Moving

Moving

6/25/17

Many of us in these modern times have moved from our birthplaces and ventured elsewhere.  Some have completed this task a few times and others many times, and the reasons why these moves were necessary vary as the number of inhabitants of this nation.  There are times, however, that God says for us to move to a place that He desires for us to be and while it still may be a tad nerve-racking it is a calling that sometimes we cannot explain when asked.  The main knowledgeable fact that we must keep in mind when God says things of this nature is to keep our spiritual ears open so that we understand exactly where He wants us, for if we close off our hearts to His will, then our lives become totally miserable and could mean our end in disobedience.

Many of you know that I am a preacher’s kid and moving around comes with the territory when your parents are following the call of God that is upon their lives.  I see and understand why many of us PKs have trouble with this kind of life and that if we continue to see this part of ministry on self-centered focus time will be difficult for everyone.  Picking up and moving about the country or to other nations can be quite traumatic and often leave long term scars if not understood why it is necessary to move at times, but it is a must for anyone who is thrown into this situation to know that there is a reason for hearing what God is saying to your heart and to be a willing participant in the move instead of dragging your feet and heart in the sand.

A while back, God laid it on my heart to forgive a city and everything that occurred in my life while we had our short stay there. But as I look back at that time in my life I understand exactly why God had us there and it was for all of us to know exactly what the condition of this nation was turning towards.  Now, I must admit that I have not fully paid attention to each word that has come from my dad’s mouth while he was on the platform but it was clear to me that his sermons during this time were of a different measure, even teaching repentance on a Wednesday night service, who does that on a continual basis?  Anyway, our six months in this city was an eye opening experience that included threats to my parents’ lives and contracts out on my life and ending with me leaving early due to a health crisis and a flash flood as soon as dad obeyed God and shook the dust from his feet as they pulled out of the city.  God has His reasons for our time in Hobbs, and while it was only a short time God showed His mighty hand to that town but was forced to change His stance when they refused to obey.

Hobbs, New Mexico was only one of the experiences of my life and basically the only one where I really was in constant danger, and notably why.  Other experiences concerning moves went mainly uneventful with some of the stays being two years or so to four years in duration.  All was well I guess but whatever the cause or reasons I did not take too much beef with the moves and God allowed my heart to stay soft and tender to Him and through this condition I learned a lot from each move and can honestly reflect with a pure heart and still learn from those experiences.  Those experiences came at a price with some being friendly and others painful but through it all, I understood exactly why I was asked to make a change.  One can physically move about the country each year but it is the steadiness of your heart to God that He sees and will use as a witness for His Kingdom and it is this truth that He wants everyone to know about Him.

With each move that my family made, we packed up our entire belongings and left the area and headed for our new destination. When we left we took everything that we owned and deemed worthy enough to keep and take with us on our new journey.  Of course, not everything went according to plan and at that time some of these sessions were a tad uncomfortable but when we look back on them now we cannot help but laugh, well, most of us at least.  All of our possessions came with us to our new place of residence and our presence at the old place was now just a memory in our hearts and of the people that we knew there, and what lied ahead we had no idea what going to occur but I know that my parents trusted God for everything and as always He showed up and provided for all our needs.  You know, it is amazing just how many things a person or family acquires over a lifetime, and it is these moments that we should really reflect on just how much we actually need for survival and we should ask ourselves are these things that we possess really worth their weight?

I will be using two different settings and examples in this article from God and both of these are very familiar to anyone that has studied the Word of God at any length.  Adam and Eve along with Abram are famous people that many have heard about and both of these families were changed by God in many ways but when God told them that they had to move on their circumstances were totally opposite from each other and presented many different challenges when their moving day arrived.  I do not know what is coming to this nation specifically but I have felt like certain events, from God’s hand and not from human’s, is going to set back this nation and place it on its knees.  Many people have had similar dreams and visions which correspond to what God has shown me personally and even though it does not look too bright for this nation God wants us to know that He is still speaking to His children and giving them instructions on what to do before things occur, what to do when these events occur, and more importantly how to deal with issues afterward.

In the beginning of Genesis, we see the beautiful creation of the world and all of its inhabitants, all living in a perfect and equal unity with God and serving as the definition of eternity.  As the book of Genesis progresses we encounter a being that does not want harmony with God or His Creations and seeks to do his best in deceiving them into accepting his way of existence instead. This deception that was presented to them is successful and Adam and Eve’s lives are radically changed forever and are handed out consequences of their choices.  By the middle portion of Genesis Chapter 3, we find the consequences of all parties involved being told and then a prophetic covering being given to Adam and Eve and no one else.  The end of Chapter 3 concludes with Adam and Eve being told about their imminent move from the Garden of Eden, a huge shock that must have been overwhelming.

When God created Adam and Eve He did so in such a manner that they entered into existence with nothing, they did not even have any clothes to wear for God had established their existence in such a way that their innocence warranted no such need for cover.  God provided every single detail for their lives and had it conveniently ready before their creation and all they had to do was to inhabit the perfectly created place that God placed them into, plain and simple.  However, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and His single command and thus allowed their lives to be altered enough that God had no choice but to end their stay in paradise.  This may seem a bit cruel but it gives us the very detail about obedience that we need to keep harbored in our hearts at all times, just don’t disobey.  God gave us a mind and a heart and through these gifts, we have the ability to understand the reasons why it is important for us to stay with God’s boundaries of protection.

At the end of Genesis 3, we find that God is saying to Adam and Eve that it is time for them to leave the Garden of Eden which must have comes as a huge shock to them, especially after the day that they had just been through.  Yet, it was a necessity that had to play out for God could not allow sin to inhabit His perfection in accordance with His own definition of existence thus the prized creations had to move.  God had to move the sin for His existence and eternal status cannot inhabit the same area, which means that God’s Kingdom cannot and shall not ever share space with sin.  If God could share space with sin then He would not be God and would not have any further reason to give us His Word (the Bible).  This is a very important detail that we need to remember AND share with our loved ones and those who do not know God or follow in His Ways because if we continue down the path that we are in we shall experience a great devastation that will not only change our nation but the course of society as we know it today as well.  Therefore, requiring us to move from our homes for the conditions of living standards will not be readily available any longer.

When we take matters into our own hands and believe that God’s ways and laws are beneath our recognition it will only be a matter of time before we find ourselves moving from our homeland in disgrace.  God has no intentions for any of us to live in this capacity or have to face eviction from our way of life for He is the eternal Creator and wants nothing less than perfection of life for our hearts.  But if we do not hold His standards high above all others and keep His Word and Ways first in our hearts, we shall bear witness to this type of disgraceful moving process and thus be subject to complete loss instead of a great gain.  We also must consider such an ordeal when it comes to the destination of our lives who have taken such a dramatic turn.  Ways of communication were quite limited back in the days of Adam and Eve and once driven from the Garden of Eden their direction of advancement must have been limited, but they found their new destination and while totally different from their previous living establishment God was with them and watched over their lives as they learned about their new living space. 

There is a huge detail that we need to keep in mind here, one that is just as important as the single command that was given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and one that will have a dramatic truth unfold if not followed.  All throughout the Word of God, it is clear that if an individual or nation totally and completely recognizes their sin against God and permanently turns from these sins God shall restore their lives and make things like new again.  However, if this change of heart actually is lip service and comes not from the heart, these changes and further destruction will come to these people and each time will be harsher than before.  It is this setting in which God states again that it is our choice to either obey God’s Word and to live in perfect peace or to take our chances with ultimate devastation by not obeying His commands.  Always remember that God has a plan for each one of us and He will bring us to the point of us understanding this plan of His if we just have an open heart to Him alone.

Finally, we come to the second example that God wants us to understand in this message and that is the one that occurs in the same book of Genesis and concerns Abram.  In Genesis Chapter 12 we find that a man called Abram who has recently been in conversation with God.  These conversations have led God to understand Abram’s heart and while God knew him from birth and before, God understood that it was time for Abram to begin the journey that God had for him.  In verse 1 of Chapter 12, God tells Abram that it is time for him to leave his country, his family, and his father’s house and go to a place where He will show him.  Now, when I was a kid and we moved, I was always told where we were going to be headed and while I might not have been directly involved with the directional choices of that day, I always knew where we were destined.  To trust in a voice that has only been heard and no physicality witnessed takes a large amount of faith for anyone to accept much less obey.  Yet, Abram did exactly what God had told him to do and within a short amount of time Abram and his immediate family were on the “road”.

Up until this time, we do not really know too much about Abram and his life.  We have a few details about his family and who he married but for the most part, Abram’s history is limited to such few verses and even simpler descriptions.  But the most important part of Abram’s history is that God knew his heart and understood exactly when it was ready for the purpose that God had for Abram’s life.  Was Abram prepared for what God had him to do?  It is a fair question to ask and one that is easily answered, no he was not yet after the big step away from his father’s house Abram did as God commanded, with a few bumps along the way.  While many times it is easy to step out from a situation at first but as time rolls by it becomes difficult to remain celibate and not look back or return to the previous comfort levels.  The important detail here is that Abram was willing to obey God when God asked him to leave.

Abram and his family’s story is quite a bit different than what we read about Adam and Eve, for Abram left his father’s household and dwelling voluntarily and had no clouds hanging over his head spiritually.  God had asked Abram to leave and trust Him in all of what He had planned for his life, whereas Adam and Eve had disobeyed and were told to leave their place of residence.  There is a connection here and a detail about God that may have been missed before but it states about the completeness and holiness of God and it refers to Abram leaving his house and family so that God can operate through him.  The connective detail comes from Genesis 2:24 where God commands the husband to leave the house of his father and mother and cleave to his wife, another detail that throws things into a tizzy for Abraham and Sarah along with the present day world.  God wants us to see Him as the sole provider for our lives and the One who represents our life without any compromises which are the reason He asks us (men) to leave our homes and trust our spouse and Him for all our needs, a concept that is almost completely ignored today.

From all indications, Abram came from a nice family that really did not lack in sustenance and been supplied with all their needs being adequately met.  When Abram left he took his wife, servants, cattle, money and his brother’s son Lot with him and set off into the desert to a place where God would at some point in time show him.  Now, I remember my small family setting out and moving across the country with all of our possessions in a truck headed to a specific location but Abram had much more sustenance than what my family had plus being led into a hot and dry place without a final destination known.  And, Abram willingly volunteered to obey and to complete what God had asked him to do.  This act placed Abram into a separate category than Adam and Eve and one that if understood and then followed would save a lot of problems in our lives before the situations become entangled with trouble.  It is far greater to trust God first and do what He says than to disobey and then have to reap those seeds sown down the road.  As we will see, Abram kind of forgets this aspect of God and tries to do some things on his own and when he does it costs him dearly. 

It is this attitude and heart of Abram that God saw and then used for His purpose and advancement of His Kingdom and one that we need to study thoroughly and place into our lives as an obedient servant of God.  To this day, there are many times that I look back at some of the things that I have done over my life and wonder why God continues to give me items of His Word and His Life to share with others because I can clearly point out where I have failed Him and His Word miserably.  It is difficult for me to get passed all of my heart issues and habits that reflect the definition of sin.  But we read about Abram it becomes clear that God had a reason for the path of Abram and we know that one day in Abram’s future his name was changed and he began a nation and lineage that would one day bring into being God’s own Son, the Savior of the world.

There is one consistency in these two examples that pertain to us today and that is the world and how we face the travesties that it brings to our lives.  Adam and Eve succumbed to these issues over time through wayward beliefs concerning God and His Ways, the same occurred in Abram’s life as well and when he decided to allow a small detail about Sarai slip, it would later define an entire spiritual division that we still face today concerning Israel and the enemies she has.  The steadfastness of those who trust God with their lives is a fabulous opportunity and when combined with the fact and truth of obedience, one cannot doubt the sovereignty of God or the purposes that He has for humanity.  Taking steps away from one’s own home and venturing out to fulfill a request takes courage and guts along with a bunch of faith and it is this faith that we must entrust on a continual basis so that when trials of the world appear we can stand with a holy resolve as Daniel stood against the world in captivity. 

The question now becomes which life and path will we take, the one of selfish gains or holy obedience?  We have many examples in the Bible where intentions began good yet ended in tragedy when eyes became focused on other issues instead of God.  The children of Israel quickly come to my mind when thinking about this question, and how many times have you found yourself in such settings which you had to choose which path you took?  And, what was the outcome?  We all have the opportunity to set our goals for God and to live through His Laws to achieve what He wants for our lives, but it is our responsibility to allow God to continually sweep across our heart’s floor so that He may clean out the dust and dirt that we bring upon and into our lives.  If we do not, then our path will be directed elsewhere and once off the correct path, our enemy will then be allowed to direct our steps into destruction.

We need to understand that both of these examples plus the example of our lives represent a path and a purpose from our Creator. This path is an active one and one that needs to be cultivated in the proper manner and by proper standards at ALL times.  It is our responsibility to look at our path (dominion) and to ask God for guidance about what to prune and what to let grow for another day or two.  God sees things about our lives that we do not and if we allow Him to take control of our lives our paths will be glorious and beautiful as God designed them to be.  It is easy to trust God at the beginning but when times become tough or tempting it is then that we need to ask God to prune and to help us, groom.

This nation and the societies that are vibrant today have faced this same question and setting and unfortunately, the majority of them are following the exact same path as Adam and Eve took.  And just as it cost Adam and Eve their dominion the path that we are taking today will result in the exact same eviction notice that they received.  No one likes to be driven from their homes through ugly circumstances or forced conditions.  The basic foundation of our way of life is grounded on family and the growth and development of a family that is independent of those around us, so why are we continually seeking those around us for the answers that only God can adequately and accurately provide?  Why would we choose to move under dire circumstances instead of in a friendly and obedient manner?  It is a guarantee that God will ask us to move at some point in our lives, not necessarily a physical move but a move within our hearts and it is our response to this moving request that will determine in what condition we will be moved.

God is not an idle God or one who can sit around and do nothing on a continual basis.  God has to be active and moving and His children were created in the same manner.  God moves us for specific reasons and when God moves us physically His purpose will be shown in His appropriate time when God moves us spiritually His reasoning is just as prominent and pure.  It is the way that we accept this moving request that defines how we will be moved and in no way does God wish to move us forcibly but only through the willingness of our spiritual hearts in obedience to His Word.

Over the past few years, the area in which I live has been witness to several families being transferred into this area.  Some of them are Christian people who have no real understanding of why they moved into this area but were in complete obedience to God when He told them to move and to place their existence here in western Colorado.  Other families have no physical or spiritual ties to God but have felt like they were supposed to move here as well, and the influx of these families continues today. The interesting fact about these people who have moved here is that they are not retired but are actively working in their own businesses and have moved their businesses here as well.  Now, for the past 8 years or so the major economic industry in this area has been under attack and for the most part severely crippled, our local economy is not in the best shape that it has been, yet all of these people are moving into this area because of uncertain circumstances or that they have been told to do so.

Why?  Why is this occurring?  There are a few certain and definitive answers to these questions and they apply directly to the direction and concerns of moving.  While we tend to focus on our physical wants and selfish desires first, God is always preparing His children for what lies within their hearts and most of the time we miss out on what God is doing because of our selfish habits.  It is easy to understand or to find out where local economies are thriving and the ones that are not, logically this area would not be one of the economies to trust but it is the exact place and setting that God wants people to move into.  It is this type of moving that God is asking and laying on hearts to move where He wants them to be, a voluntary movement such as He requested of Abram.  Jesus understood this commitment and did it Himself at times during His ministry and it is important for us to see the true intentions of the people that He ministered to after His presence went down the road.

We also know that there is another side of the coin for God prepares His lands for upcoming settings no matter what the circumstances may be in the future.  If God is asking people to move their stakes into this land there is a reason for that means that reason has not been noticed yet and will one day arrive.  At that time people that will be arriving will not be in the perfect of conditions or supplies and will need help as soon as they arrive.  Can you imagine what their eyes will have experienced as they arrive?  It also means for this amount of people to influx this area, a great disaster has occurred somewhere else in this nation. What is even worse to comprehend is that when this event occurs, some will understand why things transpired in the manner in which they did but many will not which is the exact reason God has voluntarily moved people with willing hearts to prepare for such specific heartache and personal devastation.

I would love to say that this nation is on the correct path to divert this type of devastation but I am sorely afraid that a great influx of Adam and Eve movements are about to come to pass.  I do not know exactly what shall occur to bring about these movements of people and I definitely do not know when this shall occur but I can absolutely be sure that I know why it will be completed and that is because we have turned our hearts away from God and have allowed our paths to be lined with lust, greed, selfishness, and every other prideful want from the world instead of allowing God to examine our hearts for these roots and cut them from our lives.  Church, we have allowed this exact worldly policy to invade our hearts and we are now contributing to this deceitfulness instead of exposing it for what it is.  You are the foundation of eternal light and not the supplier of lies of the darkness.

God has not shown me or my family to move from this area and I have no plans of disobeying God either.  If God tells me to move or to move in another direction I shall do it but I do know that whatever He has planned for my life I am doing what is necessary to be prepared.  God has definitely moved my heart over these past few years and has opened my heart to a realm of knowledge that has yet to end.  It is my duty and responsibility in love to share what God has given me so that His people will understand when the time arrives.  God is actively calling for people to listen to His voice and to obey His words and it is the job of the Church to relay those words of truth to those who do not know God.  Anytime God moves, the ruler of the world rattles his chains and when this occurs God’s people must be ready for the consequences.  The one detail about the influx of people into this area that is exciting and scary at the same time is that I know personally of four families that moved in the area that are pastors who listened to God and He specifically said to move here. 

The exciting part about this movement is that there are pastors who still believe they need God for direction and truth and are willing to obey Him at any cost.  I pray blessings over these families and ask God to continually drive them with His Word as they start churches for people who are about to arrive.  The horrifying part of this influx is that while many pastors are moving here, this area already has numerous churches in the area, which means that many are asleep to what is about to occur and that the influx of people shall be enormous.  It is time that the Church opens her heart back up to her Creator and allow Him to thoroughly clean out her heart so that she understands why the moving of people is important.  Oh, change our hearts God and open our spiritual ears to your truth so that we may once again fulfill your command to teach the world about you and your holy and eternal Salvation.  At this very moment, we can still move in the way God wants us to move as Abram did but soon this movement status shall change and once again the Adam and Eve setting will appear, but we can avoid this if we will just turn to back to God.  Which moving place would you rather be involved in?  We must never forget that no matter which type of move we make, it will influence a certain amount of people in one direction or another and produce a series of emotional responses that can either be detrimental or harmonious to a countless number of people.

DLB

Slavery Part III

Slavery Part 3

6/17/17

Over the past few messages, we have discovered a vast amount of information that is vital to our lives.  Slavery is still a huge portion of our lives and a detail that needs to be understood so that we can effectively fight and defeat this horrendous condition that countless people suffer from and fervently seek to be free.  But as we have studied, if we do not know where to begin to did that root there will be no way that we can end this slavery setting of our lives and return to the way God intended for us to live.  We will continue to study God’s Word one final time and end with Genesis 3:21 where God gives us a perfect picture of how to return to Him and His Ways.

When one understands that slavery rules this land of ours, both on the physical and spiritual levels, we then can know why it is important to understand why we should not be fighting the physical wars that we do.  It becomes clear that our fight is totally spiritual and explains why Paul states in Ephesians 6:12 about who we need to fight against and who we do not need to waste our time with either.  When a person loses their dominion that God has given them they become insolent and have no direction in their lives all the while not recognizing that they have automatically become slaves to the world and its ruler.  That is so important that we understand the truth about this seemingly minute detail about the first portions of the book of Genesis.  Dominion is the only portion of our establishment that comes straight from God and if we willingly give it up for any reason our existence of freedom has been snatched forever.  We have skipped over these details for as long as I can remember and we are now realizing the ugliness and vileness of these misunderstood details.  Always take into consideration that our dominion is ours and it has given to us by God which means if we no longer have this dominion in its totality that we have given it up because we have not protected and taken care of it correctly.

Slaves were bought with a monetary price in which their physical abilities determined the amount each slave master paid for that slave.  Money was the ultimate price that a person could use for this type of purchase yet it proved to be an exhausting process that required constant control and looking over in order for the “purchases” to fulfill their daily tasks.  In order for this to be done and the slaves kept happy and where they were at, many times special conditions or gifts would be given to them in order for them to work properly and to stay subdued.  The main events of human slavery occurred way before the events of the Holocaust came into view, yet the same type of atmosphere occurred and was allowed to continue for a long time.  

Other types of human slavery continued to exist from that time period and still present themselves today, not just in the traditional manner of slavery but in countless other forms of dependence as well.  When we understand just where the origin of slavery begins we can clearly see that Satan is using the same tactics the slave masters used against other humans way back when, and sadly even today as well.  When we look at the setting of the world and how we buy into this setting, it is easy to figure out that there is so much more than just monetary leverage.  God set the example of this when He Created man in His Won eternal and perfect value and did not intend for our value to decrease in any manner, a guarantee that Satan cannot honestly state since he himself represents a defeated status in the eternal placement setting.  God asks you to take a hard look at what is going on in the world around you, you do not have to go very far to accomplish this task, for even your own neighborhood offers some of the most wicked settings known to mankind.  Then ask yourself is this what God created and is it what He wants for your life?  We all know that the answer is “no” and that there is a better life for us.  Now, we understand who controls this planet, what his mission is, and how to destroy the works of the devil.

Some time back God shared with us a message entitled “Home Field Advantage” and when He gave this topic to me it spoke volumes into my life and how Satan has so many opportunities to control our lives even when we do not realize it.  But it was this article that we should now understand better because it gives us the realization of how Satan has the advantage and that we have not been able to conduct our freedom as we ought.  In fact, our fight has been stalled for so long that when we make progress we do so in a worldly manner and do not know that we have actually lost ground instead.  We must never forget that Satan does not just want your life to be separated from God but he wants it totally devastated before the final destruction occurs.  When we fight over who owns what or how dominant someone or something is it fits right into his plan of our own destruction.  For when one does not recognize the true role of leadership and then abuses its example to subdue others or to make a point, slavery is evident and rises to the top.  We continue to limit slavery’s presence in our lives which means we do not understand the entire picture of what slavery is and who controls this vile act against God’s people.  Physical slavery is bad enough but when we cannot grasp the truth about spiritual slavery and what its presence means to our lives our hope can never be reached.

When a person understands what is going on concerning slavery and the hold it has on our spiritual lives, one will fully comprehend the meaning of John 3:16.  one shall also understand the complexity and the fulfillment of this verse and how important it is to spread the Gospel of Christ for it is His presence on this earth that God used way back in Genesis 3:21 when God Himself made the coats of skin to cover Adam and Eve before their exit.  God understood the gravity and the magnitude of what occurred in the Garden of Eden when sin entered into our existence and through the Creative genius of God He still had an opportunity to bring His prized creations back to Him in the same manner in which He created us.  But things had permanently changed for Adam and Eve, and their lives were now subject to the choice of slavery in a defeated kingdom, a choice that many of us do not realize exists today.

At the end of the day, one must ask themselves about how effective their lives were that day.  Effective in every way possible and that includes the withdrawal of selfishness.  We cannot complete this task when we do not understand that from the time we wake up in the morning and every second thereafter we are slaves to a ruler who wants nothing more to sit back and watch us destroy ourselves.  As long as we stay divided on almost every subject our selfishness will continue to eat away at our insides like cancer, ultimately taking us down where we become ineffective at all forms of suitable life.  We have lost all concept of truth concerning unity in the name of freedom that is ruled through slavery, yes, stop and think about that for a moment.

It is evident that many people, groups, tribes, and nations in the Bible failed to understand that they were in slavery and that their slavery originated in the Garden of Eden.  Or, they did not take it seriously and had to find out the hard way when their dominions were taken away from them.  Whatever the case may be, through all of these pains and trials they still scoffed at the prophets, called the leaders of Israel liars, condemned the teachers of the New Testament and spat in the face of Jesus Himself. What is most heartbreaking is that all of these settings, all of these issues, and all of the one's today are being acted out because we do not understand that we are living in slavery.  And what makes this sad situation worse is that we are voluntarily piling on more chains each day, we are literally placing the shackles on our own limbs while we dance and sing praises to our worldly lifestyles.  How else can we expect to live and act when we do not even recognize that we are in bondage?  Oh yeah, we sing about how Jesus frees us from the chains but we fail to understand where those chains originated from and furthermore, we have no intentions of finding out how serious of a mess we are in either!

Here is the final comparison that proves the Bible correct concerning this issue.  For the past few years or so there has been a growing number of people who have demanded that white people pay reparations to the slaves that were brought over from Africa a couple of centuries ago.  While there could be some of these people wanting to go back to the origin of the issue and setting its case there, there has been no public outcry of this nature for it has all been directed at today’s societies and to those who do not have direct connectivity with slavery of old.  When we scream and demand at public demonstrations and protests that it is a right to reclaim past dues on today’s people it is a clear sign that we do not understand who holds the origins of slavery and it is even more definitive that we know not God and what His Son did for our lives.  We have purposefully blinded our eyes so that we can only see what we want which gives our enemy the necessary doors to work his destructive patterns through.  Until we realize and then apply Genesis 3:16 and the CORRECT meaning of this verse into our hearts and daily walks in life, we shall continue to divide ourselves, our groups, and nations that eventually we will not even recognize our own identities.  Genesis 3:16 defines the condition that each one of us lives in today and John 3:16 is the verse that proclaims every eternal reparation has been paid for and that we no longer have to live under the cloud of slavery.  It is this truth about God that was first mentioned in Genesis and completed when His Son died on the cross and then resurrected.

Do not worry, it is not just the people of the world who do not understand this truth about our lives and spiritual conditions for the Church have been blind to this truth for just as long.  If the children of Israel did not get it and the congregations of the house churches of the Early Church did not get it we should not expect anything else from the Church today.  Picking the Bible apart and using it for one’s own denominational settings are pure blasphemy and should be called out as such immediately!  The Bible has been given to us as an example of God’s Freedom in Him not to be used as an instrument of destruction by words of what we denominationally or selfishly fantasize.  All that does is issue a further search warrant for Satan and his demons to locate those who still have hope in God and to crush their wills through the spiritual legal doors that our actions have given them.

Church, be and stay focused on the spiritual freedom that God has to offer everyone who accepts His ways and shun the personal ideologies that promote slavery.  We must be like the angel that was before me and not be willing to be distracted with the information given and waiting on the command to spring into action.  The distractions around us will lead to slavery if we do not stay focused on what God has for our lives and the mission that His son has given us.  We have lost the seriousness of eternity and of the spiritual and we must grasp the concept that this is exactly what the reality of slavery produces.  If the Church bands together as one body, in the name of Jesus Christ alone we can end this position of slavery and gain back our freedom that God so desperately wants us to live within.  This is why Jesus said that His yoke is easy and not burdensome and this is the reason why He is considered to be and is the eternal Prince of Peace.  All of the stories in the Bible come alive when they are fully understood and lived through.  God offers nothing but perfect freedom and the ruler of the world knows this and that is the exact reason he will stop at nothing in order for you to believe his lies instead.

If we really want to demand reparations for slavery then let’s make sure we are demanding our lives back from the one who actually has control of them.  Kicking out God and everything that He stands for does not enable this process to proceed by any means but hinders any possibility of being rightfully set free spiritually and physically.  God never intended for our lives to be ruled and dominated by any force or worldly means but to live in constant protection from the world by His mighty hand and covering.  We need to be kicking out Satan and everything that he depends upon if we truly want to overcome our issues that surround us.  Have we surpassed the notion that we need to work together in order to bring back this nation to a strong standing point or have we unwittingly fallen onto our knees begging for acceptance as individuals?  If we do not believe God can take care of these issues then we are left with no choice but to be fully taken down not only as individuals but as a nation itself, a picture that cannot be pretty since we whine and crawl now.

If we truly seek God’s Word for the answers to our issues and particularly the truth about slavery, God will provide us the way to free ourselves from these horrible bonds that keep us from living prosperously.  Our lives do not have to continually embattle each other and represent division and not unity.  After sin was allowed into our lives God still provided a way for us to miss out on many of the troubling issues that humanity was now subjected, but unless we accept His coat of skin over our lives this process of slavery will only increase and the amount of pressure on our heads shall only increase.  There is nothing good about slavery and the processes that go with it, so why don’t we take off this slavery yoke and join together with God to defeat the lies that we have been under for so long.  We have the opportunity to live in freedom, true freedom, let’s take the opportunity for we now have the truth about the origin of slavery and we have the Book that can lead us out of this bondage.

One cannot read a story about slaves without coming across the fact that each slave at one point in time dreamt up of a way to escape their masters.  Some of these plans were acted upon and some were thwarted before they materialized but it was a constant problem with the slave owners, so extra measures had to be put in place so that slaves could not run away.  How productive would a slave who planned to run away told their master of how and when they were going to execute this plan of theirs?  This concept is ludicrous and would fail even before the words were finished being spoken, it makes no sense to do this.  So why are we doing this same type of communication with Satan?  It boggles my mind and it devastates God’s heart to watch people kick out God (telling of the runaway plan) and then wonder why prayers are not answered.  Wake up, people you are telling your enemy and your captor of the plans that you have and he is laughing at you as he swings his club and it hits the side of your heart.  You are being completely mauled by the slave owner and when you recover and “get your wits about you” you run and tell him of your next plan.  I see no coincidence in the methods of Satan towards his lashing out against us for he hates our existence so much, but we have the answers now of how do combat this ugliness and God wants us to go and teach this truth to the world.  Never be frightened of God’s truth, for it is alive and free for anyone who wishes to know and understand.

Stop getting rid of the only One being that can free you from this life.  Turn to Him instead of shunning His presence with selfishness and stubbornness.  Realize that it is Satan who keeps you in bondage and as a slave.  It is Satan who pulls your strings and angers your soul for no apparent reason, and it is him who divides and conquers you.  NOT GOD!!  It makes sense that we have not taught the words of God as we should have for our limited wishes to understand God and His Word have protruded stronger than our desire for the truth.  We can change these acts and turn around and turn back to God and He will guarantee to show us what we need to correct so that we may live in freedom from this world and glorify to others the true meanings of Genesis 3:16 and John 3:16.  I encourage you to study the 3:16s of God’s Word along with every other verse in there as well.

DLB

Slavery Part II

Slavery Part 2

6/16/17

In part one of this message, we were reminded that our creation and original status came from a perfect, holy, and just God which could not produce anything different than what defines Him in the first place.  We also found out that what God gave Adam and Eve to do in the Garden of Eden was direct, simple, and non-complicated and God gave them the necessary tools (heart and mind) to recognize why God gave the single command to them.  In addition, we learned the importance of applying these tools to recognize the distractions that are within our immediate worlds and what occurs when we allow those distractions to overtake our actions.  The other important detail that we learned was that when God sets a plan into motion He cannot change that plan in order to “fix” a setting, it must be played out to its fullest.  The resulting change in our lives through disobedience proves to be devastating and in this case the consequences of royalty going into slavery.

As the book of Genesis continues to unfold, we see that God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent all have a conversation in which the consequences of everyone’s actions are given out.  God does not beat around the bush nor does He him / haw around with the situation.  He is clear, precise, and authoritative on each level and what He says goes.  While we are not going to dive into each specific detail about the judgments of each participant we are going to focus on a particular statement that God makes concerning the woman’s relationship to the man found in Genesis 3:16.  I refer you back to an earlier message God gave us concerning this verse that was given on 10/10/16 titled “Dangers of Responsibility” for it was this message that God laid the foundation as to why we are living in a state of slavery.  It is also this verse that many of us, including myself at one time, failed to directly understand what God is saying here about our status change yet only focusing on the letters and selfish meaning that most men take on as the dominating force over women.

Genesis 3:16 states the following: “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”  We “men” have taken this verse and have distorted it enough to say that we are the ones who should dominate over women and have special “rule” over them. We focus so much on the last portion of this verse for our own egos and totally miss what has occurred here and what we now are subject to.  Adam and Eve’s entire life changed that day and everything they knew up until that point was no longer relevant and God did not make this statement for us men to overtake what He had already established as an equal partnership from our Creation.  It is our own selfish interpretations of this verse that have landed us into a mess that we have not identified yet and until we do we cannot fix the problem.  The issue here is not dominance but as the message “Dangers of Responsibility” explains to us, our job as men are to lead and to understand what changes occurred and how to fix them.  This does not mean in ANY way that we should ever ignore or belittle the woman, in fact, it is quite the opposite.  Our ignorance through selfishness has produced all of the “isms” which enslave us today which is not what God was talking about but what we believed through the lie from Satan.

To my own dereliction, I must admit that God has shared with me a portion of this section of Genesis that I have not written about as of yet, and through my laziness, I will have to go into a bit more detail about what God is referring to us concerning the perfect status of our Creation.  In Genesis Chapter 2 we have the detailed passage where God forms man from the dust of the earth, then breathes into our lives His spirit.  God then takes a rib from Adam and forms the woman and it is this specific detail about the rib that I have not written about but is highly significant because the location of the rib states equality from the moment of creation. It is this equality that defines human status in the Garden of Eden with each other and forms the perfect union for each other through the holy order of God serving as the Creator of all, the “Definition of We”.  It is this equality that serves Adam and Eve until Genesis 3:6 occurs and then we find a difference occurs from this holy order, one that has its own definition.

The last portion of Genesis 3:16 is a statement by God of something that has already come to pass, with Him placing an emphasis on the new setting of inequality and what it means to the humans.  What God is stating is that the definition of “we” that Adam and Eve had always known is over and that their true, identical, and identifying equality was no longer possible.  Ladies, do not get upset at this statement and men lose the big head right now but it is one that holds divine truth and one that cannot be changed.  God made man first, then He made the woman and it is this order of God that He has to abide by at all times; therefore, God must adhere to this setting and place the man over the woman per say.  HOWEVER, that does not give man ANY right to take “forceful control” and dominate the woman it just defines that man and woman no longer are equal.  Then, if equality has been taken away, that means that Adam and Eve cannot stay in the place where equality rules, thus, the reason that we see God telling them to leave the Garden soon afterward.  This picture that God portrays gives us a clue that Satan cannot change what God has put in place even when the setting goes bad.  To make issues worse, it seems like the participants in continued settings still have not correctly identified who is responsible for these differences either.

When equality exists it means that all participants involved hold equal say or amounts in a product that is in question.  All issues whether good or bad are deemed split equally by all participating members of the deal or agreement.  In this case, the deal is between Adam and Eve and God.  Adam and Eve being created in an equal manner and from the other represent one equal side of the equation and God representing His eternal Divinity without question as the other portion of the equation.  With Adam and Eve being equal this means that if one of them breaks the equality standard then their portion is separated from the equation rendering them unequal to each other as well as God.  So, if this equality is founded in freedom through God and His holy template that means that when Adam and Eve broke this equality they broke their origins as well resulting in a permanent new setting as unequally brokered.  If someone or something is not equal then the participants are now unequal and shall reflect such setting, thus creating a new standard by which that something is defined.

To go from a state of equality to a state of inequality cannot occur without a leadership change.  Whether this change is personal or organizational a major shakeup has to occur in order for something this size to present itself.  In addition to the change in leadership, God mentions that man and woman are no longer equal in status and that the woman will depend on her husband.  This cannot occur in a place where God calls home or one that exists in His presence which means that the humans are now subject to another authority.  When God laid out His plan of not eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil He did so with a known consequence, death.  Death means that another ruler must be in charge because God is eternal and He only creates things that are eternal in origin.  So, why would God offer the gift of death, or how could He offer anything lower than pure eternity?  This means that another ruler of some sorts must now be in control of basic standards that are far lower than God’s original standards.

So what kind of person or being would make it his effort to entice and then subdue another person’s prized possession?  One that was already subject to a lower plane that wanted to try and make a point to the one who offered the higher standard immediately comes to my mind.  This means that in this instance, holy and pure freedom through eternal equality represents the higher standard which makes slavery the only other option because when perfect conditions are given up then imperfection and a pursuing cover-up must follow.  If Satan is the father of lies then that means the only thing that he can represent is a lie and since God cannot lie those two representations cannot be equal or on the same side, just as Adam and Eve were “now” not equal.  It is at this point that brings us to the issue of slavery for if one is not in complete freedom then they must be in some sort of slave-like conditions, thus bringing into truth Genesis 3:16.

If we are born into a certain condition that means we are subject to that condition and only be a sure grace of circumstances can change such inheritance.  Psalms Chapter 51 states that I was conceived in sin which means now my life is subject to sin no matter how hard I try and do things correctly.  Even if I do everything right my entire life and make no mistakes I still cannot claim to be perfect because at some point my body will give out and stop working, which means something or someone has me subject to their laws.  If God cannot create death then that means someone else did through lies and since we have a being who has been eternally defined as the father of lies it is safe to say he has gained control over some portion of my life.  If Satan cannot represent freedom, then what can he represent?  He has to represent some type of standard or principle.  This principle of his comes back to one single standard and that is slavery and it is through this principle that our physical lives become slaves to the world and everything that it stands for.  It is through this principle that Satan lives, acts, and conquers and it is this original act of acclaimed disobedience in Genesis 3:6 that we ignored God’s authority based on His Kingdom of purity, hope, love, trust, and eternal sanctity and chose to be ruled by a loser who cannot even create his own name.

Well, this places an entirely new light on the issue of slavery and who is behind its nasty relevance in our lives both yesterday and today.  This truth through God’s Word also gives us an idea of how wrong we have been in engaging this process against slavery and proves that when we do not or are not able to get to the root of the issue our efforts shall fall in vain.  But through this truth, we will be able to fight the god of this world and to break the chains that have the potential to eternally bind us from God.  This is the job of our enemy and from worldly standards, he has this slavery business all wrapped up nice and neat.  Somehow we need to take hold again that sin is slavery and is not a friend of ours and that if we continue to obey the laws of sin we will fall into slavery deeper until there will seem like no other way to live.  But have we already reached this point because the attitudes that we reflect today do not look too much like God and that of the world shines brightly as each sunset occurs.  The depths of our slavery can be ironically measured up in a quote from a book that I am currently reading that is entitled “Restructuring the Household” by Peter W Bardaglio and the passage that is in light reads as follows:

                        “In fact, by law and custom the master exerted enormous power over his slaves,                                    who were required to show proper obedience and respect to him.  “The condition                                  of the slave being merely passive one,” declared the Louisiana slave code of                                          1806, “his subordination to his master and to all who represent him is not                                              susceptible of modification or restriction…he owes to his master, and to all his                                      family, a respect without bounds, and an absolute obedience.”

When we allowed sin to enter into our lives we automatically volunteered to walk in the ways of the world to align ourselves with the ruler of the world.  God gave us the protection that we needed to survive without having any adverse issues to encounter, the only thing we had to do was to obey one simple command and go on living without any problems.  But as much as God wanted us to stay within His protection He understood that He could not force us to stay with His Ways but it would be our choice to do such.  God did not fail to provide adequate information concerning the options that were in front of us, instead, He allowed us to make that choice and at some point in time we as a human race decided to go it alone thus choosing the opposite of freedom, slavery.  Take a few moments and read this short passage again from the slavery book and then see if we are not following in the footsteps of the world’s slave master.

How far off are we to solving the issue of slavery?  We are so far off that we do not even understand the role of the people who are supposed to be “fixing” the issue.  There can be no argument that Jesus understood the issue to the fullest and that through this understanding He was able to heal thousands of years of slavery, true hatred and discrimination in just a few minutes and then stay for a weekend revival.  We have had people telling us what to do and enslaving countless people and cultures ever since the first “kingdom” was established and we still have fallen well short of solving the issue of inequality.  Inequality is the definition of slavery if you have not figured this out yet and this unequal status has been in place all the way back to Genesis 3:7 and then defined by God in Genesis 3:16.  Yet, for some reason, we have been stuck on the lie that Genesis 3:16 has given men the answer of sole dominance and authority over women.  This interpretation of this verse in that manner is just that an interpretation and one that is a lie from the slave master himself.

There is no way that we can fight against the issues of today if we do not understand the origins behind them first.  The origins of this lifestyle have been sitting right in front of us for such a long time yet we have been totally blind to its existence.  I hope that we have missed this truth about this passage because if we have sat on a known truth and have not taught this to the Church we have been living in sin ourselves knowingly and even Job stated that God would not judge him for any unknown sin in his life.  God cannot create anything unequally He does not have that ability to do such a thing for He is perfect in all ways and on all levels.  We must never forget that the struggles that many of us face come straight from our enemy who has control over our lives and that we can avoid so much garbage if we just return to God and His Ways.

One of my friends suggested one time that we should study the 3:16s of the Bible and at the time I thought it would be a novel idea and one that I would eventually complete.  It took me a couple of years to remember that suggestion again and another couple of days to write out each 3:16 of each book of the Bible that had this content.  The gentleman was correct, the rewards for this study fascinated and I continue to refer to these verses on a regular basis.  At that time I had no idea of how significant those verses would be and how they would define a part of this series and how important it is to know who controls this world.  I use the word control loosely here and I am incorrect in doing it because it does not give the severity and amount of control that Satan has on this world, for it is a slave like demeanor and everyone who follows this “beautiful, fun, and free” lifestyle is consumed in its selfish vacuum.  When this occurs the 3:16s of the Bible become obsolete for the world will not teach the truth about its overall and controlled setting, it can only lie and say one is free through its popularity totally masquerading the reason why John 3:16 was written.  Some question the reasoning of why Jesus was sent to this world to die and it was for this reason alone so that we can be free from the bonds of slavery and restore to everyone who chooses to live in abundant and pure freedom again.

We need to understand that slavery is a possession and not just an occupation and it is important to understand just how deep that possession goes.  It is well known that when human physical slavery was popular that every master had to pay a price for each slave they bought.  Once God informed the participants of Genesis 3:16 of the new living arrangements, it must have been another confusing portion added to Adam and Eve’s day not to mention what would now arrive after that day too, just as it has been for us all these millennia down the road.  When we look this verse squarely in the eye and allow its true meaning to fill our hearts we will be able to witness exactly what is going on in the world and understand who is pulling our strings as well.

DLB

Slavery Part I

Slavery Part 1

6/14/17

This topic has been one of conversation for as long as I can remember and it is one that usually brings to the table heated words that may end in further divisions.  However, it is also a topic that is eternally misunderstood both in its origins and in its continuity today for we must contend that slavery is both physical and spiritual and that its origins can be traced back further than what we believe.  It was never God’s plan for us to be in such a state but it was our choice to do so and it imperative that we know the truth so that we can be totally free of this condition.  There is only One way to this freedom and it begins and ends with God and His Son.

Many of us tend to trace the slavery roots of humanity back to a certain time period of human history and define it as when the first recorded ship or group of humans were transferred from their homes to another place on the globe.  While this account can be deemed as accurate enough to satisfy our present curiosity it does not fulfill the truth about this practice and who it was originally set into motion on.  Almost weekly I either hear about or read about people who demand reparations for what was done to their ethnic people from the past and while it has become a topic of great animosity and adversity many people have been against this concept for the reasons that have been given do not line up with current population statuses, another topic of heated debate within itself.  We must grasp that if we cut ties with a problem at the middle of the problem and then leave the root or origin of that problem, the problem will continue to grow and thrive and will return until the origin is cut out and discarded permanently.

We will dive into the origins of this topic in this message and it is going to be one that God really wants us to understand especially if we are going to have the freedom that everyone wants to live in.  However, there is a huge detail here that we must accept as the truth and one that if not taken into our hearts as the complete truth will not produce the results that all want and thus provide our enemy with an added method of his hate for our existence which will produce more devastation to our existence.  All this time we have been looking through human eyes for the origin of slavery and we have continually been disappointed to find that the “origins” of this nasty condition cannot be solved.  But as with most cases of searching, we have been looking in the wrong place for this highly valued answer and what is so amazing is that the answer has been right in front of our noses all along.

It is the answer that will explain all of our problems and will line out the answers to every question that humanity has ever asked, and one that our eternal enemy does not want us to understand.  Of course, there will be those who scoff or doubt this answer and will not believe that the answer is simple as it is but in truth it is present and it comes from the Bible, the beginning chapters of the Bible to be more exact.  As most of you know God has been directing me from the book of Genesis and that I have repeatedly mentioned that it has been to my amazement that I have learned so much from this book.  I may never know every detail about this single book in the Bible while I am on earth but I do know that I will have eternity to figure all of its words out but until that day arrives I shall continue to share with you what God wants us to know not only from Genesis but from the remaining Word that God has given us.

This past week I had an experience that stopped me in my tracks, literally.  I have had dreams from God over the past few years and these dreams have been pretty vivid with specific details that my mind cannot forget.  To this day, I can tell you every portion of those dreams and the order in which I received them.  All of them relate to each other but at the same time, there was a piece of that large puzzle that was missing.  The dreams were not immaculate or complex in nature but normal everyday settings that one’s eyes would see if came upon, yet at the same time unusual enough to keep the curiosity of the heart wondering.  The dreams all took place in different settings and places but there were a few details in each dream that were consistent, such as a window, doors, tables and some type of gathering of people.  All seemed common but untidy when it came to the reasons why these places were chosen.  While I may never completely understand the full content of these dreams, the experience I had recently shed some further light on why I had them and an explanation of what is going on around us, without us even knowing it.

The experience I had this past week was similar to these dreams but instead of me being asleep I was wide awake and at work so it was not a dream but a vision.  This was my first vision and it was an experience that I shall never forget because it shook me when I realized what was occurring.  I do not feel like the answer that God wants us to know in this message is complete yet, but it does define a setting that we have searched for and through this simple look into the spirit realm God has opened my heart to see deeper into His Word.

The portion of the vision that will be shared deals with the state of the angel and how he did not even look at me while I was around him.  I know seems a bit odd and at first, I believed that I fully understood what was going on but God had a detail that He wanted us to understand about this angel and particularly what the angel was doing while I was gazing at him and his position.  I was on his left side and I was able to see in detail his facial features, at least half of them for I never saw the other side of his body and to my knowledge I do not know if he even knew that I was around him at all for he never moved one bit, he never looked in my direction, nor did he lose eye contact from what he was looking at.  It was clear to me at the time that he understood his job, his position and what he was supposed to do which he was doing as such, in a position to hear the command from the One who sent him there in the first place and would not be distracted from that mission until it was over.  It is this portion of the vision that we begin with and a little bit later we will get into another portion of the vision that explains more about the two Scripture verse that we will be dealing with here Genesis 3:6 and Genesis 3:16.

In the vision that God gave me, it tells that the spirit of God in its pure form is unshakable and has a direct path with a setting that cannot be deterred.  The angel not looking at me gives us the clue about this truth and how straight forward the spirit realm is and how operates.  It also gives us the perfect example of how simple the spirit realm’s mission is and when an order is given it is expected to be followed no matter what occurs around it or who shows up in the area.  It is this setting that we find Adam and Eve in when they were created by God in Genesis Chapter 2.  God placed Adam in a perfect place that had no issues with sin of any kind along with one simple command that God gave that He expected to be adhered to at all times.  The plan was unshakable and steady because it was established by God and not by anyone else.  We sometimes argue that this plan was too simple and narrow to be orchestrated as the defining point of our existence in God’s realm, but it is true and it occurred in this manner and served as our origin of equality with the Creator of everything Himself.  It is this setting that my eyes saw when I was looking at the angel and he did not return my look or acknowledge my presence, an unnatural act by human standards, but not spirit.

With the response to the serpent by Eve, it is evident that she knew that he had been lurking about for some time, at least.  There are indications, through the actions of humans themselves, that when an object has presented itself for some time that object becomes a “normal” setting and the other parties involved will not be alarmed when it appears again which seems to be what occurred here in the beginning of Genesis Chapter 3.  The conversation has begun between the serpent and Eve and it is a pretty straight up forward talk which gets right into the detail of why the serpent was there, to deceive her through the developed trust of her awareness during their recent history.  There was no way that Adam and Eve were not aware of Satan’s presence for his presence would have served as a deterrent at the beginning and his presence would have become more comfortable as time went along. 

In the vision, the first thing I heard was the water churning and clapping about and that sound did not leave until the vision was over, at first I thought that was very odd.  As my movement continued in the vision the water sounds did not cease or diminish but continued steadily.  The noise did not increase in decibels but it was loud enough that I could not ignore it, a continuous sound that I could not ignore.  As stated above I did not know that it was a distraction at that time but as God has shown me since then, the water served as a distraction and was meant to be as such for I was supposed to keep my eyes on the angel and understand his focus and mission, not the surrounding conditions and what ongoing around us.  

It is this setting that we find Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:1 for it is evident that these beings had become comfortable with each other.  Satan’s presence was constant enough that it was not bothersome but intriguing to them, a curious offshoot in the Garden that God created; so, why bother with what God said to be aware of and instead play with it and call it a friend.  It is this minor detail that defines the perfect distraction that would lead to the missing of God’s plan for His prized creations and an eternal change that would introduce a devastating policy of slavery for everyone else who is witness to this life.  The question that we must truly ask ourselves is if we are listening to the water around us or are we staying focused on what God has given us to do.

This portion of the vision brings into light a detail about Lucifer as well, one that explains why he fell and lost his position in heaven.  In the vision, the angel never moved, looked around, or made any other movement or gesture other than what he was instructed to complete.  His eyes were fixed and no emotion or sound was made from him either.  There was water around him and he was standing right above it yet he did not look down at the water nor did he see the condition of the water below him, he was not concerned at all just fixated at what he was supposed to do, waiting for further orders.  What if that angel was more concerned about my presence or what the water was doing around him and underneath him?  It would mean that he had been distracted by his surroundings and was concerned more about what was occurring around him than completing the mission that he had been sent to do. 

In other words, he would have been comfortable with the abnormalities of the surroundings and had accepted them as “normal” which he knows are not just by its presence.  The same distraction Lucifer had when he got his eyes on what God had made instead of keeping focus on what God needed to be done.  This represents a huge detail that we need to understand or we shall fall into the same distracted category and result in our eternal downfall as well; oh wait, I believe it is safe to say that we have already fallen for this distraction.  We cannot forget that through Lucifer’s own actions and choices he became a slave to his own distraction which led to his destruction.

Up to this moment, Adam and Eve have not disobeyed God’s command to the extent that it would warrant any type of life changing moment; however, with the statement (lie) that Eve responded with no argument from Adam, the serpent knew he had them where he wanted them.  Their willingness to entertain a being that was exotic in nature and appearance was the distraction that was needed in order to bring about the plan of our enemy, just as the water played in the vision that God gave me.  God’s command was simple and to the point and the angel in my vision did not waiver from God’s command to him at all the same way that Adam and Eve should have chosen to do a long time ago.  The angel understood that God had given him a reason to be in that spot and he was not going to budge or be distracted for at any moment God could have given the command to complete the mission that the angel was sent to do.  It is this point that God is making to our hearts today is that we cannot be distracted from what is going on around us because what God has placed into motion cannot be undone.  But we need to be on constant guard for His voice so that we know what is going on and why things are occurring in the manner in which they are.  Once again, we must ask ourselves are we listening to our surroundings or are we steadfast and focused on what God has commanded us to do.

When we read Genesis 3:6, we find that Eve, then Adam, partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it is this act of eating that serves as the disobedient act that God warned Adam not to do.  The only law that they had to follow was this simple and to the point directive that God gave them from the beginning.  God did not place any wandering “ifs” or “buts” to this command so it would have been easy for them to understand “do not do this” statement.  In freedom, complete and holy freedom, one can do what one wishes as long as they stay within the authority of the One who gave that freedom.  If the one who grants this type of freedom places an enormous amount of rules and regulations over those who are in this freedom, then it cannot be a true and holy freedom but a slave-like setting.  So, this means that someone who sees this type of living and knows that they cannot join in this setting will do everything possible to take people away from this type of freedom.  We all know what the opposite of freedom is, slavery and that means whoever wishes to take someone away from freedom can only offer the opposite or their “own” freedom which when compared to the standard of God, is slavery at its peak.

We see this event and change in freedom status occur in Genesis 3:7 when it 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.”  This is the first time that Adam and Eve have to do something that differs from their previous condition for they did not know they were naked and they had no reason to hide their bodies either.  This represents a state being changed into another state which means their original state (God’s creation) was pure and perfect and the new state was not because they were dependent on something else than the previous.  We all know that freedom does not come for free and that a certain standard needs to be in place in order for that freedom to stay intact, we see here that this single act of disobedience removes this freedom and a new condition of living is now in place.  Up until this verse, everything was supplied for Adam and Eve and they did not have to worry about any need not being met after the disobedience occurred they needed a cover a great change from their original life.  What seems to be a minute issue has now been claimed as a life changing process which needs immediate attention which means that their status of freedom has changed into a dependency.  Equality no longer is relevant to their lives since the source of equality can no longer be their origin, a problem in which we see will be explained in Genesis 3:16.

If we are distracted in any form we will miss what God is saying to our lives and what He is telling us to share to the world. Lucifer was distracted in heaven and it caused him to fall for eternity.  Now, Satan’s goal is for us to fall for his distractions big enough that we miss what is going on around us, miss God’s voice of warning and totally miss God in all aspects of our lives so that we share in his eternal downfall.  God created us to be focused on the job given to us to complete.  God also gave us the mechanisms to defend ourselves from those things that would deter us from completing this mission we have to do, hence the Garden of Eden setting in the beginning.  God kept things pure and simple giving us the job to complete and the reason why to complete it but at the same time creating us in a way that we still could choose our own destiny and not be subject to a slave-like master.  Wait a minute, it was mentioned a few paragraphs above that Lucifer became a slave to his own distraction and thus was the origin of his own eternal fall.  Exactly, which means that Satan cannot tell the truth for the truth sets people free and provides an eternal answer for the condition of eternity.  Therefore, Satan can only offer a slave setting that originates from his own kingdom which leads us up to Genesis 3:16 and the definition of the slavery constitution that rules our existence.

We see that God has answers for His people who seek Him at all times for it is these people who keep a steady heart and focused eye on their mission at all times.  I do not know if the angel that I was looking at knew I was around him but I have a feeling he did.  But my presence around his “space” was of no concern to him because he first understood who sent him to that position and second he understood that he had to keep on guard and not be distracted by any detail that emerged around him.  This confirms that the angel did not know when God would give the command that he was waiting for either but that he did know what to do when commanded.  God cannot be distracted by any means and when God sends out a command, message, note, or answer it is done so in simple and straightforward motion and at a specific time.  We have this example in Daniel Chapter 9 when Daniel was praying yet listening for the answer to his question from earlier, as Gabriel showed up when the deterrence was overcome.  One cannot battle adequately, see clearly, or hear correctly if they are distracted.

So, the question remains about how these two verses in Genesis tell us about a life of freedom and then the introduction of slavery as a way of life.  We have the first part of the issue covered and established that our initial (original) living conditions were under God’s protection and thus true freedom, but now it is time to tackle the issuance into slavery, a lifestyle that we still live in today and unwilling to tackle appropriately and truthfully.

DLB