On Level Ground

On Level Ground

3/8/16

We all know that when we are traveling on level ground things seem to go easier and through this type of travel our destination is more likely reached without major incident.  It is when the ground that we are presented turns corners with hills and valleys that present problems because our comfort zone is limited to the crest or short distance in front of us.  When we walk these types of avenues we find ourselves struggling more to achieve our destination, thus making it more difficult as we expend the necessary energy to accomplish our feat.  Do we recognize that this type of uneven ground is presented to our spiritual lives as well and how more difficult our walk in this life is when we tread up this type of foundation?  God has a better foundation for us and one that places us on even ground so that we may combat the trials and enemy that we encounter every day, but as always it is our choice to adhere to His ways or ignore them.

One of the first article topics that God showed me when I began to listen to His call for my life was one that concerned foundations.  Foundations make up the sole instrument that we build things upon including our lives and if that foundation is not level from the beginning there can be no recovery or soundness of our building projects no matter how hard we try to improvise or correct.  It is the foundation that keeps everything on track and thus provides the necessary ingredients to satisfy our covering.  Foundations must be solid and level on all sides and when done properly it shall provide us with a level playing field to adequately build our dominion.

When I arrived here in Delta, Colorado I began to work at the local hospital as a medical technologist, a position that I absolutely love and one that to this day I am grateful to obtain.  At the time of my arrival, there was only one building that served as the hospital but it was built in two stages years apart.  The east wing or the original portion of the hospital was built in the mid-1970s and it is this portion of the old building that remains standing today, and one that I currently work.  The other portion of the old building was built at a later time and while it was the newer portion it did not mean that the foundation of this west wing was any better, for it had some major flaws that became visible to those who wished to look close enough.

When the decision was made to build a new building for the outgrown hospital building, it was also decided that the newer portion of the old building would be demolished and made into a parking lot so that patients and staff members would have adequate opportunities to enter and leave the premises.  I must admit that it was painful to watch the old building go through its remodeling process but as I broke the rules and took closer looks at the foundation of that portion of the building I could see what my eyes had witnessed years before, the foundation was sinking and no longer viable enough to support any size of building.  The truth of the construction of the “newer” portion of the building was now evident and it was clear that the contractors did not secure the foundation well enough for its specific purposes; it may have looked good but when the truth was taught it was faulty from the outset of its laying.  It is this same type of concept that is in place when our lives run into difficulties and if we find that our foundation is not on a true level ground, our fate will rest upon our choices and the true foundation that we believe is level shall be exposed.

There is no question at all that every one of us will have difficult times to deal with during our lifetimes, and it is during those times in our lives that we need to make sure that our foundation that we stand upon is level and of solid construction.  Any variance on these conditions will greatly affect our abilities to combat the occurrences and when presented by our enemy we best be on the true solid foundational rock that God provides for us each day.  The biblical example that God wishes for us to understand against comes from the book of Genesis and of course, that means the setting is specifically within the Garden of Eden.

Many people have questioned God’s ability to know you as an individual and to understand your personal needs while we stroll through life.  I get the fact that this is a legitimate question but it is one that can be sincere in its presentation or cynical in origin.  But God gives us a perfect illustration concerning the foundation that He wishes for us to stand upon and we do not need to look any further than Genesis Chapters 1-3.  What is amazingly accurate about this passage is that it portrays all angles of the foundation provided, how we are supposed to use that foundation and what happens when we use it correctly and then choose to use it for our own advantages; all within three descriptive chapters.

We all know that Genesis Chapter 1 deals with the formation of the world and how God formed all of the plants, animals, land, sea, and everything else that we know in existence today.  The first six days of creation were completed and set into motion with Genesis Chapter 2 beginning God’s period of rest for what He has created was simply divine and perfect; a perfect platform to promote, taut His next and ultimate creation, mankind.  Since God is eternal He cannot change and this is evident in Genesis Chapter 3 when the end results of the selfish usage of the Garden of Eden platform takes center stage. 

When God created the Garden of Eden He did so in such a manner that was perfect, this is not a new concept to us.  From all indications of this setting, there was nothing but an abundance of life that flowed from this setting; it was perfect in every stage and state.  In every way, God had created the perfect foundation to place His greatest and most prized creation and God commenced to place Adam into the Garden of Eden and thus divinely created humanity’s first perfect and level foundation for existence.  There were no flaws in this setting nor were there any imperfections that needed to be repaired, only a working and dressing of the life that was oozing from every nook and cranny from the Garden.

It should have seemed like a dream situation but at some point in time, Adam and Eve must have believed that things could not become any better for them and it was at this thought when things began to decline and the perfect foundation that God had so lovingly provided was being turned into a selfish den of muck.  The selfish desires portrayed when sin entered into humanity’s existence came forth through the blame game that both Adam and Eve spoke of when God was questioning their conditions.  It had become clear that they had voluntarily stepped off of the perfect foundation that God had provided and made it their own.  God’s level foundation for mankind was now a slope that had to be challenged instead of being dressed, and therefore, mending was needed.

A growing foundation that comes from God does need to be tended to but it never has to be mended, for it is alive in all capacities that are possible and it is our responsibility to see that this dressing is completed.  See, God can never create something that is not alive and thus it needs to be groomed according to this life created.  The level foundation serves as a basis for our lives and if maintained and groomed will provide us with the perfect security, wisdom, and skills to fend off any temptation or trick that our enemy can muster.  But when our eyes become blurred or off focus to God, this foundation is allowed to wither and to become neglected where it cannot serve its purpose for you see, that foundation represents our life both physical and spiritual and if we voluntarily ignore that foundation it shall succumb to the sinful place that the enemy desires.

This picture is painted at the beginning of Genesis Chapter 3 when the serpent already has claim to Eve and has gained enough access to her life that she now cannot even state God’s single law correctly.  Genesis Chapter 2 reveals of how the God intended for our lives to be and what was to be followed in accordance to His one law.  For a time that one law was obeyed and followed to the utmost and everything was fine and dandy, but as time passed our level of truth became dim and our enemy saw the necessary crack needed for him to attack.  It was at this point when humanity forgot about the one law God put into place and began working for ourselves.  In other words, they changed the slope and definition of God’s level foundation into one that is on a slope and requires greater effort to now maintain.

From the beginning of humanity, God had planted His prized creation on level ground to give us the opportunity to show that we can live correctly and perform perfectly in this setting.  It was our choice to stray from this level foundation and to create the sloped platform that we love to call our existence today.  But it is still God’s choice to level this foundation once again and even though Adam and Eve blew it in the Garden God continued to present a way so that we can walk upon a level playing field again.  The covering of animal skin that God provided Adam and Eve right before they left the Garden proves that God loves us and wishes the best for our lives.

God also provided further examples of a level foundation when He instituted the process of sacrifice, the Covenant and when He allowed His Son to walk upon this earth and then give His life as the ultimate sacrifice.  In each case, God has done His best and fulfilled His promise of this type of level foundation and a return to a level foundation and in each case mankind has totally and willfully rejected God for who He is and what He stands upon.  It has always been our choice to either accept God or to reject Him and when we reject Him we must understand that the level foundation that He provides automatically slants, cracks, breaks and thus is broken which makes our existence harder to endure.

When our foundation is in the crumbled state that it is in today, our fight becomes more difficult and many times impossible to win.  The outlook for our futures become bleak at best with certain destruction and devastation guaranteed.  No matter how hard we try or how successful we believe we are we are still vulnerable to the foundation that we are standing upon and our enemy knows this condition for he was the one that instigated its brokenness.  We tend to forget that the foundation that God provides for us covers all areas of our lives, not just parts of it.  If we live within His ways and trust Him in all things we can have the assurance that our foundation is solid and will protect us and provide us with stability when times of hardship and trial arrive. God cannot provide a flawed foundation it is not within holy His power to do so only through our enemy and our selfish choices can our foundation become ruined.

As the old adage goes, history will repeat itself if humanity does not get it from the examples that have been cast before us.  There is no way possible that we can ever begin to imagine that we can win a war for our eternal existence without first being on a level playing field to start out.  The story of Adam and Eve is placed in the beginning of the Bible for a specific reason, they did not get it well enough to keep them from being thrown out of the Garden and its perfect existence.  The story is there so that we may understand what is exactly at stake here and it is our responsibility not to allow our enemy to gain access to our eternal status again.  However, the only way that we stand a chance of defeating his attacks is if we are standing on the level ground that God has provided for us and that means giving up all stances of the world and falling back under the blood that was shed for us centuries ago.  This fight for your life is real and it has all of the eternal ramifications included.

As we can see from the beginning of human history, doing things the human way does not make things level or easier by any means for they only complicate life and the situations that surround us.  Look at any example throughout history and one shall notice that the circumstances are far greater in calamity when God is not allowed into the forefront of that society’s existence.  There is a simple explanation for this and it is described to us in this article and passage in the Bible, God is the only being worthy enough to create, establish, maintain and deliver to us a level ground in which to participate with the shortcomings of this world.

There is nothing more that our enemy wishes to keep this information and truth from you.  If a person understands exactly what is going on and what he is spreading against you, then it is possible for us to fight him evenly.  But if we chose to continue to try and do things on our own then we have no hope to win against the struggles that we shall face.  As time moved along in the Garden of Eden so does time today and unless we change our stance and return back to God’s foundation the results of our actions shall be just as Adam and Eve’s, total destruction of the existence that we know.  Returning to God’s foundation allows us to be in the position to be in a fair fight without the odds being stacked against us from the outset.  Allow God to deliver you from this swampy foundation that is covered in muck and grime His is a much better place and provides a sure and steadfast foundation.

As long as God allows for us to have time on this earth He is willing to restore our foundation back to the way He first established it.  Just as it was our choice to allow Satan to crumble this perfect foundation we have the choice to return to God and to give Him all access to our lives again so that He may restore and level out our foundation again.  This means letting go of all our spiritual ties to the world and to the flesh and giving them to God once and for all.  God’s level foundation cannot be second or partial, wants deals in only entire individuals.  God’s laws are perfect in every way and they serve as the foundation for our physical and eternal separation from this world.  God urges you to take time and to think about this message for nothing He desires more is to serve as your level foundation.

DLB