Tricked

Tricked

7/28/14

All of us at some point in our lives have been tricked in some form, whether it is a practical joke or being manipulated into trying something that we initially did not wish to complete.  Either way we understand that this event causes us to feel foolish or embarrassed simply because we did not catch on to what was occurring right before our eyes.  While most of these tricks are committed in pure fun there are some tricks that have very serious consequences to them and yet we continue to fall for them on a routine basis.  Yes, we have been tricked so severely that it cost us our physical lives and if we do not open our eyes it will cost us our eternal one as well.

It is not uncommon for us to want to see tricks being completed.  There are many shows that travel around the world that provide us with type of entertainment.  Watching a magic show or even participating in one can be totally awesome and trigger our minds as to how things are really performed.  But one must remember that if we want to see a magic show that means we want to entertain the idea of being tricked.  This also applies for any type of side show or any other trick of the trade as well.

Being tricked is a “tricky” definition in itself.  One cannot be tricked unless they understand that a certain process or procedure has already been established.  Think about it for a moment, how can someone be tricked if they do not know what has already been established; being fooled is another state and specific term that I am not going to addressed at this time.  I remember attending a church camp when I was very young and one year the person that was the special guest that year was a magician.  He would perform one magic trick in the morning service and then one more in the evening service.  At the first morning service he made an announcement that at the last evening service he would show us the secret to one of his tricks and that we would be the ones who chose which one it was.  This excited each of us and could not wait till the last service.

I remember that we picked the burning Bible trick.  It was where he would take a bible and set it on fire and then at some point of the service pick it back up again and read from it.  Of course we all gasped when he did this but to our amazement he would show us the pages of the Bible to let us know that it was a real Bible and that it was not burned but intact.  This was the one that we chose to understand and it proved to be very simple when the truth came out.  The truth was told with just a few simple words and they were this: “I have two Bibles that I use for this trick”.  I remember those words like I heard them just this morning and as soon as he said those words back then the air inside the building went flat.  He picked up the other Bible and opened it.  As he opened it up we all saw that the inside was hollow and black.  He then picked up his Bible that he “really” used for his messages and held them up side by side.   We knew then how we were tricked and after a short demonstration of how he lit the Bible on fire, the answers had been given and the majority of the kids in the building understood how the trick took place.

Most of us have been to or have witnessed some type of magic show.  Being a magician is a popular “profession” that young kids wish to be when they grow up.  The majority of humans are intrigued when it comes to this subject and when the act is being conducted do our best to try and figure out just how the magician performed their trick before it has completed.  Being shown something that one cannot immediately explain gives our finite minds a field day of ideas, thoughts, contemplations and projections to ponder.  And while most of these tricks we are shown prove to be harmless, sometimes events do not go as planned and tragedies occur.  As we are sitting or standing in front of the magician’s act, time continues to pass by for it usually takes a while for the trick to be completed.  Whether the person watching the trick being completed will understand how it is done remains to be seen, but the person performing the trick has mastered it and the results are laid bare for the witness’s eyes to see.  What we also must understand is that sometimes the results of these tricks may not always fall into the exact truth category that we thought it would be.

What about those times that we fall into a trickster’s path but did not intend to be tricked?  Over the past few decades we in the western world have come to know some very infamous names that have dealt thousands of people serious financial losses due to the lies and tricks that these few people have administered.  Scandal after scandal has graced our news headlines for quite some time now and even after these people that were involved have been caught, tried and convicted these types of dirty and deceitful scandals are still ongoing.  Scandals do not have to make public news in order to do its damage, for the personal ones do just as much damage and usually cause more specific pain than those that involve many others.

These people were not convinced overnight it took time for them to be played enough that they became willing enough to turn over portions or even all of their money to a person that they did not know.  Yet in every case these people who were taken for lot of money were told that their rewards would defy the norm and would provide for them like never before; a guaranteed or sure thing as we have heard.  The reputation of a “used car salesman” comes to mind as well when someone is trying their best to sell a person something.  No matter what the cause, idea, or project it is the job of that person to sell you something and to convince you at the same time that you need that specific product.  Do any of these examples sound familiar to you?

It has been proven many times throughout history that being tricked hurts people and that unless it is a comedic setting, those tricks can even prove to be deadly.  Humans like to take advantage of each other just to score the upper hand in a situation, with many of these people not even thinking twice about what they have accomplished or to what extent of the damage left behind.  Tricking people in my mind is a dangerous game and can set precedence for even further revenge if one is willing to devise such a plan.  Ever have one of your friends play a trick on you and then you quietly ponder a way to get your revenge at a later date?  How do you think one would feel if they were swindled out of thousands of dollars or even their homes?  What about an eternal decision, all of these issues must be taken into consideration when being tricked is concerned.  Ever wondered what set this trickery into motion?  If you understand the Bible and more specifically one story within its words, it will become clearer to how this art of deception has grown and developed over the millennia.

The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden has allowed many a theologian, scholar and novice to ponder about why Eve even allowed a serpent to entice her thoughts enough to change the entire course of life for the human.  In this famous passage lies the truth of the fall and what it means to have a relationship with someone one else a how that relationship can provoke certain reactions and choices on both sides.  We have to remember that at this point in human time Satan’s destiny has already been set and it is now his top priority to ensure that humans have the same destiny as his.  For he understands and remembers that he had a great relationship with his Creator at one point in time and he also understands that God’s new creation has that same type of relationship now.

Humans have a built in chicken syndrome within our inner beings.  Most of us will be very cautious when strangers approach us, even if we know that they are scheduled to appear.  This reaction is built within our lives so that we will be cautious enough to listen and to see what we are about to get ourselves into, it is a wise part of our lives that we tend to dismiss and go with the flow even if we have certain doubts about the path that we chose to take.  All of these reactions and actions come from accumulated thoughts, lessons, and teachings that we had at a certain point in our lives; some would even call this experience.  So while we are taken back a few steps we are still curious enough to allow ourselves to be subjected to what is being presented to us.

Eve was still without sin when she began communicating with the serpent and it is undoubtedly correct that as her time increased with this beast her comfortability with it grew as well.  I am sure that she had questions for the serpent to which he readily supplied answers that tickled her ears for if someone gives a harsh answer at the beginning, the interest is lost and no further communication is deemed necessary.  The trust foundation between the two creations must have been solid enough for the serpent to venture into the realm of God’s laws and one must come to the conclusion that some of their discussions did end in some type of agreement where God’s laws were concerned. 

Then the big question and topic was presented to Eve by the serpent and this one was the escalating point to which Eve altered the course of history, and the first step in the destruction of humanity by our enemy.  How many times has one of our friends tricked us into doing something that we knew was not right?  Or how many times have we fallen for a situation that sounded so good that we just had to go and tell our friends about?  These are normal human reactions that we harbor inside our lives but we must really watch what we say and do in these circumstances for it may create a very negative situation within the people that we share things with, just as it did with Adam.  This is where the pretense of the “relationship” between Eve and the serpent came to its climax.

Eve had enough faith, confidence and trust in the serpent to complete this question and answer session and then comply with her ideas that had been formed within her head.  Typically we blame Eve for the beginnings of the fall of man but there has to be some sort of knowledge and approval of his “relationship” with the serpent from Adam; even though by now Adam is probably off doing other things rather than completing his portion of the true relationship that was already established; nothing is really stated about Adam but one does have to wonder where he was during this time period.

Scriptures state that the serpent asks Eve a question about what they were allowed to eat.  A provocative question don’t you think?  Why would he ask something to that nature, such a direct questioning of the known authority who rules the land?  We have to remember that when God gave the command to not eat of this tree Eve had not been formed yet, which adds intrigue to the reasoning as to why the serpent chose Eve to begin his tricking.  Eve knew of the law for she stated it when the serpent directly asked the question concerning the tree yet it was her response that set up the doorway for the serpent to spring his immediate trap.

Eve answered the serpent’s question correctly, for the most part.  The part that opened up the door was the fact that she added to God’s command and was this phrase “neither shall ye touch it” that caused the eternal stir within the serpent.  For whatever reason Eve was trying her best to either impress her questioner or to add to God’s Words, whichever way she thought it was the opening that was needed in order for our enemy to divide and to conquer the true relationship.  How many times have we embellished the truth in order to make us look better or to have more knowledge about a subject than we actually do?  God’s command to Adam was quite simple and to the point, don’t eat of that tree.  It did not matter to the serpent of what Eve got correct, it was the addition to His command and to His authority that opened the door.

I find it fascinating how God reacted to this situation when it was found out that they had hid themselves.  He automatically asked Adam what was going on and why they were acting in the manner as they were.  God continued the completeness during the question and answer period in accordance to His laws.  God gave Adam this command so it would be in God’s completeness that He would address Adam first, which He did.  Adam in turn gave a really lame excuse and it was Eve who then “stood up” and said what had transpired.  This says a lot about God’s character and man’s character when things go wrong; a pattern in which both sides still cling to, to this day

Eve stated that the serpent beguiled me and that through this act of the serpent, she ate of the tree and then gave it to Adam and he ate as well.  I want us to look at the word beguiled here and study its meaning a bit.  The word beguiled actually means to lead by deception, to trick or to deceive.  This is a very specific word that is used here in this passage and it says so much about what transpired between the serpent and Eve.  The word beguiled came out from Eve’s mouth and for her use this specific term it means that Eve understood the command that God had given to Adam and in turn to her, that she also realized what had transpired after he and her ate of the tree.  The truth of the command was unfolded and the disobedience had taken place.

It is this beguiling that our enemy gains his access into our lives.  It is a subtle talk that if not recognized and taken noticed of, his claws of deception and trickery will begin to take hold within our lives at a slow and almost unnoticeable pace.  We must also take into consideration and remember a specific detail about Eve during this process.  Even though Eve had a mind and a choice of her own she was still pure in many ways.  There could have been a million other ways the serpent could have tricked Eve, yet he chose the most damaging way.  Disobeying God’s command would surely be direct enough to stab God in the heart once again.  While it did not change the status of our enemy it did change the status of the serpent and of the human being, along with many other portions of God’s creative initiatives.  This situation should tell us something huge about our enemy and that something is that he cares nothing about your true life but only to get us to disobey God’s commands that He has so faithfully provided for us.

We are facing this same type of situation in our world today and once again many individuals, the Church and hundreds of nations are falling right into our enemy’s trap of beguiling.  We have become so focused upon other issues in our world that we have forgotten to read God’s Word so that we can understand how to protect ourselves when the need comes.  There are many issues that the enemy has thrown into our paths lately and even though the world does not see a problem with these issues our enemy does not care, he still initiates them into our doctrines.  It wonders me of how the Church can be addressing some of these issues and actually thinking about accepting them into their denominational bylaws, yet they are and are going to fall for the same like punishment that we have already been dealt. 

I can see the individual who does not know God accepting these issues with open arms, and once again our enemy does not care all he wishes to create is another denominational bylaw within your heart.  See the word denomination actually refers to the root word divide and look around you and see just how divided or denominational the world has become over the past few decades.  How many nations are at odds with each other today?  How many sectarian groups are fighting each other within one religion?  The issue of acceptance and who is on the right or left side of the aisle are completely destroying this nation and many others like it around the world.  The Church is not left out either, nor is the specific individual.  We are all in this together and the enemy has us exactly where he wants us, at each other’s throats and away from the unity that God and His perfect creation wishes.

The real truth here is that our enemy is beguiling us perfectly and we are so blind to his tactics once again that we are choosing to fall into his lies without any questions being raised.  We have almost totally forgotten our creation and its author in order to conceive our own superficial choices and if we continue this current path we will have created our own delusional generations that will run away from the truth faster than ever before.  It is this steady progression that we need to look at and to realize what we are falling into and just how sinister these tricks are to our lives. 

The damage has already being witnessed yet we ignore these events and continue to dismiss them as human cause.  All this type of activity does is produce further lies and tricks and provides revengeful division among our lives, which is the perfect and desired effect that our enemy wishes.  It is of the utmost importance that we understand this process and to wake up and allow God to rule our lives once again.  Restoration back into God’s laws is the only way possible for us to return to the great status our Creator originally meant for us.  God loves you, the individual just as much as He loves the Church and He loves the Church just as much as He loves each and every nation that has been developed over time. 

The problem is that we shall never understand this true and perfect love if we continue to fall for this beguiling, just as Eve did.  God understands our needs and our desires and if we turn over our lives to Him, He is faithful and just to give us those desires.  Our enemy does not care about our lives once bit yet his tactics are so simple and repetitive that we should not have any problem in ridding ourselves of them, yet we continue to entertain him with our questions and wants and opening those doors which allow him access to our lives, churches and capitols.  God is calling each and every one of us to come back to Him so that we may freely live in the light again.  Knowing God’s commands but not following them willingly is not a good plan and will only lead to our destruction.  Choose freedom and salvation and I guarantee that the wool will fall from our eyes.

DLB

A Non Controlled Burn

The Non-Controlled Burn

7/23/14

Fire is sometimes known as a controlled means in order to make larger fires inept if the conditions ever become ripe for burning.  But in order for this control burn to occur it must be strategically placed so that the right amount of and is subject to the fire and will not turn into a devastating inferno.  These types of fires are created by those who understand the need to prevent future problems and will only allow certain amount of acreage to succumb to the flame.  Yet there are numerous countries that that are deliberately set ablaze and those inhabitants fail to recognize the reasons why their land is on fire.  It is in this situation that we lose many of our founding items and sometimes even our lives not even recognizing the reality of the current situation.

Sometimes when a tragedy strikes the people that are involved in the tragedy show their true colors and it may become obvious quickly that these colors may not be the prettiest of sorts.  Of course humans may not act the best during these times and these actions can be understood but if certain features arise towards the public in any way, they do stand out.  For instance it has been well documented that when large storms or devastating ones plow through an area many people loot the area of items that have been left vulnerable in the damage.  While this is a common act it is still considered to be illegal and should be handled accordingly.  And it is through this type of belief that others see and should understand that their principle of stealing dominates their opportunistic desires.  Many times when these types of natural disasters occur we cannot contain the damage that ensues because we do not have the capability to physically control its effects.  But we do have the capability to withstand a moral judgment within ourselves afterwards and to respect someone else’s loss, or even our own.

A little over a year ago an interesting event occurred within our neighborhood and when this event transpired it not only involved our specific street but part of its commencement occurred half way across town as well.  There is no physical way possible to understand these two events without knowing that God had something to do with what transpired that evening.  And up until the other night I had no idea that God was going to use this event as a subject of one of His articles.  The events not only serve on a personal level but it also contends with the current reactions to our nation’s spiritual status and how we as a people are responding on each level.  I do not make light of this specific event nor do I take lightly the current situation of our nation, western societies and the spiritual status of the Church.  It is clear that God is trying to give as many examples as possible to His people, and for the ones that He chooses to use to communicate these examples, to help us see what is about to transpire if we do not change our ways immediately.

On a warm night last year my wife and I were sitting on our couch and watching a movie.  It was a typical evening at our house with everyone fulfilling their nightly activities.  Not much had transpired that evening and we were progressing through our movie quite nicely.  Mom and dad were out of town for a few days and were not scheduled to be back in town until later.  All of their security devices were set on their normal settings and up until that evening did not sound.

As our movie was getting to its high point our phone rang.  I found this not too unusual because sometimes my parents call during the later evening hours just to check in with us.  According to the caller ID I immediately recognized it as one of mom and dad’s neighbors.  My guts kind of tightened a tad because I figured that an alarm was going off.  As soon as their neighbor communicated that their alarm was going off I hung up the phone and began to get ready to go over to their house.  Before we could get out the door that same neighbor called back and said that the alarm had stopped and everything looked ok from their point of view.  I told him that I would still be over in a few minutes to check things out and to see what or if anything had occurred.  I also figured that I would meet the police over there as well since their alarm system is tied to the local authorities.

Mom and dad live a couple of miles away from our neighborhood so by the time we had changed clothes and drove over there a good chunk of time had passed by.  I fully was expecting to see police cars at the house when we turned into their subdivision but as soon as we did our eyes focused upon a dark and empty street with only the streetlights illuminating the area.  On the outside of the house nothing seemed out of place and as we turned the corner again to pull up into the driveway once again nothing out of the ordinary greeted our presence.  The alarm was not sounding and all looked like it was under control. 

We opened the garage door and nothing was a mess or missing.  We opened the door and the normal setting alarm began to chirp which means that it was still active and under its normal conditions.  The appropriate code was put into the system and the alarm was deactivated.  Our search of the place began outside with a thorough inspection of the grounds and area making sure we checked the windows just in case some type of object had penetrated the window glass, al laws secure on the outside.  We continued inside the house checking each door and room for anything unusual or missing, yet all we found were the undisturbed settings as they had been left when mom and dad left.  Our searching for any sign of intrusion or destruction continued for about 30 minutes, for we wanted to make sure that all areas were covered and to see if any law enforcement personnel would show up too.  Which I found really interesting that no one showed up with the exception of bonnie and I.

After we had felt like we had covered all bases we called mom and dad and let them know what had transpired.  They too found it unusual that no one from the police department had shown up and said that they would follow up with the security service in the morning.  After a few adjustments on the system we closed and locked every door once again and reset the security system as we closed the garage door behind us.  We sat in the driveway another few moments and then pulled out and began the short drive home.  We continued to try and analyze what had occurred and to try and figure out some kind of explanation as to why things went down as they did.  We came to no real definitive conclusions to these questions and when we pulled back up into our driveway walked into the house with no finalization of the events.

We then briefly told the girls of what we have learned and then proceeded to go back downstairs and finish our movie.  It still had a bit to go before it was done but we did not mind since it was a good program and that we did not want to leave ourselves hanging until the next day.  The hour was late but we did not care, the end of the movie was in sight.  After a while the movie was completed and one of the girls had wanted Bonnie to help her for a bit in her room, so she proceeded to go into the girls’ room to help and as usual they shut the door behind them.  I came upstairs to the main floor and stood at the top of the stairs for a moment.  As soon as I did I had a weird feeling that swept over me but I could not understand why or what.  I took a quick glance outside the window and all seemed calm so I continued towards the kitchen, my original destination.

As soon as I turned the corner from the kitchen I had the same weird sensation or feeling once again.  I did not look outside this time but proceeded up the stairs to our bedroom to take a look outside from our bedroom window.  Our bedroom is a bit higher and can see other areas of the street from that height but most of the time nothing different is noticed.  But this time was different.  As I scanned the street from left to right everything seemed normal until I got to the house that sits diagonally across the street from us.  Behind the closed curtains I saw a flickering light that was almost the same width of that window.  I stood there for a second and gathered my wits and my mind finally processed things well enough to trigger my adrenaline and to comprehend that there was a fire in that house.

I ran away from the window and opened the door to the girls’ room and abruptly told bonnie to call 911 because there was a fire across the street.  I already had my shoes on and was out the door before her phone call was made.  From the time I first saw the flames until I was outside was only a few moments but the flames had increased dramatically and was actually climbing the walls of the house; I know this because the curtains that had been drawn but now were gone.  As I jogged towards the house my mind was racing wondering if anyone was awake enough in the house to realize what was transpiring.  I knew how many occupants were in the house and I also knew at that moment neither one of them were outside.

I hit the road still eyeballing the flames which were climbing the dry wood by the second and contemplating my next move if I did not see anyone within the next few seconds.  As soon as I crossed the road and went up to the driveway I saw the man of the house come stumbling out and to be honest I was slightly relieved because if I hadn’t without hesitating I knew what my next move would be.  I grabbed his arm and began walk with him backwards and set him down on the concrete wall that ran alongside the driveway.  I asked him where his mother was and he replied that he did not know.  I then looked up at the house knowing what I should do and had to make a decision.  Just then I heard a small pop to which I knew what was occurring the oxygen tanks were beginning to explode and I knew the larger tank would be next.

I then turned my attention to the man and told him to stay there and don’t move until I returned.  I straightened myself upwards and took one step towards the house and saw the mother come out of the house.  I was relieved in the fact that the choices had been made and that everyone that I knew lived there was out.  I ran to her and asked her if there was anyone else in the house and was immediately relieved to hear the word “no” come from her lips.  I brought her to the concrete wall and sat her down next to her son and then another small explosion rocked the house and I knew that it was time to get them across the street.

As I was helping the woman up the man asked if I could go into the house and get his cigarettes, the question stunned me but I ignored it as I was getting both of them up to move them.  The lady walked on her own but I had to be a little more involved in getting the man across the street, in fact as we were walking down the driveway he stumbled a bit as he was trying to turn around and look at the house and asking me again if I could go get his cigarettes.  I still did not answer him and continued to drag his un-cooperating body across the street.  By then some of the neighbors were out in the street trying to see if they could help but none was to be found since the blaze had already swept up and had engulfed the entire house.

When we reached the other side of the street I placed both of the occupants on a stone in the neighbor’s yard and once again asked them if anyone else had been in the house and the same answer came from their lips.  As soon as I had asked that question the large boom that I was expecting occurred and flames erupted from the window of the house and spewed their heat into the yard.  After I had turned back around to the people I knew that I had to warn the other neighbors of what was going on but for the third time the man asked if I could go get his cigarettes from the house and after I said “no” for the third time he immediately stood up and began to walk towards the house to which I had to grab him and literally force him to sit back down.  By then the police had arrived and was completing the task that I wanted to do, making sure that everyone else on that side of the street was up and out of their houses.

The fire department arrived and did an excellent job of putting out the fire along with the police department.  The scene across the street was a bit more hectic since the man of the house was determined to get back into the house to retrieve his cigarettes.  Not once did he ask about his mother or if the house was a total loss, for you see when a person has been drinking and smoking good things just disappear from the area.  He had no idea of what was going on and his mind was so far gone that all he could think about was one topic and that was his cigarettes.  Hours after wards while he was on our porch step he continued to cry out for his addiction and never addressed the reality of what had just happened.

The lady of the house had her own conception of what occurred and would not admit that her son had fallen asleep on the couch while drinking and smoking which was the ignition to the entire house catching aflame.  She continued to deny this fact eve after the fire marshal had declared the final, and obvious, cause of the fire that basically destroyed the house.  The reality of the house the lady understood but she could not be a true witness to what actually occurred for she had blinders on where it concerned her son.  The son could not get past his cigarettes long enough to warrant a reasonable explanation as to what occurred that night, nor did he ever care enough to find out where his mother was going to live now.  As this man was getting up off my couch early the next morning his final words to me as he was walking out was if I had a cigarette to which I refused to answer the question again.

While I have used and mentioned my name many times in this setting I am not the object or the subject here.  What needs to be understood is how things transacted that led up to the end result of a house, the defining point of a family being destroyed by the habits were harbor.  It is these habits which drive our lives into a fantasy world that if not checked will drive us from reality itself.  As this example shows the habits of one person was personally responsible for destroying their house, even though many other people, friends and family members had warned him time and time again about his practices.  It was a cruel decision to make and that decision was followed up with a devastating result for the family.  Not only did it destroy the house but the man died a few days later from final complications of the smoke and fumes from that event; now his decision cost him an eternal choice.

God is not picking on this one particular person but He is using this example to let His people know that our selfish and personal habits are having a direct affect upon our lives and on the lives around us.  We may not understand this principle but we need to place our noses and hearts back into the Word of God and to grasp this concept.  All of us, each and every one of us has some type of habit that we need to get rid of so that we may open our spiritual eyes better to what is going on around us.  I admit that some of my petty little habits take me away from my writings or my listening time to my patients and I need to change this immediately.  While I have never said much about that night I could have taken the heroes stance but I didn’t.  The experience scared me to death and I hope I never have to face something like that again, but if was not my choice to burn down the house but it is my choice to burn down my inner house if I do not change things.

As the early Church began in the houses and dungeons of the Roman society it grew from a plague of compromises that it invited into its sanctum.  Yes the Church grew and it was allowed to exist within the confines of public security.  Yes, she built magnificent temples and buildings in the name of God that graced every city within the empire.  Yes, the Church was able to grow beyond the Roman Empire and spread the good news to those who were willing but it was also through these compromises that she lost her defining edge that Jesus had commanded and demonstrated while He was alive on earth.

I am going to quote a portion of the book entitled “The Early Church” by Henry Chadwick in order to illustrate this point concerning the Church.  We must remember that the first Christians that were on this earth were Jews and this is a huge point of reference that we need to keep in mind:

            Quote:  “The first Christians were Jews.  They differed from their fellow-countrymen by                           their faith that in Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah of the nation’s expectation had                                             now come.  They took it for granted that his coming, being a fulfillment, must be continuous with the               past revelation of God to his people and could not mean a break with the old covenant made with                 Abraham, symbolized by circumcision, or with the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai.  If                           something new had happened, it was the action of one and the same God, Creator of the world,                   Lord of history, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve patriarchs.  His new word to his               people must be consistent with that spoken in the past by the prophets.”

                          “Because of this deep sense of continuity, various ideas and attitudes  characteristic of                     traditional Judaism became and have largely remained integral to the structure of Christian thought.                The Jews believed in God’s election: God had chosen Israel to be an exclusive society, uncorrupted             by heathen influences, yet with the two qualifications that this particularity of providence was not                   grounded upon any merit in the people chosen but in the sovereign, inscrutable will of God, and that               Israel was called to exercise a priestly function in relation to mankind as a whole….the Jews adopted             a negative attitude towards pagan religion, which they regarded as the cult of evil spirits.  In Greco-               Roman society they were a race apart, the object of some degree of vulgar distrust and at times                     hostile prejudice.”

 

                                    Pg. 9

What does this passage have to do with the Church of today?  This Jewish foundation should be the model for how the Church sheds her grace to the world.  God is not saying that we should all give up pork and attend Saturday Sabbath services but God is saying to His people that we should separate ourselves from the world and to live differently from the world at all times.  For the last bunch of centuries the Church has allowed worldly habits within its walls so that she can be accepted within the world’s realm.  She has prostituted herself to lusts that encourage worldly gain and popularity, far beyond the reaches of the true concepts of God’s Holy Walls.  Through these compromises the Church has basically rendered herself helpless to a dying world and labeled as hypocritical when it comes to fulfilling the mission that Jesus commanded of her.

What is most terrifying about these actions of the Church is that she does not consider them to be sinful or harmful to her in any way.  In fact she welcomes them with open arms in order to increase her stabilization within the world, which is total opposite of what God wants from His beloved.  There is a specific purpose as to why Jesus came to this earth and while the Jewish people fail to recognize this it is a divine truth straight from the heart of God.  It is through these compromises that our enemy has been able to throw devices in our pathway large enough to stop the truth from being told.  We must never, never forget that in order for the truth to be told it must be the solid and proven truth and in no circumstance or direction be coupled with a worldly lie.  For if it is so then the truth is a lie when it is tested.

When compromises are accepted then its fruits can be deemed as contractual.  We can see this through the early church and the acceptance that she gained through the Roman Emperor Constantine.  While Constantine’s motives may have been noble and true within his eyes, his truths opened many doors for our enemy to enter.  If God has said to separate yourself from the world then there is a reason for this and that reason is because the world is set in its ways and will never change them, for it cannot due to the fact of its spiritual leader.  When Constantine was the leader of the world at that time he did bring the Church out of the darkness of the underground, but in order for this to be accomplished the Church had to make concessions to which she should have never done.

Through these compromises the Church has allowed herself to become subject to the world instead of being a light to the world.  She has given up so much of her independence and freedom from the world that she is now unknowingly bound to the world’s laws.  What is ironic about this setting is that the world laughs at the Church in this status even though she has adopted some of the world’s beliefs.  It is sad to think that the Church cannot see this mockery of herself in action and not understand why it is unfolding.  She is in a sad state of affairs when her main goal is a debate on legalizing homosexual priests and ministers into God’s house when God’s Word CLEARLY states what that type of belief brings to the table.  Why is this even coming into question?  It is because of the acceptance of the world into the sacred walls of God’s temple.  And this pattern shall not change until the Church burns to the ground or we open our spiritual eyes and realize the truth once again.

What about on the national level and how does this level come into play when dealing with habits that can cloud our hearts?  This is a specific question that is not even being addressed today and I would dare to say that it is not even really being thought about either.  Our society is moving at breakneck speed in trying its best to separate itself from God as fast as it can.  What is amazing is that the Church has no way of ignoring this because it has been sucked up into the controversy due to her own choices.  It is obvious that our enemy has a grasp on this world and is having a field day with everything that he is changing.  These changes are a progression and it is a constant progression that has only one goal and that is to annihilate God from every part of our existence.

The national setting yields this concept into a far scarier truth, yet its reality is hidden from the each individual based entirely upon the fact that the human which is part of a nation chooses to ignore the deep meaning of what the nation is trying to gain.  It is very clear that most nations today want to impose their own ideologies upon each individual according to what they deem necessary and then promote that ideology as the sole truth.  If we look at this closely we will see that the world brings into play a biblical concept, a concept of the tithe. 

Tithing is of course one of the major hang-ups of people that attend church.  Many of church going people have no real intentions of paying tithes on a continual basis; ask any minister and they would confirm this fact.  Many people are blind to the idea and truth that if they continually tithe that the blessings of God would multiply greatly and that His Kingdom would likewise advance and it is this issue that our enemy uses in reverse against us.  Our enemy does not care that you give God 10 percent of your time for he understands that no one can have any type of true relationship when only given that much of your time, attention or heart.  Look at the news and everything that it portrays and while you are conducting that research look at the overall amount of attention God receives in public life.  You will be amazed that about only 10 percent of every public story relates to God and most of that percentage is of a negative nature.

If one completes this study they would know that this society and every other society that supports “democracy” are currently sprinting towards pushing God out of its way.  They fail to recognize that while they are screaming at the top of their societal lungs to keep God out of things the problems within the world’s environment continues to increase and their failure to understand this proportionate leverage shall be the root cause for our overall destruction. 

The habits that our society has chosen over God are quite clear and evident today.  It does not take too long for one to walk outside of their house and to see all of these habits being put on display, just go to any downtown market or place of shopping, the advertisements give it away.  We have so blatantly become self reliant upon ourselves as a society, all in the name of progress.  And it is through this progress that we will continue to incorporate our societal habits upon ourselves so much so that we follow its course right over the edge of the cliff that it is pulling us towards.  While there is nothing wrong with human progress, it is the base upon which said progress is founded that makes all the difference.  If the base of that progress is placed upon human limitations then it is guaranteed that the end result will be pain and suffering.  As our earthly progressive stance continues so will our habits that accompany this progression and if you think about it for a while you will understand this fact.

To what extent will we continue this behavior and do we even understand how dangerous these habits and beliefs are?  If an individual can cause a complete destruction of a family home or a corporation, just think about how devastating such habits can wreak upon a society even if good intentions were initiated.  We choose to accept a habit within our existence, no matter what level of example one wishes to use.  It is through these habits that we physically and / spiritually express ourselves and it is through these habits that we follow when challenged. Some of you reading this article may not have a problem with the direction that our societies are headed and that is your choice.  However, I hope one day, before it is too late, that all of us see and understand the reality of these selfish and directional choices (habits) that we are making, for if we do not and even if we continue to purposefully blind ourselves from the truth their consequences will ring loud and true.

One last thing concerning habits before I move forward and that is if we have too much faith in our habits it will automatically and systematically cloud our ability to make clear judgments when related items arise.  Our habits see only one side of an issue, the one that we agree with or hide behind.  This truth alone is almost unthinkable on a personal level yet we readily accept new beliefs and laws strictly based upon our habits in our society too; it does not paint a pretty picture, especially when everyone wants to prove themselves correct when it comes to others. 

Is there a difference between how God would burn away our problems and settle our nerves then what the world has to offer?  There most certainly is and this burning is very controlled and will only take away what is corrupting our lives and allow our true beings flourish once again as it was created to do.  When we try the burnings of the world there can only be one end result and that is our total destruction, see the world does not know you and cannot relate to you on the creation level, so all it can do is to wipe away the entire organism or at least leave it so severely damaged that the life within can never return.  Total destruction is the work of our enemy and it is a slow burn that will destroy not only your individual life but anyone else who you are around.

This concept also includes the Church s well and it is visible by how she is responding to the world’s suggestions.  As I mentioned before this is not a new concept in Church history but it is an area that we must understand and change immediately for we are about to become severely burned, starting with our hands and feet for that is what we are using to reach into with a blinded heart and spirit.  The Church is in a very dangerous state and it is our responsibility to wake up and to hear the voice of God once again before the Church body is totally consumed with the wrong fire.  Our enemy does not care if we are individually blinded or even spiritually blinded; it is his goal to rend us useless for the mission that we were created for.

Lastly the national level of burning arises and presents itself as a hotbed of desire and progress.  It is easy to infiltrate a nation whose goals are to keep out any influence of the Church; so that was the thought but as we now know some of the Church body is now accepting worldly standards instead of taking a stand for God’s Word.  What does this mean?  It means that our enemy now has his kingdom warriors on both sides of the aisle and has penetrated the very existence of our entire lives.  A nation spiritually divided or blinded spiritually cannot function in terms of God’s Kingdom and is automatically pushed back into a submissive state.  This is exactly what our enemy wants and it is exactly what we are inviting him to do, all in the name of progress but in reality all we are doing is separating ourselves from our Creator and setting up our own judgment.

There is a way out of this and hopefully one day the Church will wake up and once again begin to preach the truth from her pulpits so that our cells may become spiritually smart again.  It is this concept that needs to be adhered to and understood and no longer be ignored.  We need to stop and repent of the direction that we have allowed ourselves, the Church and our nations to walk in.  I do not care which denomination you heed from nor do I care if which nation you call home, it is time for every person who calls upon the name of the Lord for help to drop their denominational boundaries and to retrieve their Bibles and to once again study the Word of God. 

There is a reason that the Word says to hide it within our hearts; grasp this concept and truth and we will be compelled to destroy our enemy once again.  God love you, the individual.  God also loves each nation that has ever been present on this earth and He most definitely loves His Church.  It is our choice to turn and face Him once again, for if we do not we are surely condemn ourselves to a non controlled burning very soon.  God’s burning way of the junk of the world is the only way possible for us to thrive as we were meant to be, for all other paths lead to a dense jungle.

DLB

Berlin by Christmas

Berlin by Christmas

7/15/14

Many themes catch our attention and rightly so.  Certain themes and phrases are designed to boost our morale and ward off any doubts about a specific campaign.  It is common to read these themes during a wartime situation or when stress rules the day yet for the most part we ignore their content and carry on like nothing is the matter.  Even though peacetime events might be the current wish we must always remember that we are in a war and that our enemy will do his best to suck us into his environment so that our unpreparedness shines as we are thrown to his wolves.

World War II was the first major war that was publicly and methodically recorded for the entire world to witness.  While the news casters were not always present on the battlefield, specific and detailed on a real time basis, the events of that war were produced in mass and has been a useful tool in almost every major industry since that time.  One specific event that occurred during that war was called Operation Market Garden and it will be the focus of the historical portion of this article.  Not so much in the fighting aspect of this operation but the news reports, intelligence and how it was presented to the Allied forces that will be detailed.

As the specifics of this operation were being distributed throughout the Allied ranks a popular phrase was being used in order to promote its concepts.  Everyone who was participating in the European Theatre Campaign understood that the ultimate goal of their duties was to reach Berlin and to capture the Axis leader Adolf Hitler.  Every soldier understood the importance to this goal and was committed to do every possible deed in order to see that this goal was fulfilled.  It was a daunting task for the millions of soldiers fighting in this area of the world but it was one that no other options were available, so an ouster had to be formed.

The campaign for Normandy, France was a long and brutal one that claimed many lives on both sides of the lines.  It was a slow and methodical procession that did not come easy for anyone.  The Axis defenders were dug in well and even though some of their ranks were classified as subpar or below military readiness their steadfastness and tenacious fighting skills held the Allied advance to a crawl.  The intelligence of the German defenders was slow at times but for the most part accurate but as with any bit of intelligence comes with the unknown factor and this thought does not become fact until the true action begins. 

Europe had been a war for a little over five years by the time the Americans entered and the Europeans were ready to get back to their normal lives by driving out their occupiers.  Yet none of the countries were physically, mentally or militarily prepared for their occupiers and had to hold out for an outsider to help their condition.  This article is not directed towards the USA or its ability to fight but it will address the reasoning behind a strong presence in order to complete a serious mission.  The USA entered the war and almost immediately made a resounding difference, both in physical numbers and in the psychological aspects of the war.

When the invasion of the European continent began, it was the Americans who supplied the majority of the men and women, not because the other countries refused to fight but because they had been depleted entirely and needed help in gaining control of their lands once again.  The intelligence proved accurate and the fighting was fierce and slow.  One small piece of ground was taken at a time and for quite some time the outcome of the planned invasion was in doubt.  War always brings uncertainty but when things do not go according to plans or wishes, the tension becomes almost unbearable.

Operation Market Garden was a massive operation that planned to split the German army in half and to provide a direct passage over the river Rhine.  This passage would be the key in establishing a route to Berlin and the end of the gruesome war that had already claimed millions of lives.  The confidence of the Allied troops was increasing and the leadership of the Allies believed that one serious and major offensive could break the German defenses enough to lay a foundation towards Berlin.  The phrase Berlin by Christmas became one of the mottos for the operation and was designed to boost morale within the Allied troops in order for them to understand the importance of the plan. 

Certain parts of the operation were larger than the D Day operations and the amount of troops was just about equal in number and in quality.  The plan, on paper and theory, was a brilliant idea and if it would have succeeded it most certainly would have shortened the European warfront effort; but as in all theories and wants we will never know about those because Operation Market Garden failed miserably and in the end cost many soldiers’ lives.  I am not claiming to be an expert of World War II but from everything that I have read concerning this operation it was not a wise decision to conduct yet for some time it did support the morale booster that it promoted.

What went wrong with this operation and why did its execution fail so miserably?  Every bit of information received suggested that it would be easy and that since mainly old men and young kids were left to defend the Netherlands and Belgium and that a speedy advance would ensue as soon as the landings were completed.  After the Allies had to back up a bit and regroup, it was agreed upon that another way into Berlin had to be found and that it looked like the war was no going to end by Christmas.  How disappointing and disheartening this news must have been to everyone that had participated in this operation; and this disappointment and heartache was also displayed in the occupied citizens of these lands as well.

How does this setting tie into the Church and her and our present conditions?  The answer is a simple one and somehow we need to bring back into play some of the basic information concerning our enemy.  Some people may not believe the explanation that God wants us to understand and that is ok for it is still our choice to hear and know His warnings or to ignore them and then have to suffer the consequences of our own ignorance at some point down the road.  I do not apologize for using this type of language for it is God who is sharing this warning and not me, so please if you have any arguments, take a look at your own heart and then discuss the matter with Him. Even though a person does not agree with what I type that does not mean that what has been said is not true, God loves us and it is through His completeness that He gives us warnings before things transpire.

A little note before I continue onward.  It needs to be made aware that God’s Word shall not help any person be accepted into the world or its society.  Yes every one of us has to live here but that does not mean that we have to accept the ways of the world either.  The ways of the world are a stark contrast to the ways of God and cannot mix.  If we look at God’s Word as the everlasting truth and eternal means of life, then we must acknowledge that His ways are totally separate from the worlds and therefore if we accept the ways of the world we are violating our covenant with God.  It is our ultimate goal to reach the lost and to push back the darkness.  We cannot obtain this goal, Berlin if you want to put it in this light, if we continue to follow faulty intelligence.

For centuries now the Church has basically ignored the fact of the severity and the potential that our enemy has upon us.  We have greatly exceeded in extorting the fact that our enemy is limited in many ways and have taught this limited capability so heavily that we have lost sight into what his real goals are and how they are affecting our daily lives.  There is nothing wrong with us telling others that we serve a living and all powerful God and that His enemy is truly defeated and cannot win against God and His children.  However, when we allow this concept to settle within our lives and hearts and do nothing to activate this Kingdom principle, it then becomes a crutch to our spiritual lives and eventually become engrained so deeply that we tend to actually believe that our enemy is old and lacks the will to fight.

The Church cannot afford to become complacent when its eternal life is at stake.  Have we forgotten that this is the case?  The only answer that I can come up with is a “yes” because with the way that we are trying to integrate the world into our church walls and then do nothing about their sin answers this question.  Also, with the acceptance of the worldly standards within the pulpits of our congregations is another perfect example of worldly integration without spiritual conviction.  Notice God uses the word conviction here and not condemnation, there is a huge difference between those two words and it needs to be understood that it is not our place to condemn anyone but to teach the truth to those that are willing to listen and then allow God to do His job within their lives.

In the case of the Church there is no room for doubt or error when it comes to the spiritual smokescreen that our enemy is trying to pull over our spiritual eyes.  God is very clear on this subject even though all throughout scriptures humans have, for whatever reason ignored this truth and have ignored it completely.  We the Church cannot even dabble with the world and its ways for it represents nothing but death and our Creator represents nothing but life.

The only way that we can witness to the world is to understand our enemy well enough to know how he will attack us.  We also must never forget the importance of each one of our lives and with this importance never underestimate the capabilities that our enemy will use in order for us to fall away and doubt God’s ways.  The intelligence that we have comes through God’s Constitution for it is the only evidence we have that will allow our spiritual eyes to see and our spiritual ears to hear what our enemy is trying to accomplish.  We cannot afford to waste time on man’s intuition when it comes to these settings for our thoughts, plus we are fallible and will fail to meet the necessary standard needed in order to survive.  God knows our enemy and has laid out the perfect battle plan in order to defend ourselves and at the same time attack our enemy’s kingdom.

There are not many of us left that personally experienced the horrors of World War II.  We can read about all of the heinous activities that occurred during this period of time and only wonder about what it was like to be engaged in that era.  We can sit and debate every aspect of the intelligence markers that were provided and still draw no absolute conclusions as to who was correct.  The results of that great war are still being manufactured and manipulated today with major shifts in theories and thoughts promoted still.  We as a world community may never know the truth about these wartime situations but as of this moment we have the opportunity to study those plans and to draw our own conclusions after the fact.

It is not so when we come to our spiritual lives because there is no behind us theories that no longer pertain to our immediate existence. God’s Word provides us with a living and constant base that defines all aspects of the war that is around us.  His Word is not a bunch of meaningless stories that have no bearing upon our lives, even though the world wants us to believe this accusation.  God’s Word does not throw out history with the wind for God understands that what humans do in the world today we did like things in our past.  It is clear that we were fooled from our beginnings onward and nothing has changed up until the moment you read these words and beyond. 

God’s Word rings ever true and it is important that we rid ourselves of our interdenominational bickering and once again take up the plan that God has given us and to push forward His Kingdom.  Doing this will bring pain and it will bring suffering but it shall be a sign that we are fighting against the darkness that has been allowed to rule over our lives for millennia.  God has provided us the most excellent tool for our defense and offense it is our duty to take up His Word and to use it against the spirit of darkness, through His love and restoration.

It is true that our enemy is a defeated enemy and that his sentence has already been placed into an eternal effect, but we cannot forget or slack off when it comes to the capabilities that he still possesses.  Our enemy’s kingdom is still intact and it has complete rule over this land and if we do not recognize this principle we will succumb to his ways and then fall away from the grace of God.  It is obvious that many denominations along with the overall Church herself has forgotten this principle and has begun to accept some of the ways of the worldly intelligence that we have been shown.

It is our job to seek out this worldly intelligence and to understand it in Kingdom terms and not to conceive earthly ideas of acceptance instead of the dangers it poses.  This principle was portrayed when Israel sent the spies into the land and to bring back information about what they may face in the near future.  Many of the spies forgot about the separation that God had for His people and believed the ways and strength of the world while only a couple came back with Kingdom principles intact.  The Church is acting almost the spitting image of how the spies of Israel did and we are playing the exact same dangerous game as Israel did.

There is no longer ample opportunity for us to “wait upon the Lord” for it is time that we begin to wait upon the Lord and to serve His people as He has ordained us to.  We shall never arrive in Berlin if we continue to sit around and not do what we have been commissioned to do.  If we continue to wait around then Berlin will find us and the war that we are walking through blindly will capture us and destroy our lives without a single fight.  It is time we stop and look around and take notice of the current state that the Church is in and then turn around and begin to live for Christ once again.  Our lives are not about us and how we can better our circumstances, it is to seek out the lost and to show them that God loves them and to teach them that their lives represent the world and not from our Creator.  The Church is becoming helpless and our march to Berlin has slowed to almost a crawl and if we do not change quickly, the direction of the war will turn and Berlin will overrun us within a short period of time.

DLB

God's Continuous Firsts

God’s Continuous Firsts

7/8/14

A being that is totally self sufficient, all knowing, continually present in all places and all powerful is one who our minds cannot really comprehend.  Yet such a being does exist and He is the one being that began all of the things that we know including our past, our present and our future.  It is also difficult for some of us to understand that God does actually perform firsts even while keeping the continuous in motion without any breaks in the chain.  How does He complete this?  This is a question that will keep our finite minds busy for the remainder of our lives if we choose to do so.

When I was in High School and living in Hobbs, New Mexico there were a couple of settings there that would blow your mind if I described them to you.  The event that I am going to use here deals with me personally and how God speaks to one person or group of people in order to complete a task for someone else who may not understand why things are occurring or what is actually going on or moving about their surroundings.  This is a specific event in time but it was an event that had dire consequences if the message was not heard or ignored; namely my life.

As some of you know my family had a short stint in Hobbs, New Mexico.  My father preached nothing but repentance for six solid months, even in the Wednesday night services.  As one would guess there was a huge reason for this single message and of course once the enemy has a foothold he really does not like it when someone tries to expose his foothold.  The complacency within this church concerning these sinful conditions was magnificent and at one point my parents were shocked at the openness to which the congregation accepted these conditions in their lives.  Many concerns hit my parents every day and some of these concerns dealt with my life.

While they were focused upon my spiritual concerns there was another detail that none of us were thinking about and that was about my health.  Many, many people understood the attacks that our family was enduring and these people were constantly praying for our safety. You don’t think that prayer works??  When I look back and think about everything that our family experienced during those six months, I thoroughly believe prayer works.  At some point towards the end of our stint in Hobbs my body decided to react to something and then respond accordingly.  It was this response that became the major issue within my life and I had no idea about what was going on or about to occur.

Dad came back from a meeting in another part of the country and was in the Midland airport when God verbally told him to take his son and flee the city.  Dad has never claimed to literally hear the voice of God on a continual basis but to this day dad still describes this voice as if it were right next to him as he was walking down the corridor of that building.  This was a first for dad but I guarantee that this process was not the first for God.  We have many examples of His voice speaking to humans in order for them to understand what their surroundings are.  While mom and dad knew there were things going on that were not great, God’s timing of His message was a confirmation that it was time to prepare for our departure from Hobbs, what dad did not know was about the condition of my body but God had this covered as well.

A little while later, in the middle of the night God used His voice once again to wake a family hundreds of miles away.  His voice said to these people that they should go and get me for my life was in danger.  They agreed with God to do what He wished of them and that they would leave first thing in the morning.  God said “no” leave now.  If one is familiar with God, you know the one being who has been in existence forever, says to you leave now, then one must understand that human time is of the essence and things are going downhill fast.  It also sends chills down my spine to have the understanding of the spiritual surroundings enough to know when time is important for the physical; a concept that is difficult for us to understand yet possible if we allow God to work through our lives.  This family knows this concept and followed God’s wishes to the letter and left immediately to come get me.

I know that within a few short hours my life was in the back of a nice van and was headed back to southeast Texas.  The family did not allow me to do anything, I was a couch potato in the back of the van and I basically laid down for the entire trip.  When we arrived at their house I was again sent to the room where I was staying and told to rest as much as possible.  I did not understand why I was being treated this way but I did know two distinct things, one was that I did not feel the greatest and two that God had told these people to come get me for some specific reason.  The doctor’s appointment was made and it was the next morning when I arrived at his office.

After all of the poking and prodding was over it was determined that I had an enlarged spleen.  Being in the medical field and now understanding the severity of an enlarged spleen and what it can lead to, I understand a little bit more about the gravity of that condition in my life during that period in time.  The physician stated that my spleen was so enlarged that if I had tried to lift anything over 15 pounds or so that it probably would have ruptured.  With the knowledge that an enlarged spleen can hold over half of the circulating blood cells within your body and even up to 2/3rds of your blood at any time during an enlarged stage, and according to the physicians, given the size of my spleen that I probably would not have survived any type of splenic rupture.

Well, this setting was a first in my life but I can guarantee that this was not a first for God.  I understand now that even though this event directly affected my life, it was carried out by other people who had the means to do something about the need at hand.  A mute god would not have the capability to perform this action, nor would a dead god either.  A God that is alive does have the notion to protect His people even when those people do not understand what is going on or about to transpire.  This event is only one of the many that God has performed that I may never hear about but it is a true and personal story that was a first for my life but a continual and ongoing function of God.

There are countless things that I have encountered over my life that I consider firsts and whether these events could be classified as good or bad, they are firsts yet they are an example of a continuous God for it is my choice to serve Him as they pass through my life.  It does not matter what your first experiences might be, but understand that our enemy is out to destroy you and that there are forces that are lined up against you, just to see that their mission is completed.  God also has a first for you and in order for that first to come to pass we must be willing to hear His voice in our lives.  I remember writing my first article and how simple its content was.  While I have now written over two hundred of them I can still tell that I have a ways to go before my writing style and techniques would be considered perfect in the literary society but God did not call me to write perfectly only to write in the style that He gave me and made in me.  My grammar may not always be perfect and my “syntax” may differ from the norm, but that is ok because God gave me that first article about two years ago now and has continuously given many to share with you.

How many burning bushes do you think Moses heard before God appeared to him that day?  Have you heard or watched a bush burn without it being consumed by the heat and the flames?  I can say that I have watched many bushes and trees succumb to flames but I have never had the privilege of watching one continually be engulfed in flames yet not burn up.  To be honest, I have no idea how I would respond to such a sight but I would know that some type of spiritual event was ongoing at that time all the while shaking in my boots.  It took guts for Moses to stand there and to listen to what God had to say, many of us would have took off running back down the mountain.  That situation was a first for Moses yet God had shown His glory to others before, it is guaranteed.  This might have been a first but it was a continual process that God used in order for His people to understand Him.

The main question that concerns many people throughout the world is why would God allow Jesus to die for potential salvation for people He did not personally know?  Another popular question that is asked is why would God allow this type of event to even occur?  I could step on some toes here but that is ok, for this article contains a message that God wishes for us to think about and just as that family obeyed His message to them so many years ago, I shall do the same now.  When a person understands that God can do anything He wishes and that person also knows that there are two kingdoms present that are at constant war with each other than that person can comprehend why God does things in the manner that He does them.  We may not fully see all of the implications of that act but we can rest assured that something important was going on at that moment.

Jesus’ life represented everything that God required of man throughout the scriptures.  His life, death and resurrection totally upended every sacrificial procedure that scriptures had recorded and placed them into a personal perspective for each and every one of us to understand.  Some of us can fathom this concept but there are some groups out in the world today that still reject this first yet continuous act of God’s handiwork.  This genius stroke completed the redemption story after the fall in the Garden of Eden and it allowed direct access to God once again.  If one will open their hearts enough to allow God to show them that this act of Jesus’ life was ordained by God long before Lucifer even made the choice to go on his own, their lives will be totally transformed and their spiritual eyes opened to the truth that surrounds their existence.  This one event in history sums up the entire Constitution of God and the reason why He created us in the first place.

God does not need to create another Jesus for His plan was perfect the first time around even though His process may seem a bit confusing to some, it fits all perfectly within His continuous life plan for each one of us.  It is a necessity that we remember that God does perform firsts in our lives even though I am sure that He has spoke to someone else to go and get another person in the middle of the night. God understands us well enough to know how to grab our attention and then to use what He has given to us as a means of delivering His message to others.  This is the perfect example of an all knowing, all powerful and all loving Creator that wants our lives to be an example of His Kingdom to the world.

Does God need to give another bush His presence within its life?  Who knows but if God wishes it to be done then He can do it.  When God does something unusual it will not go against His Constitution, for if it does then it is not from God.  Then it is our responsibility to understand God’s Constitution well enough to know the truth.  If we do not then we could fall into a deadly trap that will only bring harm and shame to others and cause more division among God’s people.  The extraordinary way that God sent Jesus to earth was a first yet that process was consistent with the continuous ways of God.  Jesus’ creation was both spiritual and physical just as the burning bush was and the actions of Laura Lou and Henry Jasper were some 30 years ago.

I also find it very intriguing that it is us who first doubted God. And through this first of ours we continuously increase our doubts about God and who He is and about specific doubts concerning His life.  It has been noted that God has been very displeased with our actions and has had to make some drastic alterations to our personal worlds, but His Constitution clearly states that He has never reached the point of doubting our potential.  If He had, then He would have totally wiped us off the earth and ended things a very long time ago.

Let me present this concept in another manner.  When you go to the physician you would expect that doctor to have completed their training at an accredited school, correct?  Do you ever think about when the first time that doctor actually chose to become a doctor? What was their first idea or process that gave them the desire to become a physician of the sick?  Was it them looking at a cell under the microscope or was it them as a teenage sitting in a classroom learning about all of the options available to her / him within the medical field?  What about engineers that build power plants or buildings for public use?  What about ministers or teachers?  What was their first that brought them to continuously learn about a specific field of study?

I know that there are some of you out in the world that read these articles that I write but could you automatically read the words that I have written down or did you first have to learn the alphabet?  After you learned the letters of the alphabet then you learned how to connect those letters in order to form words, correct?  Those letters together represented a continuous line of letters to form that word, and then you learned how to speak those words.  Those words then form a continuous chain to form a sentence and then can form a paragraph which can then be placed into an article or book.  So if this is a trait of our lives and we were created by God, then why would it be any different from God Himself?

God is a God of firsts but He always shall keep His actions in line with His Constitution.  Each one of your lives is a part of that Constitution yet it always has amazed me that He allows us to choose His ways if we wish.  This concept of choice is a continuous act of God as well and most of us do not even realize this fact.  God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good for it is He alone who gave us a created and purposeful life, so why would anyone else’s life be anything different, including Jesus’.  It is through these firsts that God creates that should be the proof that God is a continuous God and that no matter what occurs in our life, He first loved us.

DLB