Quagmire Of Descent

Quagmire of Descent

3/23/16

The title of this article can easily be applied to the world today, as well as it should for it accurately describes the condition that all of us live within.  There is not one area of the globe that does not have some sort of trouble that hovers over that state, and it is all due to the choices one makes and the patterns that humans choose to follow that established this situation.  God cannot create such a status for it is not within His order to do so.  This means that somewhere along the way a force against God has won a battle that has changed the tables a bit.  Our only problem is that we continue to ignore this challenge and place a steady course into the quagmire of decent, a place in which eternal separation from the perfect Creator is the goal of this enemy.

A couple of definitions need to be mentioned before we dive into this topic.  The first definition is the word quagmire and it is stated as the following: “a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot; an awkward, complex or hazardous situation.”  The second definition is descent and it is defined as the following: “an action of moving downward, dropping or falling.”  I must admit that these two words I have used all of my adult life and have never put into context their representation of how our lives fall into a category that goes strictly against the creation of our lives from which God established.  These two words also put into play a setting of dire need when followed in a bad manner and likewise the opposite is true when a restoration process has been initiated.  Both of these words accurately describe the two kingdoms that are warring for your eternal position and it is imperative that we understand exactly what is going on around us.

Most of you know that I love history and one of the specific areas of history that attracts my attention me the most is the history of war. War is nothing to be proud of because nothing good ever comes out of this type of setting.  I enjoy watching historical war movies and reading about the past military machines that tried to dominate their world but at the same time sit and stare at the concept that so many lives were touched in countless ways during those occurrences.  Many accounts of wartime expeditions produce both good tactics and bad actions, both of which have lasting effects on those who carried out these tasks and on those who were on the receiving end of them as well.

One common theme that I notice is that many of the characters that the stories are written about do not rise in rank on a steady basis.  Now, one has to admit that soldiers die or become severely wounded during battles and thus are taken off the roster.  This provides a spot of leadership that must be filled in order for the particular military association to continue and function as a solid unit.  So, why is it that so many of these main characters in books and movies end the long campaign with a lower rank than when they started?  After four years one would assume that a soldier would not stay at a private rank.  It is because for some reason their choices have deemed it impossible for them to rise in such rank.  These choices can be of various reasons and numerous in origins but in every situation their loss of rank and failure to rise is strictly on their own shoulders.  In most cases we cannot deny their ability and will to fight, but for whatever reason, their choices cause them to descend instead of rise. Human nature does not warrant for us to live a descending life but one that progresses and rises to the occasion that is before us.

One of the major concerns of our society today is that of complacency and the lack of will to improve our personal conditions and lifestyles.  This is a growing concern basically in every family across this country yet it is one area that most people either refuse to address or to take action against.  Instead, we pacify these people with handouts and wishing them away, not giving them the tools and the ability to improve their lives and to be a positive establishment within our society.  This movement now has infiltrated other countries around the world and from the daily reports that can be read about on the news; it has no signs of stopping or slowing down, only increasing. 

What is most disturbing about this state is that politicians are feeding into this descent of our society and reaching out to these people for support instead of doing the right thing and providing a position of work instead of laziness.  It is this type of generational descent that will dominate this country if we do not make the correct choices to restore the working ethics of this country again.  It is clear that this type of belief and lifestyle is not what our founding fathers wanted for their future country, our present country.  Again, what is most disturbing about this belief and lifestyle is that no one seems to care that our country is in a free fall into a descent that we can never recover; which this descent corresponds with our continual displacement of God from our foundations of existence and it is a clear sign of our own choosing.

So, what kind of standard does God create you ask?  The perfect standard is mentioned in His Word and it starts in the book of Genesis and the description of the Garden of Eden and the creation of God’s prized love, humans.  Genesis Chapter 1 -3 give an account of a perfect creation and order that was established to live without any blemish for eternity.  There was no pain, agony, sorrow or sin that God placed into the lives of Adam and Eve.  God gave them a place to dwell and to have dominion over, along with both Adam and Eve ones who could keep them happy for their long and everlasting journey with God.  Their bodies did not break down as we know ours to do.  Everything that Adam and Eve knew in the beginning, was filled with peace and tranquility, the exact “utopian” atmosphere that we humans today try to promote and achieve fully knowing that it can never be achieved in such physical manner.

It is difficult for us to understand a creative state that has no flaws or one that will break down over time as usage increases.  The modern engine is a great example of this because it is a technological wonder that fascinates any mind who studies it.  Every part that is in its place within and on a motor has a specific function and through this specificity and its creative (human) genius travel is such a snap today.  But over time these specific parts wear down and need replacing; our physical bodies fall into this same type of breakdown category as well which healthcare researchers are baffled about because when one studies our bodily systems they should work endlessly without problems.  Of course, the first question that comes to mind is why would God create something that is flawed?  He didn’t, it was our choices that made our bodies this way, not His.  God cannot create anything that is flawed, even the angels that chose to rebel against God and follow Lucifer were created in a perfect state, it was through their choice that their eternal status changed.  It is through this choice process that the pattern of quagmire and descent enters not through the perfect design of God.

So, what occurred to change this perfect status to the one that we know today?  The perfect status that Adam and Eve knew in the Garden of Eden was taken by their choices to disobey God’s one law by listening to the enemy that was allowed to inhabit the Garden.  It is clear that God had one law given to mankind and God did not force Adam and Eve to follow it; it was spoken to them and commanded from their Creator but in no way did God say that He would end their lives if they broke His one law; the consequences of their actions would see to that unknown process.  It was through the actions of mankind that began this breaking away from God and through these choices brought the words quagmire and descent into their (and our) lives.

According to God’s creative status, He cannot create anything that is defective because He is perfect in every way possible and that means that anything that He creates cannot be under His status.  God cannot change His status either, for if He did that would mean that He is fallible and could not claim to be perfect and everlasting as He rightly does.  This also means that God cannot force a being to adhere to His laws and that only by obedience can these beings live as they are created.  Therefore, this truth proves that someone else has to change their setting, God allows this change through that being’s choices, then the consequences of such obedience or disobedience must follow for God is a complete and orderly God in ALL ways and means. Genesis Chapter 2:17 states this truth and will be discussed in the next article.

The consequences of their disobedience were immediately noticed by Adam and Eve and while the “death” portion of their disobedience was not immediately recognized the process and descent towards this new and unknown destination did immediately begin.  Their eyes were opened and they recognized that they were naked is another huge statement that states the origins of our societal quagmire that we know today.  God has asked this question of us before but can you imagine what was going through Adam and Eve’s minds when this event occurred?  It was a process that they had never experienced before or even had to think about before.  The question of “what to do now” was introduced into their ways of thinking, do you remember the first time you were personally introduced to this phrase and question?  This picture that God shows us in this verse alone defines the process and word “quagmire” for it is a time where we have no idea of direction or what to do when a problem or change of setting is placed in front of us and just as Adam and Eve found out that if we do not take God’s law seriously and completely at ALL times, we are guaranteed to live out this word quagmire.  We must also keep in mind that the word quagmire is an active word and that its “life” is either present or it is not in our lives, state, nation or society.

Adam and Eve refused to recognize the true dangers of the serpent while he was consistently following them and establishing a relationship with their existence with his presence.  Eventually, this presence became a contact and it was through this contact that sin entered into our lives through the lineage of the world.  Their quagmire produced a descent that plunged them into a world that they had never known before and a form of living that they had no idea how to manage.  They hid themselves because the new understanding of what they then knew and humanly covered themselves instead of living as their Creator had purely given to them previously.  Just as God still promotes a pure and holy lifestyle of His children in today’s society, the world mocks our godly virginity and demands that we lose it as soon as possible and without regret.  This is the result of a descent that can only lead to the destruction of our lives and we must understand that this result is the ONLY result that the world can offer.  Therefore, the world can only produce what its leader offers, a quagmire life that will only end in a descent that will provide an eternity separated from God.

The question that God wants us to think about in this article is this: why does God offer a restoration process if there is nothing wrong with the world?  The answer is quite simple but in reality, the answer that we need is becoming more distant, not because of God but because the choices that we are making instead.  We are purposefully and willfully excluding God and His ways from our lives, which is exactly what our enemy wants us to do.  I have stated this next phrase before but it is so relevant for today and it goes like this: people love to take God out of every aspect of their lives and claim “religious freedom” while doing it.  What they do not understand is that they are accurately fulfilling God’s Word right down to the punctuation marks that are contained in the verses of the Bible.

God cannot create anything that originates in descent or in a confused state.  God is the author and creator of life itself and represents an order that our limited minds cannot fathom.  God holds no double standards and it is through this truth that He purposefully created our lives so that we may have the opportunity to choose Him over the world.  God understands His creation better than we can ever imagine and is such the foundation to His process of restoration of a dying and sinful existence.  The process of restoration is one that returns our spiritual lives back to a simple life, one that recognizes and follows God’s commands to the fullest.  It is through this restoration process that destroys the quagmires within our lives, stops the process of endless descent and places us back towards God’s upward plane.  The trees even understand this process for even though their lives are planted in the ground their branches point upwards to their creator.  So, if the trees understand this process, why can’t we?

It is God’s true desire that we return to His fold and once again restore our lives before His commands and laws again.  God represents nothing but true love but we cannot understand this type of love until we give up the descent that we are traveling in and step out of the quagmire that surrounds us.  Church, return to Jesus and the commands of God and He shall restore your land; not physical land but your spiritual land.  Restoration is a wonderful process and it is the symbol of true freedom from this world.  God beckons His children to return to Him, to obey His ways and to proclaim His Gospel – the true Gospel – to every human that walks this earth.  Return to God’s Word and study it for there is an endless amount of wisdom for life everlasting within it.  For God is the only answer to our quagmire of descent and the only way that our dominion can be restored again to its perfect origins.

DLB