$\"\"$ <\/p>\n

South America is sending batches of cocaine to the states laced with cow de-wormer and people are overdosing in record numbers. That is different than the cocaine from other countries filled with fentanyl. In our country they are seeing rising numbers of people die from Heroine mixed with a powder. Powder that is actually pancake mix when tested. By the time the unsuspecting victim figures it out their veins are swelling with ingredients that belong in breakfast, not your blood stream. Purity is necessary for life.<\/p>\n

A secondary risk to the drug trade is when young, vibrant singers overdose and their once crystal clear voices now drag with guilt and insecurity. Purity is imperative for living with purpose. Managers, actors, leaders once entrusted with young impressionable students go astray and give the me too movement fodder for tabloids and the industry known to be affecting the culture increases in its corruption. Purity is foundational for trust.<\/p>\n

Purity, prudes, pilgrims\u2026. We hear purity and think of rule followers, followers of tradition and maybe someone who needs to not be so \u201cstraight-laced.\u201d We want our hotel beds to be pristine clean with white sheets and squared off corners but our entertainment to be \u201cedgy\u201d and thought provoking meaning content will come with nudity, violence or language. We want our children to be pure, isolated from the evils of the world but our options to be adult, free and absent of any moral judgement.<\/p>\n

The Bible talks about being moderate in drinking, chaste in relationships and to let no corrupt communication come out of our mouths. Is this all to get a job, secure a career, win and influence friends? God is good and He is moral. We know from all the billboards, picketers and signs that He is love but the flipside of that same coin is that God is also Holy \u2013 pure without additives or adulteration.<\/p>\n

In the midst of his very wicked generation Isaiah sees the Lord and tells us Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord. (Isaiah 61:4) So, if we and our generation are corrupt, what hope is there? This super Holy God would have no interest in the likes of you and me. Unless, He saw this in advance and planned for it.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons God is beautiful and good is because He is also Holy. When we pause on the weekends to consider that we encounter Him as He is. He is wholly unlike us \u2013 He is Holy. We could try all day every day for the rest of our days and never be \u201cclean\u201d enough to come before this amazing pure, Holy God. Unless\u2026 there was a way to be clean before Him. That way is Jesus, the Christ. Unlike the red tide in Florida, the tide of washing that Jesus does purifies. When we come before Him and ask Him to cleanse us, He does through the payment of the cross. Wave after wave makes us white as snow and for the dirty, the filthy, the accused, the corrupt; we are justified by His work on the cross.<\/p>\n

Encounter that holiness today \u2013 not in rooms of white or thoughts of Heaven but by receiving the only thing that could ever make you pure or whole. When we step aside from the junk and stench of our sin and our culture and bathe in the payment for our sin we become pure. I want to live in the light of His love and purity but often I trade out being accepted or contemporary which is a lesser joy.<\/p>\n

Ask God to show you His holiness and what that means for your life, your family, our nation. The pathway to Hollywood, popularity and good intentions is not working. The Lord is holy and those who follow Him can encounter that holiness if they remember the way. Please remember the way \u2013 please celebrate God\u2019s holiness and share it with others.<\/p>\n

RenaeRoche2018<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida, the perfect vacation spot once known for alligators, the Keys and snorkeling is now being featured in news spots as the state with \u201cred tide\u201d, an algae infested water that kills manatees, fish and even dolphins. You would not want to put your family in waters where fish are popping out slimy and dead. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":670,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665\/revisions\/670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}