Monday, March 3, 2014

Abortion {Assaulting the Image of God}

I've prayed and prayed about how to write this post.  I have considered tossing it aside, but I want to share a glimpse of what my heart is beating for right now.  Abortion is a topic I have always been passionate about, but lately, the fire is so strong that I am ablaze most days.  I don't know yet how to funnel this passion, maybe pray with me?

It is a topic that I can hardly talk about without either leaving the room snot faced or yelling for no other reason than righteous anger boiling over.  I think that is why I am most afraid to share my heart, because I don't want it to come across as judgmental or condemning.  My heart aches just as much for women who have chosen abortion who are now living in silent prisons of shame as it does for the baby who never had the chance to be cuddled against those same women.

Satan wants to thin the herd so to speak, to separate the weak. Funny how he lies and says that strong women choose abortion, only to toss them aside as the weak after they have chosen that route.  My heart beats for these women, but that is not what this particular post is about. Today, I want to speak for the ones that were never given the chance.

After praying on how to do this, God showed me a beautiful thing I had never noticed before. In the book of Luke, we know that John the Baptist was born only a few months before Jesus the Messiah.  His purpose was to prepare the way for the Messiah.  We see John the Baptist fulfilling that role in a precious way across the pages of scripture.  What caught me off guard was that John's prophetic God-appointed mission in life even started while in the womb!!! 

"In those days Mary arose and went with haste to the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy."  Luke 1:39-44

Elizabeth is about 6 months pregnant at this point and doesn't realize that Mary is expecting a baby until her own unborn baby leaps for joy and the Holy Spirit overcomes her with the knowledge that Mary is carrying the LORD himself!  We see John in the womb, without ever having taken his first breath, already fulfilling the commission of God, to turn people to the Lord.  He leaps for joy when he is first in the presence of the long awaited Holy One! It was as if John couldn't even wait to be born to start pointing people to who Jesus is!

The baby felt Joy.  That means the Bible is clear.  Even unborn babies can feel. God has a sweet mission for every single baby and that mission even starts while in the womb!

Alan Keyes is one of my favorite speakers.  He loves the word, loves life, and loves Jesus.  He says something so true and yet so disturbing.  He says when we choose abortion, we are assaulting the image of God.  When we abort, we kill off His likeness. Abortion is an offense towards God Himself not just because He created the child, but because that child bears His very image.

How sneaky of Satan.  Kill.  Steal.  Destroy.  Anything and everything that just might point to God's representation.

Here are a few abortion stats I wanted to share:

1.  Out of all abortions, only 1% or less are due to rape or incest. 

2.  Over 1 million babies a year die in America due to abortion.  To put this in perspective, the Nazis killed about 1 million Jewish children in the Holocaust.  Americans kill that many every single year.

3.  It is estimated (in the US) that since 1973 (Roe v. Wade) 55 million people were never allowed life due to abortion.  These people could have pointed to the glory of God, but instead were cut out, sucked out, or injected, all in the name of privacy and personal selfish freedom.

4.  93% of babies prenatally diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted.  Only 7 out of 100 are allowed breath.  This totally leaves me undone.  Isn't it just like Satan to twist things and call it being "merciful." The enemy is telling us we are being compassionate towards these babies if we choose murder.  Think about how twisted this is! Every life is precious!

5.  Abortion truly is genocide, "a deliberate and systematic destruction of a particular group."  The targeted group is unwanted unborn children. 

6.  Planned Parenthood is full of lies.  On their site, they state that having an abortion in not psychologically or emotionally dangerous.  They say you will experience more emotional disturbance by having childbirth than having an abortion.  They say that serious, long-term emotional problems after abortion are uncommon. 

7.  There is now a movement called "after birth abortion."  "When circumstances occur after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible. … [W]e propose to call this practice ‘after-birth abortion’, rather than ‘infanticide,’ to emphasize that the moral status of the individual killed is comparable with that of a fetus … rather than to that of a child. Therefore, we claim that killing a newborn could be ethically permissible in all the circumstances where abortion would be. Such circumstances include cases where the newborn has the potential to have an (at least) acceptable life, but the well-being of the family is at risk." 

Our God cares about each generation, each child, each soul.  He thought each person up, knitting him  together in his mother's womb, and gracing each person to bear His image.



"...so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord...to set free those who were doomed to die...to declare His name."  Psalm 102 18-21

I wonder what my part is in this atrocious story that has infiltrated our culture.  It seems so hopeless at times, so I have to remind myself that God is concerned with each baby.  Saving one baby means something.  It means everything.

I know for a fact that pregnancy life centers really do make a difference.  When troubled young women are really presented the facts, they will often choose life!  We, as Christians are not paralyzed nor are we hopeless!  We each can do something, even if it is giving to or volunteering at places like Life Choices here in town. 

Satan wants us to believe that he has won this war called abortion, but he is gravely mistaken. 

"Whatever mischief may be brewing against the cause of God and truth, and I dare say there is very much going on at this moment, for neither the devil, nor the atheists are long quiet, this we are sure of, the Lord knows all about it, and he has his Esther and his Mordecai ready at their posts to frustrate their design.  The Lord has his men well placed, and his ambushes hidden in their coverts, to surprise his foes.  We need never be afraid but what the Lord has forestalled his enemies and provided against their mischief."  Spurgeon

The church is powerful because we have been bought by the blood of the Lamb.  The gates of hell will not overcome the church.

Have you considered your role in fighting against the assault of His image?

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