Given up, my dear,
they were all given up.
Given up to their own ideas
Let loose to pursue the gods made by their own hands,
Gods made by their own deceitful hearts
Gods they could control
Structures of religion they could earn their desires with
Not to mention the demons that want to be worshiped
So there are many religions, made through the ages
Religions named and nameless
Structures of power used for gain and oppression
And, yes, there are many who are trapped,
Deceived, caught up in their religion,
There are many who don't know the Name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua,
The saving Name, through whom the Creator God has made the way.
Why were they given up?
A Roman citizen wrote "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (ESV) Romans 1:18–25
Dear one,
Let me share my story.
I believed the ideas of god from my own mind,
What it meant to be a "good person"
Even though I failed my own standards
My god would forgive
apart from reality (but believed in)
Hoping I was secure, striving, working,
That upon death I would meet mercy.
This was an illusion.
Then I met the Living God
Through His book, the Bible,
And encountered the love with which He loved me:
He came to the ones who were given up.
He came for me.
Jesus has forgiven,
Now I receive His life.
I forgive as I have been forgiven, and pray:
Come to the given up ones.
May they be freed from the gods of their minds,
To trust and believe and receive.
