Atheistic Bible Believers

Atheistic Bible Believers

7/24/18

The title of this article may seem a tad ridiculous and absurd to others but in truth, it is the definition of many people that consider ourselves to be followers of Jesus.  It is a harsh topic and title but one that God wishes for us to understand because this type of death trap of a belief does not represent God nor the Church that Jesus ordained before He left this earth.  Our hearts have become situated in stubbornness and laziness and it is because of this action or lack of action that we fall into this category.  Jesus gave us the command to go into all the world yet for some selfish reason we cannot even make it to our immediate family.  The Church is now ruled by the world and not serving her Groom, a place setting that has no good outcome at all and until we change this place setting in our hearts, we shall continue to see nothing but defeat and destruction.

I am probably the guiltiest person that has ever lived who falls into the category of not listening to God whisper into my heart when it comes to witnessing thus missing a prime opportunity for Him to shine into another person’s life.  All of us who have lived under Covenant have had plenty of opportunities that we have ignored or thwarted in which God has placed it upon our heart to tell the love of God and how His Son is the Savior of the world to someone that is ready to hear the truth about their lives.  In my line of work, not many people make it out alive and for the most part, the world and its laws have tied my hands to the point where I cannot say a word or even mention God to them.  However, there have been others who already know God and know their destination but in no way possible does this allow me to get off the hook of my selfishness in not taking the opportunity to witness to those who need God.  Yes, my attitude and light shines into their lives but my mouth remains shut and I do not pursue the opening like I should sometimes and it is this aspect of my life and of others that we need to really be wary about because if we do not follow the command of Jesus it will not take too long to find ourselves wrapped up in the title of this article.

We cannot turn on the television, read the news, or hear a song today without knowing exactly what the world feels about God and the plan of salvation.  We have become so self-servant that we have lost our entire scope of existence as individuals and as a nation, a nation that was created for a divine purpose for the dying world.  It has reached the point where I do not even wish to know what is going on in the world because in order for one to read the important details of the day we must first weed through the junk that this entertained society believes is more important.  When a completed sports trade or an actor’s third divorce makes front page news while a massacre in another land or even on our streets only hits page 5 we have a serious problem and from all indicators these “important” entertainment stories are followed more diligently instead of human tragedies and issues, the heart’s definition protrudes quite loudly.  Tragedies of a human nature only make headlines when it supports this entertainment conditions, a harsh statement but proven when a “famous” person commits suicide yet the two young lives who have performed this terrible act in this community does not even make the local newspaper.

God knows that not every person will come to know Him and live under His Covenant that He has provided.  God continues to wish that every child of His comes to the knowledge of Him and accepts His Ways as their own, and this position of His has never changed and shall never change either.  The only way that people will ever come to know Christ is if we alone not only show them Christ but tell them about Him as well and while it is said that actions speak louder than words and this is a true statement, if our actions are vocally mute they will be just for presentation only and not alive with testimony.  I have had the privilege to have been around many people in my life who were considered to be great people in a community but had no clue about God of that His Son died for their sins, an eternal tragedy that cannot be undone once they draw their last breath.  It is here that we turn our attention to what God has demonstrated throughout His definition and what His Son commanded us to do and that is telling others about the good news of eternal life through God and His Covenant.

Mark 16:12-15 will serve as the Scripture passage for this message, and even though it is a well-known verse there might be a detail that we have overlooked.  Verse 15 states this detail and gives us the reason why we need to preach the gospel to others for this verse is a Kingdom verse and it tells us that the Kingdom realm is active and is always in constant motion.  This verse also shows us that no matter what we must be on guard at all times too since this realm is active it means that our enemy’s realm is active as well and is need of spiritually combated as well.  “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”  Pretty clear and concise wouldn’t you agree, concerning the command that Jesus gives His disciples here?  Now there are many words in this verse that can be considered important, and each one of them is but the word that we are going to focus on is “ye” or in our terms for today, the word you.

As we have learned throughout the last six years or so in the articles and growth that God has shared with us through these articles, is that it is our responsibility to spread the Word of God to those who are in need of God and His Ways.  There is no way possible that God can perform this action and still claim to be a sovereign, perfect, holy and eternal God without any origin of reference.  It is our command to proclaim God and the complete separation from the world that He wants everyone to know and to live under yet we have not done a very good job at keeping this command from Jesus simply because we do not believe it ourselves which brings us back to the title of this article because when it boils done to the foundation of life if we do not believe in ______ we definitely will not spend the effort and energy to find out every detail that we can about that subject.  This holds true for God and His Son and most importantly God’s definition.  If we personify God into a selfish image then we are in truth making Him an idol and thus confining His existence into a box for our own usage and not for spreading the truth and life to the dying.

First off, we must recognize that there are two forces that are vying for your eternity and that these forces cannot mix in any way, shape, or form, we have been taught this on many occasions in these articles from God many times.  Secondly, we must understand that it is this spiritual warfare that dictates many of our lives and even though we may not fully comprehend all that takes place in this realm it is necessary to know God and His Word well enough to know how to fight in this battle.  Many people do not understand that this truth is always in play and that there is a constant battle for your life and that if we do not consider this aspect and basic foundation of the spirit realm our battle is lost even before we reach the front.  It amazes me how Christianity fails to teach and to disciple those who consider themselves followers of Christ this truth about why they are believers in the first place.  It is a guarantee that our enemy knows the Word of God better than most people and I would venture to guess he knows more than 99% of Christians, so why don’t we spend more time studying the Bible than we do?  When we live our lives with self first we can only show up to this gunfight with our bare hands, that is what has occurred ever since the dawn of the Early Church and we have not changed one bit from that glorious day.

Do we spend more time on a daily basis reading a mystery novel or some self-help book than we do the Bible?  Another question that needs to be asked is how do you read the Bible?  Do you study it for hours each day applying it to your life and then telling others about what you have applied or do you read the Bible just as you do a mystery or romance novel, superficially and quickly.  It is not necessary to answer these questions out loud for it is evident as to how most of us read God’s Word, for there can be no mistake about who has control of the world and which kingdom controls the Church as well.  This my friends, automatically places us in the category of the title of this article for if we place a novel about a lie on the same plane or higher than God’s Word then we believe the novel and its content more than what God’s definition has within its cover.  See, God is the ONLY being that is undefeated and has no rival and His Word is His definition so if we do not spend quality amounts of study time in His Word there is no way that we can live as overcomers.

In the Old Testament, how did one live under the Covenant that God provided for the children of Israel?  They lived separate lives from the world and told whoever was around of their ways and who established their nation as a testimony to who God was to their existence.  It was not God who initiated the fall from His eternal protection it was the human’s idea to do such a thing.  We read in 1 Samuel that Israel once again made the choice to leave God and His Covenant and to go on it their separate ways and it states quite clearly who made that choice.  On down the road, we see that this separation from God brought forth a divided nation of Israel thus making vulnerable to stronger worldly attitudes in which they readily and speedily took a hold of.  This choice led to prophecies against their land in which they laughed off and continued in their acts of sin, and sure enough, over time God allowed enemies of the world, the ones that they chose to live with, destroy their land and their lives.  They became living testaments of atheists and showed this disbelief to their Creator on a minute by minute scale.

How can it be stated that they were atheists just like we are today and still be accurate in that proclamation?  Who gave me the words to write in this article and why were they even suggested as being the truth?  The passage in Mark 16:15 gives us the answer and it holds a truth that was stated by God way back in the Garden of Eden to Adam when God said to keep His one law and to dress and to keep Adam’s dominion.  God was making a command to Adam and then to Eve that their job was to keep up the dominion that He gave them which serves as the same authority that Mark 16:15 when Jesus told His disciples to go and to preach the gospel to the world, it is the exact same command.  Therefore, when Adam and Eve failed to keep the command that God gave them, their lives became selfish and lazy and even though they physically witnessed Satan in his physical performance their attitudes had already turned enough away from God that they were now atheists on an eternal scale.  If anyone does not believe in the awesomeness of God and His holy and eternal status first, it makes sense that they shall not study His definition which places the world first in their lives which automatically states to God that they are atheists and have atheistic tendencies against God.  Our purpose in life is to spread the good news about God and His existence and if we just do this on a superficial basis we are liars and do not deserve His eternal presence in our lives.

Do not get God wrong here, please.  God understands that you have a life and need to complete daily activities but it is the time that we spend in His Word and searching His Word for wisdom concerning Him and how to fight against our enemy.  We have learned over the past few years that people wear crucifixes around their necks or around other parts of their bodies and yet publicly decry their selfish freedoms of the world.  This is the prime example of a superficial believer and one that does not care about the eternal status of their own lives and of others.  Screaming out in public to have the right to have an abortion or to be able to be recognized as a transgender person is not practicing a well defined and continued study of God’s Word; however, it does represent a well versed worldly kingdom ruler and the message he preaches. 

How far have we come from the in-depth confines of the Word of God?  It is these activities that are performed and marched across this land every day without any obstacles being placed in front of them, which means that we consider these activities and beliefs to be normal and acceptable practices.  That is okay, for people have the authority to choose their beliefs but please understand that those who engage in such acceptances cannot see the Kingdom of God for they have skewed the truth concerning God’s Word and definition.  It should not be too shocking to recognize that these lovely creations of God follow the example of the kingdom they serve for they have studied it and have dedicated themselves to its cause.

We have previously and briefly touched on the subject as to why the New Testament was written, how it was written and who it was written for.  We cannot escape the truth that even in the early days of Christianity Satan was hard at work working his words around the hearts of those who considered themselves to be followers of Christ.  Each letter written in the New Testament has to deal with some issue that a specific group of churches was dealing with, which means that they had already come up with alternative messages about God and His Son.  It is apparent that the attention of the Early Church had waivered from the command that Jesus gave them and had turned to individual beliefs about how to be holy and upright before the heathens, not realizing that they had become heathen themselves in the “practices” to which the writers of the New Testament responded in kind.  We cannot afford to be lazy in the fact that we believe our sanctimony is higher than anyone else or that our “pious” reaches higher than any other person, Jesus tells us this when He states that “you” will have more power and do greater works that He did while He was on the earth.

One cannot perform such eternal and life-changing deeds if they do not understand what is going on around them, they just cannot.  It is this truth claim that God wants us to know that we are harboring atheistic tendencies within our hearts and these beliefs are turning even the strongest believer from God.  It cannot be stated any stronger since this message comes strictly from God’s heart when He says to us that we need to spend more time in His Word and allow Him to search our hearts and rid ourselves of the sin that we have allowed to inhabit.  As each day passes we are witness to further anger and animosity to those who do not follow the standards of the world and if you believe that this anger is going to go away then you cannot be further from the truth.  This is a step process and progression and as each day passes we see more steps taken in one direction only simply because the ones who have the authority to stop and to reverse this process are silent.  We have no idea how to combat the growth of such wickedness so we sit back and watch God be thrown out of every single part of our existence while sitting with our mouths open in disbelief.

Furthermore, if a person truly and honestly believes in something they will know its contents well enough to stand and defend it no matter what the conditions may present.  Do we stand up with this type of truth for the Bible and the ways of God?  We may for a moment or two but with a short blast of worldly arguments we falter and drift out of sight giving the ones who stood up for the world further strength to carry on in their conquest of human eternity.  We must know the Word of God from cover to cover and what it means to our lives because if we do not it shows and tells the world that we have no fight and that we really do not believe in what the Bible says which sums up the title of this article and without any defense noted we must find ourselves guilty of such statement and charge.  Do we not see this scenario developing and transpiring each day?  How can we not?

The world will convince the human that their life is so devalued that it will provide them with information supporting such lie and have the human defend it on a public scale.  Look at what issues run across the headlines of any newscast today.  Many companies will defend certain actions in order to stand ground with the political guidelines they support all in the name of freedom and popularity.  These companies will boldly and proudly stand in front of cameras and microphones and proclaim the popularity and wonderfulness of killing human beings or doing their best to gain an upper hand through self-indulgence.  Where are the defenders of life?  And I am not just referring to the abortion issues either, but the life and expectancy of the human, where are the defenders?  We no longer can define what life is without contradicting a previously man-made law nor can we even spend enough time preventing such irrelevant and egotistical laws from being passed in the first place.  However, on the other hand of things what do we expect since we pass laws just as we study the Bible.

Church, we have no excuse whatsoever for the silence we have made over our tenure.  It is embarrassing of the lack of conviction that we harbor by sitting around with our hands on our open mouths and wondering why things have gotten so bad and out of hand.  Well, duh!!  We do not have the guts enough to spend extra minutes or hours a day studying what Mark 16:15 means to our daily lives much less proclaiming that Jesus Christ died for ALL sins and for everyone.  Do we even understand the time frame logic of Jesus’ time on earth and I honestly believe we do not because we have no teeth or knowledge in what we are supposed to believe in?  Are you proud enough of the Word of God to stand on the corner of a street and just read out loud the words of the Bible?  Are we strong enough to engage in a question and answer setting with a non-believer to find out why he/ she do not believe in God?  Can we even correctly and adequately in love answer a pointed question about a specific verse in the Bible when asked? 

God wants us to think about this spirit of atheism that we have harbored into our hearts for it is a process that continues to grow and progress throughout the hearts of believers.  The spirit of atheism and having atheistic tendencies is a dangerous position to take and to stand within and we need to open our spiritual eyes and understand exactly where we are at and how to allow God to take us from such position.  The world is continually gaining strength and Satan is enjoying himself by watching those who do not know him defend their own deaths, AND watching the ones who are supposed to know about God and to tell those who don’t do absolutely nothing or a poor enough job that the ones who need God are quickly turned off.  Open your hearts to God Church and allow Him to light His candle in our hearts again for there is not much time left and if we do not change the course of this nation soon, we shall probably never have a lifestyle full of blessings again.  It is all up to us but in order for us to start winning back the world, we must rid ourselves of the status of Atheistic Bible believers.

DLB

A Tough Stand

A Tough Stand

7/23/18

One of the most dreaded things a human being can experience is when they must stand against a concept that other family members disagree, yet it is a setting that sometimes has to be taken and one that probably will result in separation.  It is at this time that spiritual tests are presented and it also brings to light the faith in God at the same time.  This setting is the definition of division from the world because it is these situations that Jesus was talking about would occur between brothers.  It does not matter what the circumstance or issue may be, it is our responsibility to take a stand against such worldly activities but when we do it is just important not to alienate or throw away family members who disagree but to show them love so that God can continue to work in their lives and return them to His Covenant.  Both God and Jesus never stated that it would be easy taking a stand for His Covenant and Ways and we must understand this concept for it is being displayed today and will continue to grow since the Church refuses to live under God’s Covenant.

This is going to be an unusual beginning to an article that God wants us to understand for it deals with a former porn actress in that I read recently that she had retired a while back but since has returned to God and has begun to share her testimony with those who will listen.  She has promoted so many ugly aspects of the world in her past but now proclaims God to be the center of her life which has transformed her from the inside out as a wife, mother, and server of God and through this change God has completely altered her life.  The controversy now is that her opinions about life, conservatism, and the way that President Trump is trying to change the nation has been met with some harsh and ugly statements from those who used to enthusiastically support her professional life.  One of the people that read the same message almost immediately responded to her saying that when he was a child that he was thrilled to have this lady be his main source of masturbation practices but now that she agrees with this president on abortion and right to life stance, that she has degraded herself and become a useless piece of garbage that should not have any say in any further matters concerning this nation. 

When she pushed him on his statement he firmly agreed with what he contended and said and would not change anything about what he had written for it was his complete belief never relenting or apologizing for the grotesque manner in which he initiated the topic.  Now, why would any parent be willing to allow their child – that was the word he used – sits and be allowed to masturbate to porn on a regular basis within the confines of their house?  But as we have learned before in the articles that God has given us that not only does this type of activity occur regularly but an uncounted number of other ungodly and sinful acts have not been condoned by the parents but participated in with their children as well on a daily basis.  We must take notice of this behavior of those who live and follow the world’s rules for it shall only become more intense as time passes along, it does not matter what profession one chooses to obtain or to retire from for when a person turns to God the enemy will attack.

Probably the most influential example that one can use in this article would be the American Civil War for it still lives in our hearts and minds as the one conflict that represented the furthest of divisions in this nation.  Our nation was still considered to be in its infancy in the mid-1860s and even though we had taken many steps in the growth process there were some issues that had been festering within the layers of our national body that we had refused to deal with.  Our founding fathers knew about the issues of race and slavery, the conditions and demands of the Southerners versus the Northerners and their respective and collective productivity, then include these issues with a conglomeration of other minor details of division stir them in a pot for a while and you have the recipe for an impending disaster sometime down the road.  It took a while but a stand had to be taken concerning these issues along with many others, and when the time came these issues would infect each family of this nation and no one would be left out of this tragic situation.

One of the saddest truths about this devastating conflict came on the personal level for it separated individuals from each other within their families.  You would have husbands against wives brother against brother which led to many brothers fighting on opposite sides of the war.  One part of the immediate family would support the Confederacy and the other the Union, a devastating condition that still lingers in the hearts of families today.  As each side of the war lined up for a skirmish or major fight, no other setting could be more frightening than to watch a family’s livelihood be wiped out in one battle.  Furthermore, the majority of the people did not really believe that such a war could not linger for very long nor would it be ugly and brutal as the military leaders projected.  Some history reports even state that people took lawn chairs out to see the lines form and then parade around not knowing or recognizing that when the shooting actually started that bloodshed would occur.  It was to be the beginning of a long five-year campaign that stripped this nation of many of her young men and women completely and defined a large portion of our history with these markers.  But as the time drew closer to the actual fighting portion of this gross disagreement, stands on both sides of the issue took place and thus had to be recognized by the opposite stand. 

I wish that this type of ugliness and division would have been learned way back in the mid 1860s but it has not, and if the truth be known with the advancement of modern technology along with the ability of the mind to create and further develop its ideas, these evil and festered divisions are being manufactured and replicated far more common than one wishes to believe.  It seems like every day we turn on the news and we hear about another demonstration or protest about _______.  It does not matter what the issue may be, but the same type of battle lines are drawn and people are forced to choose a side, what they do not recognize is that these types of skirmishes only produce further divisions but what is the most frightening aspect of these stances taken is the fact that we do not care about the survival of this nation only to our own individual causes.  Most of the time the protest lines are of a distant measure but as with all instances of controversy, at some point in time the differences will be raised at the so-called dinner table and addresses will be adhered to.  It is this type of personal division that makes the issues of division today seem relevant because just like many other issues that families face, my family is facing one of the more horrific eternal divisions one can imagine.

This type of setting is one of the most dreaded events a family could imagine, and even though the American Civil War or any other militaristic environment poses an ugly threat to our lives, personal division through domestic, moral, and spiritual beliefs can pose the longer lasting consequences in families.  The Bible addresses such divisions and stances between families and the examples give do not matter which level of society is involved either.  The example God is giving us today comes from the highest level one person can obtain and that is on the kingship level.  Our example comes from 1 Kings 15:9-15 and will serve as the biblical reference to the article.  God gives us a prime example here of how to take a stand even if the stand occurs with our family members, for God knows that we will not stand for anything unless we stand at all times and be faithful to what directs our hearts; in this case it is Who directs our hearts as it should be no matter what the circumstances may be.  It is tough enough to take a stand when one’s friends are involved but in this case, a direct family member is mentioned and it places the stakes a bit higher while initiating this stance, a stance that had to be made in the eyes of the king and of the King.

In this passage, we are referring to King Asa of Judah and it is during this period of Israel that there are two portions of Israel, Israel, and Judah which had split from each other some point in time before.  Both kingships were intact and in functioning order.  King Asa was a good king of Judah and noted as such by the Word of God but that does not mean that he did not face difficult challenges at times and in 1 Kings 15 one of those times faced him and it was an important one too.  Verse 11 gives us an introduction to how Asa ruled and he did so as his father David ruled which was right in the eyes of the Lord.  Verse 12 begins to dive into a bit more about what the people of Judah responded to and where their hearts lay, for it says that Asa had to drive away the sodomites from the land and removed the many idols that were scattered about in their land as well.  This verse gives us an idea of how the people were previously ruled and what was allowed to occur and to be built without any denial from the previous king.  It is a matter of fact that the people of the land shall always follow the ruler of the land especially when the ruler of the nation follows the ways of the world in which Abijam did for the Word of God states that he walked in all the sins of his fathers before him.  This verse also gives us a clue of exactly what the previous kings of Judah allowed to flourish within their realms, settings in which God did not care for at all yet gave the people of Judah time to voluntarily change their minds before true ugliness occurred.

Now, we all understand that it is difficult to have to fire someone or ask them to leave when the person who is asking for a resignation is a close friend to the one being asked to leave.  But to have the person being removed is a family member there can be nothing good about this situation and to be honest, many people would not perform this act, and in order to accomplish what needed to be done would have someone else do the so-called dirty work.  However, Asa took matters into his own hands and lived up to the role of king that had been given to him by God.  This verse tells us that he removed Maachah from being Queen, a huge authority play all because she was practicing an act that was previously accepted as law within the kingdom.  But this passage also states that Asa did right in the eyes of God and kept the commands that He gave to David which means that the ways of God did not accept any other idol worship, heavily contrary to what the previous kings of Judah allowed.  It is this type of activity that we are discussing here in this passage and more specifically in verse 13, for the queen made an idol for her own worship and pleasure and then tried to hide it amongst a group of trees so that no one would know that it was there.  Verse 13 states that Asa found the idol that the queen had purposefully hidden and when he did so immediately removed her from being queen of Judah stripping her of her title and all that went with her status.  Asa then took the grotesque figure, the word idol used here means a grotesque figure, and took it to the brook Kidron and burned it.

It is this example of taking a stand for God that must have caused severe heartburn within the ranks of the family and since humans are involved in this setting there must have been some pretty ugly words and threats that occurred as soon as Asa’s performance was made known.  What gives him the authority to remove the Queen must have been stated a few times among the familial ranks and amongst the civilian population as well.  I can only guess at how many personal threats were made in his name and how many statements of other atrocities that were made against him during those initial days after the sacking, but even with all of this anger towards Asa he never wavered from what God had commanded Israel to live by and under and he performed his duties as God had instructed him to do.  Yes, it must have been very tough for him to complete such an act and the suffering must have been almost unbearable, but the stand was gladly taken and thus God was honored and God honored Asa.

The parallel comparisons to today’s societies are strikingly common with each other for there cannot be any question that Queen Maachah knew the Ways of God and what she was supposed to do in the representation of the royal lineage.  But her heart was not with God and she had strayed far from God and the proof thereof was in the fact she had an idol that she secretly went to worship on a regular basis.  It is for this reason alone that God made it very clear not only to the Israelites but to all of His children that we should not have any idols before God for instead of seeking God in our private times we will seek others and Maachah is a great example of this truth.  God cannot play second fiddle to our whims and wants He must be first in our lives for that is the only way He can live and be honest with His Creations, to place us first in His heart.  Remember God is a consistent God and if He says something that means He shall do it and if He says this then He must abide by the reciprocal as well.

Our societies today have clung to the worship of idols both in public and in private.  This is evident in that if one publically announces something then it is safe to justify that they proclaim it in private as well.  The circumstances may vary but the truth remains and it is that truth that our hearts display and therefore it tells everyone what lies within our hearts.  As we all know, if humans do anything according to God and His Ways there will be backlash from the world and its community, it is a sad truth but one that cannot be hidden either for we must remember that what lies within our hearts shall always be publically presented when challenged it is the way of the spirit realm.  It will not be easy and in many cases, the people that have taken a stand will be shunned by those who are offended by the stance.  As stated above our family is currently experiencing a setting such as this where one side of the family has called out the sin and the other side of the family has embraced it.  The conditions of such setting have eternal consequences and the person involved knows and understands this fact yet chooses to live in sin by choice justifying their actions with the Satanic and worldly lie that God loves them enough to overlook their heart’s sin.  The dangers of worldly love are that it promotes the concept that one does not need to demonstrate obedience to God, thus living a lie and not true love.

Asa demonstrates this obedience through true love by the example he set and then delivered when the time arrived and it is this same type of stance that the Church needs to take against the plight of the world and its leader.  But we have decided to pacify this lie and to allow it to grow within our church building walls thus allowing it to infiltrate our hearts as well.  We have become worldly leaders without an eternal figure to lead us into God’s Kingdom promoting what the world says is a part of its accomplishments instead of eradicating them from our hearts.  If we truly love people and proclaim this love to them then we have an obligation to call them out, gently and lovingly, concerning their sin.  The act of destructing sin is an aggressive one and there can be no mistake about this truth, but if we do not truly love and care for the person before, during, and after the cleansing process we are liars within ourselves and thus no good at all to the sinner.  I have watched so many people try and validate the truth through angry words and actions, and that only divides and steps away from the truth from those that need God.

Not much is mentioned about Maachah after this incident and correction and with any doubt, it was a difficult time in the Kingdom of Judah for the work of the world had been great and King Asa had a bunch of work to complete.  I pray that the setting in my family does not bear any further mention as in the fact that complete separation ensues but that total deliverance and complete restoration come within their lives.  We cannot control what others place into their hearts and believe is true about another, but we can control how we display our lives to them and if we cave in and accept their worldly ways as our own then our dominion will be invaded by our enemy, do not believe me ask Adam and Eve.  With the total devastation and destruction of Judah it is evident that they did not heed to the ways of God and thus God allowed their destruction to occur.  As stated above and in many previous articles from God, He is a consistent God and if He has performed such an act before He can and will if provoked at some point down the human road.

This nation was founded and established by God for a reason and ever since that first blessing back in the 1600s we have done our best to further that blessing by our own hands and not through God’s.  These selfish fruits are now being exposed for the world to see and the dangerous part is that we are in the continual blaming mode instead of admitting to our lies and fornications then repenting to God.  I cannot rule out the Church in this eternal struggle either, for she has committed some horrendous atrocities over our glorious history and she needs to turn her heart around or stand and be corrected as the nations shall be as well.  God wants us to stand up and account for the sins that inhabit our dominion and then burn them before Him so that we can be free of the bondage of worldly slavery that it can only give, only God offers complete and true eternal freedom and we cannot obtain this truth unless we obey His Ways and His definition.  The idol that Maachah made was by Hebrew definition a grotesque image and if the physicality of such an image is worshipped then only one image within the spirit can be presented too.  The physical cannot be eternally good-looking and the spiritual not have the same looks, it just cannot operate in such a manner.  The heart determines what our lives are witness to and what we witness to others as well and if the things we worship occur with worldly standards then there is no way we can continue to live within the Garden of Eden.

This truth of resemblance will always shine forth no matter if you are a queen, CEO, or just a common block walking the streets living a normal life.  As we have read above it really does not matter what area of life we may profess in our lives but when it comes to turning our lives around and then demonstrating a heart for God we shall have to take a stand at some time.  It is tough to take this stand against the world for it is known that there will be harsh worldly consequences to face when public notice is given, but taking a stand for what God says is correct shows the world and the surrounding home court advantage that we have a backbone and that we have confidence in our eternal truth that we believe and that through this stance our resemblance of what we believe is strong and cannot be taken away.  A detail to remember is that the world will always stand up for its beliefs and protrude them through their voices which is why it is vital that we stand up and take the higher Authority in order to spread the eternal truth to those who are lost.  God challenges us today to take that tough stand with Him in order to shed light on the ones who are promoting and thus accepting the kingdom of the world into their lives, God created our hearts for His praise and His inhabitance and we need to be prepared to stand for what is correct and righteous and to destroy the work of the devil.

DLB

Knocking

Knocking

7/15/18

How many of us have good attitudes when we hear someone knocking at our door?  With modern communication systems, the way they are today most of the people at our doors are expected but as we all know that is not always the case.  Our lives have become so busy that we do not pay enough attention to the time and when an unexpected knock on the door occurs, we can have a varied amount of reactions.  How many times have we answered our heart’s door with an ugly attitude only to find Jesus standing looking at us when we answer, or sometimes do we even answer it at all?  Whatever our response may be it could determine the future of our lives and for many people who are struggling they need to open that door but for various reasons, they do not hear the important messenger’s knock.  Church, we too, often do not hear Jesus knocking on our heart’s door wanting us to open it for His presence.  It is time we once again teach this truth about our Savior’s knock for the time may be short for some people or even a nation.

Many of you know that I was born and raised in the South and when God called my father and mother to other places within our great nation our vacations would be spent back home visiting family.  I thoroughly enjoyed these times and while vacations were special to us I was thrilled to be gone from my local environment long enough to see other parts of the country and then return ready to endure whatever life dealt.  My father was born and raised in Arkansas in a town called Stuttgart, which is famous for rice and mosquitoes and not in that order either.  It is a nice sized town with a wonderful heritage that many are proud of still to this day.  I remember those evenings when we would pull up into my grandmother’s driveway and we opened the doors of the car and literally ran into the house so we were not carried away by the amounts of mosquitoes.  To this day, when I go to the grocery store I look at the packages and bags of rice, turn them over and read where the rice came from and most of the time the label says Stuttgart, Arkansas.  Small details about one small part of a small state of this great nation but it is mine and I shall cling to it all my days.

One of the many trips back to Stuttgart I remember that we went and visited my great uncle John who lived there at the time.  I was not very big at all and even though I was young I still recall this trip for it was my first encounter with Uncle John who was basically deaf.  Dad told me a couple of stories about the house he lived in that involved my two uncles on the Bishop side of my family and other stories of the town and about the times that he had grown up there.  I still think about knocking on the door of his house and my father reminding me to knock hard because if I did not then there would be no chance of him hearing me.  I was a small squirt and could not make too much noise even if I wanted to but I did what my father told me to do.  He went around to the other sides of the house trying to peek into windows to see if anyone was home, he saw the television on so he knew Uncle John was home but with no response as of yet also knew that he did not have his hearing aids in his ears either.

We stood outside trying our best to raise him for what seemed like hours but when Uncle John finally answered the door it was a great time and experience for me to be able to see what he had to offer as a great uncle.  Of course with me being so young I really do not remember the details of that conversation between my dad and him but just sitting in his house and being able to look around at “old” things made my day.  And, the yard outside was big enough that a small boy could run around and burn off a bunch of energy that I had penned up inside too.  It was a wonderful visit and even though I did not understand the meaning of life and how quickly it could be taken from a family, I continue to think about that day and that visit from time to time.  I know that I can never return to that day again nor can I bring back my great uncle, but as long as I draw breath I can keep his memory in my heart and then pass it along to my children.  The process of knocking stands out clearly to me today for it was not a forced entry but it was a process that we on the outside was trying to grab the attention of those who were inside the house.  It is this process that Jesus tries to attend each and every day that we are alive for he knows that He only has a short amount of time remaining before He comes and gets His bride and He wants as many people to know who He is and what He means for their lives.

One other small detail about this encounter with Uncle John was that my father never once suspected that Uncle John was in danger or had been in trouble at any time.  The only condition that he knew about was that he was hard of hearing and that it always took some time for him to answer the door.  While I was very young and had no clue about the other conditions that my great uncle had, my father and mother never forced themselves through the door or did any property damage trying to get into the house that day.  We were all patient with the situation and eventually, he heard the knocking and the other noises and opened the door.  His attention was raised and we had a great visit for a while, a success story that I wish all could enjoy for themselves but I know that not all fit into this categorical appreciation.

Most have at one point in their lives saw the picture that is around that has Christ standing outside a door with one of His hands close to the door with Him about to knock on the door in front of Him.  His ear is close to the door’s surface and He is in a quiet and gentle mode as He is about to complete the action.  If you have never laid eyes on this picture all you have to do is to go to an internet web engine and type in Christ knocking at the door and you will get plenty of hits with pictures to observe.  I have had the privilege of seeing this picture countless times over my life and each time I see it, it strikes a chord within my heart and it speaks to my heart loud enough to envision Jesus’ knock at my heart’s door.  It also jogs my memory of the time in my life where I did not want anything to do with God or Jesus and even though my heart and attitude were not in the correct lineup Jesus never left that position and would ever so gently knock on occasion.

For the most part, I have always stayed away and strayed from the Book of Revelation for it is so convoluted with information that it has been so chopped up with opinions and surveys that I just do not wish to deal with it.  With that said and along with God’s sense of humor, I know that in the future we will be learning something about this book and what it means for our lives today.  I am not saying to ignore this beautiful installment of God’s definition because for us to understand and know God we must study ALL of His Word, so please do not get me wrong about what the previous statement contracted.  The reference text for this article is Revelation 3:20 which is a popular verse and the supportive passage for the famous picture that was discussed in the previously mentioned paragraph.  The verse reads as follows: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and sup with him, and he with me.”  This verse packs a punch in its content because it defines just how Jesus wants it to be with His bride, He wants a relationship with her and in order to have such a feast, He must establish a relationship just like any other type of human contact with each other.

The first word in this verse is “Behold” and then the word is followed by a comma which means that it is set off to itself and can be administered as a complete statement.  It is an attention grabber word that draws us to understand that what is about to be said next is of great importance and describes a setting that is in motion and will not cease anytime soon.  The Greek word used here is “idou” which means to look or behold and it means that one can see what is transpiring with their eyes but in order to do such an act one must see what is really going on around them.  How many times have you been on a walk around a local neighborhood and as you take your steps along the sidewalk or street have noticed people standing at someone’s door waiting for it to be answered?  I have to admit that over the course of my life I have witnessed some acts of this question but not very many, but that does not mean that they did not occur either.  The same concept applies on a personal level as well for many times we totally miss Jesus standing at our heart’s door and while He is still there and conducting His business, we have completely missed Him and His knock.

The first portion of this verse gives us the important clue as to the demeanor of Christ as He wants to begin a relationship with us.  The important word in this portion is “stand” which implies that He is patient and is not in a hurry about walking away.  How many times have we been the opposite when it comes to those who we are trying to change their ways?  I know I have to include myself in this impatient category when it comes to my daughters and even in my own life but Jesus is not like that for He knows that He shall never force Himself or His Ways on our lives even though He is well aware that when we do not have His Ways first in our lives we will always end up in train wreck conditions, for that is all the world can provide.  Yet, He stands there patiently waiting and gently knocking for us to open the door.  When placed with the word “I” this word gives us the continual state of Jesus’ presence at our heart’s door, these two words literally mean that He is always at our door waiting for us to allow Him access to our lives and it is this phrase that tells us that He not only stands there for people who do not know Him but for those who do as well.  It seems like this phrase really should hit home to those who believe that they have their ticket punched to heaven and can sit around and do absolutely nothing for God and the advancement of His Kingdom.

Does anyone like door-to-door salespeople?  I know that for the most part have been replaced by telemarketers, and can you imagine just how busy your doorbell would be if the number of telemarketers was still on the local and “personal” level?  In this political year it seems like my phone rings about three to four times an evening wanting me to support this or that or to make a donation to her or his campaign it is getting to the point where my wife and I cannot sit down and enjoy our evening together, let alone have an uninterrupted long conversation with each other.  This is the level that our society has risen towards and it seems like there is no end in sight to what the human mind will do in order to accomplish its gains and controls.  The human frustration level has increased with a paralleled anxiety as the societal markets’ which makes any type of truth and gentle placements in our lives almost impossible to fathom.  This tension is the source of many of the current issues we face and since we have ignored God and His Ways the flames under the burners have been placed on maximum and it seems like there is no end in sight.

This verse alone states that there is an option that is in front of us, one that has an answer to the day’s hustle and bustle of criminal liability that our lives are constantly subjected, the only thing we must do is to first hear the gentle knock and recognize that whoever it is outside has a totally different approach to what we are used to walking through.  If we only would go to the door and open it Jesus would love to come into our hearts and have a wonderful meal with it.  Jesus understands that this world is ugly and full of eternal hatred and He also knows that our lives can become so bogged down with this filth and dirt for He too walked this earth and firsthand felt the pain and agony of this world.  Jesus offers a true peaceful representation of what our lives were supposed to live within and under and it is His presence within our heart that gives us this peace and everlasting comfort.  Jesus wants to give you peace and understanding of what transpires in your life a commodity that all of us seek to find each and every day.  He understands that we shall not be able to find this perfect peace without Him, so when we reject His presence in our hearts we reject ANY hope of finding true happiness and peace.  Here is the kicker to this truth about Jesus and our hearts, our enemy knows this to be a fact about the everlasting peace when Jesus is present and it is our enemy’s job to lie to us and to mask this truth about Jesus from us by any means necessary.

While we would like to believe that our lack of hearing Jesus knocking at the door is a problem that has only crept into our lives recently, it would be a lie to believe such words and suggestions.  For the majority of the New Testament was written to the churches of that day and the words written to them were of a teaching nature of ideologies and philosophies that had presented themselves into the congregations as Word of God truths.  When one studies the history of the New Testament it easily becomes clear that similar issues today were already being addressed back in the 1^st century Christian Church, which means that the things of this world today were around back then as well, thus creating an environment with deep roots today.  Humanity loves to become busy enough to be distracted by the truth in the choice of entertainment and easiness and because we choose this path it is readily acceptable for our enemy to be allowed into our lives in the name of business and lack of study.  It does not matter how we answer the door to Jesus but the important thing is that we recognize the different type of knocking that He does. 

Our enemy wants us to become so busy that any outside distraction to what we are doing at that moment will be one of annoyance, so that when and if we answer the door to our heart we will not be in the mood to listen to what Jesus has to say, or anyone else for that matter.  The societies of today have become so hateful and angry and I am talking about the real anger and real hate that humans can display not the made up “hate” that everyone believes others have when they disagree with another’s position in life.  It is this type of divisive behavior that is a direct behavioral pattern that our heart portrays and while it seems to be ugly on the outside Jesus still stands at the door of this person or group and even nation and gently knocks.  There are so many distractions and reactions around us that keep us from giving Jesus the time He wants from our lives and it is in this position that time becomes unaware to our lives and thus has no presence in our hearts, a dangerous concept that will one day cease to exist.

As mentioned above, there has been a mistake that has been relayed to us concerning the presence of Jesus knocking at our heart’s door and that is we have always pictured this event taking place at someone’s heart that does not know Him as their personal Lord and Savior.  While this belief is an accurate one it is not the entire truth for Jesus shall not stop knocking at a person’s heart door after they accept Him, in fact, His presence at this door is just as important after a person accepts Him as it is when they have not.  God is a consistent God and since this statement is an eternal truth it means that His Son, who is in total obedience to His Father, cannot leave the ones who are in His flock.  It is this truth that every Christian should remember because just as we were knocking on Uncle John’s door it was because we wanted to fellowship with him and not be a nuisance, our purpose was just and so is Jesus’.  When we sing “you’re all I need” then we must not forget those words when Jesus comes knocking at our door.  We cannot forget that the Bible is for everyone no matter if they are people who never have known Jesus or for the one who has been saved for decades.

From the authors of the New Testament it seems like this type of condition existed back then enough to warrant addressing from Peter, Paul, John, Timothy, etc so why would we believe that it does not exist today?  Distractions and “lack of time” have become the scapegoat phrases that many Christians use in order to justify their lack of witnessing and providing public testimonies to those who need Christ.  While it may not superficially seem like those types of settings would be important they serve as the foundation points of our Christian lives and should be projected to all who come into contact with us, we have no idea of what is going on other people’s lives and if our lighted presence projects a positive presence then we have done our job with or without us knowing it.  We cannot afford to ignore God and His Ways because when we do we will not be able to tell those who are hurting to heed the knocking of Jesus at their heart’s door for we will not be able to understand what that sound is either.

The Church has become so caught up with the issues of the world that she has forgotten what it sounds like when her Groom knocks on her door.  Our eyes should never be so focused on the world that our appearance becomes a target of accusations instead of holy truth.  When we become distracted enough or deaf enough to the knocking of Jesus our eternal lives are at risk.  It does not matter who the person is or whether or not they are a Christian or not, Jesus will knock on your heart’s door in order to grab your attention for an important reason.  Our lives are eternally important enough to God and to His Son that He wants us to understand total freedom from the world at all times and the knocking that Jesus does comes in a gentle enough manner and we should be excited to hear the change of pace from those who beat down our heart’s door. 

As a collective heart, the Church has gained its notoriety through its own personal achievements instead of the advancement of the Kingdom of God.  This attitude was present in the Early Church and it has grown ever since.  That is a sad admission to make but it is one that needs to be addressed for we too have ignored the knocking of Jesus at our heart’s door.  It does not take too much searching to find that this is true and now more than ever we have so much work to be done to win the hearts of those who need Jesus in their lives.  But first, we need to open our door to Jesus because He is knocking so that He can come back into our lives and then give us the necessary words of life for today’s people.  When we open the door of our hearts to Him again it is a sign of repentance and His presence in our hearts is a sign of restoration the perfect combination of light to the dark world.  It is just as important for sinners to open their heart’s door as it is for those who have followed Jesus for some time for Jesus’ message is for all who open their hearts to Him, not just for a selected few.  It is evident that the Church has adopted this closed heart door policy towards this verse and thus towards Jesus and God says it is time that we start opening our hearts back up to His Son so that we may once again understand our mission to the dying world.

DLB

Waiting On The Lord

Waiting On The Lord

7/8/18

This phrase and topic are bound to cause some level of heartburn in people who believe that sitting around is okay in the eyes of God.  This type of service to God is a gross misconception that has infiltrated the very core of the Church and now is flourishing to an overflowing capacity.  Waiting on the Lord is an active act of obedience to the commands that both God and Jesus have given us to fulfill and if we are not completing this mission on a daily basis then we need to stop and readjust our hearts back to God.  It must be stated that if one is not continually being a witness for God to others that they are not in obedience and thus representing the kingdom of this world.  We still have time to repent and to allow God to restore our hearts back into the rightful place of obedience and then really complete the mission of waiting on the Lord.

How many of us know that a person can have a specific position in the church and still be in direct conflict and disobedience to God?  It is more common than one would think and we have no further to look than in the Catholic Church to see that total corruption lies within the heart of those who consider themselves to be leaders of God’s people.  It does not stop there either, for every denomination has either accepted worldly doctrines or has ignored the sinful lies that our enemy has deemed acceptable.  It does not matter what sin is considered friendly by the world it should not be allowed within the walls of the church building and it most definitely should not be considered friendly to the child of God.  But at the same time, it must be known that those who stand with God should not automatically shun the sinner but to love them as Christ loved the Church and should do their best to show these wonderful people the truth about their lives and their sin.  Yet, we would rather condemn them and turn them away before their world falls apart so who will they turn towards when their lives take this drastic turn?  Our examples that we show them today will determine how they react and who they choose to follow tomorrow and if we are sitting in our pews accepting anything that comes through the doors as truth, all we are doing is fulfilling the will of the kingdom of Satan.

The television series “Band of Brothers” came out almost two decades ago and made a great impact on many lives for it was a series that detailed a single company of men that fought hard and struggled to survive during the days of World War II.  One of the more action-packed episodes was entitled “Crossroads” and it had a great example of leadership and obedience demonstrated that one can give as a testimony of both issues of wartime.  One of the scenes in this episode dealt with an early morning surprise raid of part of the company that involved the men crossing an open field exposing themselves to the enemy even before a single shot was fired.  The leader of the group gave the command to stay in place until he gave the signal for them to begin their own personal advance but to wait for that signal because if they did not and jumped the gun then all means of surprise would be taken away and a disaster for their group could ensue.

As the leader jumped up and began to run across the field alone, he had no backup or protection for he was all alone sprinting across an open field for all who were looking to see.  After a few seconds, one of the soldiers who were behind and in place began to get up for he was anxious to help the leader out, but the commander in charge of the halted group said to wait for the signal.  This must have seemed like an eternity to those who were left to wait for the appropriate time.  Eventually, the leader dropped a canister of red smoke at his appointed time and thus the signal was given to those who were behind him.  The men then jumped up and charged to the leader who was already firing on the enemy.  By the time the rest of the men arrived at the leader’s position, a huge surprise of sleeping targets awaited their eyes and this action proved to be one of the most stimulating and riveting skirmishes in this episode.  Yes, many were killed and wounded on the side of the enemy but to the troops on the side of the Allies, it was a great victory and a wonderful example of both leadership and of obedience.  The men, while in a painful setting had to obey their leader in order to follow their leader and this provides us with a perfect example of what God wants us to learn about today, for waiting on the Lord is done through complete obedience to what His commands are, on all levels and not just one level alone.

One of the greatest farces of belief in the Christian world is that once we are saved that our job is over and that all we have to do now is sit down and be docile, read the Bible, and wait on Jesus’ return.  We have become so complacent in this lie that we actually have begun the process if reserving our tickets to Heaven by first reserving our places on the pews and thus kicking out anyone else who may be in those places.  If I am addressing anyone of you with this specific example, then good for I shall be stepping on your toes hard enough that you actually stand up off of that pew seat and actually demonstrate that you can get up off your duff and provide the others around you that you do have life within your presence.  It does not matter what God has called you to do for His Kingdom and I understand that there are countless ways to serve in Hid capacity but I can GUARANTEE you one thing and that is sitting on your rear ends in a pew for the rest of your breathing life is NOT ONE OF THEM!  If one does such an act then you are waiting on the kingdom of Satan and thus not waiting on the Lord.  One more detail to remember here and that is if you are not obeying the Kingdom of God then you are automatically obeying the kingdom of Satan.

Sitting in the pews of your local church or reading the Bible and then not actively participating in the eternal harvest that Jesus taught about means that you are hearing what God wants our hearts to understand – providing that the ministers are living by and teaching according to His Word – yet disobeying His command by believing your ticket to heaven is punched.  This picture cannot help but pain a selfish and superficial belief in God and a deep belief in oneself and God wants us to understand that when you accomplish this belief of yours you actually enable fear to rule your life because one cannot have the peace and contentment that God and His definition provides unless you dive deep into His Word each day for direction, knowledge, and security.  True waiting on the Lord is listening to His instruction and listening to His commands and holding those instructions within the confines of your heart for one day God shall ask you to charge to those who need the information that He has given you.  If we do not obey this command of listening and studying His Ways then when the time comes for us to have the discipline to obey in battle we will be like that one soldier who wanted to jump the gun and go out when he was ready, then the spiritual bloodbath will occur and only further devastation will occur instead of an eternal victory.

Isaiah 40:31 is a well-known verse that I have heard taught and have read many times and when God gave me this verse to share with you He did so in such a manner as to place it into an obedience factor that I had never noticed before.  I have understood the waiting on the Lord concept for a while and God has shared the beginnings of this concept to us before but He now wants us to understand just how important it is to not only hear His instructions but to place them into our hearts deep enough that we know to listen for His voice when the time comes for us to witness to whomever God wishes for His Words to be heard.  It is our responsibility to charge into the spiritual realm when God says to do so, not to shed physical blood by any means but to combat the spiritual forces that stand in the way of God’s Kingdom being advanced.  If we are sitting in the pews of our church building and filing our nails with an emery board or walking by those who are openly defying God in the streets and saying nothing to them about such sins, then we demonstrate to them that we only know God on a superficial level and thus can only provide a superficial explanation concerning God and His Kingdom.

Isaiah tells us that when we wait on the Lord we will renew our strength.  How is this possible, someone will ask?  When we wait on the Lord we are actively completing what God and Jesus commanded us to do and when we complete this truth act to the world God promises us that He will give us the strength to not only complete this mission of His but will also continue the added strength afterward as well.  But we can only achieve such holy and pure strength if we are grounded in the Word of God and as the song goes “drink deep in the morning” because it is through this process of study that only provides this spiritual energy.  Each portion of this verse explains what will reside within our lives if we only seek God first and to place Him first in our lives at all times.  On the other hand, this verse becomes dead and will provide nothing in the form of life if we do not have the willing heart to understand what God is speaking to us here.  This verse simply states that when we stay close to God and seek His wisdom through His Word, He is faithful to provide us with His supernatural energy to complete what He has commanded us to do.  It always feels good to see God’s Kingdom flourish and advance and I understand completely what it means to fly as eagles when God is present and providing light to the darkness.

The other day, my mother told me that a lady came up to her and asked if she would be willing to give her piano lessons because she said that my mother played the piano wonderfully.  Mom has never had a piano lesson in her life, conveyed this to the lady and thus stated that she was not qualified to give any lessons what-so-ever.  So how does my mother play so brilliantly?  It is because of her obedience to God and her desire to see the Kingdom of God advance for even though she has never had a lesson in piano, God allows His ability to be directed through her so that others can know Him.  Her example is the perfect example of Isaiah 40:31 being manifested through a person’s life in order that others may know God and His Kingdom.  It is her obedience that completes the mission that God wants her to be and it means that she is not sitting around and just “waiting to have her ticket to heaven punched” either.  Could my mother give lessons to the lady that asked her to provide them?  Of course, she could for she is that talented but it is not what God wants her to do.  It is very important that we understand that when opportunities arise that do not support the calling of God that we know when to obey the leader’s commands; both aspects go hand-in-hand.

We can never forget that our fight does not rely on the physical aspects (superficial) of our walk with Christ but that on a spiritual level alone.  It is easy for us to take advantage of the current facts in the world and react accordingly, but that is on a superficial plane and should not be fought.  If we abide by such superficial activities then we are once again providing the example of the single soldier wanting to go help the leader before the appointed time the leader commanded us to wait for.  The key here is a simple combat detail that involves obedience, see when any type of signal is given it is done so that usually brings an added surprise to the setting and in the case of the “Band of Brothers” episode the signal turned out to be an exploding smoke canister that gave off a red color in the air.  If the men had been in the immediate area of that canister it would have temporarily blinded them and made them incapable of completing the mission that the leader wanted to be done.  They would have become easy targets for the enemy and thus hurt the planned setting for battle.  The same goes for obedience to God and how we should always be listening to His voice through obedience because as it was stated above that when we do not then something is going to be fouled up and people could be lost for eternity.

It is this type of superficial living that encrusts our nation today and will be the reason that this nation will follow in the footsteps of Israel and not God.  God has provided us with many examples of our greed, prostitution, envy, jealousy, pride, and categorical sin for a long time now and for each example of these issues, we have superficially either dealt with or mainly ignored.  We have come to the point where we do not care to seek any deep meaning to the conditions that we currently face but would rather try to hide them or worse cover them up with flawed human resources.  When one tries to claim that this nation is the beacon to the world they do so in such a way that they exclude God and ignore the true Creator of this nation, a nation that is Created by God has a specific purpose for its presence and if not correctly demonstrated as it was created, cannot expect anything but a devastating fall; ask Israel about this truth.  Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians and taken into captivity, they vowed to rebuild and become stronger instead of rebuilding as God would see them; a true act of defiance on their part.  Once again, we as a nation and as a society are following our own superficial beliefs trying to combat a battle that we are approaching incorrectly and subsequently will suffer huge losses unless we change to spiritual tactics.

So what is the condition of the Church today?  It is a simple question that one may ask of themselves because YOU are the Church.  But many of us refuse to ask such a deep and honest question for they know what the answer will be and what is sad is that many of the people who refuse to ask themselves this question were born and raised either in church or around church their entire lives.  What kind of example does this provide to the world?  It is an example that represents the single soldier who had great intentions but could have exposed the men before they had to be, a condition that would have proven deadly for true freedom for others.  Place this condition and picture on a spiritual level and one will see that a higher price of someone’s eternity is at stake here and cannot be fumbled when combat arrives.  So when we look at the Church, the one spiritual organization that should set the example of difference from the world, how come is it that we see the world overrunning us basically without opposition?

Church, we are the light of the world because we have received the Truth about life through Jesus Christ.  It is our responsibility to teach this light and to show the light of God to the dark world that is around us.  We cannot complete this mission and command of ours unless we understand the depth of God’s Word enough to know how to fight this battle that is around us.  Instead of standing around and watching people unknowingly yet willingly beat and bruise themselves on a physical and superficial plane why don’t we interject and fight this skirmish on the spiritual level, the level where origins are present.  Instead of only providing summer bathing suits during winter time, why don’t we provide the true necessities of clothing that are needed for the appropriate occasion and season?  In this case, we need to be teaching repentance and restoration to the dark world all of which boils down to understanding how to fight effectively on a spiritual level.  God does not wish to see any of His children perish and be eternally separated from Him and by us waiting on the Lord (our responsibility and mission) to demonstrate to them of this truth.

DLB

God's Repentance

God’s Repentance

7/5/18

Sometimes we have problems with certain words and their usage or we do not fully understand the meaning of the word itself.  Whatever the issue may be it is important that we learn how to use our language or original texts in order for us to grasp the entire content of the word or group of words that an author is using.  The Word of God is no exception to this study and there can be no more important book that needs to be studied that the Bible.  There can be no doubt that its content can be confrontational and this subject today is an example of such orientation, for God is in repentance but it is not as one would read about or think about.  This action of His is a true representation and definition of the word repent and it is how we should take and live under the word for it is a word that we throw around and not adhere to which when we do such atrocity we open doors of great magnitude for our enemy.  We need to truly repent and to stop our sinful actions before God ends this rest period and must show His children unique discipline.

All of us have pushed our parents to the brink at some point in our lives, I know that I tested those waters many times over the years and I must say that a part of my adult life needs to be included in those years.  My parents did an excellent job of raising my brother and I and their guidance and leadership were extraordinary for they had a great Teacher that provided their example to us.  However, there were times that I did not always understand or agree with what they were saying and when those times arrived I reacted according to what was in my life and reflected that attitude with great pride.  I never once stopped and thought about what I had done to make them give their warnings, try to teach me of my errors, or just advise me about life questions and situations, rather I chose to react and to argue my point without any true definition or heart of change.  Most times I had my heart set on what I did as being done and nothing could change that so we must move on and forget about things.  What a death concept I had for I learned that if one does things wrong and does not correct that mistake I would make the same mistake again but the next time I did it would be of a greater magnitude and if continued in this pattern could end up very costly. 

How many times have we called God “our Father” or have cried out to Him as Abba Father” over the course of our lives?  Do we not understand the relationship we have with God and how much He is a part of our lives whether we believe it or not?  How can we sit and talk about God and show Him off to others yet not believe that He is our eternal Father and overall Creator of our existence?  If we say or claim that He is such a figure then we better know that He has every legal authority to see fit to bless us or to judge us, but for some reason we like to keep Him at arm’s length and to try and hide our hearts from Him believing that He will not care or see what we are doing.  Funny, Adam and Eve believed that as well and look what it produced in their lives.  To obey a parent actually means to have direct and constant communication with them for if we don’t then that line of protection and belief in that parent will eventually wane and if not fixed be severed.

The definition of repentance comes from the verb repent.  The definition of the word repent according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is as follows: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life.  This definition is not a complex one but none the less one that shoots straight and mixes no words about.  Repentance means that we recognize the way that we are doing something, then completely stop the motion and then turn away from such patterns and/or beliefs.  In truth, we must be careful about the entire picture here because the word repentance can be used in such a manner to render what we call in the Christian world backsliding for it becomes apparent that backsliding is present when our repentance status no longer exists in our lives.  To put the importance of such word and condition into perspective we must consider that God is defined by His Word and if He ever withdraws from His Word then He will not be in repentance, do we see the importance of the condition and word now?  It may seem like a contradictory statement and claim but if we know the true nature of God we will have no problem identifying with why God lives in such a manner for if He did not, all of us would have been wiped off the face of the earth so very long ago.

In Exodus 32:11-14 we have a good idea of what God was up to when He began His repentance period.  When we study this passage of Scripture we find that Moses is in direct communication with God and the two are having a conversation concerning the children of Israel and their behavior while wandering in the desert.  At the beginning of this chapter, we find that the people have become bored while waiting for God and Moses to finish their stint together, more specifically they were growing tired of Moses not coming down and explaining what had been said.  In other words, it was like sitting in a waiting room of a hospital and waiting to hear news of a loved one who is in surgery and the procedure should have been completed over two hours before.  And while we may slightly curse the hospital staff for not providing information more on a sound timeline, the people took matters into their own hands and began making foolish choices concerning their anxiousness by desiring to build an idol to appease their appetite for exaltation and self-gratification.  What is most fascinating about this setting is that it was the idea of Aaron who gave in and proclaimed the construction of the golden calf, all the while God and Moses were conversing on the mountain.

God tells Moses to leave His presence and to tend to the people because He has witnessed what they have done.  God describes down to the smallest detail of what the people have constructed and after His words of detail were completed, He told Moses to leave because His anger was very grieved towards the people.  Moses understood these words quite clearly from God and another conversation began between the two but this time it was Moses who took the lead in asking God for mercy.  God was the single entity that had delivered them from captivity in Egypt and had so far provided their every need while trekking through the desert.  At first, it would seem difficult for us to understand why the people would quickly turn from God and then embrace worldly and sinful gods instead of keeping the faith through what they had witnessed for quite some time previous.  But then I have to stop and think about all of the times that I have fallen down in the name of selfish desires and have left God out alone as He watches me fulfill the choices that I had made over Him, it then becomes easier for me to see the resulted dilemmas as well for it is never a good outcome when people choose the world over God.

Moses states a wonderful argument against the potential actions from God an act from a great person that loves the people that have been placed under his charge.  Moses understood that God had the eternal authority to wipe them off the face of the earth and would have not had to apologize for doing such action and Moses reminded Him of this potential by readdressing the promises that He gave to their forefathers.  Then Moses asked a question concerning such livelihood of God’s people through God’s own words concerning the blessings of His people through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  God repented of His thoughts against His people and communicated such repentance to Moses.  It is this exchange that provides us with the perfect opportunity for us to understand the importance of repentance and it could not come from any better being than God Himself.  This action by God did not mean that the children of Israel were off the hook for their actions, just that they were going to be able to live another day and thus try to get things straight before anything occurred.

As I have stated many times over, my past actions and some of my recent ones classify as the world’s worst sinner and I have no excuses for those actions either.  I continually struggle against the enemy and close just as many doors to my past as any other person would, but it is this example from God that keeps me going and keeps my faith in Him at all times and for me to continue this fight against the ruler of this world.  The children of Israel had grown to the point where their faith had withered down so much that their anxiety about being patient had disappeared and demonstrated that they had to be entertained while living stagnant.  To be honest and blunt they really did not act any different from people who sit in the pews in church today for when a move of God is promised many believe it will occur immediately and instead of focusing on the real reason and deeper meaning of why it has not arrived they fall away and become bored.  God has perfect timing in all His Ways but it is not our position to push God in any manner for it is He who knows all and is just in every manner.  Can you count how many times God has been repentant in your life and just asking you in return to do the same for Him?

Each one of you has a purpose for your existence and it is built within your inner being to complete this purpose.  But if we act like the children of Israel and fail to cleanse ourselves from the captives and our captivity there will be no blessings unfold in our lives.  There is no question that this nation has been blessed beyond our wildest imaginations and while we know that God is the One who has provided these blessings to our existence we refuse to dig deep into His heart and to understand exactly the reason why He has given us so much.  It is this reason as to why the children of Israel spent way too much time wandering around in the desert for they refused to understand that Egypt was still inside their lives and their journey was the way for God to dry up that sin and to free them from such guilt.  Superficially they were free from their captors, but spiritually they were still slaves to Satan and his kingdom and it was this detail of their lives that God wanted gone.  God gave Moses the perfect example to give to the people when he stepped down from the mountain but we soon find out that even Moses becomes angered enough to allow his emotions to become carried away and even though he conveyed to the people the disgust from God concerning their actions he did not present it in the correct manner or did he?  Covenant measures are of dire importance and since Moses reminded God of His Covenant with His people, he must have had a heavy heart when his eyes saw what had occurred during his time with God.

The question that must be asked now is this: are you praying to God on a continual basis for the true and utter repentance of your life, the Church, and for this nation?  Honestly, how many do this every day or even two or three times a week?  And if you do, how serious of a prayer is it?  Are your prayers comparable to the knowledge Moses had when he was begging for the entire nation that God said would have eternal rectitude over other nations upon its creation and establishment?  Would your knowledge of God’s Word be strong enough to warrant such a prayer or action in time of need?  Or are we destined to throw up empty “help us God” prayers when the times become tough?  Look at the news every night and one cannot deny the fact that we are NOT praying with the correct heart when it comes to our nation.  I do not doubt that some people in this nation do pray continually and with a fervent heart but with the way sin runs rampant through even the unincorporated villages of this nation I cannot seem to believe that many have a deep burden for this nation.

This article may seem harsh to some people but it is a message that God wants us to understand because the time is ripe for this nation to cease its sin against her Creator and to follow the example that God gave us in Exodus 32:11-14.  First of all, we should take the lead in the repentance steps and not gain to the point that God seeks His anger onto this nation.  Yes, He shall show us this awesome ability of His if we refuse to turn back to Him.  In living in this superficial manner, many do not recognize the need for such a step and that the actions of our people and their nation have no need for repentance.  Many spew out a repentance prayer and then feel no obligation to dig deeper and to find out what it truly and eternally means to repent then skip right on down the road like all is forgiven and start the cycle over again within a few moments time.  We have fallen for this lie and have made it our battle cry over the years while we stomp on the Word of God with our feet. 

God gave us the prime example of repentance and it is our responsibility to heed His warnings of repentance for if we do not we will soon see what it means to witness the devastation and destruction of the just and the unjust.  As of this moment, God in all of His gracious blessings has allowed us to continue to thrive in our wickedness, but one day that shall end if we do not repent and follow the example that He has given us in His Word.  I am so thankful every day that God allows me to wake up and to experience His Will for my family and while I do not know how much longer I have on this earth I do know that no matter what occurs my heart shall be steadfast in His Word and under His Covenant.  It is my prayer that my life represents the perfect example of repentance to the world and I humbly ask God for me to be the light that He wishes for all His children to see.  Is that your prayer today?  We cannot forget that one of the first things we must do in following God is to live in repentance as God does for if we do not then our lives will be subject to this world and with it a certain eternal death.

DLB