2015 at 11:47am

Back in the 90s, I used to support the Billy Graham ministry and I'd get books from them in the mail. I've kept those books and one is The Weight of Our Words by Joseph M. Stowell. I brought it out to read again last year and I studied it in more depth. It talks about how we are all guilty of hurting people with our words and subsequent actions, and there are many ways of doing it -- slander, deceit, lies, gossip, boasting, murmuring, false witness, beguilement, flattery, exaggeration, and contention. I know my own heart needs working on. What is stored in our hearts is what comes out of it. What I gained from my most recent study of these things is that we all need to hide His word in our hearts, that we might not sin against Him and others. I, by no means, can say I'm guiltless, nor do I see how others could be, either. I know I've felt the weight of the words of others many times. I know they've felt mine.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda on February 15, 2015 at 12:36pm

I'd like to add, regarding children reporting abuse, in my opinion, I think false disclosures are rare. As one who had an abusive childhood, I never told anyone until years later, as an adult survivor. Not being believed when it's true is very damaging, too. A lot of children don't tell for that reason, as well as because of fear of retaliation. But I think false disclosures do happen, and I'm very sorry for those to whom it happens. We have to remember Romans 8:28.

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Permalink Reply by Carla on February 16, 2015 at 10:36pm

Phillip,

It's easy to get discouraged if we take our eyes off of God and forget the victory that we already have.  As LT has said, this is nothing new.

However, we know how it ends.  How can we allow ourselves to be used by God in the midst of our present situation?  Of coarse some situations seem unfathomable and difficult... humanly speaking, they are.

Psalm 91 is a great reminder for us:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
³ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

⁵ You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
⁶ Of the pestilence that ^[a]stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
⁸ You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
^9 [b]For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
¹⁰ No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your ^[c]tent.

¹¹ For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
¹² They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the ^[d]serpent you will trample down.

¹⁴ “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in ^[e]trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶ “With ^[f]a long life I will satisfy him
And ^[g]let him see My salvation.”

What can you do today to remind yourself of God's faithfulness?  Can you recall certain times in your life when He has been faithful?  We know God never changes, and we also know HE is always faithful, and He is good.  Since He was faithful before, He will be faithful again.

Your present circumstances may seem unfathomable right now, and too difficult to handle...humanly that may be true, but  for God it is not unfathomable or too difficult.  Dwell on psalm 91 and thank God for who He is.

Blessings, Carla

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