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 4th 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
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