Consistency Through our Lives

Consistency Through Our Lives

9/22/14

God is consistent.  This is a theme that we must never forget.  God cannot change and by this definition He must remain consistent in all areas.  Being consistent is hard for us humans to achieve especially when the circumstances we face differ from situation to situation.  It should be a striving point for our lives to be as consistent as God, but when we as a creation cannot define our own personal lives without questioning that we have a purpose and then shove out the One who made us, this direction and purpose becomes an impossible task to conceive. 

Does anyone remember the song titled “We Are The Reason”?  It was popular back in the late 1990s or very early 2000s if I remember correctly.  The song had a wonderful message that we as humans were the sole reason that Jesus came to the earth and died for our sins.  While this is a concept and picturesque event that Christians hold dear to their hearts, it is a philosophy that is mocked by those who have no idea of why God would allow this type of event to occur.

To be honest some Christians may not understand the reason for this type of mockery especially coming from those who once lived in the faith of Jesus at one time, for not only did God allow this specific event to occur for our sins but it was also a step in Him proving to us of His completeness.  If God would have not allowed Jesus to come to earth, live, die and then be resurrected then our enemy would have had a reason to argue for his return to status because of God’s word to him in the Garden of Eden. This meant that God had to follow the plan of creation with this event as well, which in turn means that the ultimate sacrifice for mankind could not have a strict and total human bloodline; this throws the Muslim line of godly authority out the window!  For our sins to be permanently covered as in the sacrificial procedures in Scriptures, Jesus’ experiences on earth had to be divinely created.

A few of my past articles have dealt with the consistency of God and how He cannot change His ways.  Once again I will state that this concept is hard for us to contemplate and even more difficult to explain when we think we have made strides in figuring this process out.  It may be easy for us to be consistent in one minor area of our lives but to be consistent on every level is totally impossible.  Yet the One who created us constantly lives in consistency and with this definition can never change from this state of existence.  It is a joy to know that our source of life lives and continues to provide for us in this state and that if we ask for advice on one subject God will give us sound advice for all issues that we bring before Him.

When we sit back and listen to those who do not believe in God or His Word it is interesting to hear how they address the subject.  Whether the setting be in a comedy setting, television program or in a movie, the way that they present the topic is usually hard to swallow.  But when you look at their point of view it is not difficult to know why they are speaking such words against God and His Constitution.  Their perception of God and what they know about God is limited to superficial issues or personal ones in which things did not really turn out roses.  I can guarantee that when one reads the happy stories in the Bible that not everyone included in that story had the best of times.  Victories may have been won, but a price was paid by someone within the confines of that story as well.

With all of the scandals and mockeries that some Christians become intertwined with, it is not hard for others to make fun of our lives either.  We fumble and stumble on certain beliefs that we hold simply because we have just accepted them without studying them in accordance with God’s Word and while humans shall never be perfect in anything we must consider that we do know between right and wrong and when those issues present themselves in our lives, we do have a choice to reject or to respond to those options.  In other words, will we give those people who mock us more material to use against God or will we be proven innocent of those charges?  It is an important discussion point when and if it arises because if we are not prepared we cannot stand against the attacks that come against our lives.

Have you ever wondered why God talks about humans so much when He wrote the words in the Bible?  With the exception of the creation of the animals at the beginning of Genesis there are very few instances where the stories presented in God’s Word do not include humans and their actions.  Up until a few months ago I had not even recognized this specific point but it is true.   I guess that I just figured that humans being in the Bible was a given; and it is sad to say that most people believe this as well yet do not comprehend our actual meaning and worth.  But what we may not think about is that a part of God’s consistency was the creation of mankind and how He allows us to live, breathe, walk and talk each day and how our activities are a prime example of God’s consistency.

What?  You and I are a part of God’s consistency?  Yep, that is correct.  It all stems from the fall of Satan and how his life changed forever.  God allowed Lucifer to try and create and make the same decisions about life as God did.  God even gave Lucifer ample opportunity to complete this task that he so desperately wanted to complete.  But Lucifer could not be God nor could he even come close to God, so God had to prove once in for all that no one could reach the perfect status as He.  If God is consistent in this one area of creation He must be consistent in all other areas as well.  God created the angels long before He created mankind which means He had to be just as precise in His creating of us as well, including all options that angels had; therefore, if He gave angelic beings the opportunity to choose then He must follow the same pattern for humans too.

If this is the case then of course God would choose to use our lives as an example of what could happen to us if we do not choose to obey His ways.  When you look at the times that humans are mentioned in the Bible you will find many different types of settings in which they lived.  Some of the people mentioned were rich, some were rulers, many were poor, some were wicked and others just downright righteous, there are no differences from those who walk and talk on this earth today.  Different professions were mentioned along with those who even wanted to take what was theirs and blow all of it and then return home again, once again this type of activity is present all over the world as well.  Some people died of old age and others died in battle.  In short we can find many similarities to our own lives today; the answer to that question is of course, yes.

The same holds true for our secular history as well.  If we begin during the old ancient eras of Sumer and beyond we can safely surmise that humans existed according to their ways and means.  The same is true through the Greek and Roman periods along with the Dark Ages and Middle Ages as well.  Throw in the modern centuries and include present day and you will have a complete picture that humans existed and both lived and died during those time frames.  Place your studies into any era of human history and one cannot deny the fact that biblical opportunities for humans were exactly the same as they are today.  Yes, some of the technological advances were not present but the human and their mind and heart was still at the center of civilization and it is evident that both organs were being used.

So why is it so difficult to believe that God wrote His Constitution based solely upon our lives?  First of all we struggle to get passed the fact that the Bible is God’s Constitution and that what is written in between those covers actually comes from God and God alone.  Then we put into play the concept that everything that is contained within those covers relates and pertains to us and how God has established a system of consistent justice, both spiritually and physically, for our lives.  This allows for our humanness to come about and to administer the “me” category to the situation.  So many questions can be presented according to this manner and these questions are the basic defense that people who struggle with God use on a consistent basis, they are also questions that many Christians have no clue how to answer either.  Think about things for a moment, if God was not consistent or not being honest with us He would have placed emphasis on worldly things, on animals or how to get and stay rich and to have the best life possible, but He did not speak in these terms, only in the terms concerning our lives was He trying to get our attention and what might happen to our lives for those who do listen to His instructions.

On the other side of the street you have an entity who wishes nothing but destruction on our lives.  How many understand that our enemy knows God’s Word from front to back and understands exactly what God is trying to get across to us through His messengers?  Do you know that Satan knows every language that has ever been created, whether it is a current language or one that is now considered shelved or even dead? 

There is a series of movies out that has to do with Jesus coming back to earth as a man and bringing a specific person or group of people together in His sight so that He might witness to them.  While this setting is fictitious never underestimate what God can do; in one of the films a lady from India or Pakistan area is having trouble with getting out of the plane that they are in and it is obvious that she is frustrated in some fashion.  As they are standing there the man begins to speak to her in her native language and she almost instantly calms down.  The girl that the man is with is impressed that this man speaks that language and asks him how many languages he speaks.  His answer is “all of them” which means that God’s completeness goes down to the language level of humanity.  I know the movie is a work of fiction but the message about God is true, He does know each language perfectly and it is job to make sure that each one of us understands that there is not language barrier.  This is a great movies series and I highly recommend it as a family night setting.

A real life example if you want one, this occurred in Africa where a demon was manifesting through a human and was about to be confronted by a minister.  The minister could not understand the language that the demon was speaking in but God showed up and said that the demon spoke English and that it could understand the minister with no problems.  Even the demons know every language and can communicate with their “hosts” in any manner that they wish for if they could not then what would be the purpose of their trying to inhabit a person who they could not influence.

It is of the utmost importance that we keep in mind just how important each one of us is to God.  Each one of us is created in a special and a unique manner that we can never be reproduced ever again.  Even identical twins have physical and inner being differences between them and while they might be hard to distinguish by others, they know the differences intimately.  A question concerning our bodies if I may, not considering the basic forms of our genetic makeup, what is the basic form of structure that is defined?  The obvious answer is cells. 

Each organ, each drop of blood is made up of unique types of cells specific for a job within the body, or on the outside of the body, so that we may have the opportunity to know and understand life itself.  Millions of cells make up one organ and that organ in turn performs a specific function that aligns us up with life.  Without these small individual cells doing what they do, our bodies could not function in the manner that could sustain our existence and would almost immediately self destruct due to the exposure of the surrounding environment.  Yet through this minute detail we can have the opportunity to thrive like no other.

If God can create a functional life form at this level, then He must care a great deal about us and one can say with the utmost of confidence that He knows us pretty well if He created us to the cellular level.  But God goes even further that that by creating the living molecules that makes up the specific identity of these cells, which brings further individuality of our lives through Him.  I bring this aspect into this article for specificity and to demonstrate exactly how detailed God is about everything that He is associated with.  There is not an area that His presence has not been in place before ours and this truth shall continue until God deems our ways and motives have strayed far enough from His ways.  When you place this specific information in line with how humans acted in biblical times and how we currently act today, all measures line up with a consistency on our part, and if this is the case we must have a consistent Creator in order to look towards for guidance and understanding.

Our creation as humans was part of a divine plan that one can try to explain away or even deny but even with those flimsy excuses of doubt cannot stand up to the truth that is behind our existence.  God’s plans are always complete and our lives are a living and vibrant example of His will for our lives.  Each cell within our body serves as a functioning purpose for each organ that it occupies; this presents another example as to why we would even question God’s existence or His love for us as well.

I know that I gave some examples here that are not explained in specific detail those details will come in short time.  Right at this moment the message that God wants us to know that our lives are very important to Him and that it is His desire is for each one of us to accept Him by our own choice so that we may know not only the details of physical life but also eternal life itself.  We simply do not exist without a purpose and when we look back at history it is obvious that those who represent themselves as having no purpose cannot function optimally and will always be searching for true and hardcore answers but do not know where to look for them.  Our lives are not destined to be eternal slaves or to be served by unworthy and nonexistent virgins, but it is our purpose to have eternal life in its fullness according to God’s original and divine plan for us.  We can start this eternal process while we braw physical breath and it is possible to understand as much about this process as our human hearts can comprehend. If there were no forces of evil that had other ideas for our lives then there would be no reason for any of us to have choices, no matter what the issue might be, but all of us understand what evil is and we accept or deny it accordingly.

You are precious in God’s eyes and so very special to His heart.  Learn to seek Him in all of our ways and He will guarantee specific knowledge of why your life was created in this manner.  God loves you and is calling for us to repent and to turn back to His ways.  His love is the perfect example of freedom and happiness and it is His desire that all of us know and feel this freedom through Him.  Recognize your importance in this world and understand why your life has purpose, for you DO have a reason for being who you are!

DLB

Allies

Allies

9/16/14

Having friends alongside you during battle is usually a good feeling.  And the more allies a soldier, squad, division or army has make things a little bit easier in addressing.  But what happens when your allies turn on you and begin to fight against you?  How does one respond to this act especially if you’re once most ardent ally is now your staunchest enemy?  We have witnessed this occur many times in war history and there is one setting that some of us tend to forget about as well, and that is our Lord’s enemy who is after our lives and his seriousness when it comes to taking from God what He created.

There are many wars throughout history that as the fighting rages on some of the allegiances and support disappear or just flat leave the command on one side and immediately join forces for the enemy.  It is a fascinating setting when this happens and for some it is downright treason.  I understand some of these switches because of how the tide of that particular war is turning but in the end when an ally turns against a once friendly face, the threat to the original side is heightened tremendously.

One of these types of settings hits close to home for our country.  In the mid 1850s everything seemed quite content with how things were coming along with the Republic.  Yes there were a few quirks and qualms ongoing but for the most part the main focus was upon the expansion to the west and all of the Indian battles that had been occurring.  Over a few more years a few instances arose where certain parts of the country began to feel left out and abandoned due to how they felt about some issues. While these issues had been small in the beginning they increased exponentially over the months until a boiling point was reached.

War broke out between the south and the north and in the beginning it was thought that this event would be fun to watch and that it would be over very quickly.  Both ideas and concepts were blown completely out of the water and the country set in for a prolonged war.  It is not the subject of the war that I am going to be dealing with in this article but the way that things transpired before the war and how one nation became divided, and how this division caused much more hate and anger than the war itself. Please remember that in no way am I demeaning the causes of the war, they are just not the topics of this article.

Before the war occurred there was of course some kind of animosity between brethren.  There was no mention of total absolution of problems within the States during this time period.  In fact more and more rifts were becoming evident as days and weeks passed but somehow things still remained intact.  There was no single incident that broke the camels back but a series of problems that transpired that led to the breaking apart of the Union.  It was at this time that people began to take sides and to informally line up and face each other on the battlefield of words and beliefs.  Many knew that if things did not calm down soon, real fighting would break out and the very survival of the Union could be at stake.

This concept was given to me while I was reading one of the chapters in the book by Wilson Rockwell “The Utes: A Forgotten People”.  It was talking about how there were some problems that arose between the Ute tribes and the settlers in the San Luis Valley in present day Colorado.  The Secretary of War at that time was Jefferson Davis and he had ordered some troops to move in and to control the situation.  Now, up until me reading this book, I did not know that Secretary Davis had anything to do with the Indian Wars out west even though I did know that he served the Union in this capacity.

The Secretary of War would be like the position of Secretary of Defense today.  It was a very high level position and one that basically controlled all of the military operations and oversights of this entity.  It was a cabinet position and had many powerful duties within the Union.  A countless amount of information passed through Secretary Davis’s eyes every week without concern of any of that information ever being used against that office or the Union itself.  But over time things would change and the attitudes towards the Union Davis began to disagree with, and serious doubts crept into the higher ups heads.  The doubts of the leaders, on both sides of the issues, were now in focus and set the questions into play and unless something was done to prevent a separation, a total division would soon appear.

Placing a person into this type of position takes a certain amount of confidence and trust because you are putting the country’s entire defenses into one person’s hands.  Any false move upon this person and the defenses of the country are nonfunctional and in turn the entire safety of the country is compromised.  In fact, the person who occupies this position can be considered just as important as the President of the country because so much rides on their decisions.  If for whatever reason this person decides to cross the lines and to betray the country, no other higher form of treason could be mentioned or determined.  This is exactly what occurred when we talk about Jefferson Davis for it was not too much longer that he left the Union and went to serve as the 1^stPresident of the Confederacy.

What a huge blow to the gut this must have been to Lincoln and to the entire Union.  Not only for the governmental side of things but for the overall population of the country as well.  Remember the entire country was not over 300 million like it is today so the bonds between families was much tighter than today.  A gross injustice had been allowed to happen and this must have been troublesome to the Union for now the one man who knew most about the military was in charge of an enemy who just fired shots at your defenses.

The second example I am going to use occurred during World War II and it deals with the ally to Germany, Italy.  Italy was one of the original Axis members and one that Hitler believed would never betray the Nazi causes.  Mussolini was a devout follower of Hitler and believed solely in his plans for world domination.  The Italian forces were considerably weaker than the German Army, but never-the-less fought as hard as they could when the time came.

The Italians knew that if they could not stick with a larger force and one that could immediately supply them with resources that they would be left out in the cold for they had not modernized their military as they should have.  They knew that they would be in the same predicament as Poland was if they had bucked Germany for the Allied cause.  After the Allies landed on Sicily the Italians knew that it was only a matter of time before they would be knocking on Rome’s doors and demanding the keys to the eternal city.  Nerves began to show throughout the country and uprisings against the government popped up every day.  As the victories subsided and defeats mounted more civilians began to break ranks with German sympathy and ask for help to rid them from their horrid mistake.

The situation became so bad that Mussolini actually had to flee the country after he was imprisoned by his own people.  Of course Hitler did his best to secure the release of his top friend but both knew that Italy had changed their mind concerning which side they wanted to fight on and some things had to change according to Hitler.  The German army became brutal towards the Italian army and did not leave out the civilians during their retreat.  Horrible testimonies are still present today of the atrocities that the Germans did to both military and civilians of Italy.  A once proud and loyal ally had now switched to the other side of the war and was now fighting against the so called friend.

Whether Hitler ever admitted to this pain of betrayal I do not know but one has to agree that while the leader of Italy still considered himself to be an ally of Hitler, the people had other ideas for their lives.  This came to pass when the people captured Mussolini and his mistress trying to escape Italy and hung them in a public place as punishment for their crimes.  Italy went on to help the Allies defeat Germany in Europe and to become a major player in the post WWII world.

If we look at our history we will find that many nations have encountered similar situations, and one can say that when a human is involved in a government the possibility of a treasonous act is on the table.  Humans also like to believe, or try to hide the fact, that they are the only ones who have performed this act of treason, no matter if it succeeded or not.  But in truth the concept of this treasonous behavior goes further back than our history to a time which we cannot understand but its lasting effects are still with us today.  I am talking about Lucifer and his treasonous act that totally betrayed God, his own Creator.

Basically the same setting was in place between God and Lucifer for God had placed Lucifer in charge of many things when he was in Heaven.  Lucifer was a created being, spirit in nature and had the perfect life until he decided to challenge God and His authority.  It is easy for us to understand this process when another human tries this act but when it is placed upon an eternal setting, the stakes are even higher.  God must have been totally hurt by the actions of Lucifer yet God allowed him to try his best and prove to God that he was better than Him.

As with any attempted or successful coup, separation or total division, it must have took guts in order to stand your ground and do what you set out to accomplish.  Jefferson Davis tried this and ended up failing, the Italians did this together and it cost them many innocent lives after the deed was done and in this example it cost Lucifer everything, even his original name. 

Now, the same game is being transcribed in our lives and we are failing miserably at recognizing what is at stake.  There is a reason that God created us in the specific manner in which He did, there is a unique purpose that you have and it will do nothing less than push back the darkness of our enemy if this purpose is realized.  Our enemy, the one who blew it himself, is trying to get you to perform the same act as he did so long ago, because it is the anger and the hatred of God that drives him to completing his deeds upon us.

Place this setting into our hearts and study it for a while.  Read about how the actions of the Confederacy, the Italians, or any other group that has attempted to overthrow a government hurt not only themselves but the people of that country or nation as well.  If we choose to believe the god of this world then we will be committing the same treasonous act towards our Creator and this is the exact choice Satan wishes us to take.  God shall never force Himself upon us so He strictly leaves it up to the inner gifts that He created in our lives to guide our choice.  Our enemy ripped open his opportunities and he can never go back but while he is still free to roam this planet his desire is to take as many people down with him as possible.

We as humans currently have the choice to accept or to reject God.  However, this choice that we have represents the same ones that the Italian people and Jefferson Davis had yet the implications and results of this choice are far greater than what they had to decide.  It is a common idea that we should wait to make this choice at some time later in our lives, but as we all know I could die before I write my next word.  If the anger, disagreement and hatred were strong enough to allow Jefferson Davis to throw away everything that he had in order to follow a failed belief, then what more would have to happen for us to believe that God’s enemy will not try and convince us to do the same?

What value do we have to God if our enemy is focused upon our lives only?  To what extent would God go to in order for us to understand His benefits and blessings that He originally has for us?  And to what lengths would our enemy go to in order that we completely miss out on everything that God has for us?  The choice is easy but so much rides on your choice.  Jefferson Davis could have not chosen to leave his post and begin the Confederacy; you know he thought about that choice for a while.  We all have made choices that we regret but as of now we have an opportunity to change that course.  There will come a time that the opportunities to make this eternal choice will be over and the eternal division between man and God shall commence.

There is One who understands your needs and that cares for you like no other could and it is His heart that beats for you. Humans do not like to be forced into doing something, that is part of our creation and that is the sole reason as to why God shall never force Himself upon our lives.  It is our choice to stick to our Creator or to follow the selfish desires of our flesh.  True freedom awaits our choice, but in order for us to understand this freedom; we must choose true freedom first.

DLB

Be Prepared It Is Coming To A Town Near You

Be Prepared It is Coming to a Town Near You

9/14/14

This is one of the dreams that I have had in the past and it is proving to be so true for today’s settings.  I ask that you read this article carefully and listen to what God has to say to you.  There are some drastic changes coming to this world and more specifically to this country and to your immediate family.  This dream has haunted me for a while now but it is only at this moment that God has allowed me to share it with you, which usually means that its contents will become relevant sometime in the near future.  As most of you know I do not remember many of my dreams but the ones I do remember God has a message for each one of us through them.

I am not even going to attempt to try and figure out what all God is showing us right now, for I have learned that when I jump to conclusions, God actually had other plans.  SO, I will share this dream and then let the ones who read it think about what God is saying; for I know that He will show us other things through this dream in His timing, not mine.

My dream began by us pulling up to a large parking lot that separated an enormous amusement park.  I do not know what the name of the park was for there was no sign present anywhere that identified the name, but from the size of the parking lot one could assume that the park was heavily attended on a regular basis.  I have been to several amusement and theme parks in my life but from what I saw as we drove up to the parking lot I did not recognize which one that we were at.

As we approached the parking lot I could see rides and buildings to my left all of which were behind a high brown wooden fence that stood approximately eight feet high.  The fence lined the entire length of the park and it led to the only entrance to the park which was at the front of the parking lot.  I pulled into the parking lot and I guess it was early because there were not many cars in the entire lot.  As I looked around I did not want to park in front nor did I want to park close to the fence because when it was time to leave I figured that I wanted a space that was close to the exit so that we would not have to fight traffic.  This meant that all of us who were in the car, which consisted of just my family, had every intention of staying until it was time for the park to close.

I drove to about 2/3^rd of the way of the parking lot where there were no cars around.  My kids were a little perturbed at this parking job for it made them walk a little extra in order to get to the entrance.  They were upset because there were not that many cars in the parking lot yet and they could not understand why I was not up close to the front, you know, right next to the closest available space.  But I managed to achieve my goal by parking at an end spot in which all I had to do was to make one small angled turn of the wheel and I was at an exit position for the lot.  I felt good about myself for I knew that when it was time to leave I would have no problems in “escaping” the crowd that would be trying to leave at the same time. 

We sat in the car for a few minutes longer giving out specific directions to the kids and making sure that they stuck together and did not wander off alone for any reason.  I could tell that the kids were anxious to get out and go inside the park so I did not keep them too long but reminding them to stick together for safety reasons was and always has been a key concept and component of the most importance.  I asked my wife if there was anything else that she needed to add and after she said no, the doors opened and the kids began to file out of the car.

I sat there for a few more seconds and looked around the parking lot before I pulled the keys from the car and opened my door.  It was at the beginning of the day for it was cooler and the sun had already hit its peak and was fading; I would say it was close to dusk of the day.  Enough light was present to clearly see the building that housed the entrance to the park and to grab a good glance at what both sides of the park had to offer for entertainment.  I could hear the kids all chatting away to which rides that they wanted to rid and how many times they wanted to ride them.  I also heard their frustrations in their tones about the slowness of my pace of my getting out of the car too.

It was at this moment when my eyes caught another quick glance at what we were about to participate in as the sound of the electronic keys automatically locked the doors of the car.  I did not carry any bags or jackets with me nor did anyone in my party do such either; this meant that everyone was appropriately dressed for their evening out and all were ready to have fun.  The kids of course had already began the trek across the empty parking lot towards the entrance of the park, yet still within the comfortable distance that they knew they had to keep in order to not hear my voice.

As we distanced ourselves from the car I noticed that another car had entered the parking lot from the first set of entrance / exit points and was slowly cutting its way across the empty spaces in the general direction of where we were at.  As it approached I heard music and knew it must have been young people inside the vehicle.  As it passed by I looked inside the car and sure enough noticed a group of silly teenagers jammed in together.  I noticed one of the boys in the back seat of the car not jumping around and having “the good time” that the others were having.  He was solemnly sitting by the window without a smile on his face like there was something wrong, or that he knew that all was not what it had seemed.

The boy stared at me in return and for a moment it seemed like he knew that I suspected something out of the ordinary from the car and its occupants.  As the car continued past us, his eyes did not break from mine nor did any type of facial acknowledgement appear.  It was like a stone wall had been built around his body and all I could see was a shell of a boy.  I felt this to be odd and even after the car passed us I kept my eyes focused on it.  The car came to a stop and parked correctly in one of the parking spots close by.  The person driving it parked in one of the spots next to the fence line.  The closest parking space was not butted up against the fence at all for there was enough space in between to drive a car by without endangering the people or car itself in that closest space.

Other details about the car were that it was nothing special in style.  It was just your everyday simple and normal car.  Nothing fancy about its looks nor was it an expensive model, just a normal, average medium sized car that one would expect to see driving around town.  The kids were not elaborately dressed either and appeared to be dressed very modestly for the styles that were currently being shod.  If anyone else would have noticed this car, and they probably did, they would give a quick grin and shake of the head and wish they were that age again.  But for me it was different all due to one boy sitting by the window in the back seat that was not including himself in the festivities and this bugged me for some reason.

What made the situation so extreme that there were no extreme measures within this boy’s eyes.  This feature was what was unique about his appearance in that while he was different and staged himself being as such, that was the mystery as to why he was there.  Yet I continued to walk towards the park entrance and did not change my course to find out any other details about what his motives were.  It is sometimes easy to see what a person’s thoughts are just by the way they conduct themselves when placed into a public setting, but I did not.  I did hear the car turn off, the doors open and the noise of typical teenagers excited about having some fun at the park in a few minutes time get out and clumsily began the trek in the opposite direction as we were heading.  At this point all my thoughts about these teenagers ceased until later that evening.

Many hours had now passed by and it was totally dark.  The park was filled with people and there were lights and music glowing all around.  There were many attractions for every type of interest to visit or to buy if wanted and the streets of the park were crowded with such.  I have no idea what time it was but I do know that each one of us were having a wonderful time.  At some point we had crossed over to the other side of the park, across from the parking lot.  And we had evidently been over there for some time because we had acquired some bags of items from the shops that we had stopped in during our stay.  We had begun making our way back to the car which tells me that the park was close to ending its session, yet there were plenty of people still walking the streets and observing what the park had to offer.

I am not going to brag about myself at all for I know that when I do God always shoots me down a notch quickly afterwards, but for the majority of my life I have been pretty good with directions and how things are after I have encountered them.  While the darkness tends to cloud this “eyesight” of mine I can still visualize things pretty clearly in my head and what happens next in this dream comes to this conclusion.

As I stated above it was evident that our entire family had been satisfied with our visit to the park, but it was clear that it was time for us to start to head back to the car and we were heading in this direction.  As we were walking in the park street, someone said something which caused me to turn my head down and towards the left.  As my head was turned a large explosion rang out from a short distance in front of us.  It took the crowd by surprise for everyone around looked up, including myself and saw the remnants of the fireball that was still climbing into the dark sky.  Then the screams and wonderment began along with the mad rush to the edge of the park to see what had just occurred.

I knew that the explosion had occurred inside the park’s limits and that it occurred in the parking lot close to where our car was parked.  My mind immediately centered upon that car that pulled in right after we did; the one that had the kids in it.  It was difficult to see exactly where the explosion had occurred due to the numerous amounts of people that had come to witness things, but it was clear that something had definitely gone wrong in the parking lot but how severe we could not tell at that moment.

Of course many of the people were frantically asking about what happened and why would anyone do such a thing.  The voices were many yet most had the same questions coming from their mouths, it was like a runaway circus in that all of the control of the evening had been smashed in one moment and all meaning of order had ceased.

There was nothing else to the dream and I have not had one of these types of dreams since.  It has some meaning to our lives and I hope that we find out what it means before the dream becomes a fulfillment.  God loves us and He wants us to be protected at all times but He cannot do this if we are continuing to live our lives by our own human standards and ignoring His.  Is this type of event coming to a town near you or I?  Possibly could be and guaranteed if we do not change our ways and return to God.  It does not matter what type of calamity that needs to occur for this breech to be visited and it only takes one to get the message across.  It is strictly up to us and our actions that can continue this breech or to have it closed.  Something to think about in the days to come.

Stand up now Church and return to your roots, for God shall not keep His hand on those who continually snub His ways and truths.

DLB

Beyond Basic Training

Beyond Basic Training

9/6/14

When people begin to understand the basics of God they set themselves on a course of learning that can prove to be extraordinary.  There are many sides and aspects that many believe about God but some of these traits are very wrong and are usually thrown into the faces of those who do believe in God and everything that He represents.  The origins of this unbelief is that many of us have not grown beyond the basic training classes that we all accepted shortly after our conversion to Christianity, and through this lack of knowledge about God and His ways our credibility and even existence has been called into question. Until we restore our pathway to the understanding of God this trend and pattern shall continue and even if we do cross the lines of basic training then an escalation of that battle should be expected.

Back in 1988 I joined the United States Air Force and was sent to Lackland AFB, Texas for my basic training course.  It was six weeks of my life that I shall never forget as long as God continues to allow me to breathe.  Up until those few weeks I really thought that I had everything under control where it concerned my life and even though I was not a teenager any longer helped me to establish that belief (lie) within my heart.  I knew that my life would change in many ways during this time period but I had no idea that it would change me from the inside outward.  It was not an easy six weeks but they were filled with strenuous exercise and mind training that totally changed my way of thinking forever.

Those weeks taught me to observe in an unusual way and it was drilled into my head that this process of observation might prove to be my rescue one day.  At the time I had not a clue about why someone would say this to me but it would not take me too long to understand the essentials as to why it was important for me to keep my eyes and ears open, especially in my immediate locale. Personal security in uniform is a must and should not be let down even for a second for any reason.  There have been thousands of documented testimonies of instances where service personnel have been maimed or have lost their lives due to a momentary lapse in procedures and thinking.

While I was in the USAF I also had no clue that this portion of the military would prepare me for another duty I would have many decades down the road.  While my new course of training now would be of a different nature the patterns and the issues are almost identical to that of military service.  In a time where wars and their popularity are basically non-existent we have trended to believe that if we do not subscribe to their philosophies that somehow they will just bypass our society and float away like they had never existed.  The Church has fell into this category as well and in both cases we are now reaping the benefits of sitting around trying to be passive about our surroundings.

While the top brass of the military would love to see their new recruits that have just completed basic training not to be involved in any combat situations for a couple of years, we all know that this is not always possible.  However, that same top brass do expect the recent graduates to learn about their positions and their surroundings enough to warrant their survival in case of an attack.  The enemy watches every move we make and it is our responsibility to return the favor.  As a basic recruit with limited knowledge of military defense they may believe that they have all become Audie Murphy and that they could take on an entire enemy division alone, we know that this is not the case but in order for them to have a fighting chance against an enemy soldier, they must gain further knowledge about combat and how to survive during tough and tense times.

The Church has somehow dropped all of our learning when it comes to the times immediately after our basic training.  The Christian basic training is the time period right after we have accepted Jesus into our heart and have finished a book or two of the Bible, we know just enough information to make us “dangerous” in the eyes of the spiritual world.  The Church and her brilliant belief in how things should be, has allowed the world to incorporate itself within our hearts enough that the functionality and direction of the mission of Christ has basically been halted.  We have not opened our spiritual eyes and ears enough to know what God is saying to us through His word and how important it is that we tell others about the condition of their lives.

A good example of this is found in a book that I am currently reading entitled “The Utes: A Forgotten People” by Wilson Rockwell.  This book is compilation of many aspects of the Utes and their lives and how they lived, adapted and even changed to the physical and social changes that they encountered.  One particular portion of the book dealt with their concepts of God and what He stood for through general messages and stories in the Bible and it was written in this manner:

“The religious ideas of the Utes were not highly developed.  Around the lodge fire they learned from their parents and grandparents that there was a supreme being, who was a good, personal God.  Subordinate to him were other gods, including a God of War, a God of Peace, a God of Floods, a God of Thunder and Lightning, and a God of Blood who heals the sick.  The Utes were sincere believers in immortality.  These beliefs, while very real to the Utes, were never expressed in ceremonies or prayers.  The Ute traditional story of the creation of the world and of the flood was apparently the result of Jesuit teaching which was passed on to them by their Indian neighbors in New Mexico, who came in frequent contact with the Spanish priests.  The untrained minds of the Utes were clouded by superstitions, and their primitive religious life centered primarily around the medicine men.”

While the Christian missionaries understood that the cultures of these peoples were heavily engrained into their lives, it seems like the way that God was introduced to them was on a very basic level and did not go any further than that.  The home field advantage was truly tested in a manner that would seem threatening to the spiritual aspects of their state of living.  Why wasn’t this portion of their lives challenged or at least taught to them by the Jesuit missionaries or any other missionary or passerby for that matter?  In this case it may seem a tad trivial but it is a basic principle that the Church has actually retained and exploited throughout her existence.

It seems that the Jesuit priests did not teach the Indians too much about the dynamics of God and the detailed meaning of why He created the earth and at some point in human history had to wipe man basically from the earth because of his ways and attitudes towards life.  Why didn’t they teach this truth, did they not know why God had to do this or were they too afraid to present a controversial position to an established doctrine?  Either way both practices are still in play today and are being used in the same manner to limit the Kingdom of God’s advancement while strengthening the stranglehold of Satan’s kingdom around the lives of billions.

While presenting another way of life, method or code of conduct to another culture it is common practice to incorporate a familiar cultural setting in order to get the people to relate to what you are saying or explaining to them.  There is nothing wrong with this type of presentation unless you stop at the end of the beginning, or the basics if one wishes to put it in those words.  This stopping point is a popular thing to do when it comes to witnessing and spreading the gospel of Christ to the dying world.  This type of activity is very dangerous because it exposes both the person being witnessed to and the person doing the witnessing to a plethora of attacks that they have no clue of how to defend against all due to the fact that the details of such witnessing are not known.

When placed into this type of setting it is easy for us to understand why things become mixed up in our finite minds.  When Mr. Rockwell stated that the Utes allowed their superstitions to continue at the level that they had been, this tells us that nothing really changed within their hearts since the power of God and the authority that He has was not correctly delivered in the manner that it should have been.  It also is easily understood how the Utes could have intertwined God and their superstitious beliefs together and carried on like nothing ever occurred.  And in truth this mingling of spiritual kingdoms probably infiltrated enough that new divisions and separations occurred within the Ute Nation, it is happening today and therefore would be feasible and easily accepted as like manner for today.

This lack of training within the Church explains why many people have lost faith in God and in the Church due to the lack of faith and belief that the Church leaders and its believers practice.  The lack of understanding of God’s Word and the authority to deliver it to a dying world is one of the primary reasons that we commonly hear the phrase “don’t judge me” today or they will try and justify their stance concerning God by superficial scripture passages they do not fully understand.  With the mixed signals that the Church is portraying combined with the actions of her followers it is easy for the world to come up with such a phrase that basically shuts down all opportunities for witnessing.  Even if one understands that it is their responsibility that their lives are in a shambled state, they still do not wish to hear about the detailed truth as to why this is occurring.  In order to be fair, we Christians have also used these superficial explanations of scriptural passages during arguments in order to defend our positions as well instead of diving into the meat of the Word of God.

This places our beliefs of God into the same basic concepts of God that were presented to the Indians a couple of centuries ago. Have we ignored the deeper truths of God’s Word in order to pacify the standoff between the kingdoms or have we just not been adequately taught the real reasons as to why God wrote and gave His Word to us?  It is plain to see that the ignorance of understanding of His Word is directly affecting our lives each day.  We can see this on a personal level as well as on the societal level and it does not look like we are in any hurry to change things either.  It is scary to me is that those of us who have a deeper understanding of why God allowed things to occur in the biblical times sit back and watch our time on earth pass by and do nothing about our inferiority in the Word of God and through this evidence of non-understanding we will allow a dying world who is already angry continue their pursuit of an eternal death and lash out against those who have the capability to share the truth with them.

Our meager attempts to pacify the worldly kingdom by telling of a watered down gospel with very limited truth or knowledge is an abomination to God and to our existence as a created race.  In our current situation the only path that we can take, unless we wake up and realize the truth about our condition, is one of complete spiritual death.  Not only for the ones in this world who do not know about God and His love for us but also for us who have deliberately sat back waiting on God to return without working as we should be.

The Ute’s center for their beliefs was around the medicine man.  Everything from marriages to sickness was handled by this person and it is clear of his importance within their lives.  We as a cultural society have done the exact same thing as the Native Americans pursued with the medicine man.  Our focus has become primarily on ourselves for guidance and it is evident that we have failed to deliver the truth about God and why He has written His words for our lives.  What phase can we next be prepared for if we do not change our ways?  Total and complete lack of the concepts, laws and lifestyle of God is what we will see in the near future.  We are currently witnessing the beginnings of this philosophy now, so what makes anyone think that we will not abandon our current means and ways of thinking; even though we readily admit that our societies are far worse off today than even a decade ago.

The Jesuits talked about some of the messages that were presented in the Bible but they had no meat behind their words.  The Middle Ages Church used the Word of God as a weapon against those who wanted to think a little differently from what was being demanded from them.  The modern Church has sat back on its seats and have refused to allow God’s truth be shown into the dark.  And we called ourselves enlightened or advanced in our ways of thinking?  It is clear that when we do not understand God’s Word we shall fail miserably as a Church and as a society.  We have the capability and the tools necessary to win the entire world for God and see that no person walking on this earth loses their life for eternity, yet our own limitations to the source of this true life are so limited that we cannot even get out of our pews both spiritually and physically.

So what more can we expect from a desperate and dying world?  Of course they are going to take it out on us along with those who do not understand also.  It is a normal progressive action when one does not properly know the truth about things.  By our own admission we have become vulnerable to many heinous attacks in the world and to be honest it is by our own fault that we do not know how to defend ourselves properly that we are suffering these consequences.  Am I saying that if we lived differently and understood God’s Word more that our problems and attacks would go away?  No way!! In fact they would be more vicious in nature but at least we would understand the true meaning as to why they were occurring.

I guess the question that remains is this: are we going to continue the course of the Jesuits and stay with our limited knowledge and witnessing skills as they did or are we going to dig into the Word of God, shed our own selfish ways and do our best to listen to His voice when He tries to teach us a bit about why He has done the things that we read about?  This is a very important question that we need to ask ourselves because it actually defines our faith in God and the importance of how much we actually believe in God Himself.  If the Word is not taught completely and correctly through the authority of God Himself and with kindness, we can kiss the world goodbye because they shall not listen to our whimsical attitudes.

Whether the world’s population admits it or not each one of us are looking for answers that we can believe in and understand the meaning behind those answers.  Unless we absorb ourselves into the Word of God and to drink up His words and then effectively use them to push back the kingdom of our enemy the world shall continue its laughter at our existence.  God loves each and every one of us and He shall never force Himself on anyone.  It is our responsibility to share the light into the darkness and to pursue the knowledge of God as much as possible and in turn when we accomplish this we are using the basic training that we have learned and using it in the manner to which it was meant.

It is through the basic knowledge and training that we swear our hearts and minds to God but it is the knowledge of what we have learned from the source of our training that actually brings life into the world.  The only way that we can turn this world around and to change the course that we are currently following is to forget ourselves and our selfish wants and rants, and turn back to God and seek Him to be number one in our lives again.  In short, the reasons that God allowed so many horrific things to happen to people is because of their own actions, beliefs and wants and since the Bible talks about people’s lives and you and I are people as well, that means that we are in the same boat as they were, which means we have the same choices that they did as well.  Live beyond our biblical basic training knowledge and God guarantees a visible change in everyone’s lives.

Through this studying the Word of God actually is the funding that God needs in order for Him to reach the world.  Yes, physical tithes are important but the funding of His message to a dying world does not come from money it comes from the actions of His people.  Think about this as you read His words.  In my line of work it is required that I have continuing education classes, programs and seminars because if I do not keep up with the advancements of my specific field how can I provide effective results and potential treatments for patients who place their lives into my care?  Why would our spiritual lives be any different?

We must find it necessary to spend as much time as possible in continuing our education about our spiritual warfare situation and the only way that we can complete this training is by burying our hearts and spirits into the Word of God.  Not to boast about how much we know or to increase our knowledge so we can be a better debater when the time comes, but to be able to understand what people are going through and to show them that God loves them and that there is a true way out of the mess that they are going through.  It is through the basic training of Christianity that we learn the foundations of God but it is through this continuing education process that we actually learn how to live and to thrive against our enemy.  We also know and understand who our enemy is and what his mission targets are, it will also allow us to push back his kingdom so that the light from God will infiltrate those who are in need of help.

The only way that we can honestly and thoroughly complete this mission is if we understand God’s Kingdom and how we fit into it and how we advance it as God would.  We have fallen away from this truth and have tried to adopt a more humanistic strategy of witnessing, and we are seeing the faulty results of our efforts.  To be honest, some of us do not even recognize our enemy any longer and there are those that are so mesmerized by false teachings that they have even begun to attack the Church herself.

We have no choice but to turn our hearts back to God and to allow Him to clean our hearts once again and to restore the true spiritual communication lines.  If we do not the prophecies of the Bible will come to a head very soon for the patterns of this world are constantly changing in a systematic and permanent state and only God can reverse things.  The Church should understand what is ongoing but she is remaining silent according to God’s standards.  Let us bring up the horns and blow into the direction of our enemy and to set notice to him that we are taking control back from him.  Repent and allow God to restore our lives once again or God shall have to give us a reminder of exactly who is in control of all things.

DLB

The Waiting Witness

The Waiting Witness

9/4/14

How important do you think witnessing is to those who do not know God?  Is witnessing even a top priority within the walls of today’s Church?  If I asked myself those two questions concerning the Church, the answers would bug me since I really do not believe that this mission is deemed important any longer.  Why does the Church even consider herself viable if this is the case and if she does still consider this subject matter important?  And do we even feel convicted when a perfect opportunity arises to witness and we say nothing?  All of us have had those at some point.

In the northern hemisphere of the world fall is approaching.  This seasonal change is undeniable and we have just a few short weeks remaining until the weather turns cold and then we must prepare for winter.  But as the sun sets earlier each day the Colorado evenings and nights automatically cool faster and the mornings warm slower.  This pattern will mean many things to the residents here and that a return of a certain critter that one can find annoying.  I was born and raised in the South and almost the entire year I could hear crickets making their noises outside my window.  But here in Colorado cricket season is just that, a season.

When fall is approaching the crickets seem to appear overnight and then they are everywhere.  If my youngest daughters sees one in the house you would think that a poisonous snake was at their feet, but for this southern boy it is a delight to see then hopping around the floor trying to get out of the way of humans.  I do have to admit that sometimes their rubbing noises can prohibit sleep patterns and after a prolonged serenade it is time for it to stop.  Now, I am not an environmentalist but I do hold a special spot in my heart for animals and while this example concerning witnessing and the use of a cricket might be unusual, it does have a point and it does serve what God wants us to hear concerning witnessing.  And no, I did not witness to a cricket.

I arrive at work very early during the week day morning and at this specific time there is usually not many people inside my building when I walk through the doors.  However, there are many early Fall days that when I do open the door to my building that I can hear crickets chirping somewhere along the walls of the main hallway.  Most of the time they are located behind the doors that I pass but sometimes they have crossed under the doorway and found their way into the hall.  At this moment the cricket must know that someone is coming and that they should take the appropriate measures to get out of the way of the tall human coming its way.  But the lone cricket that I encountered this day had already positioned itself right up next to the baseboard of the wall safely out of any human shoe.

This cricket was a large one and it was not easily missed.  Now, I am not expert on crickets but it was a good inch long and it looked to be in good condition, for a cricket so I believe I can say that it was an adult.  As I came closer to the cricket it did not move at all and even when I was right up to it, no motion was noticed by my eyes.  As I was passing bye I just randomly said “watch it cricket” and kept on going down the hall.  I say this phrase to my cat at home because he likes to sit in one place and as soon as you get close, stand up and move right in front of you; makes for a humorous scene if you are watching it and not being a part of it.

At that time I had no other thoughts about the cricket and to be honest did not think about the thing again until I saw it again on my way back to the main hospital building with my controls and paperwork.  While I was approaching it I had a quick thought that I needed to pick it up and take it outside so that it would be safe.  I also noticed that it had not really moved too much and that it was still hugging the baseboard of the wall.  After y thought I did not stop and continued to walk towards the door to the parking lot, not thinking about picking up the cricket until I was walking back towards my cubby hole in Oncology.

As I approached the door it was then that I had the same thought about picking up the cricket and putting it on the grass outside but once again as I reached the area of where it was at I continued my stride right on bye the thing and did not move him as I had previously and now repeatedly thought about.  I did say hi to the cricket again and I guess I was justifying my passing by being “cordial” to the thing; seems silly I know but you know how humans are sometimes.

The process of passing by the cricket occurred two more times before lunch time and each time I was “cordial” to the thing but did not do anything about placing it out for safety reasons.  The last tour of my pathway before lunch threw an added tinge to the setting.  As I approached the main building I heard many crickets outside making their normal noises and as soon as I heard them I immediately had the thought of my hallway cricket once again.  Yes, picking him up ran through my mind but still I did not believe there was anything wrong with it staying out of the way in the hall.  On my return trip I continued my ignorance of the cricket and walked passed it like nothing was out of the ordinary.

After I had finished my lunch it was time to take some more send out specimens over to the main lab.  A good forty minutes had passed since my last trip to the main building and the specimens were beginning to pile up so I decided to make a quick trip over. As I went out my door the thought of that pesky cricket entered my mind again but this time I really did not have time to really do anything with it so I dismissed it out of my mind even before I reached the hallway.  As I turned the corner my eyes suddenly caught a small mess on the floor in the general area of where the cricket had been sitting, my heart sank because I knew exactly what had happened.

As I approached the cricket, my eyes confirmed what I had first believed; someone had stepped on the cricket and killed it.  I did not have any clue of who might have done this to the cricket and to be honest, it was only a cricket, right?  I did not lose too much of my stride as I continued to fix my eyes on the cricket.  I passed by and even though it was only a cricket I realized that I had plenty of opportunity to move it before someone else came along with other ideas.  The only control over the situation that I had was from the time I first saw the cricket until the last time that I saw it alive.  I had plenty of time to move it and do my best to ensure that it lived a bit longer.  But it was someone else who actually took the initiative and took care of the cricket in their own manner.  While this dropped my heart I had no reason to be upset or angry with anyone but myself because I had not done anything but walk on by the thing many times previously.

The only thing that I could be upset with is my own actions.  I had plenty of chances to change the cricket’s life and probably extend it a little longer but I chose not to.  While this was a cricket and I should not be feeling terrible about its loss, God used this setting to teach me a thing about life and how important it is that we do the right thing when it comes to humans and their spiritual lives.  It is kind of funny that God uses a cricket to bring back an important concept and principle about Kingdom and eternity.

How many times have we as Christians had the opportunity to witness to someone and walked right on bye and did nothing, just as I did with the cricket?  I guarantee that each one of you reading this article has had some type of opportunity that God has whispered into your spirit to witness to someone and you have done nothing; I will be the first to admit this fault.  I know from personal experiences that I have had plenty of opportunities to complete this basic and simple step in Kingdom principles and have totally blown it.

I also know that I have had these opportunities and then have that person walk out of my life and I never hear from them again, or that their lives have been extinguished for some specific reason.  Whatever the case my opportunity for them to know about God passed and now I have no way of finding out if they ever received another chance for eternal life.  In some cases you are the only one available to complete this task and in some cases you are not, but do we really want to leave it up to someone else?

God places people on our hearts for a reason and it is our responsibility to heed to His voice when He wants us to witness or to be a godly example to others.  Just walking by the cricket and allowing it to live for the time being was a nice gesture on my part but in the end it was wrong because I did not try and correct its immediate condition which I clearly understood that it could be in danger through what I had done to crickets and witnessed what others did to them also in the past.  Even though this example is totally different in nature the concepts and principles of the entire event can be watched each moment of the day. 

We must never forget that we are the only tools that God has to tell and share His truth to others.  It is a fact that God shall never force His ways upon our lives; therefore, we are it when it comes to witnessing.  Since this fact about God is a truth we must remember to present God in a manner to which is appropriate, in other words we cannot scream at those who are willing to listen, we must be firm in our stance but kind through our words.  For God loves everyone and it is through our voices that He can operate through.  If we continually ignore this principle or place it at a lower priority within our lives, we are failing God and in the end have no one else to blame but ourselves when the world turns its wicked head again.

It is a fact that we have no control over what other people do in their ways that is why it is important that we share with them about God.  It is our choice to accept God’s ways and it too is their choice to accept God’s ways.  Life occurs for everyone and we have no idea what the next 15 seconds holds for us so why would we even wait to tell someone about God’s plan and love for our lives.  God has a purpose for our lives and if this purpose needs to be shared with someone, He has a reason and a purpose for theirs as well.  God understands your heart and knows just the right person to witness to certain people.  This is an unexplainable gift that we all have but many of us do not know it or have hidden so deep behind our inner walls that it has gathered spiritual dust.

So I ask you the question once again of how important is witnessing to you?  And how important do you believe it is to God?  I hope that this little, and wild, example can shed some light on how things work in our lives and in others as well.  No one is guaranteed a long future so it is very important that when God speaks to our hearts concerning someone else, we really need to heed and to obey His voice.

Sadly, many of us do not care to hear God’s voice any longer.  We have become so diluted with the practices of the world that we have totally forgotten the witnessing concept.  We must trust God enough to know that He understands the attitudes and circumstances of each person walking this earth and when our paths cross with each other we will be ready to share the gospel when He anoints.  When we take the opportunity to witness God’s voice will then be allowed to minister into the other person’s life if they choose and that is all God is asking for us to do is to give Him the opportunity to change someone else’s life.

Do not use the excuse of being too busy or I should have said something when it comes to witnessing.  If that person rejects you, then it is fine.  If they accept the invitation of God then fine.  But it is through your willingness to obey God’s voice that counts for if we do not listen and obey then it is a guarantee that their lives become less likely to receive God.  Witnessing is an easy thing to do if we are listening for God’s voice on a continual basis.  I have passed countless numbers of crickets in my lifetime and really have not been too concerned about their welfare, but for this one cricket I did not listen to my gut feeling.  I probably will pass countless more crickets in my future and I probably will not have this same feeling ever again; but I do not know this to be a fact.

I will however remember that when I do have those feelings I will acknowledge them and do something pertinent about the situation.  We need to have the same love and caring mentality towards our fellow human beings.  For once the world comes along and shatters their lives many do not recover and some literally die.  If God lays it upon your heart to witness to a person or a family, please do it.  It is a life and death choice, on both sides of the issue because at one time you yourself were in the same lost condition as those people are in.

DLB