The Red Stick

The Red Stick

 10/22/12

The construction of a building must begin with the laying out of the boundaries so that the dimensions of the building can be conformed to its foundation.  This step usually includes some type of measurements of the ground that are initially taken and then symbolic markers are placed into the specific locations to give a visual drawing of the future placement of the building.  This symbolic placement can also be applied to our lives as well in the fact that some type of marker had to be placed into the ground in order to begin the process of our restoration to God and this connection began with a red stick which was placed into the ground.

I was looking at a couple of websites the other day that had to deal with United States history.  I knew that there was a project on a website that had some of the history of the counties of the states.  I was looking up the list of counties in Iowa and was just browsing through the list and since all of the information caught my eye, I printed the list out.  As my printer was graciously providing me with more information that the normal person would find boring I began to think of some other states that I could examine.  I then thought of a couple more states and quickly glimpsed through the pages and then turned my thoughts towards Louisiana.  Yes, Louisiana

As the specific webpage was loading I sat there for a few seconds and wondered what kind of weirdo I was to actually want to spend time looking at the list of counties that are located in the states that are a part of the union.  I grinned to myself and then thought “me, that is who would be doing this”.  After the page loaded I began to scroll up and down the page looking at whatever information that caught my eye.  A couple of counties grabbed my attention for a bit and then I had the idea of finding what county Baton rouge was located.  Now everyone who is familiar with Louisiana knows that it has Spanish and more popular French origins and from living close to the area I knew that many of the names of the parishes, cities and towns had French names.  The French culture has overgrown itself down in that area and even though Native Americans dominated the area at one time in history the French have gained most of the notoriety of the state.  So, naturally the names of the areas would be in French or have French roots.

As I focused my attention on Baton Rouge I obviously knew that the name “Baton Rouge” was French in origin.  I did not know however what the literal meaning of the phrase meant until I saw the translation which when I read it I had one of my “duh” moments.  Baton Rouge means red stick.  I knew what the word rouge meant but it was the baton portion that gave me the “duh” moment.  I ran track, very slowly I might add, while I was in high school and was on one of the relay teams for my school.  When you are on a relay team you run a certain distance and then you hand off the baton to the next person on your team and they continue the race.  Well, I never made the connection with baton being a type of stick even though we sometimes used sticks instead of batons during practice.  So, my “duh” moment came to an end after a few moments of thinking about a baton being a stick.

A baton connects all of the participants of that specific race together and everyone involved in that race must at one time hold onto the stick before passing it to the next person.  The manner before we receive the stick another portion of our team must be carrying it and then give it to us to carry for our allotted amount of distance.  The stick actually defines our team and it serves as the one item that must be in our possession when we cross the finish line.  So the symbol of the stick can mean many things and in the case of Baton Rouge it has a very unique and symbolic meaning.

As I was scanning the section that contained Baton Rouge I noticed that Baton Rouge or only a part of the city was in one county which was called East Baton Rouge Parish.  So thinking that there would be another part of the city some other place I then scrolled down the page and found out that the remaining portion of the city was located in another parish called West Baton Rouge Parish.  Then this is when God decided to take over and show me some things, not about the city itself but the name of the city.  My search continued in that section and I came across the meaning of the phrase Baton Rouge which as I stated above means Red Stick.

What struck me unusual and what God pointed out to me was the next part of the meaning that someone had placed into the history notes.  The additional notes in this section described that the French ordained this phrase for the area due to the idea that the local Native Americans used a red stick to mark the boundaries of tribal territories.  Each tribe knew of its boundaries and knew what would happen when and if these boundaries were crossed by other tribal members.  This is the part of the additional notes that God decided to show me a specific meaning.

In short God showed me that there was a connection to this phrase and an event that He sanctioned for all mankind.  I have to be honest at this point and say that I immediately had the thought of “yeah right” because my mind was locked into the Native American symbol of the red stick.  It was then that my second “duh” thought came from my mind and rushed out of my mouth when God said “the cross”.  I actually jumped up from my chair and stood there in front of the computer with my hands on my face in total shock.  Once again my carnal mind had jumped the gun and doubted what God was trying to show me and once I had rid my mind of my humanly thoughts, God….

After I quit thinking normal thoughts and shut my mouth I sat back down and began to read the remaining notes on the origin of the name of the county.  The notes stated that the Native Americans would of course drive a portion of the stick into the ground to serve as the marker to tribal boundaries.  This marker would stand up out of the ground high enough for everyone that was close by to know that the stick was there and that there was a reason for is placement, in other words there was no question about it that a man or group of Native Americans put the stick in that spot.  When hunting parties, scouts, or even kids playing in the immediate vicinity would come close to the area they would automatically understand that they had reached their limits and should turn back.  You know that when the kids were playing in that area they had to at least one time step a toe or foot across that imaginary line, just to see what would happen, I know I would have J

Similar pegs represent modern day private land boundaries which sometime can prove to be interesting to locate.  “State lines” mark the boundaries of each state.  Have anyone of us actually seen a State Line?  We have seen the sign of the state that we are entering or a sign saying goodbye to us as we leave its territory.  There even is a spot in the United States where four states come together at one point on the earth and a person can actually place all four limbs in a state.  But as you stand back up and look around the area there is no definitive line that a person can see to follow each state line.  But the boundary line for each state is there, runs its course and each one serves as a recognition point to the local and state authorities of the sovereignty of each boundary, just as the Native American red stick represented many decades ago.

Native American tribes still argue over territorial boundaries to this day and sometimes they even boil over into physical confrontation.  At this moment there is a portion of the Lakota Nation that is beginning the process of succession procedures to reclaim their land that the United States Government took from them.  Boundaries serve as a reminder that a piece of land was ironed out with blood, sweat and tears at some point in human history.  The same goes for the symbolism and the reality of the cross, and it is the cross that has a great meaning to the spirit world and its boundaries.  Sadly, the majority of modern day church groups has completely forgotten the spiritual warfare concepts and has allowed themselves to become spiritually neutered in correlation with these spiritual issues.  In other words, we have ignored the spiritual boundaries that Christ established with His death and we are beginning to see the realities of this disastrous choice that we have made.

As the red stick of Native American boundary markers were planted into the ground so was symbolism of the cross that Christ died upon.  Yes, the red stick that the Native American used was totally symbolic and could have been easily moved at any time and placed into any other position within the area.  The majority of the people involved would have never noticed or would have ignored the change yet the act would have been committed and not much could be said afterwards.  The red stick separated people and the territories that they claimed to be their own.  The cross did the exact same thing even to the point of the human act of placing the cross into the ground.

The red stick that represents the cross actually begins the process of building the bridge that allows humanity to reach God face to face or in other words have direct access to God through the blood of His son.  The cross is the foundation that was forged into the ground and stands upright for everyone to see.  It is highly ironic that man had to complete this action but on the other hand it makes sense since Jesus was a human and knew the ways of man.  However, the Romans loved to make issue of the fact that whatever they completed they did it to the utmost and set the act on high for all to see.  This process I will deal with in depth when I get to the next portion of this set when I talk about the bridge that connects us to God but know now that the foundation has been set by the works of man but sealed with the Holy blood of God that ran into the cursed ground.  This event and its timing was perfect.  No wonder the earth shook when this event occurred.

Many tribal wars and arguments have occurred throughout the centuries over boundaries so it is natural for the same to occur in the spiritual world.  Most of us do not know or do not believe that this “tribal” war is occurring as you read this message.  It is occurring to everyone that is present on this earth and it will affect each one of us if we do not recognize the reality of what we are allowing to flow through our lives.  Look through history and read it from a spiritual concept and notice how humanity has shaped itself at the expense of others, and when you recognize this fact, place it into the concept of two spiritual kingdoms fighting over the eternal soul of our lives.  There is a reason that the red stick was used in Christ’s death and it was to mark you as a territory of love and for it to also to remind our enemy that each one of us is set apart from all other creations which proves to all creatures that God loves us so much more than we can ever know.

DLB

God's Take on Things

God’s Take on Things

10/15/12

One area that humans have no problem in agreeing with God is that man has dominion over what humanity decides.  This is a given in the eyes of man but still does not rule out the concept that God is in control of what happens to humanity overall.  Man decides what man will do or not do, who will rule over the physical man and even where man can live, yet man still has not the capability of changing the will of man.  It has baffled so many people over the years when things just do not go the way that humans believed that they should go.  There is only one answer for this and that is God.

Every human on the face of the earth has the desire to be right and to believe that everyone should agree with our respective opinions at all times.  This belief has been demonstrated throughout the course of human history and no doubt will continue until time ends.  Humans have the knack of knowing that they are right and that everyone should listen to them.  I know I have had those tendencies in my thoughts and to be honest I have said those words before, just as all of us have at some point in our lives.  But even though we might be right on some occasions everyone still does not listen to us and chooses to make their opinions about circumstances. 

We have witnessed many people demonstrate this concept while talking with others who might not agree with their opinions and then get upset when they do not “convert” to their side.  It is built into our nature to be right or to believe that we are right no matter what the evidence may show.  We argue that our beliefs or the beliefs of the party or organization that we believe in is accurate and the truth.  It is common now-a-days to have a group argument concerning who won a debate, which is laughable in my opinion.  When we do this exercise in correctness it further isolates us into confined blocks of slavery in which we then cannot interact with others when in time of need.

Certain groups of people that have won a victory of some sort have a tendency to rub the others’ noses into the ground over their defeat.  Now, do not get me wrong when the time comes for some sporting events to celebrate a victory I am all for that but in this instance I am talking about a victory when everyday life choices are being made and the overall emotional stakes are the greatest.  And from the beginning of this message I must say that Christians have proved themselves to be the worst offenders of this cause and it has now come full circle but this time it is towards Christians during this present time.

Christians have been led to believe, from and by them, that when they have enough faith in a process that God will allow this process to be completed in the manner for which they see it.  In many cases this is a true statement but we must look at the fact that non believers have the same concepts and ideas that have the exact same results.  So, does God take precedence over another or does He favor one over another?  It is true that God loves a pure and honest heart if we believe this then we must conceive that both sides of the aisle have done a pure and honest deed.  In other words, neither group is in control of the overall plan but only God has that authority to make those decisions which affect our lives in the long run.  Whether we like it or not he above is a perfect example of God’s timing and His Will and not the human’s.

Whatever occurs within the world is according to the appropriate and divine will of God and nothing else.  When we humans believe that we won something in this world we must consider the bigger objective and that God actually had a plan for that moment and we just fell into that plan accordingly.  Our existence is according to His plan for things and humanity revolves around that plan and there really nothing that we can do to change that plan.  So we all must realize that the plans and beliefs that we all make have a purpose, a greater purpose in a huge plan that we cannot or do not have any control over; pretty big concept huh, but that is why God is in control and not us since we humans cannot even tell the truth about our governmental budgets.

I have no idea who all reads my messages nor do I know your beliefs towards God and His divine plan for our lives and the world, but I am now going to address the Christian readers of this message.  You might not like what I am about to say and you might not agree with what I am going to say but you do owe it to yourself to understand that this message comes from God and He wants you to know what He is saying.  These words might be coming to you from my computer but they are words from God and they need to be understood and known by you so that you may know how to correctly and righteously respond when the time is needed.  Also, the non believers feel free to read the remaining portion of this message as well, it will allow you to understand some things that will be occurring down the road.

When you read the Bible and really read it you will know that there are times that God allows things to happen to His people.  Most of read these words and stop for a second and say something like “wow, they really must have made God mad” or “how can God allow that to happen to those people?”  These statements and questions are legitimate ones but we are seriously overlooking a major issue here and that is how long did God give the people to change their ways and how many warnings did the people ignore before God had to pass judgment upon them.  There is a process that occurs before God performs this act upon His people, remember He is not up there with a big eraser.  How many decisions did the people make to provoke this type of decision by God and why didn’t God listen to the people that prayed to Him for passing judgment?  But there comes a time when God’s people cannot find one righteous soul amongst the inhabitants of the land and we will not talk about the leadership of the people.

Our prayers are heard by God and every tear that we shed will be remembered by God.  God does not ignore the people that call out to Him for help and guidance during times of need.  God also hears the prayers from those who cry out to Him in good and decent times as well.  But we still have to remember that God’s plan is not our plan and that sometimes His ways do not seem right in our eyes.  It is not that He has abandoned us or has ignored our words and concerns but it is because that His will and plan cannot change and certain things must play out in order for His will to be completed.  So, Christians be prepared to witness things that you might totally agree with and that go along with your beliefs, but on the other hand you must also be prepared to witness events that seem like God has totally disregarded your prayers and has allowed the enemy to win during the important times in history.  Many believe that the Church will be spared hard and difficult times, why don’t you ask the people who attended the churches during Emperor Nero’s tenure or during the Emperor Diocletian reign, since you cannot ask these people questions why don’t you read about them and then you will understand that things do not always go according to your beliefs and the way that you think they should go.

We know that the election of 2000 did not go in favor of some people, but it served a purpose in God’s perfect plan.  We also understand that World War II was a horrific experience that the world had to endure for decades but it too served a purpose in God’s perfect plan.  And to bring it home a little bit, your weeding also served a purpose in God’s perfect plan.  Our actions have a great significance to others and the majority of the time we have no clue what it is achieving, but God does and He understands humanity perfectly and He must complete His plan for us, no matter what we believe, do or say about it.  This also states that God is in control of everything that occurs on this earth, yes we have freedom of thought and we can make our own choice to accept or deny God but in the end and we stand to account for our actions we will then see God’s plan for us and for humanity.

Do not be disheartened by the rhetoric that the world tries to display to your eyes, but be aware of the real issues that are at hand in which serves as a danger to the world’s current existence.  Listen to those who bring up the real concerns that are facing the people of the world and not the platform slogans which tickle the ear instead of addressing the real conditions of the people.  Rest assured that God will show you the truth of these false things if you honestly and openly trust Him in the answers that He provides.  Discard the emotional status of the day and use your heart to weed through the irrelevant trash that has the majority confused.  God wants and desires you to see what has become of this world and He also will guide those who dare to heed His advice.

So remember over the next few months or years that God has listened to His people and know that God is always in control no matter what humans try and do to each other.  The world can be cruel and unusual in its dealings but even the world is still subject to God and shall be for eternity.  It is imperative that we understand and remember what is right and what is wrong and never compromise that sharp line, for when we do cross that line the consequences can be devastating.  Trust God always and keep His guidance close to your heart at all times and never forget that He loves you and that He is in control.

DLB

Seeing Is Believing

Seeing Is Believing

10/10/12

All of us would agree that eyes are one of the important organs that our body has been blessed with.  The ability to see allows us to become mobile, it allows us to protect ourselves, it allows us to enjoy entertainment and we can list hundreds or thousands more reasons of why eyes are important to our existence.  However, many of us forget that our spirits have eyes as well which allow for the eternal portion of our life to see the existence of another world that continually surrounds us with danger.  It is our spiritual eyes that function as recognition instruments, along with our spiritual ears, to protect us from the attacks that our enemy hurls at us on a constant basis. 

Humans depend upon all of our senses for us to function properly in this world.  Most of us can get by with the majority of our senses and of course there are some of us that do not have the privilege of being able to use all of our physical senses.  When this process occurs it may hinder our steps a bit but for the most part the human’s physical capabilities still remain without many limits.  Modern technology has made huge advancements in helping those with disabilities and it is exciting to see these strides take shape for future usage.

We all know that our eyes play a major role in our abilities to complete daily tasks and as I mentioned in the paragraph above there are many in this world that do not have the privilege of eyesight.  The eyes are an amazing organ which allows us to actually see other objects that are around us, coming towards us, going away from us, things and objects displayed on a television screen and thousands of more objects in various conditions.  Most of us wake up in the morning and open our eyes and look out our windows and begin our day following a normal routine, and if we did not have the capability of sight our everyday drills would drastically be altered.

When we lived in California, I spent my 3^rd through 5^th grades in Salinas.  It was a great little city but at the same time it had its dangerous side to it as well.  I remember that I was in the 4^th grade and my teacher was Mrs. Gump, yes that is her real name.  I liked her a lot and I actually learned a lot that year.  I remember that I was placed at the back of the room when school began which I had no problems with this seating arrangement.  As school progressed my grades began to slip a bit and I noticed that I could not really see the board very well.  Mom and dad did not believe me when I told them that I could not see.  Now, in their defense….this is me we are talking about I had already acquired my sense of humor and my mind was very active so I do not blame them for not readily believing my stories.

As my 4^th grade year progressed, my grades continued with the same downward progression instead of a steady upward climb.  I had now been moved to the front of the class but I knew I was still having a hard time seeing.  Parent / teacher conferences were approaching and I knew that my parents were not going to be happy with my grades since they were still on their slow downward slide.  My nervousness increased all the way up to the evening of the big event.

Now parent teacher conferences were a lot different back when I was in school to the tune that we had to go to school all day of the meeting and then we went to our “come to Jesus” meeting after school hours all together.  The teachers were all there and all of us had plenty of time to talk things through with everyone involved.  So, you can understand how things could be a mighty bit tense.  When it was our time to be with my teacher, my parents began to ask why my grades were dropping and my teacher defended my behavior in class, my willingness to participate but she had a problem with my eyes and she mentioned this to my parents.  We all agreed that I should have my eyes checked out to eliminate this option.

A little while later it was time for the eye doctor and all of the torture that he would put my eyes through.  I was nervous because I had never really been to an eye doctor before so my memory kicked in with my past experiences in medical clinics.  I had an agreement with doctors and nurses and that was I did not like them and that I did not care who heard me say that during my examinations.  So, what profession did I end up working in?  Anyway my eye exam went on as planned and the results were astonishing to me and my parents.  It was conclusive I could not see my hand in front of my face clearly and I needed glasses.

Now I am not telling you this aspect of my life to make my parents look bad or to have anyone feel ill to them in any way.  The point of my words is that at some point in time during a person’s life it may become necessary to get some help in seeing things clearly.  My parents were wonderful during my raising and in my opinion did a fabulous job in keeping me from getting into too much trouble along my journey.  My eyes were the problem and they had to be corrected enough in order that I might see my way clearly once again.

My glasses came in and I remember my parents receiving the phone call stating that my glasses had arrived at the store.  They set a time and date for all of us to come down and get them.  Once again I had no idea of what was going to occur, even though my dad did his best to tell me what was going to transpire.  We arrived to the office and I sat in the waiting area chair while mom and dad filled out some more paperwork.  A few minutes after they had completed the paperwork a lady came and asked for me and my nervousness returned.  Mom and dad both went with me into the little room and the doctor and his assistant then joined us shortly.  The doctor asked if I was ready and I agreed that I was.

After I had put on my glasses and looked around the room a bit something clicked in my head that told me that I could see once again.  The doctor asked me how they fit and if I could see clearly.  He then told me to look at the eye chart across the room and to read off the letters as far down as I could focus.  My eyesight was almost back to perfect once again after the reading of the chart letters.  The doctor and my parents began talking a bit and I continued my tour of the exam room marveling at the things that I could see.  And as the minutes passed by I realized more and more that it had been a while since I saw this well.  It also came to my attention that now I had no excuses for making bad grades.

Even though the glasses made it to where I could see perfectly again, I still had some adjustments to make with some things like making sure that I did not bump into a wall or step off a stair without making sure that I was at the proper place when I approached these objects.  Even though I could see again there was still a period of adjustment that I had to get used to before I could actually feel comfortable in every situation.

That period of my life occurred when I was in the fourth grade and to this day I continue to wear glasses.  I do have contacts and I wear them as well but I would not trust myself to cross the street if I did not have my glasses on or my contacts in my eyes.  Throughout the years my eyes have continued their course of worsening but with the modern technology and new eye ware options, I still am not even close to having major problems with my eyes, and I thank God everyday for this.  But I do realize that I must have my glasses on at all times when I am awake and for me to function properly and that if I did not have my glasses on my face I would be totally lost.

How often do we forget that our spiritual eyes need to be corrected and sharpened on a continual basis as well?  We can read many books and stories with our physical eyes but it is our spiritual eyes need to be corrected by the one book that retains our sharpness against our enemy.  We may understand many things about the spiritual world and how it operates and functions but that does not exclude us from continually studying God’s Word and fine tuning our eyes to every possible attack from our enemy.

See our eyes are very important in our defense against the everyday tricks that the world brings upon us, so why wouldn’t we keep our spiritual eyes just as sharp?  When our spiritual eyes are not sharp we miss many blindsided attacks that come our way or we cannot see the attacks approaching others to warn them of impending danger.  As a parent would we not warn our children of danger if we saw it coming towards them?  So why would we ignore the one opportunity to sharpen our eyes to combat these tactics?  When we see things with this clarity then we can believe everything that is thrown at us to be a true attack and when we know our enemy’s tricks his schemes are easily defensible.

The Word of God is the only way for our spiritual eyes to be sharpened and spiritually corrected in such a manner that all of the information that crosses their path will provide a defense against present and future attacks.  These attacks can come from any direction and at any time and really has no limits to which they can occur.  The Bible is the one sacred word that contains all of the pertinent lessons so that we may live abundantly through God in perfect peace.

The only way that we can maintain this corrected vision is to put on the Word of God on a continual basis, a basis that forms a foundation within our spirits that shines a spiritual light in front of us which allows us to see what is headed our way.  Put on your spiritual glasses by opening the Bible and earnestly reading its words and allowing these words to penetrate your spirit so that God may provide the necessary adjustments that He desires for you.  Do not play with the “teenager syndrome” where popularity and good looks take precedence, but wear your spiritual glasses constantly for even when you are trying to impress someone, your eyesight still needs to be 20/20. 

God is like a parent and it is His desire that every child of His sees clearly the path that we are on.  He provides us with the ability to have a conference with Him each time we open His word.  God provides a way of assuredness through His words that steady’s our hearts and our lives through the spiritual guidance of what we see.  And if His word is constantly before us there will be nothing that shall be able to hinder us in our spiritual life nor will be ever be blindsided by a surprise attack from our enemy.  Return to His word and place His words in front of our eyes again and the spiritual lights will be turned on so that we may truly see again.

DLB