Small Spiritual Nation

Small Spiritual Nation

6/30/14

What actually defines a country as being a small spiritual nation?  It has nothing to do with the population of that country or region but it deals with the true spiritual reality of the state of said nation or region.  A region or country can have millions upon millions of physical inhabitants yet be so spiritually poor and diluted that their spiritual identity and growth is basically unrecognizable even up to the state of death.  The human spirit is the communication lifeline with God and it is the job of our enemy to severe this lifeline and for all spiritual direction is lost, and from the looks of it his success in this task is going quite well, and when this lifeline is cut so goes our spiritual potency.

I know most of you are not avid sports fans but there is a huge sporting event currently taking place in Brazil.  The World Cup is held in a different country once in every four years.  It is a tough competition and the qualifying stages to reach this tournament can be somewhat brutal.  A country’s team has to be united and in top shape to endure the grueling schedule of qualifications and then the tournament itself. While on paper it may seem like some of the countries that are represented in this event should not be there, but there is a specific reason that they are; they fought hard and did their best.

If someone watches this sport on a continual basis they will recognize a few countries that have outstanding teams.  Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and France are some of the countries that always field excellent and tough teams, no matter what the playing circumstances are for that particular match.  As I have stated above the physical population of a country does not matter in this sport since the sport is based upon individual talents instead of the entire population of the specific country.  The United States has one of the larger populations in the world yet its team, in theory, could easily beat India or China who has far more of a population base.  It is this characteristic that brings Italy, Germany, England, Brazil, France and other nations whose population is smaller yet field better quality of teams to the world stage.  So goes for the spiritual aspect of the countries as well.

A few years back France found itself on top of the world concerning the football world.  It had recently won the World Cup and within a few years earlier and later won other major tournaments including the European Championships and the Confederations Cup tournament. The French Football Team was number one in the world and with their current lineup being so young; it looked as if no other country would be able to seriously challenge them for the top spot for at least a few more years.  It was good to see another team stand on the championship stages and dethrone the more consistent and unlikable countries.  The French team was unbeatable and every time one watched its matches it seemed like they knew exactly what to do to outwit and outplay their opponent.

While France was rolling along as the number one football team a few cracks began to appear within their armor.  No one really paid much attention to these flaws but they became more evident as time went along.  World Cup (WC) qualifying came calling once again and this process was easy to France and they breezed through this stage with hardly a scratch at all.  After qualifying for the WC had finished, France began to play a few matches as tune ups for the big tournament.  It was during these match ups that the teams that they were playing began to expose these issues concerning the French team.  It was quickly noticed by all of the other teams that had qualified for the WC and each one of them took careful notes.  In other words, their opponents had sharp enough skills to understand these issues and knew exactly how to pursue better results for their own agendas.

These gaps or issues were addressed to the French Football Federation but this “governmental” and organizational body continued to ignore these questions and problems saying that all is ok and that they had complete faith in their leader and players.  With anyone who understood the game and followed the French National Team knew that these issues were huge in stature and could possibly bring down the French team during any match.  The denial continued and eventually some animosity, rumors and a couple of refusals to play certain matches brought these issues further into light.  Yet, as any good diplomatic situation goes, ignorance and denial raged completely through the ranks and business as usual was the norm as far as the public was concerned.  However, it would not be too much longer before the visible truth would be in motion.

The time was at hand and the big show had commenced.  The WC was in full swing and France’s opportunity to shine was next in line. The teams that France was grouped with had studied their playing methods well and were prepared to fight hard against the mighty French.  The settings and conditions of the tournament were perfect and one could not ask for a better atmosphere.  France play their first game it was obvious from the start that their opponent knew their flaws and were determined to exploit it as soon as possible.  As the final whistle blew France had been defeated and the shock of the result began to filter throughout the French and world communities.  The next match followed suit and with the third match just hours away the French team was in total disarray. 

After the third match was completed, France had been totally obliterated and outplayed throughout the entire match.  While the third match was their toughest one in the group, the French should have beaten this team.  Senegal, Denmark and Uruguay took full control of France’s weaknesses and flaunted them in the faces of France and the world and eliminating the French Football Nation from the tournament without even scoring a single goal.  What had just occurred?  The country of France was in total shock over the embarrassment that they had witnessed and it seemed like there were no solid answers for this debacle.

A few years later another WC tournament was played and France managed to do well in that tournament yet disappointed with their overall play.  The next four years passed and once again France found themselves in the WC settings but still floundering within their playing ranks.  Their play was viewed as consistently atrocious and once again bowed out of the group stages without making any good headlines for themselves.  Their actions and rebellion within the tournament, both on and off the pitch, led one of their star players to say that they had fallen to the level of a small football nation.  This statement was not an insult to the smaller nations who may never come close to being in the WC tournament, but as a wakeup call to his country of their current playing and surrounding conditions.  While the holes and gaps were of a different nature, the French team was once again exploited for these flaws and brutally raked over the media coals after their portion of the tournament was over.

Thousands of questions hounded the team and the leadership that represented them at press conferences.  All of the talk was about how far France had fallen and one journalist even wrote that a non football playing nation might field a better team than what France could. France’s reputation and expertise in the sport had come crashing down and with their attitudes towards each other and how they approached their practice sessions gave them little of no community or world respect.  France was now at the bottom of their totem pole and had only one direction to go.

I have no idea how far France will go in the current WC tournament but for their sake I hope they show their country’s abilities once again.  In one recent interview from a player it was said that it took a lot of hard work to re-establish the top playing form of the team.  It was not just the physical that he was referring to but the mental side of training as well.  All aspects had to be addressed and overcome and it took many long years to repair the damage that had been deliberately ignored for over a decade.  It is funny to me that God will bring back to my mind of a human event or problem in order to illustrate another current condition concerning His people.  While a football problem seems very unlikely to be compared with a spiritual concept and principle the fact that humans use different methods of relating to things, this example will prove that God can and will use the simplest variations to get His point across to those who are not listening or just plain ignoring.

It has long been known that this country and the other western societies have had a rich religion and Christian background and root system.  There is no question what-so-ever that this region of the world has had ample opportunity to understand and to know God and His ways.  Yet, as history tells us humans have continually messed things up when it comes to the relationship that God has with them and how this relationship actually works.  Our enemy has quite successfully blinded our spiritual ears and eyes enough that we have deteriorated enough to make us look foolish and stupid on numerous levels, including the Church.

When we read about Church history and human history that is associated with the Church we can get a sense of urgency within these times.  These urgencies may not always reflect the intentions of God but they are there and at some point the human will feel compelled to submit to these urgencies.  The thought of being a warrior for God is a glorious idea and one that could lead to fame and fortune throughout the Christian world.  This process is the first step in that person or group’s spiritual downfall and at that point should be recognized as such.  It was never the Church’s responsibility to tear down families in the name of God nor was it the Church’s belief that she could correspond with the world and its ways.  All of which the Church has done for centuries and has eventually formed a relationship with the world that is currently stronger and closer than with God.

I recently wrote about how an idea eventually becomes a law if the idea lasts long enough within people’s lives.  This law can be unwritten or written and in either case decisions and choices are made through this set of conditions.  This collective group of “laws” has been present in our minds and hearts ever since mankind made the choice to go against the one true law that God set in place in the Garden of Eden.  The progression has since commenced in a circular motion and we can easily read about this in almost any book of the Bible or any book or article concerning human history.  What is fascinating to me is that humans continue to try and justify their current actions on personal feelings and beliefs as if they were different from any other person, society or culture.  How is it that we continue to ignore what others in our past have done and that we believe that somehow if we do things the same as they did that things will turn out differently?

The Bible records numerous instances of individuals, groups and nations that have been remarkably blessed by the hand of god yet at some point in their history thumbed their noses at God and went on their separate ways without His adhering guidance to protect them.  God allows this choice but eventually the human has to be reeled in through a holy manner simply because they have diminished so much spiritually that God cannot even recognize His own creation through His own communication lines.  Even though those nations may have been considered the strongest and the brightest in the land, they are soundly defeated by God and by other human nations.  It is not mentioned too much but after these devastating losses the people of Israel must have wondered why God allowed them to lose such in great number or how could they lose to a much smaller nation?  It must be remembered that God cannot change His ways or laws, so this means that it is the personal choice of an individual, group or nation to change their ways of believing.

The key to these instances is the fact that while their physical numbers might have looked good on paper, their spiritual numbers drew a blank with the one being that mattered most.  God created everything so that means that He has the capability and the ability to take appropriate actions if He deems necessary.  Were there no voices to be heard where God was concerned during those times?  Of course they were, but they were ignored by the masses for more superficial and gratifying freedoms of the flesh.  Some of these voices were even cast out from the populous or thrown into wells to shut them up; and God allowed this to occur, even though they were on course for destruction.  Along these settings the list of good deeds from the people grew short and gifts and offerings to God became nil, all to which pointed to the direction that their spirits had taken.  A point to make here is this: this process did not occur overnight; it followed an idea and then grew on its own until the idea became a law. 

If one takes a nonbiased look at our current beliefs we will find that our existence is remarkably similar to that of those nations that I just finished referring to.  For a long period of time our nation and those nations of the western culture gave countless millions of dollars to those in need, performed special trips to underdeveloped countries and showed friendship towards those that sought to harm us.  That belief and culture has now been replaced with the “me” syndrome or the “I don’t care” attitude or the more infamous “I am better than you” status. These identities have infiltrated our thinking enough that they are no longer willing to acknowledge any other belief or difference of opinion. This idea and concept has grown and is now becoming law within these western countries.  The progression is on course and it is steadily rising at an alarming rate.  It is also defining what our country’s inhabitants are and what they believe which is providing a look of despair and spiritual blindness.  This too God will allow but know that one day He will have to say enough is enough and give us a reminder of who actually is in control of this life.

With Thierry Henri’s comment of “we have become a small football nation” I am making the statement that we as a nation and as the western cultural concept have become a small spiritual nation.  It breaks my heart to say this and to publicly declare it but it is the truth.  I find it amazing that we have turned so much away from foundations and from God that we fail to recognize this fact and in response forbid to hear God’s warnings of our current state of being.  We have voluntarily cut the spiritual lines of communication with God and thus chosen to accept the ways of the world instead.

It is well known that the western civilization was built around the concept of church.  As long as our cultural beliefs have been presented to the public, the Church has played a role.  I do have to admit that not every role that the Church has been a part of was a good thing or even from God, but the presence of the Church has been a constant.  Now, we have denominations that cannot fill pastoral roles for many of their church buildings, nor do the churches have the influential role that they once played within a community or city.  These activities and choices that we have made have proven that the Church has not effectively fulfilled the mission that Jesus told us to do and by our lack of interest have allowed the world to fervently pursue the masses and push God out of all areas of our lives.  The Church has lost the respect of the community that she is located within, even after she has tried to shake hands with the devil by accepting worldly standards within her walls.

We as a Christian community proudly built new churches within other nations so that the Word of God could be spread as quickly as possible.  Also we boldly sent missionaries out across the continents so that those who did not know about God could receive the message that God loves you and that there is a way for true and eternal life.  It is difficult to go to the majority of the youth services now-a-days and find a group that is on fire for God and that lives out His ways at all times.  No longer do the Bible colleges have to turn away people because of their desire to reach the lost simply because the campuses are too full.  All of these conditions deal directly with the truth that our country and the culture of the West, loudly proclaims to God that we have adopted the concept of a small spiritual nation.  And of course we cannot forget the fact that other countries now send missionaries to our own shores.  This is a pure example of the loss of a spiritual status in favor of a selfish lifestyle in the world.

God will continue to allow us to believe that we can live with the world and accommodate His beliefs at the same time.  This is part of the true freedom of choice that God gives us.  Our freedom of choice is solely based upon our spiritual communication with God and that is how God sees our relationship with Him.  When this communication line is almost gone or severed, God has to respond in order to restore that communication with His creation.  He has no option but to do this.  Now, there will come a time that mankind shall choose another being as their final king and when this choice is made the entire ballgame changes.  But until that time arrives, we need to understand that the further we move away from God and His ways the more we cut that spiritual tie with Him and our direct link becomes thinner and thinner with each step we take.  God does not base His laws upon worldly standards, on the spiritual standard that He established for our lives.  He knows and understands that we alone can never live up to this standard but He is loving and kind enough to provide us with a choice to follow His ways instead of the world’s.

This action of worldly goods is the stepping motion that creates and builds a weak or small spiritual nation.  The two kingdoms that are vying for your eternal life cannot mix in any way, shape or form and if we allow the worldly kingdom to infiltrate our lives we the Church automatically become less effective than before.  If we continue this trend and allow further intrusions into our lives our spiritual effectiveness and strength decreases significantly and automatically.  Furthermore, since our foundations have been made on the knowledge of God, our claiming of worldly settlements greatly increases our chances of spiritual separation; just on the basis that we already know the truth concerning the difference between worldly and spiritual things yet accepts otherwise into our lives.  Boy, the legal groundwork we give our enemy through this action.

It is complicated for our human minds to understand what a collective spiritual concept might entail, but it is one where the unity of the human being through each individual spirit that has been given to us by God, communicates to God, or does not communicate to God. This concept brings into light the importance of our choices and how we really need to understand every detail of every issue that is placed before us.  We may be making a decision that right at the moment may not affect us but could at some point down the road.  It is this concept that God will use in order to grab our attention.  Warning signs from God are just that, a warning.  If we ignore these warning signs then God will have to go about another route in order to wake us up.  But because mankind believes that he / she knows more than God, it will take a huge catastrophe, maybe even a total collapse of our world in order for us to understand.  The further we include our lives to worldly standards the further our spiritual lifeline shall become.  It is no longer a question that we have already voluntarily deemed ourselves to be a small spiritual nation, the only question remains is just how long will God allow our actions to continue before He has to really grab our attention?

Repent and let God restore, Church!  It is the only way that life as we know it will be able to survive in an adequate manner.  It is only a matter of time and if we do not change our ways God will shake our world enough in order for us to understand just who is in the light and who represents the darkness.  By allowing God to restore the Church He guarantees that our spiritual status will once again become great and be a huge influence upon the world.  If we do not then our status will continue to dive into the depths of the mud and it will not be too much longer until the pigs will take charge over our existence.

DLB

God's Constitution

A Constitution

6/21/14

Many of understand that our country was founded on our Constitution and that this document serves as the foundation of what our country was created upon.  Do any of us recognize that God has a Constitution and that it is one that He divinely wrote based upon His perfect status?  For those of us who understand this concept the question reverts to how much do we know about His Constitution and the importance of it in our lives.  A Constitution is a process in which a country or in this case a divine spiritual being is defined and how the object of the Constitution operates, now let us take a look at the two and grasp the concept of what it means to live by a Constitution.

Let’s admit something right up front that the majority of us within this country do not know many details about our Constitution.  We might be familiar with some of the words or phrases and might even know some of the amendments that have been passed after the Constitution’s signing, but for the most part we have no clue about what our Constitution states.  We would like to believe that the people who roll off the words and amendment numbers on television, social networks, police stations and work places know exactly what they are talking about but even in those situations we cannot definitely trust what has been spoken.  I have to admit that I am one of the majority of the people who do not know many specific details of our Constitution.  However, over the last few years I have been doing my best to familiarize myself with this important document and all of the authority it has within its words.

I highly suggest that you pick up a copy of the U S Constitution and study it in great length and detail.  If a person reads it in the manner that it was written they will understand more about their country and about the men and women who influenced its contents.  It is of dire importance that we understand our constitution in this manner and to leave out the biased and selfish mannerisms that seem to define a great deal of us.  The U S Constitution is one of the more brilliant works of history that has been produced for societies and it can serve as a superb guideline for a country, corporation or even an individual if it is understood by the heart and not the emotions of the entity reading it.

Our Constitution was written by some brilliant people.  The men that were chosen for this task were not simply and randomly selected, the President of the Congress labored for a long period of time before he chose the ones to author this document.  Everyone understood their differences concerning the state of the union at that time, but as they wrestled with their own constituents about local activities their attention remained focused upon completing the goals that had been set before them in Congress.  The implications of the task at hand for the most part sentenced these men to death which of course weighed quite heavily on their minds.  Yet each one forged ahead in their tasks, ideas and arguments under armed security to complete the project set before them. 

If we take a closer look at the five people who were assigned to write this document we will notice something about each one of them that actually brought unity within themselves in order to complete the document.  None of these five men are household names or ones that many of us would recognize today.  Even though those men are not well known now, what they stood for and what they transcribed onto paper was an extraordinary work that has not been equaled since.  After these men completed the first drafts of the proceedings, they then turned the document over to others for their advice and arguments.  Slowly this document passed through each channel of Congress and whether scrutinized or praised, individual complaints were placed under the table and the future of our country was forged in blood.

It is well known that not all of the men who voted to adopt the Constitution were in total agreement with some of its contents.  While most of us can gather that these men would be readily recognized on their streets at that time what is not known about some of these men is that the majority of them were constantly watching and listening to what was transpiring around them.  Most of them understood the living conditions and how they had come to achieve everything that they had at that point in time.  Many of them were familiar with other cultures and how those countries were faring with their lifestyles.  All of these living conditions were being placed into their heads and hearts as they fought for the right to believe that their lives were better off because of the ways that they chose to live.

It is assured that many long hours of heated debate must have ensued in order for everyone to plead their case.  Each state of the Colonies had representatives there which did not see eye-to-eye on all issues with some even dissenting totally against the idea of separating from Britain.  But in the end even with all of the arguments against this concept of independence, those men had the courage to place aside their selfish desires and wants and to fulfill the needs of the country in the most distinguishable manner.  It was a tough process of love for a country without a selfish desire that created our country which left out all of the personal garbage and selfish egos that we see today.  I thank God every day that those men who wrote this document understood the minds and hearts of humans and tried their best to avoid individual tyrants and useless groups to invoke their laziness upon the country just to satisfy their personal gains.

How can we honestly debate someone concerning the rules, codes and regulations about the Constitution when we do not personally understand what is in the document in the first place?  Yes we can quote some of the amendments and throw those up into someone else’s face as a defense mechanism but what does that accomplish?  That type of argument is simply impure and illogical thinking and that style of game plan will only produce more division between the parties involved.  When a person reads and begins to understand the Constitution in its fullness that person will know that even though the founding fathers had their differences, they were not the types of people who blindly quoted their personal beliefs when it came time to scribble down the framework of the country.  They knew their surroundings both foreign and domestic and they took that knowledge with them into the chambers and drafted a complex and yet original course of life for a new country.

A properly written constitution cannot be placed into practice if it serves only one side of an argument or one specific group.  As demonstrated by our founding fathers the Constitution of the United States was written for an entire population that reflected upon the ways humans lived in the past, were living at the time of its inception and how humans could be living in the future.  Our Constitution is a living record of congruency of our past, our present and our future all perfectly designed that defines our living nation.

Many people do not understand this information about the U S Constitution, yet we love to quote its contents that pertain to us, or those that we believe pertain to us.  This type of personal action is not what our Constitution was designed for and in truth it takes apart the effectiveness of that document when used in this way.  The U S Constitution was thought out properly and ideally with sound advice for everyone who’s under its provisions and it is through this manner of understanding that we need to live by and use this document on a daily basis.  Even though the Constitution was written for each and every person, it is important for us to know that its sole purpose is to defend the life of the country and we should view its contents in this manner.  If we truly view our Constitution in this manner we would not have picky arguments over one or two phrases within its contents but would argue nationwide points that are relevant to our past, present and future through overall human actions.

It is very clear that the people who were responsible for our Constitution had close relationships with not only their local constituents but with other countries and cultures around the world as well.  It is impossible to write a huge and defining document and not include everyone that might be affected by such a document.  It is further proof of this overall knowledge of the founding fathers due to the reactions that other countries gave it was further evidence that these men knew exactly what type of reaction was going to be issued in their direction, both good and bad. 

The Constitution was not written and based upon local or partisan politics.  Yes politics was involved and the fathers understood that politics would play a role in its serving or burning but the words included everyone and it served as a guideline for others to follow if they so chose.  It infuriates me when a person from a political party tries to use the constitution for their own agenda instead of arguing its contents for the overall country.  Instead of trying to push a specific agenda why not gather all of the information to date, use history of the country, current thinking and our future according to the realistic thought patterns of our surroundings and then present the arguments so they can be worked out together.  Syndicated television programs and daily talk shows are NOT the place for these types of discussions, yet we consider this type of setting ideal to the human palate.  This type of setting only provides one result which is as follows:  it demonstrates that our faults are enormous and our true decisions are extremely limited.

A single individual who knows and understands a good portion of the U S Constitution can effectively stand on their own and defend their positions concerning any issue that may or may not affect their lives.  In order for this person to complete this task they must know their own country’s history, the conditions that their country were forged from, the individuals and the population status of those past inhabitants, their current country’s conditions and status including moral and spiritual, they must have a concept of how the government thinks and operates, what type of leadership was and is present, and if at all possible predict what kind of environment and human lifestyle will be in the future.  It might seem like all of these conditions would be a daunting task to comprehend, but if a person cares for their country and the course that their country is taking these items would be thought about as an act of love not as an obstruction or waste of time.  Even a one sided minder cannot effectively proclaim her / his message if they do not fully understand the other side’s issues and concerns. 

The people who wrote our Constitution did so with complete humility and fear for the future.  Arrogance was checked at the door due to the importance of this definition.  These true men of courage set forth a document so powerful that it can only be destroyed by those from within.  Even if the document itself was physically destroyed the will of those who wrote it, fought for its existence and defended it for the world’s freedom would burn brightly from those who understood its contents and meanings.

I have spent the last few moments writing about the Constitution of the United States and how some of its authors lived, thought and acted.  This document is the definition of our country and it continually serves our lives with a living record of our existence.  Some people within our borders do not care for this work, nor do they care about what it stands for.  Some even wish to use the Constitution for their own personal gain and others embrace its capacity within the world.  Whatever the cause the Constitution is our defining point and the beginning point that we all must refer to when our country is in need.  However, we cannot rely upon this document alone we must seek other sources of guidance to help us along the way and to teach us more about ourselves.  I understand that there are many options out in the world and that is exactly what they represent, the world.

There is one option that will provide all of our answers and if properly understood can even enhance our own country’s Constitution, if we allow Him to do so.  Why is this person important enough to fulfill this role and how can I be so certain about His qualifications?  This person actually has His own divine constitution that is perfect and can never be changed for any reason.  While our country’s defining document is as good as one can have in the human sense, it still has flaws and holes in it that can pose problems.  God’s Constitution cannot fail for it has no loopholes or errors in it, for it is pure and unadulterated truth.  Did you even know that God has His own Constitution?  Yes, God has His own Constitution and He has made it public for everyone.  The Constitution of God is His divine Word and it is called the Bible.  I do not believe that I have ever heard this word used to describe God or His Word, but if we stop and think about this for a moment it is the truth. 

How many times have we allowed ourselves to get caught up in a moment and blurt out some popular scripture when we are backed into a corner or just trying to prove a point?  Does this scene sound familiar to anyone?  I know that I am guilty of doing this.  We have to understand that when we perform this type of gesture it is the exact same as people who throw around the words of our Constitution in that they use parts of the that document to prove their point but do it in such a manner that they actually contradict the real meaning for the document.  We stand on baseless ground when we complete this type of defense for if anyone defends a cause in which they do not fully understand, their foundation for true defense is automatically defeated as long as the knowledge of the issue that they are defending is not properly and thoroughly understood.

There is no question that the people of the Church and the Church itself have used this type of mechanism to manipulate others into believing in their mode of salvation.  The Early Church fell into this trap by allowing themselves to integrate with the world’s standards and it was through this assimilation process in which defined the current attitude of the Church.  The Early Church was broken up into house settings yet proved to be more effective in this state even after its acceptance into the world.  The Early Church was not considered to be a part of the world setting until they began to take on the appearance of the world.  That is when the Church was accepted as normal and eventually became the standard religion of the Roman Empire.  I have so much trouble with this since the Church has continued her idolatry with the world and its place within the world.  We have totally forgotten what Jesus meant by saying that we should be separate from the world.

The Medieval Church followed in the Early Church’s footsteps but took it a few more steps further.  The Medieval Church had become a very powerful organization up unto the point of infiltrating entire governments and land ownership.  This type of church mentality eventually produced numerous wars against those who did not believe as the Church did and the end result was once again many people dying for believing differently.  While the Church took a stand against certain issues she also allowed certain individuals to commit heinous crimes against humanity and their fellow parishioners.  The Medieval Church’s influence was far greater upon the people of this time frame since there were many more people walking the earth and that the Church had taken advantage of God’s Constitution and had the audacity to moralize it for their own liking and control.

The Church’s pattern of worldly acceptance into its confines had grown exponentially up until this point and with the added power that the world gave her, exponentially grew this acceptance even further.  Trouble and animosity began to infiltrate the Church and cracks in the overall union began to appear.  This came as a shock to the Church leaders but if they would have opened their spiritual eyes wide enough to understand what exactly was being played out; they would have not been so surprised at the unfolding events.

Next in line comes the Modern Church and all of her splendor.  AS in the Early Church and in the Medieval Church there was a time when being a Christian and regularly attending church was the best thing a person could do.  In many ways the Modern Church followed in the footsteps of the Medieval Church in that while fiery sermons concerning sin were delivered, it was more common to cast people out of the church and to isolate those who disagreed with that stance than to accept them into the fold and then to teach them of their sinful ways.  I am reminded of a certain example of this while I was in the USAF.

There was a couple that had been dating for some time, one was in the USAF and the other was a civilian.  Both people were great human beings and loved each other very much yet they came from different denominational backgrounds.  It is commonly known that these two denominations historically have not gotten along with each other and it became apparent when these two people became engaged.  One of the denominations threatened the girl’s life and after repeated attacks against her character, publicly humiliated her and cast her out of the denomination.  When another girl became pregnant before she was married another denomination cast her out of the church family.  AS we can see, even though the Church did not stone these people they did so spiritually in like manner as the Medieval Church.  All of these issues are examples of gross indignations against God’s people coming from Church leaders and using the name of God to incorporate them on others.

The Modern Church also added to their worldly collections by adopting flash with a little pomp and circumstance thrown in for good advertisement purposes.  This type of belief infuriates me for there is no record what-so-ever that Jesus was flashy or required any pomp and circumstance when His presence was around others.  If that was the case then why did He choose to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey?  This type of appearance has been perfected by the Modern Church and is prevalent in each denomination.  The Church fails to see that this worldly standard has opened so many spiritual doors to the Church that they no longer can be numbered.  All of these examples are ones that have been accepted by the Church, in the name of God and placed into action due to the fact that the Bible states similar conditions.  Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with dressing nice and having a comfortable lifestyle but if our foundations of this philosophy come from a worldly concept or a lack of understanding about God’s Constitution, it is pure sin and God will destroy it in His time and by His methods.

God wrote His Constitution in the most sensible way possible, by using a chosen few to transcribe His love for creation.  Some may scoff at the usage of humans for this Constitution but if one understands that God is the author and creator of everything and that humans are His most accomplished creation, it then makes perfect sense of why He chose us to fulfill this document.  Just as the founding fathers of this country wrote our Constitution in a all encompassing knowledge of the surrounding conditions, God wrote His Constitution in the same manner.  God knows that there is no way that humans can fully understand Him or His ways but He did right out His definition for us to learn from and to follow once we understand His character.

Taking certain scriptures and using them for personal proving grounds is the exact same method and mechanism that we use certain amendment statements to prove our point to others.  There is no difference between the two portions of the previous sentence.  Both Constitutions are real, alive and valid for everyone who wishes to live under those standards.  The only difference is that a person who lives in Hungary is not subject to the Constitution of the United States but every created person who walks this planet is subject to God’s Constitution because all of us are His creations.  While both of thee settings are commonly heard throughout our world today they are both commonly wrong when used in such a derogatory manner.  If one chooses to use the scriptures as a defense then let those people do it with complete authority, but they need to make sure that they understand the relationship between God and man and the reasons and content to which they are defending.  It is not right to quote scriptures for personal beliefs without historical content to explain the arguments, if past, current and future knowledge is not present then that person has fallen into the trap of using God’s Constitution incorrectly just as the Medieval Church did.

For the last few decades there has been a call for the Church to adopt certain worldly standards, or at least accept these standards within their walls.  This is a prime example of using a portion of scripture in order to obtain earthly status and if we understand history this is exactly what set in motion the Early Church’s perversion course.  It did not take the Early Church long to figure out how to be accepted by the world.  Was Jesus accepted by the world and is God accepted by the world?  Then why should the Church believe that it is better than God and Jesus?  God understands this concept because He represents everything about creation.  Jesus understood this because He was God’s Son who lived on earth and taught God’s redemptive love and restoration plan to a dying world, no matter who they were.  Where the Church ahs lost their way is that they only accept part of Jesus’ command in that where Jesus went to the sinners and accepted them for who they are at that moment.

The Church leaves this part of Jesus’ command intact and invite sinners into the church walls.  THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO!!!  However, they play the amendment clause to God’s Constitution, the one that humans have made, and stop at this point.  Here lies the amendment (sinful) problem where the people are not being taught that their beliefs are wrong and that through giving up control of their worldly desires is the only way that God can begin to heal them.  This entire process stems from the amendment failings of the Early Church.  The Constitution of God is very clear about how to effectively complete this simple command, yet we humans try to skirt around this deed by creating amendments to justify our worldly actions towards the watering down of this task.

Stopping at the first portion of this command is like trying to change God’s Constitution.  And to be honest it is a practice that humans have been trying to do for a very long time.  Recently this concept has gained speed and if one wants to be really honest these actions and the speed to which they are coming to pass means that our compromise with the world is further down the road that we had originally thought.  This is ok for God’s plan is in place and everything has to work according to His divine ways, but it also tells us that we need to stop trying to change His Constitution and laws and get back to fulfilling His entire command.  Stopping at the first portion of this command also demonstrates the lack of a relationship with God.  Another huge point and reason why God wrote His Constitution was for us to understand that He is all about relationship and that through a true relationship with Him, we will better understand His Constitution through our lives.

I know that one cannot fully understand everything about God but we can understand what He has given us through His Constitution.  Yes some of us have studied the Bible our entire lives and we believe that we know almost everything there is to know about God and His ways through our “continual” studies.  But I am telling you that there is way more to God than what we have read so far.  I place myself into this category due to the fact that I was raised in church all my life and I have read the Bible my entire life as well.  But it was not until a couple of years ago that God began to show me things that I had read over and over before.  I have even stated in some of my pervious articles that I thought I had read everything and knew everything about Genesis, WRONG!!!

As I stated in the U S Constitution portion of this article, it comes down to the fact whether or not we fully understand this document or not.  We can use it however we wish but if used in certain selfish or personal reasons the overall purpose and truth about the Constitution is destroyed.  The principle is applied to God’s Constitution as well.  I have witnessed over my four decades of the abuse of power and authority of both the U S Constitution and of God’s Constitution.  I may not know much about either one yet and I may not ever understand our Constitution to its full potential but I am committed to listening to God’s voice while He shows me and teaches me about His Constitution.

I shall never throw God’s Constitution into a person’s face or condemn a person for their lifestyles or beliefs, but I shall explain God’s things to you in such a manner to which your life can be touched by this document.  God wants us to study His Constitution and to grasp its concepts within our hearts.  Just as our Constitution was written out of love and the true commitment to freedom, God’s Constitution was divinely written for our lives.  Human history pointed to the reasons why our country’s founding fathers wrote the constitution and it was through God’s definition, love and restoration that He wrote His Constitution.  Every word revealed in His Constitution was specifically written for you to embrace, understand and share with everyone around the world.  God’s Constitution is was not written to restrict humans from living a happy, fun, exciting and fulfilling life, it was written that we may have to opportunity to understand the true meanings of our life so that we may life our true life through the abundance of our Creator.

It is time for the Church, yes the entire Church to understand the true meaning of God’s Word and to once again study His words in order for us to not only understand God in a personalized manner but to understand why God allows certain things to happen.  If a person understands that God’s Constitution was written for man and by men then maybe we will grasp that God’s Constitution was written as a guide book for men no matter which era of the world’s timeline they may live.  God is all about history, God is all about the current times and He is for sure all about the future and His Constitution has every bit of needed information present within it that we ever hoped to have as a reference.

The only way that we shall ever turn this world around and begin to win people back to God is if we come to understand this Constitutional standard.  Not to use it as a weapon to kill or to divide but to destroy the works of our spiritual enemy.  And when this process begins, truly begins, through the knowledge of God’s Constitution darkness shall be pushed back and true light be shed upon every living creature. God wrote His constitution for everyone to hear and to understand Him.  He also understands that not everyone will heed His Constitution nor will some of the people that call Him savior will either.  But everyone should know that God wants His Constitution to be hears by all, with not one person left out. 

Americans are defined by our Constitution, or at least they should be.  Christians should be defined by God’s Constitution, or they should be.  In both cases there will be those who do not and will not fully understand these documents, and in both cases this is ok and to be expected.  But for those of you who wish to understand God and His ways I ask you to further study God’s Word and to hide it within your heart for its contents will bring you peace and understanding, especially if you know that His Word is His Constitution.  God’s Constitution is the most important document that we have to understand our past, our present and our future.  This includes all side of our lives and it includes all directions and conclusions incorporated in our choices.  And if a person begins to grasp this knowledge it shall change your perception of “We the people” really quick.  God’s Constitution is an exciting document that will bring forth life when you grasp the concepts of how and why He created each one of us.  There is a specific reason that you are created and this document gives us proof of the reasons why we walk this planet.  Explore these concepts and gain knowledge about your history and along with the history of others we can all live in the manner to which we were deemed.

DLB

The YOLO Truth

The YOLO Truth

6/17/14

Most of you may be familiar with this YOLO phrase and some of you might have used its meaning in some type of context on occasion. But have we really grasped the concept of what this popular phrase means or have we once again adopted a philosophy of casualness that will one day cause our enemy to laugh at us when we stand before God and claim ignorance about His ways?  I also find it amazing that our enemy has us blinded enough that he can actually use truthful messages about our lives and we do not even understand the relevance that these words and phrases have upon our lives.  YOLO is one of those phrases that we need to understand and live by not just laugh away as it rolls off our tongues.

You Only Live Once is the full spelling of the word YOLO.  It is a catchy word and if you ask almost any teenager or young person today what that word means they will not have to hesitate at all.  They probably will look at you funny and say to themselves “what planet are you from” as they explain the answer to you.  This is a typical act and response from the younger crowds and to be truthful when my parents asked me about terms, words and phrases when I was high school I gave them the exact same looks and responses. 

Catch phrases, acronyms and other grammatical annihilations of languages are popular among generations, groups and populations around the world.  When my family moved from Hobbs, New Mexico to Nederland, Texas I received a very unique language that I still refer to today.  The southeast portion of Texas is very populated and there are numerous schools within a short traveling distance.  Each school district was sharply defined and with this definition just living on the opposite side of a railroad could mean going to another school.  This was the case in Nederland and those people who lived on the other sides of the tracks, literally, went to our arch rival schools.

WOS, PNG, BC, WB, BCP were all acronyms for schools within our district and each student would immediately know what school a person was talking about just by using those letters.  The full meaning of events, debates, teams and even past relationships all would be emotionally stirred when a particular school was identified by its acronym.  It was a definitional term that placed each one of us into a certain mode when our ears were cast into the hearing mode.  PNG was our enemy and to this day the rivalry between Nederland and PNG are nationwide known.  There even was a History Channel special a few years back about the state of Texas that included the football games between Nederland and PNG, that is how influential things can be; even with the use of acronyms.

So what does the acronym YOLO have to with anything important?  Well, it is a term that while widely used it has become a callous word in that even though a person uses it they really do not stop and take into consideration of the meaning, capability and ability of the acronym.  The meaning is just as such, a person only lives once and that portion of the word is so very true.  While some people receive second chances in life and others are lucky to be alive the meaning of the word cannot change.  The capability of the word is just as fascinating in that this word can inspire a person to achieve certain goals that others may not consider important and the ability of the word provides the level of accomplishment when the word is completed.

There is nothing wrong with the ways that I just described for that word to be played out or used within our lives.  The concepts of the word are correct and should be remembered as such.  But what becomes dangerous about the word that it has become a social catch-all term that encourages certain behavior that actually could be detrimental to your health.  My wife would love to jump out of a perfectly good airplane with a parachute on her back.  While thousands of people have done that in the past, this boy would rather sit in a seat on a plane and land safely at my destination.  My wife also would like to dive off of a tall cliff and land into the water below, sorry but I do not trust myself when it comes to cliffs and would prefer to keep my distance from them.  Do these examples make my wife wrong?  By no means at all and in fact her beliefs could include the word YOLO when accomplishing these feats.

My wife also understands the meaning of life and that when she has the opportunities to fulfill these wishes that she can do so with God right by her side.  God knows and understands that life is an adventure and that He placed these wishes and desires into our hearts and when placed in a godly context YOLO can become an awesome life experience.  But where God is that means that His and our enemy will be as well.  Satan can use our language against us in many ways and he is not ashamed to jade our views with words or phrases that are popular at the moment, leaving out the reality of the words and phrases of course.

YOLO is a truthful statement and trying things is part of what we are supposed to do.  Excitement and adrenaline rushes were placed in our bodies for a reason and it brings out the best in our lives when used properly and in the correct settings.  Any article of excitement or adventure can be used in defining the term YOLO.  And it is our enemy’s job for us to try and do as many of them as possible whether they are good for us or not.  If he can get us to continually use this phrase and concept long enough it will become a theme within our heart and with the normal curiosity that God has placed within our hearts, can be used for other and more exciting adventures.

YOLO for drugs, alcohol, cheating, stealing etc can all be grouped into this category of YOLO; so why not try it.  I have heard of people that have shot and killed others that they had never done it before and just wanted to see what it felt like; YOLO, right?  This word is not a farfetched plan or program and if one reads the newspaper or watches the evening news it will become apparent real quick that what I am saying is true.  We are doing more and more ridiculous things trying to find satisfaction in our lives.  We are doing our best to find ways that bring us to the point of ecstasy yet comes away with a guilt free conscious even though it has caused harm to you or to someone else. It does not matter how you use this word in your life there are long term consequences if they are used in a negative way.

The year was 1967 and an important event took place that year and while my life began that year that is not the only thing that took place that year that made history.  The city of Toronto was a very proud city at that time for their hockey club had just won the Stanley Cup again.  Now if you are not a hockey fan that is ok just imagine that your team just won the sports highest trophy and you will get the sense of what I am talking about.  The city, fans and team were all going nuts and they even had a parade in downtown Toronto to show off the team and their accomplishments.  A short time later it was time for the next season to begin and the Leafs were once again back on the ice trying to win another Cup for the town.  1967 was the last year that Toronto has won the cup and they have not even come close to winning it again since.  YOLO!!

God desperately wants us to live our lives to the fullest.  He also wishes for us to keep His ways within our hearts as we walk each step of this life.  God is not a God of desperation or ups and down, even though He understands that life will throw these conditions at us that will cause us to perform desperate acts in order to cope with these variables.  The truth of the matter is that YOLO is a correct statement and that we need to be adventurous with our lives.  It is important for us to understand that if God is not the center of our lives the word YOLO will be used by our enemy to destroy our lives and culture.  If worldly desires are placed in our hearts and become rooted within then our lives are at the mercy of the corrupted and dying world.  It is known that an idea will be replaced by a certain comfort level and then that comfort level will be replaced by a belief and the progression will continue until it becomes a law within our hearts and then the communal expansion process has the authority to begin.

Our enemy is once again up to his deceptive tricks by using this word as a banner to try new and out of the box situations.  His methods of YOLO acceptance is now becoming the cry of millions of people for others to blindly accept the worldly YOLO concept of life.  God is still alive and He wants us to have this concept through the holy foundations of YOLO and to understand that even though physical harm may not be immediate the worldly view and worldly acceptance of YOLO will lead us to a spiritual death that can never be reversed.  It does not take much effort to see what that what I am saying is true and that the message of our enemy is a deadly one.  God wishes for you to accept His ways and to live by His definition of life and not the world’s.

Our enemy has done a pretty decent job in allowing this catch phrase to become just that, a catch phrase and nothing more.  Yet the truth behind this word cannot be more true and relative to our lives.  It is also easy to understand why this term has infiltrated our lives on a worldly level instead of a godly one.  Our eyes have turned away from God and His standards enough that this phrase has captured the eyes of our heart.  The meaning of the word has become a fixture in the back of our minds and therefore attainable by secondary motives which eventually become primary ones if left in that position long enough.  The reverse can be true if we once again fix our physical and spiritual eyes back on God.

For centuries the Church has painted the picture that Christians are dull and that god is boring as all get out.  This is such a lie and it is not any truth to that belief.  God is full of life and He wishes to bless you through this life and for us to live life abundantly at all times.  YOLO is a wonderful concept and it should be taken to heart, but we need to make sure that after it is in our hearts to keep it pure and away from the world so that life can truly be understood and lived the way God sees it.  Return to our true life and restore God into our hearts and we will begin to understand what YOLO really means and not the fake imitation that the world has to offer.  God does know YOLO and He wants us to live it daily.  And that is the YOLO truth.

DLB

The Order of Your Creation

The Order of Your Creation

6/16/14

The marvel at our lives and how they were organized within is simply amazing.  After so many millennia we are still studying the human body and learning new things about its existence each day.  What about the spiritual side of things and how much of the sprit do we understand and its representation within our lives?  We have found out that some medications can stabilize certain conditions that some of us suffer from, but what about the spiritual aspect of things; what affects us and why do certain things occur in the manner that they do?  We may never know every detail about our physical bodies and the same is true about the spiritual side of our lives as well, but God has dropped us gifts of wisdom that can help us to try and understand the importance of us continuing to learn about our spiritual side as well as our physical side of life.

It is a hotly debated setting when humans come to terms with differences in how the earth was created, how old it is and who actually created the earth.  These arguments will continue to present themselves for decades to come and will probably provide some very interesting conclusions.  But what about the spiritual aspect of our lives and the overall order in which God made us.  Has anyone ever thought about why our human bodies were made first and then our spirits placed into our lives next?  There is a specific reason that God chose this order and the implications of this order of creation are actually our saving grace and the gateway to which our restoration in God is made possible.

Most of us understand that there are laws present in our world that are in place because people have chosen to try trickery, thievery and other heinous choices that they have enacted upon some part of society.  While some of these laws prove to be inconclusive and downright ridiculous others stem from real crimes and eventually provide a foundation for our society to which we can live in relative peace.  We also understand that these laws are made by humans and if challenged long enough can be overthrown, amended or even wiped off the record books if pressed long enough.  So, why is it so hard for us to believe that there are certain spiritual laws that are in place that were established by the one Creator who cannot be wrong, unjust or faulty in His establishment of His side of the issues?  If we place God upon the same plane that our finite and faulty bodies rely upon then we as the human race have no hope for our existence after we draw our last breath, and if there is a higher authority, and there most definitely is, then He must have His ways that are far superior to ours yet available enough that we can understand them if we try and figure them out.  And this is one of those instances that play right into this pattern.

We in our human forms may never fully understand the entire implications of the spirit realm.  I know that even our spiritual forms cannot fully understand God and everything that He represents to creation itself.  Yet at some point in the past there was a created spiritual being that made the choice to defy this truth and be better than the one who created Him, or at least an equal.  I can understand this process since humans tend to try and overthrow governments, ships, corporations etc, but it is difficult for me to understand why the selfish will of an eternal being try and accomplish the impossible.  So this is the defining point of this article in that a spiritual being tried to become at least an equal to the almighty and all powerful creator of everything.  This means that there was peace throughout all existence until this specific event and choice took place for there would not be any reason for anything other than peace to exist.

I have written about many things that occurred in the Garden of Eden that have to deal with the already established fight between God’s Kingdom and Satan’s kingdom.  This article is going to be more specific on the order in which God created mankind and how He created us in a specific way so that His Word stayed true and that Satan would have no legal claim to a restored life that had already been set in stone through his own actions.  Yet at the same time provided a way that you and I would have a chance to redeem our lives through His methods of our creation.  And through this specific order would cause our enemy and God’s enemy to writhe in anger and prove that God is still far smarter than His enemy could ever be.

In Genesis 2:7 the order in which God created man is specifically given.  The verse states that the shape of the human being was formed from the ground and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.  This description goes opposite to how God had previously created living beings, more specifically the spirit beings called angels.  God cannot breathe into something that is not already present, or that would be the logical way to assume things, correct?  This verse states that our physical bodies were molded from the ground and then God placed His spirit within our lives which transformed us from an anteaters delight to a living person.  This verse does not mention that God breathed into us His life as He was forming our bodies it says that He formed us which is a past tense verb usage.  Why is this order so important?  It all goes into the completeness of God and the process of restoration that He knew that we would need in the future.

God is the creator of every living thing that has been, is now and that will ever be on this planet.  That means that He is also the creator of those objects and beings that our physical eyes cannot readily see as well.  There are no recorded earthly beings that God created before Adam which means that the beings that God created before Adam must have been spiritual beings and on that plane of creation.  We know that Lucifer existed previously before he was eternally changed to Satan.  This also means that if God created spiritual beings first than that would be His line of legal succession if challenges ever arose within the ranks.  For all that was known was the spiritual side of things.  Wouldn’t you think that Satan would have devised some sort of plan to provide himself a scapegoat in which to “redeem” himself back into the ranks?  One has to believe this as accurate because when we humans mess things up that is exactly what we try and do.

Let us take a look at an enemy and what type of steps that an enemy of ours would take to gather all of the information that he / she would need in order to complete the odyssey against our lives.  In every case of war it is imperative that each side that may participate in such battles be aware of what the other side’s capabilities are.  It would be totally disastrous for an opponent not to study their potential opposition because if they do not then it is almost a guarantee that the one who did not study for the battles would surely be defeated.

We have an excellent example of this during World War II after the German army was basically in full retreat.  It was winter 1944 and Hitler planned a huge counter offensive that if executed correctly would literally split the Allied lines in half and he would be able to drive his restored armies back to the English Channel, fully nullifying the advances of the Allied army up to that day.  Careful planning had to be taken in order for this plan to work and even though both sides knew that the war was basically over, this was one last ditch effort to win the war for Germany.  The Battle of the Ardennes was lost to the Axis powers and it was just a few short months later that WWII was over.  Yet this battle had to take place in order for the Axis powers to be honest with everyone that was playing on their side.  All efforts had to be calculated and executed before certain illusions could be wiped away from certain eyes.

It is a guarantee that Satan is a defeated enemy of God.  However, Satan understands that he has the authority to wreak havoc upon our lives and he will stop at nothing to ensure victory over your eternal life and in order for that to occur, he has no option to watch every little step God and His angels take when it comes to their missions for the humans.  This means that his selfish ways and means had a very keen interest on the creation of mankind, even though God was proving to him that only He could create a true living being with purpose and meaning.  What an infuriating and humiliating act that would be.

This feeling would be compounded in the fact that with this newly created being and the order in which it was formed could not change your eternal status.  In other words, by your own selfish desires, your selfish wishes were literally created right in front of your very eyes.  Satan did not have a clue about how to properly create another being yet it must have been his ultimate desire since that task would have been the one single process that would have elevated him to equality status with God.  Satan figured that if God could create another living being that He would do so in the spiritual manner first and then do something else in accordance with His perfection characteristics.  Yet God formed the body from the ground first then placed His spirit within mankind, thus automatically derailing the spiritual and legal obligations that Satan wanted so desperately to witness come to life.

It was this process of forming our bodies from the ground first that is so important because if God would have breathed His spirit into place first, Satan would have the legal authority to challenge God for his place back into His perfect ranks.  Satan understood that at that present moment he had no alternative but to accept his choices as final but if he could have created or has God create something in the same manner, he options would be open to his previous status.  Does this plan seem outrageous to you or does it seem like something a human might try to do in order to get a position back or to derail a boss’ decision about something you did previously.  If a person understands that what God sets into motion cannot be changed, it must play out according to His standards.  It is through our choice that things get messed up, just as it did through Lucifer’s choices so why would Satan fry and find a way around the decision of God?  Satan also knew that since the order of creation did not go according to his immediate plan he had to come up with another one so that he could take revenge upon God, and now he had another method by which to try and accomplish this task, but little did he know that he was playing right into the perfect will of God once again.

If God had chosen to reverse the process and create our spirits first then there would be no redemption process possible for our lives, thus giving Satan his authority back to the previous status in heaven.  God would have been proven a liar and a fraud and Satan could have had legal grounds to usurp God’s divine role as master creator of everything.  But God was by far more intelligent than His enemies and the plans to which they wished to unfold.  In creating us flesh first, it provided the perfect gift for all of humanity and that is the choice to accept God as real and as our one and only savior through His perfect, divine and eternal plan for our spiritual beings.  It also provides us with the perfect example of just what place our choices play in our lives.  The importance of each one of our choices has the ability to affect not only our lives but our future as well and even those who are around us as well.

This specific order also instills into our lives that each and one of us are here for a specific reason.  Our reason for living is to prove to God’s enemy that we understand what life means and how specific and important we are to God’s perfect plan for creation itself.  This means that each one of us has a specific area of expertise that we harbor that advances God’s perfect plan for all of creation.  This also means that we have the choice of accepting this plan for our lives or not to accept it and live our own lives as we see fit.  Yes, God will allow us to live in this manner but we need to know that our ways are deadly and faulty and will lead to utter destruction, just as our enemy wishes.  This knowledge concerning this setting in Garden is alone enough to wish every person the choice of death by our enemy after their creation and it makes perfect sense of why that choice is so highly contested today.

It is clear that if God would have created us spirit first it would have been a flawed creation and one that was used in a selfish manner as well.  But God chose to create us in such a manner that each and every one of us would have the opportunity to know Him and to choose His ways over the ways of the world.  Yes, even the order in which our lives were created matters to God and in truth it matters to our enemy as well.  With the events that shortly transpired next in the Garden, Satan won his battle over our physical destinies, but it is strictly due to God’s superior ways of creating us that provide us with the opportunity to choose God and live for eternity in His presence.

DLB

Eternal

Eternal

6/12/14

How long is eternity?  Can the human mind even contemplate such a length of time?  This is a basic concept that we have about God and His eternal status but do we grasp the meaning of such a term and the implications that it has?  If we do then we will have a foundational concept of Kingdom and the basic understanding of why these two warring kingdoms can never mix.  And how does this eternal status come into play with human creation and restoration, especially when all of these works come together in the eternal restoration of God’s ultimate creation, the answer lies within the meaning of the word eternal.

Once again I find myself being led to the book of Genesis with the setting being the Garden of Eden.  As I have mentioned many times I have believed that once a person, like me, read the part about the creation setting they could then continue with reading and then focus on other “more important” things such as Kingdom, life and freedom of choice, etc.  But what I find most humbling is that God continues to bring me back to the beginning of His Word and then shows me more concepts of His Word and the life that brings together so much of the scriptures.  I also have to sit in wonder and think of the many ridiculous reasons of why I did not see these things before, and then also contemplate why God has chosen me to share them with you.  I guess God is exercising His own created mechanism of choice through me.

About four years ago God dropped a concept into my heart that was kind of unusual, yet I had heard about this concept for most of my life.  The term that God placed into my heart is eternal and that eternity knows no time.  Now, at this time in my life God had been waking me up on certain occasions and when my eyes opened my spirit would instantly become troubled.  I had no idea of what was going on or about to occur, but very soon afterwards something would transpire in the world that would draw world attention.  One can imagine that this would be very frightening to me and everyone that knew what was transpiring in my life.  I had no idea of why God would all of a sudden change gears and give me a phrase to think about when I was already familiar with it.  Boy, it took a while but a few years later God opened my spiritual eyes and revealed what it was that He meant by eternal, all the while preparing me to hear His voice to share His character with those who do not know Him.

What I am about to say may seem like a ridiculous statement but I will explain it in detail as the subject of this article.  God dropped into my heart that eternity knows no time.  Now, when you read that statement one will automatically go “duh”.  But let us think about this statement for a moment and one will understand that it is one of the key foundations of Kingdom; which is another “duh” statement, right?  And just what does this statement have to do with humans and restoration?  Spirit is eternal and if Satan is a spirit then the choices he made, makes, or will make are etched in his stone for eternity.  So if a choice coming from a spirit being is eternal that means that our choices are eternal as well, since we have the Spirit of God within us.  Puts things into a whole different light doesn’t it. 

If something knows no time that means that time is non-existent to that object.  We know that God is eternal and we know that all of the angels, Satan and his demons are eternal and that they have a defined sentence already in place.  We can grasp this concept without too many problems but when we take a closer look as to what these defined sentences are and how those sentences came into place we will see just how defined the Kingdom lines really are.  First of all we must understand that God, Satan, and every angel are spirit in nature and that is their foundational makeup.  And since it is their foundation, then that means that spirit is their first and foremost living condition that knows no time.  With me so far?

Secondly we must understand that even the spirit world has a choice.  Satan was not always called Satan and long before humans were created, Lucifer was present in heaven.  Lucifer was a very powerful angel and in charge of many activities in heaven.  Yet it is written that Lucifer wanted more, so much more that he wanted to be like God and to be on equal terms as God.  So, this states that a spirit can think and want things, which means that a spirit can have a choice.  This is evidence that God created choice into spirit beings that are eternal in nature.  So, if a choice is made to which goes against God’s laws then that eternal and no time being will have to live with its choice for eternity.  Remember this concept while you are reading.

We know that when God sets something into motion He will allow that action to run its full course.  So isn’t possible that since Lucifer wanted to be like God and as powerful as God and to complete the actions that God would allow Satan to make his choice to try and create as God would?  This act by God would follow the completeness of God and His fullness of His authority over every created thing; it is a logical finite process so it should be logical in the infinite as well since both represent God and His completeness.  If one remembers the old Frankenstein movies where the created being overcomes the desires of the creator and then tries to kill the creator comes to mind when trying to understand the process between God and Satan. 

When we pick up Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden it is not too much into the passages when the serpent appears and begins his relationship with Eve.  The creation of the human has already occurred and it will not be too much longer until God, Adam and Eve and the serpent have a general meeting to lay out the terms of the consequences of the choices that each one of them played in breaking God’s command.  Now, why would Satan actually commit such an act after he had already been sentenced to a lifetime of separation from God?  Why would God allow him even to have access to the earth, the humans and to play any role in the human’s development in life as we know it?  Why didn’t Satan pick on the cows, sheep or goats to harass?  Or why didn’t he transform himself into another gorgeous human being to tempt Eve?  It is through his eternal sentence that brings us the answer since humans are the only ones that have an eternal spirit which has the same choices that Satan had at one time.

Lucifer made an eternal choice and since he did not know what a human was when he made this permanent choice his plans were made relevant to what he was already familiar with.  The creation of mankind was a direct slap in the face to Satan and proved to be the perfect target for his revenge against God and His “permanent” ways of creation.  The standard of knowing no time was foremost in Satan’s life and it is something that he cannot change and when Satan witnessed how God created the human and the manner in which He did so, this gave more fuel to his fire to seek revenge.  Being second best is a pain, don’t you think?  We all want to finish number one and win every title that we begin to seek.  The old sayings that ending in a tie is like kissing your sister or getting into the finals and then lose really put our ambitions into perspective when it comes to accepting second place.  How many wars have been lost and the losing country still having severe issues with the victorious country or region that fester for generations?  Place this anger on an eternal level and one can begin to understand just how much Satan wants and wanted revenge, which places into perspective once again the importance of spirit and its eternal and lengthy meaning.

The majority of us does not stop and realize what roles the choices we make play through our lives.  For the most part our choices are minor and can be reversed with little or no consequences, but what happens when a choice comes along that we have to make that might affect our lives for eternity?  We must remember that the entire job of our enemy is to separate us from God eternally just as he is separated.  Where Satan is a spirit and has made his eternal choice he too wishes for us to make the same choice that he did so long ago.  Satan longs to place it within our hearts that making choices is our right and that we deserve the best of everything, all based upon the world’s standards of course.  To the immediate eye this would seem logical and easy to follow; which when we draw this conclusion our enemy has us right where he wants us and the doors are wide open for him to show us the pathway of the world.  This brings up another thought that I will deal with in my next article and that is why we still have an opportunity to make changes in our choices and ways while Satan does not have that opportunity even though both Satan and humans are creations of God. 

Think for a moment the importance of a choice and how a small and simple choice on a specific matter could grow into a large and complicated mess after that choice is made.  If a choice has no eternal bearing or importance do you believe that our enemy would use our choices to harden our hearts towards God or towards others?  A simple disagreement about a single issue could lead to a long lasting anger situation with a close friend which could lead to some tragic event; it seems farfetched but read the news or watch the news, it occurs every day around the world.  Our enemy wants nothing more to lessen the reality and importance of the choices that we face.  If this lessening can progress long enough within our hearts it will become an inner law of ours which will spiritually blind us to the eternal issues that one day will present themselves in a full manner.

As most of you know, right now there is a huge battle over a couple of human issues.  These are not regional issues but global ones that have been presented into each home and at any given point in time people are expected to make a choice about how they feel concerning these issues.  We all know that if you choose to ignore these issues or not have an opinion about them you are labeled and placed within the same category as those who oppose them.  What implications do these choices have upon our lives?  Here on earth, not much just a little trash talk from those who differ from your thoughts, but what will happen in a few weeks or months when those progressive issues become reality in your community or advance into laws?  What choices will you make then and how will it be looked upon from an eternal standpoint? 

It is the job of our enemy to blind us from the eternal truth and get us to believe that our choices have no effect on our spirituality or our eternal future.  A choice does not have feelings only the human that has to deal with the consequences inherits those.  Satan’s choice was eternal and through his example we must understand that the choices that we make each day shape our eternal lives and it is imperative that we follow God’s Word directly within our hearts and to keep it within the confines of our spirit.  There are two kingdoms at war for a reason and it all centers around you.  I cannot stress enough the importance of the ability that we have to make a choice and how important it is to make the godly choices within our lives.  Yes, the world will scream and holler at you and yes, you may be placed within a certain category but if we make the right choices then our eternal lives will be forever secure within God’s love and protection, no matter what comes your way.

It seems like Satan had the prime targets in his sights for this proving ground that would give him the opportunity to say to God, that like I your next creation will choose to abandon your ways as well.  But there is a catch to this setting and it is Satan’s job to ensure that we do not understand it and it has to do with Kingdom boundaries and how they function through spiritual laws.  Not laws that bind people, but laws that separate, permanently separate God’s ways and Satan’s.  Since God is eternal and His laws are spiritual that means that His laws are eternal as well and since He is God and cannot change His ways that means He can NEVER break them in any way, shape or form.  In short, this means that since Lucifer, a created spiritual being made by a holy spirit, chose to wish for something else and through these choices his life is permanently changed forever and under no circumstances can he have another opportunity to change his choices. 

With this realization of how important and how eternal our choices are, we cannot make any further choices without understanding God’s Word as much as possible.  It is also imperative to understand and to know exactly what is transpiring within our world and the direction that it is travelling.  If we do not follow these two examples we as a people, as a community, as a nation and as a Church are doomed to fall into the blinded category that all of humanity has accepted as the norm and lose our own eternal existence without knowing the freedom through God that was so preciously and graciously given to us by a loving Creator.  Our enemy will lull us to sleep when it comes to the choices that we are presented with and through these choices, simple ones or complex could determine our eternal future; it did for our enemy so why would you expect him to act any differently?

DLB