A Chosen Disease

A Chosen Disease

12/30/15

Being human, all of us understand that at some point in our lives we are going to encounter some type of illness.  The majority of the time our bodies effectively fight off these conditions and in a few days or so we return back to our normal way of life.  However, there are certain conditions that we may inherit that we do not get rid of and eventually our lives succumb to the devastating results.  But there is a third kind of disease that is currently eating at not only our lives but our way of living as well and this disease is rapidly spreading throughout our entire functioning capabilities as a society.  Unlike the physical conditions where no cure is present, this type of disease is curable but we would rather ignore the treatment and continue our current path; the destruction of the spiritual lives of countless people are being viewed each day and the ones who can show them the truth violently remain silent.

For approximately five years now I have had the privilege of working in our hospital’s Oncology and Infusion Center.  I work with a great bunch of doctors, nurses, clinic managers, administrative personnel, and secretaries.  Together we all chip in and make our center a great place to provide care for people who have been diagnosed with a horrible disease.  I love my position and I love the people that come into our center each day for treatment and as I have stated before I have learned more about courage from these people than I ever did in my entire life.  Through my experiences over these past few years at this center, I have learned so much about life and just how precious it really is, all coming from those who have been inflicted with this death sentence.

None of the patients that come into our clinic for treatment asked to be here nor did any of them say that they wished to spend the remaining years of their life tied to a cancer treatment center in hopes of making it another year or two.  The positions that these people have been placed into is a constant reminder that life can be cruel sometimes and that these conditions are given to us not by choice but by some encounter that occurred inside our bodies.  Life is not worth hearing of continual bad news when all of us know that we should be with the grandkids or camping in some place in a National Park.  Yet these people live each day and each day that they are given rejoice that they have been able to see another sunrise or sunset.  And it is these people who inspire me as I see their faces when they arrive once again to experiment with a treatment of chemicals that hopefully will extend their life for a bit longer.

I shall always treasure each patient that I serve in the position that I currently occupy and I have no doubt that my learning about life shall continue each day when I turn on the lights in my little laboratory.  I understand that many of the precious lives that I see almost every week will not physically recover from this terrible disease that they harbor but even though the government of my country tries to silence my beliefs I pray that my actions in my patients’ eyes reflect the One who drives me to give them my best at all times.

The disease that I am going to focus on in this article is similar to what my cancer patients go through.  It is a disease that functions and presents itself as cancer does.  It spreads to other parts of the body at a slow yet steady pace and it has no desire or reason to stop its spreading.  It is a painful disease that causes turmoil within the body and it has no intentions of letting up either.  But this disease is different in the fact that it is a voluntary disease that we have chosen to be in our lives and it is this specific reason that needs to be addressed so that we may fully understand that this disease that we have is killing us and even though we are in a dying state there is a cure and it is through a process called restoration.

For many of the cancer patients, the diagnosis of the specific type of cancer comes after some sort of pain occurs or a palpable lump is found when a personal or professional examination is taking place.  Most of us do not like to go to doctors even though we know we should and it is this reason that we humans tend to shy away from our routine checkups.  Cancer is not a word that we usually hear in young and healthy people yet it is becoming more commonplace to hear of this age group leaving their families due to this disease.  There is nothing good about cancer and just the thought of the word alone is enough to send some people’s blood pressure through the roof.  Yet it is a reality that is also becoming more and more common in many people’s lives and it does not look like any major cure is presenting itself anytime soon.

After the diagnosis of cancer is given to the patient and their family it takes some time for the knowledge of things to sink into the minds of the ones involved.  It is hard to understand that a diagnosis of this type can even be possible since most of the people are strong and “healthy” when the news arrives.  A plan of action is then discussed and the treatment options are included in these discussions as well.  Usually, patients have some options that they can choose from and usually takes some kind of additional time for them to make the decision on treatment.  When the treatment options are given it is then up to the patient to decide o the specific course of action and in some cases it is painful when they decide to not choose any treatment and to go on their way.

It is vividly clear that the process of spiritual cancer and destruction follows the exact same course when it comes to this type of destination.  What makes this type of disease painful to accept is that there are billions of people in this world who completely ignore the simple process of curing and then restoring that is available.  What makes things even worse is that the ones who have been in the spiritual healing world for most of their lives do not even understand what is ongoing and what is in play according to the foundational Word that they proclaim to others.  We have laid out our lives for a Word that we do not even understand, what kind of sense does that make to those who are actually begging to be healed?

The story of restoration begins in the Bible and it is found in the book of Genesis.  There are countless numbers of people who have read the first few chapters of Genesis and even more who are familiar with the stories of these chapters, yet have no real intentions of understanding what is actually transpiring here.  So many principles about both kingdoms that are vying for our lives are described in these first few chapters of Genesis and if we would take the time to understand these words it would make our existence come to life again, both on the physical aspect and the spiritual aspect.

For a while now, I have repeatedly stated that I cannot get out of the book of Genesis.  God has shared with me so many concepts and principles about humanity in these few chapters that I still have numerous articles to share with everyone.  It completely boggles my mind when I read over what God has shown me and I hope that those who read these words of our Creator will study them further to receive every ounce of benefit that God wishes for us to understand.  It has always been said that knowledge is a good thing, and that is a true statement especially when one finds out about what exactly is ongoing around us, what is for us and what is against us.

It is through these words of other people’s actions that one can find the true answers for the problems that all of us face today.  The actions that took place on that dreadful day of choosing by Adam and Eve actually set the foundation for God to issue His holy and Eternal Covenant that now encompasses our lives if we choose it.  The basics of forgiveness and restoration ooze from this setting and while this forgiveness and restoration process unfolds it sets the stage for how God’s laws work and operate for our lives, not against them.

It is through the process of Lucifer’s eternal fall and separation from God that defines God’s work in our lives and sets forth the Kingdom principles for the eternal place of our creation.  It is through this act of our creation that sets into play what it means to give life and to protect the very dominion that has been given to us; it also demonstrates what occurs in our lives when we voluntarily give up our dominion to our eternal enemy.  These first portions of Scripture give specific details of what occurs when we fight back against our enemy and on the other hand what happens to our world when we give in to his beguilement.  These verses provide a foundation of relationship that each one of us encounter on a daily basis, with the world, and with our Creator.  And most importantly it describes the actually individual world that each one of us has control over and how we should respond to events when they appear before our eyes.

The Bible is not some worn out fairy-tailed book that has no meaning to your life.  On the contrary, it is the only source of divine information that has the resources to show you the way to a complete and whole you!  The world will stop at nothing to entice you into its lair, for that is the goal of its leader.  He shall never indulge you of his purpose but only show you what your eyes wish to see all wrapped up in an eternal separation package from your Creator.  He shall never show you his principles only laugh at you when your life finds itself in ruins.  Being separated from God is no easy task nor is it a place that anyone ever wishes to be.

God shall never force you to choose His ways, and that alone is the one truth about God that many Christians fail to recognize.  It was not God who forced Lucifer from his position in heaven it was his choice to separate from God.  Choice was defined in an eternal being, given by an eternal being and then pressed on our lives in the same manner.  I have no idea how many topics and articles that God has in store for our lives concerning these few chapters in Genesis but as you read these words that God is sharing with our lives I ask that you continue to study the Word of God in its entirety for we need the entire Bible in our lives at all times.  There will come a time that the Word of God may not be as readily available to our eyes so that means we need to study its words and to hide them in our hearts for eternal keeping.  Our country is about to face a set of crises that we have never known before.  We need to be prepared on every front, including our spiritual front.  We need to be restored well enough spiritually that we have the ability to fend off the eternal diseases that we have allowed into our dominions.

The only way for this healing and restoration to be complete is if we confess our sins to God and allow Him back into our dominions.  He shall set light upon our lives so that we may see what all has been allowed to invade and then through His mighty hand of healing, heal our dominions.  God loves each and every one of you and it is a tough love that provided His Son in our place.  Allow God to shine through your life so that all may see what a healthy, spiritual life can produce.  Through this process, we can rid ourselves of the chosen spiritual disease that we have allowed into our dominion and live abundantly in the protection of what God has ordained for our lives.  Let it be known that this coming year shall be a battle year, one that will define your life and place into direction our country's.

DLB

Dominion

Dominion

12/9/15

How important do you believe the word dominion means to our existence?  Does it represent the physical, the spiritual or both? Does it even represent anything that would matter to our existence and if so, to what extent would it apply?  It must have some significance because God uses it specifically when instructing Adam, but what does the word actually mean and in what terms does God use it in?  The fact that God uses this specific word at this particular point in Adam’s life is profound and when people understand the meaning of the word it will become clear as to why it is a word that brings a foundation to the forces (kingdoms) that are vying for our eternal existence.

We all have been given gifts during our lifetime and many of these gifts come to represent a great value to our lives. It does not matter what the gift was or the when the occasion, but it is the memory in which the gift itself brings to that person at that point in time.  Many of these special gifts when looked at down the road bring us back to the day or night that we received them and along with the memories that accompany these gifts.  It is through these gifts that give us hope, security, and certain provisions that some other people might understand but we defend these gifts with our life and even though they become worn and torn down through time, we still cherish them then as the day we received these gifts; or, at least, we should.

The passages that are going to be used for the reference for this article are Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 2:8.  This passage is painting a picture of what God has created and what order He is setting into place for everything that He has created as well.  We must keep in mind that when god creates anything, He can only do so through His holy and perfect order and has a direct purpose for its creation.  This also means that our enemy has a reason for our dominion’s destruction.  But this raises the question if we even understand what this word dominion means to our lives and how important it really is to our survival.  God does not wish to hide things from us and that is why He places specific information into His Word for us to think about, to reason out and then through His guidance understand exactly what He is telling us.  God has specifically used this word in this passage and He wants us to know that our origins were made complete and it His will that we be complete in all areas of our existence.

Genesis 1:26 states: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping that creepeth upon the earth.”

Genesis 2:8 states: “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

The word dominion comes from the Hebrew word radah and it means to rule over, to reign over or dominate something, and gives the object complete control over the ruled.  To the English speakers, it would be considered an action verb and one that gives authority over one’s possessions or land.  The word dominion here is presented in a unique manner to which it is strictly referring to what the human has control over and what the human rule over.  This word as God has shared with us before is a kingdom word and its meaning comes into play during the story of what transpired within the Garden of Eden.  And what makes this word so important is that it can be used for either God’s Kingdom or the kingdom of Satan, both of which are portrayed in the story of Adam and Eve.  Has anyone ever asked themselves the question as to why God would use such a word while giving instructions to Adam?  At first glance many might not even notice the word or its meaning; I would have to place myself into that category, to be honest.

When reading the story of Adam and Eve and the instructions that God gives them, one must first consider the instruction that God gave to Adam about his dominion.  A dominion is a place when a being has complete control over and is in charge of everything that goes on within that area, place or habitat.  One also has to wonder about what this specific instruction meant to Adam, you know he must have had questions to ask.  God gave him the authority to keep and to tend the Garden which means that Adam and Eve had specific instructions to take charge over all the activities within the Garden.  God did not leave them alone to do such matters without guidance, for the Bible states that all three had daily talks about what occurred in their day, each day.  One can logically portray that some of the conversations that they had dealt with how to complete the day’s tasks of controlling order about the Garden.

When reading this passage it would seem like only plants and animals were in the Garden of Eden but if that were the case why would God even have to instruct His prize possessions to make sure that all was on the up and up?  The Garden of Eden was created in a perfect state and condition and had no real reason for it to be mended or fixed in any way.  This means that there must have been certain entities allowed in the area that could cause damage to the Garden or even worse to Adam and Eve.  God would not have laid this type of foundation out to Adam if He first did not allow mankind the knowledge of what was at stake and to understand exactly what would occur if the place was not kept “tidy”.

The question then comes to mind if Adam really believed that there was an enemy that could actually do enough damage to them that God would even have to entrust Adam and Eve with the knowledge of such danger.  To me it seems like that at first, both Adam and Eve paid strictly to and close attention to what was moving about the Garden but as with most humans, they must have become lax in their attentiveness for at some point in time contact was made with the serpent.  The bible does not specifically mention this type of activity but based upon the quotes that Eve later gives to God concerning what occurred, some type of relaxed position between the humans and the serpent had to have been present.  And it is this point I wish to make reference to when the word dominion was compromised and the kingdom of Satan was advanced forward and God’s Kingdom was pushed backward.  This is not far-fetched at all; however, it is vital that we understand that this practice is occurring even today.

The Garden of Eden was Adam and Eve’s place of residence, their entire existence was formed, molded and shaped in that Garden.  It was a perfect place and setting designed for perfectly created people by a perfect and loving Creator with a purpose for their existence.  It was personal and specific to them and they had complete control over what went on in that area of residence.  What allowed them to pursue other interests long enough and hard enough that would cause them to lose focus on their personal belongings like they did?  That question will be shared in another message from God, but it is important to keep that question in mind while continuing to read.

With the responsibility that God gave to Adam and Eve over the Garden, it demonstrates the confidence that God had in His creations to keep the rules and order that He had established before their time came to be on the earth.  It also states that when God charged these two with the upkeep and maintenance of the Garden it meant that He had given within them an option to do or not to do what He commanded, in other words, God was giving them a choice which means that they had the capability to make choices and decisions on their own for if they did not have this within their abilities God would have never had to make such a statement and command.  He also would not have had to make the statement about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil either.

Now, whether one realizes this or not but this passage is describing a human’s home or area of existence, and it is through this area that we are planted into in order for us to take control of this area.  It is our responsibility to keep our dominion in order so that we may have a defense when the enemy comes to attack.  If we do not understand what this dominion means to our lives we have no fighting chance against our enemy.  If we do not believe in the magnitude that our dominion reaches then we have no fighting chance against our enemy.  If we become lackadaisical about our defense of our dominion we stand no chance of defense when our enemy attacks.

If we take a closer look at Adam and Eve’s perspective concerning their dominion it is clear that they had become exactly what the previous paragraph described.  God did not immediately execute His judgment upon them, He continually tried His best to show them the truth and to deliver His message of holy covering before it was too late.  But, as we all have read the story, Adam and eve evidently did not take God’s warnings too seriously because they developed a relationship with the serpent and the doors flew wide open for eternal trouble.  Excitement had faded and tending to the Garden became a tedious chore even though they had been warned from their Creator. 

The distractions became clearer and the work became weaker and slower, procrastination set in and the serpent had his path of eternal revenge against the brightest creations God had established.  Adam and Eve had played with fire when it came to their dominion and they lost their heart for what was divinely given to them.  This divinely given dominion was proven stately when Adam and Eve were alive and the dominion that has been divinely given to us, both personally and as a nation, has lost its stately status within our hearts as well.  This explains why the word dominion is a Kingdom word, for it advances one kingdom and pushes back the other whether we understand this principle or not.  Yes, dominion is that important to our existence, both on the spiritual level and on the physical level as well.

God has given us this nation as a dominion, a dominion that He created for a refuge for everyone who wished to flee for their religious liberty through God.  It was this land that God established while His people were being physically flogged from their own lands and habitats around the world; ironically, most of the lands that God’s people were forced from were considered Christian lands.  This country has a divine purpose and through this purpose defines our dominion as a nation, just as it does in our individual lives.  Christians missed this back then and they are missing it still today!  Dominion starts on the personal level and then is reflected through the people onto a national scale.  It is through this partitioning that God sees the entire nation’s heart and when the picture becomes too bleak for recovery and restoration God must change the situation just as He has done many times throughout human history.

Adam and Eve gave into their surroundings and became more interested in their feelings instead of their directive from their Creator.  It is not difficult for us to understand what occurred with their lives after the fall but what is amazing to me is that all of us have a tendency to play the same games with God as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.  We tend to focus ourselves upon our surroundings and then forget to protect and to keep our dominion.  Everything that we know as ours belongs to our dominion and it is our responsibility to keep our dominion intact at all times.  But if we contend that the world is our friend, and continue to embrace its ways we are automatically placing our dominion in a state of compromise and it shall not be too long until our enemy takes his rightful place that we voluntarily give to him.  He did it in Adam and Eve’s world, he accomplished the same feat in Sodom and Gomorrah walls and he finalized the total collapse of Israel in 772 BC all because the people did not understand and remember that their dominion was sacred and holy to them and they failed to keep it separate from the world.

Our dominion represents our life, our entire life as does this word as it pertains to our nation as well; it represents its life!  This message should call our hearts to respond to the call from God to return to Him.  The time for interpretations is over!  The time for repentance is now!  We as individuals need to turn our hearts back to God and to begin to clean up and fix our dominion, for if we do not we shall surely die.  Likewise, God states the same for this nation.  Adam and Eve lost their dominion permanently so why would God not be forced to do the same according to our actions as well? 

Therefore, as in the beginning it is within us from the basis of our individual creation, along this divine statement of dominion do choose to advance only 1 kingdom.  God is watching our choice and He too shall choose to act accordingly.  The world is waiting on a miracle to occur and to straighten things back with order begin restored.  We can try to do this alone and usher in a person who shall utterly destroy the world or we can place divine order back into place with our individual dominion and national dominion restored.

DLB

Covering

Covering

11/27/15

The cover has many definitions ranging from blankets to hiding and when dealing with human activity every definition can come into play each day of our lives.  Covering is a unique word that is repeatedly used throughout the Bible and when one studies this word it brings to life an extraordinary setting.  The word cover is mentioned in the book of Genesis and provides us with an important clue as to what had transpired between God and mankind before the fall.  It also provides us with another specific detail about how mankind believes that they can redeem themselves after knowingly commit sins, with God showing us how it needs to be done in the end.

A few years back my genetic makeup took over again and it was revealed that I had converted to become a diabetic.  I thank God that for the most part it is under control and I can treat it simply with diet and exercise.  I am so grateful that it has not progressed to the point where my activities are limited because of its potentially devastating effects on the body.  However, there is one portion of my life that it has changed and I am still contemplating if I like it or not.  For the people who know me directly understand that I am an odd duck and one of my oddities is that I absolutely love the cold weather.  My body functions better when it is cold outside and I physically function better in this type of weather as well.

It was raining and snowing here the other day and someone looked at me and said to me: “this is your perfect kind of weather, huh”.  I immediately told them the following response: “only if there is a 15 mph wind with this, then yes”.  The person looked at me, shook their head and began to laugh as they walked passed me.  For the majority of humans, we like to be warm and cozy, and that is the preferred status; lying on a hot beach and sipping cold drinks to keep us hydrated.  But not this weirdo, give me the cold was my motto for a very long time.  In fact, for a number of years I had a waterbed and I refused to turn on the heater for that bed, I loved being that cold.

But for the past few years I have kept a secret and that secret is that the cold weather is beginning to bother me a bit.  I know that as I continue to get older the weather will affect me more, but there are some interior changes within my body that I have noticed popping up due to the changed weather.  I have no real definition as to why but the only thing that I can come up with, and what my doctor says, is that as my body ages, along with my diabetes, I will become a bit more sensitive to weather changes; once again I have to admit he is correct.  I also have found myself longing to be warm, which is very unusual for me.

Being warm also includes at night when I am in bed and it has become evident to my wife that I love this warmth enough to steal the covers from her side of the bed even though I now sleep with an electric blanket turned on.  There is no fighting yet, but I can only imagine that some type of confrontation will occur as the temperatures continue to drop at night and winter comes to term.  I have never slept with an electric blanket on before, only when I have had the flu or a severe cold has this occurred.  It puzzles me as to why I have to take the covers from her, especially when I already have the proper covering already there.  I am not worried about this bodily change; however, I am concerned about what my wife may do to me if I continue to steal her covers.

While I still love the cold weather I guess I can now say that my body does not like the cold weather.  I continue to thrive in this type of setting, but even my crossings to the main building across the street in the cold make my treks kind of interesting.  With this new information of mine concerning the cold weather, it is my responsibility to make sure I am wrapped up well enough to ensure that my body does not send out hate messages which could lead to an illness or to further decline.  It is strictly my choice to heed these warnings and to do what is correct instead of trying to wing it and then flirt with a potential disaster.

The biblical example concerning covers and the concept of covering up is an intriguing one and one that I have missed for many decades of my life.  To be honest, I also have to admit that I have never heard of this type of teaching being stated in church either.  But it is a huge offering of information that God wants us to understand about ourselves and the position that we occupy within the spiritual realm of our existence.  It also deals with the mannerisms in which we as humans try to work out our fallacies (sin) and how God is the original provider of the proper covering for our lives.  When we do thing His way, our lives are so much better off and when we choose to do things our own way, it becomes rapidly clear that we shall fall short every time.

The passage in detail for this article is Genesis 3:7.  As I stated above, I have read this passage many times during my life but it has not been too far back that God showed me some intricate details about the relationship between humans and Himself through this verse.  First off we must keep in our minds that all God has ever wanted is to have a personal and intimate relationship with His beloved creation.  And it is His desire to restore this relationship with us and to thoroughly maintain this relationship on a second by second basis so that we may one day be able to live in eternal peace through Him.

Genesis 3:7 states:  “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”  Let us take the first portion of this verse to start with: “And the eyes of them both were opened”.  It is well known that Adam was created first and that Eve was created from Adam, this establishes the oneness of a couple and it defines the relationship between a man and a woman with no other possible directives on creation or intimate relationships being mentioned.  This passage mentions that both of their eyes were opened and this is a direct consequence of the choices they took just a few verses above.  Have you ever asked yourself s to why they would wish to bring this added responsibility and covenant procedure onto their lives, instead of allowing God to be their divine protector to begin with?

This single verse in Genesis 3 states the terms in which Adam and Eve should have understood what God had been saying to them and teaching them right up until the moment they both sinned.  The verse continues and says that they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves covering.  When one looks at the Hebrew meaning of this word and sequential phrase it cannot be missed or understood that what occurs here is a physical act of these people.  They actually sewed leaves together and formed coverings for their naked bodies.  In other words, created beings decided that they would cover themselves with a product that they had dominion over to begin with.  Stop and think about this for a moment.

This process probably does not come as much of a surprise to us today because we clothe ourselves on a regular basis, but to Adam and Eve, it must have been a huge shock to their eyes when this truth became known to them.  Their perfect state was no longer and it was an instantaneous process that occurred which took them totally by surprise.  One can take it for a life-changing status, one that could never be reversed, so they had to do the next best thing; cover themselves. 

Many people around the world hunt animals for food, this is a given process.  When the animal is killed there is a specific process that needs to be done in order for the meat to be preserved even before it arrives at the processing center.  The hunter must bleed the animal and then gut the animal quickly after the animal has been killed or the meat will go bad.  This is a process of the kill and should be accomplished as soon as possible.  Further processing of the animal can then be completed.  As one can imagine this is a bloody process and can become a grotesque process if one’s stomach is weak.  But it is the process of the shedding of the blood and draining it that is important here because it directly lines up with God’s protective covering and the difference of man’s attempt of covering and God’s divine covering.

Why do I mention this bloody process when the subject is covering?  Because it begins the process of what God intended in the first place and what He had to do in order to keep His promise of eternal life to His people.  When Adam and Eve sinned, the Bible states that they covered themselves by sewing fig leaves together.  First of all, it must be contended that both Adam and Eve had the understanding of how to sew, in whatever primitive form that sewing process must have been.  Their minds had the capability and their extremities the ability to complete such a task.

Secondly, it can be known that while their physical state did not change their reckoning of such nakedness status did which means that God had provided the divine covering of such state up until that moment when sin entered into their lives, strictly by choice, not command.  This sewing process also states that they now realized their physical status instead of just the spiritual, which nominates them to the human life that all of us know today.  What fascinates me the most about this situation is that their reaction to this realization is so typical of a human in that when they found out that their ways and choices were wrong, they tried their best to cover themselves with their own version of the truth instead of obeying God and keeping God first in their lives. 

When one thinks about this setting in the Garden and the reaction that Adam and Eve had after they had sinned it becomes obvious that they and God had discussed His covering over them and what it meant to their lives.  It also states that God did not force His laws upon them and that it was simply their choice to obey or to disobey what God had established as law.  For if a human does not understand that they did wrong they would not rush to make things correct in like manner of which they had just violated.  It would not be logical to think otherwise about this situation.

Now let us take the second verse that comes into play with this setting and how God demonstrated again how He was the one who initiated their covering in the first place.  Genesis 3:21 states: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”  We need to keep in mind about something God has recently shared with us about His holy order and how once that holy order is established God cannot break it no matter what the circumstances might be.  And it is through this holy order that He acts as the words of this verse play out.

After all, is said and done, God continues His covering process and begins His teaching of restoration.  This verse states that God provides skins of Adam and Eve for their covering.  Skins represent an animal of some sort which God had to kill in order for Him to provide the skins for their covering.  This means that God sets the new standard for covering and that is of blood.  This is the first known example that God uses that indicates that the shedding of blood must be used for the new state of mankind.  This verse proclaims that for the time being and after all of the disobedience we have chosen to embark upon, God is willing to give us the opportunity to recognize this process and to live under this covering that He has offered.

It is this type of pattern that God uses in order to keep us from completely destroying our lives and it is through this holy order of His that provides us with every opportunity to be restored.  This process follows what God had already established between Him and His creations in that it was His responsibility to direct the teaching in such a manner that they would understand exactly what was at stake.  This move from God concerning the covering that He provided Adam and Eve after their fall gives us a close look at exactly how serious this act of God was and how much of an important symbol it should be in our lives today.

There can be no question that God had explained the importance of how His covering meant to Adam and Eve’s lives for if He did not then He would not have been able to adequately and justly hand down the punishment that He did.  God shall never allow His righteous judgment come upon anything unless they do not first understand what is ongoing or what they violated.  If He did such an act then He would not be the all knowing and all understanding being that His Word claims He is.  This means that Adam and Eve had discussions with God about what His protection meant to their lives and what would occur if they did not obey His one command; this is stated in the beginnings of the book of Genesis as well. 

Therefore, when Adam and Eve had received their “reward” for their choices and actions it was taken by God to still provide a covering for them adequate enough and along with His line of commitment to humanity.  Yes, the perfect state of their existence was gone and they had even been told to flee the beautiful dominion that God had given them, but God still gave them a perfect example of what it took for mankind to be restored.

In Genesis 3:21 it states that God gave them skins to cover themselves and this meant that they should take off the inadequate coverings that they deemed good enough for them and put on the provided whole coverings that God had provided for them; group this setting with the armor of God in the New Testament and it brings an entirely new light upon the subject, huh.  It was not a coincidence that God picked out skins for their covering for we must remember that God is a complete God and that everything that He does must fit into His perfect holy order at all times. 

The animal that was killed had to shed its blood in order for it to have been skinned.  Adam and Eve had no excuses to know this and the symbol that it represented to them.  Even with all that they had lost they could take comfort that they were not totally blown off from God and that there was still a way possible to restore their lives unto His standards.  Yes, they understood that their way of life had changed and that their lives were going to be hard and they had to work for their survival now, but they still had hope in God as long as they kept His Words in their heart. 

Now, we know that animals have lives and that they have their own environments that they dwell in, and as far as we know they wish to live just like we do.  I am not in any way demeaning the life of an animal nor is God but we are created different from the animals and thus are viewed separately from them when it comes to our eternal existence.  I have no idea if there are animals in our eternal state, I would like to believe so, but I guess I shall have to wait for that surprise.  God’s point is this, the animal and every life that has been created is very important to God but in order for us to grasp the concept of what is in play concerning our lives God provides us with this example of the covering of Adam and Eve’s bodies with an animal skin.  Our covering, the one that we actually need is that important and we should take every measure to make sure we stay under this holy and pure covering.

The importance of God’s words cannot be greater exampled than the words coming from Genesis 3:21.  For this single verse defines that truth that all ways of mankind shall fail and that only God can provide the perfect process of restoration under the blood.  See, there is no blood on the outer layers of the animals skin, only the interior of the skin has contact with the blood of that animal, which means that when Adam and Eve’s skin touched the interior side of the skin provided by God, they were automatically under the blood provided.

This scripture fulfills many future events that were predicted throughout the Old Testament including the conception, birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ.  These two scriptures combined give us a complete picture of what to do and what not to do when it comes to trusting God for providing His covering and protection for our lives.  These scriptures also give us a complete and detailed example of what will occur when we do not obey God’s laws and try to interpret His commands according to our wants and wishes.  

There is so much more that God has shared with me concerning the words of within these verses, but I am stopping here so that you may study what God has shared with us so far concerning the matter of covering.  This portion of God’s Word that we have a tendency to overlook, bypass or just flat ignore does have direct meaning to our lives and it is this portion of God’s Word He deems important enough for us to understand so that we may lean upon it when times become tough.  God shall never leave us for want or questioning, He has provided the answers we need in His Word and the capability to look for those answers through the workings of our heart.  What a beautiful Thanksgiving example He has provided for us during this time of the year.

DLB

Looking for Directions

Looking For Directions

11/22/15

All of us travelers at one time or another has had to seek help from others due to entering unfamiliar territory, or when we have lost our sense of direction.  One of the frustrating categories of human life is a loss of direction and sense of being, but at the same time it reinforces the truth that we need someone to help us guide our way while we walk the journey of life.  There is no question that we need to be very careful in whom we seek our help for sometimes those that we believe can be trusted prove to be our worst nightmares.  With this reality, knowledge in hand one would assume that we would seek a higher and more accurate help; however, humans tend to rely upon the other hand by trying to ask other like-minded fellows instead.  One of these days humanity will come to realize that the only true source of complete help is God and I hope that day comes sooner than later for our eyesight is becoming darker by the minute.

I am going to start off by quoting an article that appeared in National Geographic Magazine, February 2014 Issue Pg 59.  It was written by a popular American figure Garrison Keillor and the article is entitled “There’s No Place Like Home”.  The passage is as follows:

“My grandma Dora Keillor was riding in my dad’s car on winter day in 1957 when the car spun out of control on an icy highway and did a doughnut or two and stopped, still on the road.  Grandma didn’t cry out; she looked straight ahead out the windshield.  “John”, she said, “which way is north?”  I share that need for clarity.  When a man has lived in a place so long, he takes comfort in landmarks.”

This little passage is a good example to start out with since it defines a directional setting that God created and the only thing that mankind has to do with it is the name that it has been given.  It always helps people to find their way out of certain lost conditions if they know exactly which direction that they need to go in order to reach the intended destination.  If people use faulty ideas about direction that will be the only result that they will reach, a faulty one, which most likely they will find themselves even more lost than from where their original point began.  It is impossible for humans to know exactly where they physically are at all times so it is imperative that we understand how to obtain true guidance when / if the time warrants.

Some of you may know that I wear glasses.  I have not had great eyesight since I was in the 4^th grade.  I was put into glasses at this time and stayed in them until I hit my 8th-grade year when modern science introduced contacts for us “blind” people.  I loved my contacts and after the initial getting used to them period my love for them continued to steadily grow.  I have worn glasses or contacts ever since and have accepted this part of my life as being normal.  As time marched along I proved the eye doctors correct because they had stated a long time ago that my eyes would continually become worse, and so they did.  After a while, my eyes had become bad enough that when I wore my glasses they were heavy because of the thickness that they had to be in order to fill my prescription, this I did not like and it drove me to wear my contacts even more.

About a decade or so ago the eye profession came out with a lens that could be modified in order for people with bad eyesight, as mine, to wear glasses without the lens’ being so heavy and thick and it was this technology that helped me make the decision to wear glasses again instead of the contacts that I loved so dearly.  For the last six years or so I have basically abandoned my contacts and have stuck to wearing glasses, and I have loved every minute of it.  A couple of years ago I had to get another pair of glasses because my eyes had changed enough that the pair that I had then were not working as well as they needed to be.  I kept this old pair of glasses as a backup in case something went wrong with the new ones.

Sure enough, this week my new pair of glasses snapped in half and I needed to use my backup immediately.  It took me a while to find my old pair but while they are not the current up to date prescription they are working quite well for the moment.  If I had not had these pair of old glasses I would have been in super amounts of trouble since my contacts were so old that they would not do me well and it would days before another pair of glasses could be shipped, I would have been in dire straights. My true fall upon backup saved the day and I was once again allowed to continue my journey in focus so that I do not stumble and fall.

It is the focusing portion of my glasses that serve as the important bearing for my eyes for any frame will do, but it is the lens’ that provide the necessary focusing point that allows me to see.  I shall never be able to have my eyes focus correctly on their own nor will their function fix or reverse itself.  They will continue to progress in one direction and if I do not have adequate care and proper attention I shall never be able to figure out which direction I need to be traveling.  It is this same concept that drives our spiritual eyes as well.  Just like the physical deterioration of our eyes the spiritual eyes follow the same suit.

It has been determined throughout history that the character of a person or a nation comes into light when the chips are down and times are tough.  This nation has been a symbol of stability to the world for centuries now and there is a definitive reason for this truth.  However, for the last few decades western societies, particularly from this nation’s lead, have began a process of worldly change that has systematically and fundamentally created a humanistic origin of beliefs.  While many believe that this is the only way that humanity can survive, it has been proven countless times before that the only certain path that it leads to is destruction.

There is no question that humanity and all of its fallacies can produce nothing but chaos and disorder.  When human desires and wants are placed solely on the physical the world is allowed to manipulate its system without any boundaries; hence, when we allow this type of activity to occur our eternal enemy has free reign to vent his aggressions upon our lives.  But what about when God allows devastating conditions to arrive on our lands?  What occurs in people’s lives when this type of condition occurs? How dare I even speak of such an act upon our lands, for we are a godly nation and we are doing our best to promote togetherness and God’s love to everyone that will listen.  NOT!  All we are promoting is our own acceptance speech to what the world has promoted from its fall from God.

If one wishes to place into perspective let us take a quick look at a lukewarm Church and what it represents to God and to the world.  To the world, it can only promote acceptance because it accepts the things that the world agrees with.  All roads to hell are lined with flowers and trees and it is the road to God that is lined with bareness.  Look at the situation of some churches today and you will notice that the ones that are not complying with the ways of the world are being isolated and ridiculed on a continual basis.  Then take a look at the ones who are aligning themselves with the world’s views and notice how the world deems their congregations. 

When a church congregation of denomination places their eyes on the world and begins to teach or preach ½ truths this is the standard symbol of a lukewarm Church.  Eventually, this lukewarm status will turn cold; it is just a matter of time before it occurs because it represents a natural human pattern that is easily recognizable.  It is the half-hearted Church that God sees and cannot stand because He understands that the Church has allowed the world to dominate its life instead of Him.  God cannot be associated with the world because the world represents sin.  So in like manner the Church must be separated from the world and cannot allow sin to sit in its lives without actively pushing it out.

Now, when the Church has its eyes off the Word of God and has allowed its worldly influences to overtake their hearts, their actions will soon depart from what God states as well.  Yes, they will perform some of the things that God has provided to us, but they will leave out certain obtainable aspects that render the Kingdom of God helpless.  For instance, feeding the poor is one of the main items that Jesus spoke about when He was walking on this planet.  Even famine and the prevention of starvation were mentioned in the Old Testament, but in both of these cases one cannot end the story there.  The witnessing to others about God and how God will change their lives due to obedience through His Word and the total change that will occur in their lives is what is being left out and when the main portion of the gospel is left out no wonder God spews us from His mouth.

When we look towards the world for direction it becomes evident that it shall provide many ways in which to follow.  The majority of these choices will look easy and promise happiness at the end of the crisis, and of course, to be “fair” in the eyes of the world it shall also provide a few choices that one shall not even entertain because of the obvious difficulties that are associated with them.  These choices for direction are usually loud and bright with flashing markers to attract the business of your heart. 

These worldly are readily available and noticeable for as far as the eye can see for it is their desire to entrap you in their web of solutions even though they will be temporary and will provide no solutions for the next crisis that one must come across.  What type of disappointment this must be when the person who entrusted their heart to the world for an answer then has to realize that they must start the process over again when the next problem arises.  To me, that sounds just like the cycle of a drug addiction or an addiction to anything, for it is the ups followed by the downs that catch the addict’s eyes in order for the person to believe that they can survive.

God cannot be explained in this type of up and down pattern, for God is consistent on all levels of His existence.  His eyesight is straight and true in all things human and in all things spirit.  His Word demonstrates this truth about His existence and His Word also directs us to obey His commands on all ends so that we may be able to safely live under His Grace that is provided by His Son.  This type of perfect existence goes totally against His enemy, thus forms a bond of war for the objects that are of interest.  Yes, to our enemy we are subjects of interest and nothing more and our enemy cares nothing about our existence on this earth and his only goal is to see our eyesight dimmed enough so that we stumble enough times to doubt God’s laws and protection, then the battle for our life has been eternally snared from its original protection.

God, on the other hand, sees us as His children and can claim us as such for He is the one that created our beginnings and will continue to see His creation alive as long as humans manifest themselves on the earth.  There is nothing we can do to change our sinful and deathly status, only by the act of blood sacrifice can we fall under the abiding grace that washes us clean until we are fully restored in God’s Heavenly Kingdom.  It is through sharp and clear spiritual eyesight that our finite minds can begin to understand the awesomeness of this miraculous status and therefore if our eyesight is damaged in any way we become vulnerable to the tricks and lies from our enemy.  It is necessary that we continue to study the eye chart that God gave us which is His Word, for if we do not and our eyesight becomes damaged, the enemy will be able to put anything he wishes in front of our eyes and claim it as the truth.

There is no question that all of us have to look for directions while we are on trips, but it is vital that we understand and put into practice that our spiritual eyes continually need of sharpening and to be focused upon God’s Word for survival.  It does not take one too long to figure out that we have allowed the enemy to dull our vision so grossly that we cannot see where are going, even though we have been on the same path for as long as we can remember.  I look at the story of Adam and Eve along with the story of Job and I see so many ties between the two.  Both settings are unique yet played out each day of our current societies.  The question remains of which example are we going to follow, especially when the time comes to make a choice for our survival?  This is where obedience and grace come into play, and how we as created beings keep this holy order intact and strictly dependent for our eternal survival. 

DLB

Sanctions

Sanctions

11/18/15

The word sanction can be used in many different ways, but the normal meaning of this word contributes to a result of disobedience to some law or ordinance that has been violated.  Not much good can come from the period of sanction that is placed on those who have earned this status unless of course their heart truly changes for the better and returns to the original status to which they were in before the sanctions occurred.  In these days and times, we continually hear about threats of sanctions against groups and countries, and while some of these threats are deemed necessary many of them are usually ignored and eventually go away.  But we must never forget that there is only one true holy establishment that cannot continually allow His subjects to cross the lines without warnings and then sanctions, but do we even recognize what is about to come our way?

On Friday, the 13^th of November, our country’s government announced that we had lifted the economic sanctions against the small West African nation of Liberia.  I can almost guarantee you that the majority of the younger generations do not even know why this small country was under sanctions in the first place, which is a sad testament to our educational system around this country and should prove that teaching to take tests is not the answer for our future.  While not every situation around the world can be taught thoroughly enough each year, general studies of regional aspects of our societies can be administered to our children for survival purposes.  Anyway, these sanctions that were placed on Liberia actually occurred 11 years ago when their president Charles Taylor had committed atrocities against humanity during the horrendous civil war that cost countless people their lives.  As the world began to see what this vicious dictator did to his country and people, economic sanctions were the least that the U S Government could do.

It is this type of situation that defines the topic and subject of this article and it also serves as a warning to people today, especially our country, about how acts eventually get caught and will not only serve the original punishment but have to acquire the longer lasting ones of the cover-up status that was pursued afterwards.  This type of activity occurs on an individual level and on a national level as well and every type of group in between; all of humanity is capable of configuring this type of action and doing its best to implement it without discovery.

On a personal level, this type of setting still haunts me to this day.  Even though the incident that I am going to describe to you occurred a couple of decades ago, the events and embarrassment that it caused my family still weigh heavy on my heart.  I remember that I purposefully did something that I knew was wrong for it went totally against every detail my parents instilled into my life over the previous years.  After I had committed this stupid act I did my best to come up with a plan to hide it from my parents.  Being “clueless” about what had transpired was a good defense I thought, so this would be my strategy.  I did not even mention the act to my parents until they noticed the results of my action, which played right into my corner, so I thought.

With the “enlightenment” process transpiring at my house, I took my stance and held firm with the story that I had rehearsed.  At this point in my life, I had basically lived in all small towns but even though it was not my custom to do stupid things and ten try and lie about them, I had not learned of the overall concept of small town atmospheres and knowledge of events around me. What is hilarious is that I really did not fully comprehend this type of small town alignment until a few years later, even though I had been in small towns all those years before.

As the situation unfolded, my story rang loud and true and with my “knowledge” being spilled the questions stopped and I was allowed to continue with my evening’s activities.  I truly believed that I had won the battle with this simple ploy to lie to my parents about something that I did.  I had no way of knowing what the future might have held for this situation nor would I know what this portion in my life would come to in my distant future, but at that moment I was not thinking about any of that, I had won the day; so I thought.

I was so stuck in my world that I did not bother to find out exactly what was transpiring after my conversation with my parents. Things and events did not stop there with that particular conversation, other details had to be attended to, including formal paperwork with specific organizations in order to keep in good standing.  I had not a clue that this process was not over and that other people had questions, and answers that would eventually hold the keys to the truth appearing.  During this portion of the time, my parents did not stop wondering if what I had told them was the truth and it did not take them long to find out the other key to my lie by asking one simple leading question to another person.

My plot was foiled and it did not take too much longer until my parents confronted me with the entire incident once again.  My lie came crashing in on me because I knew I had been caught before they talked with me; I knew my goose was cooked but as when I was telling this lie in the beginning I had no clue about what my punishment was going to be and what it would entail either.  As my father directed his questions to pinpoint accuracy, I gave up the truth and left out no details this time.  I was old enough not to get a spanking but after I received my punishment, I kind of missed those spanking days of my younger years.

No one can blame for my parents’ response to the truth, especially in the manner in which they had to acquire it.  My parents did not punish me out of anger but out of tough love, a condition that is seldom used today.  After the talk had concluded the “penalty” phase came to order.  The truth about my lie had been exposed and then confessed by my lips so the next stage was what the consequences were going to be.  I was initially punished for the lie that I had chosen to tell and once again I apologized for that action of mine and told my parents that I was wrong for doing such.  They understood my guilt and accepted my apology, and I thought that things were done with so I began to leave the area. 

What I did not realize was that my punishment or “sanctions” if you wish to refer to them as were not over for there was a second event that had to be cleared up before this session was completed.  It was concerning the fact after the lie that had to be dealt with and it seemed that the second part of my lie had to take its course as well.  Because of the time and effort of others were included because of my lie this portion of the lie could not be ignored and it was this portion of my punishment that added additional time of my grounding that “troubled” me the most.  The initial grounding I thought was fair and I could not argue with the amount of time that had been placed, but it was the second grounding that got me for its time was much longer than the first.  I did not understand this fact until quite some time later, but it set into motion of what is going to occur in this country as well.

God has shared with us a couple of times before about how it takes humans to make up a nation and how important it is that these inhabitants keep their hearts right before Him.  God has also shared with us that if our hearts do not seek Him continually, our truth monitors shut down and we begin to see things through worldly eyes instead of our spiritual ones.  It is through this process that this subject of the article comes into play in my life and the life of this nation, for our actions towards God and His laws have been severely cut and even though we know we are lying to God about our lives, we believe that the reasoning behind our lies has established a truth that God seems to agree with.

There are many types of sanctions that can be placed upon people, groups or nations and it usually depends upon what the entities in question did that warrants the appropriate and subsequent sanctions against such entities.  This nation has stood as a beacon to the world on many levels and we have achieved this status through our commitment to God first then the world; that is, up until a few decades ago.  We have since voluntarily changed course in many of our ways in order to pacify some of our constituents and trying to make them feel accepted no matter what their beliefs or physical attributes may be.  It is through this course that our nation is now beginning to understand, yet at the same time ignore, why our leadership is faltering within the world community; however, on the other hand, the increasing ideology of self-idolatry has increased 100-fold during this same time period.

The Bible gives plenty of examples of this type of human behavior and God’s eventual response according to the way that humans conduct their lives afterward.  Even though Adam and Eve are not nations per say, they do give rise to nations and thus serve as the prime example of hat occurs in individuals that unless stopped, will follow quickly afterward.  It does not say exactly how much time had passed until the days of Noah, but if one researches it out that time frame is not that long; God had to completely wipe the earth clean with water for the condition of the hearts of mankind.  David had a heart after God, probably like no other, but it was his sin and lies that caused him to falter within his kingdom and placed Israel at risk many times over.

The Bible contains testament after testament of prophets whom God raised up to tell the people of their disobedience and how much God did not like their living standards.  Today we shake off these ideas and concepts as exaggerations or even analogies but in truth when God says “enough” He must act according to what His Word states or He would be a liar Himself.  I find it very intriguing that the people in the biblical times of the prophets act in a certain manner, some of them even going so far as to dump the prophet into a hole just to keep him quiet.  The intriguing part is that today, people doubt what the Bible has to say or pervert it by interpreting it in their own manner for their own comfort.  Well, isn’t that exactly what the people in the Bible did? Look at what happened to those societies; if the actions were the same back then as they are today, that forms a huge amount of inside knowledge that we should be taking a hold of not ignoring.

Adam and Eve were eternally changed and their physical lives became installed with a physical condition that they had never known before.  Adam and Eve were warned by God not to eat of the tree of good and evil, that was it.  God did not leave out the result of such act if they did disobey either.  Israel was totally annihilated for accepting worldly customs into their lives, hearts, and daily practices.  God warned them not to do these activities before He had to act.  The reaction patterns of the people of each biblical example are being blatantly manifested by our world societies today, so why would God break His pattern now?  What makes us different from any other creation that He has allowed to walk this planet before?  If God does not act then He manifests Himself as a liar and I cannot fathom that thought.

Job states it best in his response to what others were telling him to do after his world literally came crashing and burning down around him.  Job understood God’s ways and laws well enough that Job could stand up and verbally and honestly state that God would not punish him for any unknown sin of his.  This means that God had made Himself very clear, even in Job’s days, of what He expected from man and how to keep those laws in order to establish a relationship with Him.  Those people in Israel, Adam and Eve, they all understood what would happen if they chose to disobey God’s commands.  No one in this modern societal age can honestly state that they do not know what God’s laws are, simply because there is a church on every corner of this nation and of other nations around the world.  This fact alone dismisses any constellation of a human not knowing God.

What is so troublesome is that when you piece together all of these examples one shall easily find a pattern, include my personal example in there as well.  It does not matter who or what the circumstance or situation might be, people have no excuse for not understanding the ways and means of God.  Even in lands of strict Communism, people defy their government to worship God. So, I pose this question: what response should God give to those who know the ways of His Word yet continually, blatantly, and voluntarily ignore?  No one likes to talk about this subject because it always “promotes doom and gloom”, but we must come to the realization that if we were not messing things up that we would have to talk about your “doom and gloom”.

It is not too difficult to transpose the word judgment for the word sanction here.  For its usage would be correct when dealing such a topic as this.  It is a tough idea to think about but it a topic that needs to be struck into every heart before we get an idea of what God’s sanctions will be.  Even though our nation was specifically created for the restoration of the world, our existence is no greater in God’s eyes than of Adam and Eve, Noah, Jeremiah, Paul, or Timothy.  That is why it is of the utmost priority that we turn our hearts back to God before these same types of devastating conditions come to our shores. 

Down the road is when my “tragedy” or truth session came along.  The same conditions arrived in the other examples that God has shared with us in this article.  All examples have a couple of things in common.  The first being that people created a problem by believing their way was better.  Secondly, after the act was completed, it was covered.  Thirdly, the truth was found out and lastly the consequences of those acts were revealed.  It does not have to happen in this fashion, that pattern can be stopped, but it is strictly our choice to do so or not.  God loves us and wishes us to think according to His ways and means, not our own.  It is His ways that lead to protection and prosperity both physically and spiritually, not our own.  Why do we have to wait until we see the word “enough” from God being orchestrated before our eyes?  We do not, it is simply our choice.

One last thing before I stop and it is this, we must remember that when this devastation occurs it will not be partial to whom it is delivered amongst.  It brings into the concept of the just and unjust, another topic that God has shared with us a few months ago.  This means that many shall end their lives not knowing the truth about God and about His forgiveness.  We have fallen in so many ways that in all honesty I cannot understand why God has not already showed us His sanctions; only by the true grace of God has this not occurred yet.  Repent Church!!  Allow God to separate you, truly separate you from this world!!  Allow God to restore to you the ability to proclaim the true gospel of Christ as we are supposed to be doing.  If not, we shall witness the truth of God in a manner in which He does not wish to demonstrate; this is true love, whether we like it or not.

DLB

Fear of Losing

Fear of Losing

11/17/15

How many of us have this thought running through our heads?  At some point in our lives, we have to admit that this subject has crossed our minds.  It does not matter what type of loss we might encounter, a loss hurts and sometimes it is hard to recover what has been lost.  How quickly do we forget the truth that God can take away just as He has given; through our country’s attitude, it is clearly visible that we have forgotten this concept.  God is beckoning us to return to His fold, but if we do not then He must grab our attention once again.  Ironically when He does complete this act, it will be through our own choices that we fulfill every step that the Bible has already deemed as truth.

This last week proved to be one of the more up and down weeks that my memory can serve.  Work wise it was a great week but as many people know working in a hospital setting one always has to be aware of the surroundings for those surroundings can change within a mere moment.  For the most part my department was pretty much steady.  Yes, we had a few patients come in that were sick and needed a little bit more attention than normal but that is to be expected for this time of year, and with the course of treatment of each patient warrants these types of changes as well.

Right off the bat let me say that I am so very lucky to still have both of my parents alive and well on this earth.  I still learn from them each week that I am around them and I love that this learning process is still complete, for one can never learn more about life than from a parent.  Sadly, I must say that not all parents represent the best portions of life but lessons are still learned from such environments and it is our choice to continue them or to ignore them. 

One of the downers of my week last week came from a past coworker of mine.  Over the past few months, her mother had been declining in health but this was expected since some of the things that she had introduced into her body for decades was finally catching up to her, and with the colder weather creeping in it would be expected that she begin to slow down again.  After a couple of short hospital stays, she was released, sent to a short term rehab facility and from all appearances was making a full recovery.  This was all topped off by a return appearance to the weekly bingo hall for a friendly night with many of her friends.  The night ended well and all seemed normal as the family headed home.  But something was amiss for her daughter was awakened early in the morning with the news that her mother was not doing well.

No one really guessed that this hospital stay would be her last and that her condition would rapidly deteriorate in less than four days.  I was informed of the hospital stay and her condition while I was at work on Thursday afternoon.  I told my friend to keep me posted and to let me know what was going on at all times. Even though I was not a relative, I was close to this family for the lady’s daughter personally worked with me for more than six years.  While the hours passed I continued to listen for that text tone or the phone to ring, but it never did that day or night.

It is the beginning of November here and if a person is into high school football then that means that the playoffs are right around the corner.  We are lucky to have a great football program here in Delta and this year the team has been looking great; however, as with all humans they stutter a bit sometimes and force others to wonder how the final outcome will turn out.  Friday night is the last regular game of the season and the team we are playing is one of our bitter rivals.  Also, the winner of the game can claim the championship trophy of the league as well so there are many aspects in play here.

The game was a good one, tense all the way through.  Both teams played their hearts out and they gave everything they had to do their best to win the game.  The fans on both sides of the stadium had opportunities to cheer and to groan, with a few chances to argue with the refs too.  In the last few minutes of the game, Delta had the opportunity to score last but they had a long way to obtain this goal.  The drive seemed like it took forever and as the fans watched the clock tick down it seemed all was lost for an outright win and overtime would have to be settled for.  But alas, our running back took the ball for a long run and went down close to the goal line.  The crowd for Delta went crazy when on the next play our other running back ran the ball in for the go-ahead score with just 12 seconds left in the game.

The ensuing kickoff was a squib kick and the opposing team did their best to relay the ball across the field, yes rugby style and eventually ran out of time and space.  The game ended and Delta had won the rivalry game and had just finished the year unbeaten in conference play.  The only loss of the season came from a nonconference opponent that was a class higher than the one we are in; we were on the way to the playoffs on a high note.  For the first time in a very long time, our city and high school could brag about being the champs of the district instead of coming in 2^nd or 3^rd once again.  The atmosphere in the stadium was nothing but elation as news coverage of the game began and the interviews started.  It was a wonderful time for the kids and for the city and in my twenty-three years being here in this town I do not believe I have witnessed more joy and celebration than I did that evening.

The short drive home took longer than expected since I could tell most of the people leaving the stadium were still conversing about how the game went and ended as they walked towards their cars; I myself was caught up in this exciting moment too.  As we piddled our way home I could not help but think about my colleague’s mother and I was glad that I had not heard any disturbing news all day and so far that evening.  After we got home and unpacked the blankets and towels, it was cold that night we decided to go get some junk food to tie us over until the next morning.

As we were leaving for the fast food place my phone beeped, informing me that I had a text message.  Even though I was expecting a terrible message from my friend I was stunned when I opened the message and it read “mom is gone”.  My heart sank to my feet for I know that her family was devastated with the tragic loss of their matriarch.  The joy of our moment went down a huge notch and that was ok because life is so much more valuable than any game that is played.  My mood instantly switched and turned for the rest of the night and I went to bed saddened by the loss of a good woman, mother, grandmother, and all-around human being.

Even though this lady was not a relative of mine, nor did I have the opportunity to see her or to talk with her on a regular or continual basis, her life was a constant presence in my heart.  She was wonderful to converse with, cry with and especially laugh with.  I shall miss her presence on this earth and just knowing that she is no longer walking on the planet I cannot help but feel a certain amount of loss.  The comforting factor is that I know exactly where her eternal spirit now resides and will find out just how it feels to live without pain or suffering.

What do these two stories have in common?  They are another prime example of how God has always had the authority to give and to take away no matter what the situation may be.  The entire city of Delta was celebrating their victory while one family grieved for the loss of their mother, aunt, and wife.  The mother was never famous, rich or part of the societal clicks that would deem her life “important” to the community but to her family she represented their entire world that ever was.  It is this concept of giving and taking away that we need to keep in mind and to ensure that we never forget the importance of who is in charge of everything no matter if the circumstances are good or in dire straits.

Anyone who has heard the story of Job understands this concept of having everything that can be needed along with tons extra to having everything instantly taken away and the entire family stricken with ultimate grief.  This is the comparison that these two stories are making and it is the foundation of what God wishes for us to hear.  Job Chapter 3:25 is the perfect base for this topic for it describes what is going through Job’s mind at the time of his dilemma.  Job’s entire world had come crashing down upon him and he had watched his entire family’s possessions go up in flames.  Even his wife had commented to him to curse God and die.

This is a horrific scene and one that is not hard to think about and to imagine but the question remains if we really believe that something like this can happen to you, or to our nation?  The majority of the nation would say no simply because their ideas of prosperity have been lost to who actually has control over these things and, therefore they are not focused on the reality of such principle.  There is no way that anyone should be joyful in a death of a relative, friend or loved one but when the grievers understand that the one who has just left is with Jesus their immediate turmoil is comforted greatly, simply with this truth.  It is this comfort that job had not lost his faith in God nor did he listen to the advice of his friends and abandon everything that he had learned about God either.  He held fast and stayed true to his faith in God for Job understood the principles of God thoroughly.

It is this principle that many of us have forgotten and in turn have abused.  We expect our lives to be the most supplied and abundantly enriched than any other generation before us and while this is a great goal to achieve we must never forget exactly who gave us the opportunity to obtain these goals.  It is obvious that we have forgotten who the author of our lives and who gives us the luxuries that we now believe are necessities.  Another question begs to be asked and that is as follows: how would we fare if these luxuries were to be taken away, how would we function?  It is a legitimate question and the majority of the responses to that question do not have to be verbalized, for it is written all over our activities and attitudes.  And it is here where the difference lies between Job and our current lives and one that seriously needs attention immediately.

How can anyone prepare for death or for a death in the family?  How can one prepare for such a disaster occurring as it did to Job?  We like to believe that we as a human race can handle every episode of disaster, but it is obvious that when we look through history the majority of the time we have completely been caught unaware of how to deal with the current disaster that has presented itself.  The misconception that God could never allow such tragedies to occur around the world and that it is all by chance that things happen the way they do has gripped our minds and hearts to the point of being atheistic in foundational terms.  And it is also through this same misconception that when a disaster like the one in Job occurs, that we will have to fend off other like-minded humans when they attack for lack of their luxuries.

The only way that we as individuals or as a nation can survive a disaster of this magnitude is to be prepared as God has directed our hearts through His Word.  There is no guarantee that when these disasters will strike that we will survive them but if we do we need to be ready for what will occur afterward.  Job gives us an example of what could occur on a personal level and as I have watched many people lose family members over the years I can tell after the fact who knew God and who did not.  Their responses afterward are like night and day and when the national level is struck with such devastation it is predictable as to how people will respond solely based upon their beliefs.

It is this same type of setting that we need to understand about our personal situations for even though it may not seem too important if we leave this earthly life, but to some people and especially to God our eternal presence is of incalculable value.  We must never forget where our lives originate and it through this original environment that we are granted the wonderful blessings of God.  To remember that God can take away things, gifts, lifestyles and positions must also be retained within our lives for we never know when our lives will be changed with such tragedies.  No one likes to lose anything, but we all know that at some point in our existence we will experience such intimidating factors in our hearts; it is this important to understand why the fear of losing must be eased with the presence of God within our hearts.

We do not have a clue about long eternity really is, especially compared to our short lives here on this planet.  The result of our disobedience to God’s single command accumulated in a spiritual separation from God that must be in place until we take our last breath.  God did, however, place it within our lives to choose Him overall and to restore our lives, both physical and spiritual back to His fold, but we must give up the world in order to claim this eternal blessing.  This choosing God process is the only way that we can chase our fear of separation from God away; it comes from the covering of our sin through the blood of Jesus.  This acceptance of God’s ways and complete separation from the world actually takes the fear of losing our lives for eternity away from God’s heart.

Let us reconsider our position in this world and return to God and His ways.  We are much safer both now and for our eternity if we do this right thing.  If we do not turn from our ways God shall have no option but to allow certain things to occur in our lives.  When? I have no idea but God is a consistent God and He cannot waiver from His past dealings.  He is a fair and just God on all levels and must be consistent thereof.  We cannot avoid the personal devastations when death knocks on our door and if we do not heed the beckoning of God now, neither shall we avoid our national and worldly destruction.

DLB