Just Do It!

Just Do It!

11/22/18

When we read the Bible and an act is played out that seems harsh in its direction, we have a tendency to ask why such events had to occur in a certain manner or wonder why God wanted to wipe out an entire ethnic population.  Many times when we read such a passage it is easy for us to point fingers or to shake our fist at God because of such action, but do we know all of the history behind such a group and what it means to the existence of Israel both in that moment and in the future?  We can also place this type of setting into our own lives as well, not so much on the killing aspect but taking care of the issues around us in a godly manner in order to ease our potential agony in the future.  God always does things for a specific person in a specific manner and while we may not fully understand why at that moment God is at the same time protecting us from our future and while leading us through the course of holy obedience.  Presently, we have taken God’s plan for our lives and have twisted its content so that it fits our worldly agenda, a sin that will cost us dearly one day just as it did for Israel as this article unfolds.

A while back, God shared with us a passage concerning procrastination and how we should take God seriously at what He tells us to do and not to hesitate when doing it.  God also says that He expects complete obedience in all things that we do and this includes what He tells us to do, many of us including myself sometimes have issues with the word “complete” by not doing such techniques when told.  Another issue that we have that brings forth the procrastination point of view is that we may do things that God tells us to do completely but we do it when we are ready and not in the timely manner in which God tells us to complete it.  It does not matter which setting suits your practice because all of them fall within the category of disobedience and the consequences of our actions may not immediately be known but recognized years or even centuries down the road.

We must ask ourselves if our selfish conditions are worth not listening and obeying what God commands us to do.  Many times over I have not done what my parents asked me to do when I was growing up, or I waited until I was “ready” to do what they asked and did so with a grudgingly weighted heart.  This is a human trait and one that all of us deal with at some point in our lives and to this day I continue to procrastinate at times about what God has given me to do and it is through this portion of my heart that God is now exposing to a great extent He wants us to understand that when He speaks in a certain way or in a specific manner it is for a reason that He wants dealt with now and not later, for if we wait and do not deal with things at the moment they could grow into a much larger problem that will affect more people than just our personal lives or family.  Unfortunately, I see some of these procrastination qualities in my daughters and even though I try and teach them not to harbor such tendencies it pains me to see that their attitudes and actions towards this malady bring back memories of my words and thoughts, sometimes precision responses sends chills through my spirit.  Through these responses of theirs, I know that if not checked and gotten rid of they shall grow further and deeper and could prove painful or present as a devastation in their future; a condition I do not wish to occur.

The passage that God wants to share with us today comes from the first three verses of 1 Samuel 15, and we see that Israel has fulfilled its desire to have a worldly king as other nations had.  God has chosen a king for Israel and while the physical king is present God still has His say over the duties of the land for this is one of the times that God confirms to us that He never leaves us even though we kick Him out of our lives.  Saul has become king and is now receiving instructions from Samuel concerning what God has said to do about Amalek, but the first order of business was that Samuel was to anoint Saul as King of Israel.  This was the official recognition of Saul from God to the people of Israel that He was in allowance of their decision; God still knew what was about to occur in their ways and what this election meant for His people down the road as well.  However, the anointing from God gives Saul an opportunity to understand that his leadership is still or should still be under God and for him to obey God’s commands at all times.  We are about to see what happens when disobedience reigns instead of God within a person’s heart.

1 Samuel 15:2 states that God remembers what Amalek did to the people of Israel while they were proceeding in the wilderness after they had left Egypt.  It is this verse that sets the stage of why God wanted Saul to destroy Amalek and every one of his followers and people and when we understand what occurred in the desert a while back with these parties we will know why God is so vehemently aware that Saul must obey His command.  Even though we as a people, as individuals, or as nations may not agree with what God does or accepts we must contend that whatever God says and needs to be completed is for a reason and that reason is always in the interests of His people and their well-being.  God does not do things haphazardly in any way shape or form, His Ways and methods are clear and give us the opportunity to express His Will through the words that He gives us to do.

Exodus 17:8-14 gives us the history lesson as to why God has specifically targeted Amalek for destruction.  We see that the Israelites are in the process of making their way through the desert towards the Promised Land, but they are at a point of intrusion that is in wait for them and it is in the form of Amalek and his warriors.  The Israelites are in Rephidim for a time of rest and recovery from the journey and Amalek meets them there and is ready to do battle.  Moses gives the instructions to Joshua to mobilize the army for the next day and after speaking the instructions went up to the top of the hill with the rod of God.  Amalek begins his attack and according to Deuteronomy 25, Amalek assaults the stragglers, the feeble and weak that are in the last portion of the Israelites first, a dirty trick by any measure of warfare, but not an unusual move when one does not first respect God and His Ways.  Okay, we now know that Amalek did not play by the rules during this attack on the Israelites but is this is the single reason why God has said to Saul that he needs to destroy Amalek and every person associated with him along with all of their possessions?  No, there is another reason and one that is the reason that Israel has so many issues today.

How important is it to keep intact your lineage and heritage along with a righteous and pure heart?  We find that the command that God gives to Saul is for him and his army to completely destroy Amalek and his army, this is a clear order and one that should not have had any problems in not understanding the direction that was given.  God also said to Saul that he was to not wait but to go immediately and do what He had commanded completing His mission with fervor and with purity.  There was no need in taking their time with the plan that God had laid out for them, it was a simple command after the battle was over, which also meant that God was going to deliver them from an enemy.  We have heard countless sermons and sand wonderful songs about how God delivers us from our enemies and how He defeats them completely, so why is it when we read a battle plan in the Word of God like this one we become hesitant about how God completes this action.  Amalek seemed like a “normal” enemy but once again we have to go back to the heritage and lineage aspect of things in order to understand why God wanted everyone and everything destroyed.  Another detail that we need to remember is how important it is to read and study the entire Word of God so that we have more information at hand when we run across such activities we might not understand.

Genesis 25:27-34 gives us the origin of why this battle was to be completed in a specific manner along with all of the possessions of those with Amalek.  This is the story of Jacob and Esau and most of all know what occurred here with the selling of Esau’s birthright to Jacob.  Esau leaves the meeting with nothing and realized that in his weakened state that his brother has taken everything from him to the point that his foolishness has caused him to even hate his own family origins.  Amalek was the grandson of Esau and the progenitor of the Arab people which is the reason God said to complete the battle and the destruction of these people, not only was it for the present tense of the Israelites but if Saul would have completed the mission commanded by him the issues of Israel today would have been totally different in many aspects of life.  For those of you who do not know what the definition of progenitor is, it is as follows: a person or thing from which a person, animal or plant is descended or originates; an ancestor or parent.  It is for this reason that God gave Saul the command to destroy everything and everyone when it came to the cause of Amalek.  We cannot forget that Amalek was not only a physical enemy of Israel but a spiritual one as well and a spiritual enemy represents a far greater threat than a physical one due to the sin of death in all of us. 

In a few verses later in the 1 Samuel passage, we find that Samuel does not complete the mission as God had instructed him to do, for he spared Amalek his life.  God’s command to Saul was to utterly destroy the Amalekites and Amalek himself with nothing left alive.  God uses the word “wehaharamtem” here which is the Hebrew word for utterly and has the meaning of completely destroying and to be devoted to this task of extermination, to be forfeited.  This is a specific and powerful word and the usage of such word is very clear in its meaning.  Saul had no reason to misunderstand what God was saying and while he followed through with most of the command it was not completed accurately as it had been told to do.  This word that God used served as the direct command that He wanted to be completed and it was this word that was not obeyed, and we all know what happens when we do not obey.  Here is what is so ironic about this setting and story, that while Saul chose not to follow and obey the command of God, Amalek did follow the command of Satan so in this grotesque comparison who actually obeyed to a greater extent?

And then we must ask who actually won the victory that day?

Humans have a tendency to have a problem with God taking care of things around them that they do not fully understand and then complain about things when issues that could have been prevented some time ago present them on a personal condition today.  It is difficult for us to imagine how it would be if the Arabs were not in any place to torment Israel or any other ethnic nation, but in many instances the world does not see it in this fashion and would provide a worldly view of why they should have been allowed to exist and justify Saul’s actions.  The Arab’s had already placed their beliefs and attitudes into motion after Esau walked out of that tent so long ago and had begun to cultivate that anger toward Israel in Exodus.  God provided an opportunity to end the presence of a hated and vile enemy with Saul and he failed to do so only establishing a further and deeper anger to encourage over the millennia.  We also must take into consideration that it is the Arabs who created and now embrace Islam, the hated enemy of Zionism and Christianity.

It can be said that Saul dealt with Amalek and his people superficially since he did not fully complete and obey what God had commanded him to do.  How many times have we dealt with issues and problems in the same manner?  Then when we ask ourselves this question we must also ask how many problems could have been avoided if we had just done what God had asked us to do.  When God speaks His mission to us there can be no misguidance or interpretations for He is always clear in His words and statements.  When Saul chose to disobey what was commanded of him the future consequences, consequences he had no idea about, would cause great pain, agony, and sorrow onto his people in the future.  God knew that these types of clashes and tragedies would occur in the future and it would have been so much easier for Israel to pursue God without such a distraction facing them.

Can one now say that obedience is not better than sacrifice?  God has a reason for what He says and tells us to do and if we choose not to fully obey His words our inaction can have a devastating effect on our lives today and for our children and grandchildren in the future.  God always gives us a path to walk and to follow but it always our choice to walk this path or to choose our own to follow.  God’s commands to us demonstrate His commitment to our existence and to the holy and eternal protection He wants to provide.  His Ways do not always seem the easiest or most humane path at the time but as we say many times over the course of the year God works in mysterious ways but we need to not only understand this truth but walk in its obedience as well.  Once God makes a command known to mankind He will find a way to complete such a mission whether we obey it or not, a part of His completeness that we forget about and when observed do not always like to witness.

There are countless ways that the world has that contradict with God and the people who follow and believe in such ways will staunchly defend their presence.  One of the issues that the Church has today is that we are fully and completely destroying the works of the devil but allowing his kingdom to live and dwell within our lives.  This is exactly what Saul did when he did not obey the command of God and it cost him the authority of the kingship of Israel and it causes so many deaths of his people as time passed along.  We continually cry to everyone and point fingers at so many others when it comes to the problems that we face today but what we do not understand or what we ignore is the fact that there is an answer to our issues, an answer that will not only take away such pain today but prevent any further pain on that or any other related issue in the future.  But in order for us to achieve such life, we must turn our hearts back over to God and put His Ways first at all times.  Putting God first means trusting and obeying completely His Ways and Word, not 95% but 100%.  What is this disobedience of ours costing us Church?  It is costing us thousands of lives lost to Satan every day, that is the cost and unless we change our hearts and once again teach the true gospel that Jesus commanded us to do, this cost shall continue to increase.  In this light, we cannot ignore the fact that if we do not witness to these people so they follow God they or their children or grandchildren may become enemies of the Church in such a way where more lives are needlessly ended; an end that could have been avoided if we would have obeyed Jesus’ command to His Church in the first place.

The actions of the true and complete obedient Church shall never coincide with the ways of the world.  God and the world cannot ever coexist on any level nor can they mix together either.  It is this basic and foundational truth that will always make them eternal enemies that will never cease to end their struggles for your eternity.  The world may never understand why it is necessary for us to withdraw from its kingdom type thinking and living, the world may even scoff or mock you for separating yourself from its ways but it is this command following process that is vital to our eternal status and the key component that we must convey and manifest to those who are really seeking help.  If we teach anything else but the complete and total Word of God and Kingdom message, then we are once again roleplaying Saul in his worldly conquests instead of obtaining the future security of Israel.  When God tells us to do something, do not do anything that is on your own but through His Words alone.  Just do it!

DLB

No More Prayers

No More Prayers

11/18/18

Sadly, it has become evident that as time passes, this nation is turning away from her Creator and no longer desire to even speak with Him.  It should be clear to us that the reason why these hideous atrocities that occur are due to our lack of true and serious communication with God, but we fail to recognize this connection and wander wayward instead.  God has never closed the line of communication between Him and our lives and until we realize that it is the issues that we obtain and then harbor from the world that breaks this link, our attention will continue to be jolted.  All God wants is for us to return to Him and for His Church to teach those around us that need Him that He loves us and that there is a way for true peace and happiness.  The first step in our restoration process comes in the form of prayer for it is the direct line we have to God and the only way He can communicate with us on a routine level.

A short while back, California was rocked by another mass shooting at one of the many local establishments in that community.  It does not matter any longer that these types of activities occur on a weekend, for now, the perpetrators are now taking their tasks to weekdays and evenings as well.  School shootings occur during the day and the countless numbers of armed robberies do not have a time frame for definition any longer.  While this latest atrocity occurred on the west coast it does not matter where one looks at the news, for these types of events occur all over this nation and if one wants too can find such dealings all throughout the world.  Motives and the people behind these crimes vary in number, strength, and motive but all of these events have one thing in common and that is people die or injured when these people act.  It seems like these activities have dramatically increased over the last two or three decades, first overseas and now this nation which should tell us something, being like other nations is not a path that one should take but to be separate and under God is the only solution for stability in this crazy and dying world.

When these acts occur it is important that we understand the reasons why the people believed that they were justified in committing such heinous motions. But instead of remembering that God is in control of all things good and bad we make sure that we revert back to our human and physical resources in order to correct the situation at hand.  While these events are tragic another and more important tragedy occurs in that we fail to even recognize the true issue of what occurred, the reason why it occurred, and the real path for future events such as these to be stopped.  Humans love their laws when it suits them for their own devices and purposes but despise them when they actually are enforced, a key component that we throw into the faces of those opposing such legalities but nevertheless a true statement.  A utopian society would be the perfect answer for this type of legal action to work but as we shall see here over the next few moments humans have a great tendency not to follow even the simplest laws much less the ones that could have a drastic effect on the lives of others.  Making laws on a technical condition such as emotions after a tragedy may look good superficially but deep down represent the wavering and wandering worldly belief that more laws will cure humanity, a sad but laughable condition when entertained.  In no way am I advocating that no laws be made or enforced, but what God wants us to understand to remind us that unless we turn our hearts to Him and live under His Covenant with a pure heart all the laws that the human can dream up and enact will not protect one person.  For it is the human that makes the choice to do good or evil and if we already accept the world as our standard then that choice will always be selfishly adhered to; thus, spiritual paths are made and chosen as well and are paralleled.

I understand that this issue has been shared a couple of times before but as time passes we see that a new trend is becoming more prevalent in that we hear more people wanting more laws and stronger control over the weapons that are used in such scenes.  In no way is this call for stricter gun laws, not a noble gesture but we cannot ignore the truth about the matter that it is the human mind and heart that make the decision to commit such crimes against humanity.  Until the mind and heart are changed these acts shall continue and the further away from God this nation becomes the more that these types of instances and others similar to them will occur.  We are all humans and we face the exact same circumstances as the other fellow across the street or in another country.  Yes, some of the circumstances around the world are different but it is still the human that plays the direct role in accomplishing any type of act.  Any act of legislation on any level becomes a superficial clanging symbol when it is not taken to heart and willingly obeyed which once again points back to the human and not the items used in these crimes.  We must contend that if humans want a way around any law they will find it given time and they also shall find a way to obtain or to make such efforts come to pass.

In the recent shooting in California, a mother of one of the victims was interviewed the following morning.  Visibly and understandably she was shaken to the core about what occurred the previous night.  When asked by the person giving the interview if she had a personal message, the mother immediately began to plead for gun control and to pass it immediately.  Up until that point, her voice was shaky as one would expect but as she continued she turned her attention to the words that bring light into this subject of the article.  She then stated in an angry voice that she did not want any prayers or thoughts from people that all she wanted was new gun laws in place.  I am not knocking this lady by any means and I pray that no one else has to ever go through such tragedy and loss again, but the reality and truth behind this event along with all the other similar tragedies, Satan does not give a hoot about your life and he will continue to influence those who wish to do harm to others.

The words of this heartbroken mother do reflect an internal condition of her heart in that she makes it clear that she does not believe in prayer nor does she believe in the Being on the other end of those prayers.  Sadly, what she is demonstrating is the condition of our hearts and how countless people believe or in this case not believe in God and His Ways.  They rely completely on humans and the world to solve the issues at hand, such unknowingly place their future into the existence of the loser ruler of a dying world.  When we recite such words or actually believe that prayers, true prayers do not work we are replaying and reliving Genesis 2:15-Genesis 3:6 all over again and if we get to the point where Genesis 3:7 comes back onto the scene we will increase our horrific setting by including sin to make the decision of prayer instead of prayer itself.  If we could not obey one single law of life what makes us believe that warranting new laws to prevent death would be followed today?  We also must observe that this mother has a point because from all that we can see from the past shootings and bombings is that nothing has changed only continued devastation to unknowing people at the scene, which means that either our prayers are completely empty or we are not praying at all.  This noticeable lack of change indicates that we have no desire to change our hearts in any way but to continue the road of worldly goods and physical attractions just as our society demands.  While we accept this truth about the condition of our lives we must never forget that as long as we harbor such beliefs we shall have no hope for real survival but only invite pain and suffering into our lives with each breath we take.

Genesis 2:15 provides us with the sobering fact that humans do not like to keep or maintain laws that have been given to them.  It would be a wonderful setting, a life of utopian conditions if all of us would have the desire to obey such commands but as this verse tells us along with the following verses behind it show us, that if we cannot obey a single law what makes us believe that we can follow thousands?  We have forgotten who controls and rules this earth and world, and as long as we continue to throw out the only source of true peace and happiness the ruler of this world will continue to have a field day with these types of events.  In addition, when such tragedy occurs and we say we are in no longer need of prayers we must contend and horrifically accept that we are giving Satan 100% access to our lives for further similar or increased acts, we may not like to hear such a prediction but it is an accurate one that we need to really think about before we act upon our worldly whims for answers.

When Adam and Eve arrived at the point that they believed that they no longer had to pray to God in order for them to exist and to survive as their environment provided, their actions became mediocre in a direct response to how their hearts had become.  Yes, God continued to walk with them every day and showed His face to them every day but within their hearts, they had drawn the conclusion that no matter what they had reached the pinnacle of their journey and through the lies of Satan had no deep need to have a relationship with God any longer.  They believed that they could pacify God with their walks and talks and as soon as He left would return back to the Serpent’s guise and work accordingly.  See, what we would consider their prayers to be is actually a direct communication with God on a daily basis, not a periodically and opinionated one.  Yet, Adam and Eve had already fallen into the trap of Satan by believing in his word instead of who Created them and who had provided them with their living arrangements and who had given them their responsibilities.  Ever wonder why so many people do not like to work or are so unhappy with how and where they work?  Here is your answer for there is something going on inside your heart that is not in line with God for it is He who Created us which means He has access to every aspect of our lives and unless we are in complete alignment with Him things are not going to be happy.

Adam and Eve had plenty of opportunities to figure things out before they made the critical election to allow sin into their lives and to the rest of the world.  By design, the human’s ability to choose to obey or to disobey the law supersedes the law; therefore, when it becomes easier for one to disobey the established protocols the nature of the heart has changed and the heart becomes blackened and it is no longer in a comfortable and at peace state; it must exercise itself and prove itself to the outside world of its individuality and presence to its surroundings.  It is this state of affairs that our hearts choose to blatantly disobey laws that are in place and if we are willing to disregard the human laws there is absolutely no way that we shall obey God’s laws either, remember the vertical and horizontal relationship graph?  It is this relational status of humans that represents a true reflection of what power we have in God to do what is correct or if we have no power in God the ability to do what is incorrect.  This too is a direct relationship proclamation for if our hearts are true to God and our belief and faith in Him is accurate and at 100% our words and actions shall be totally contrary to the world and our message clear when it comes to the concessions to the truth when spoken to the world.

This lady, who undoubtedly had suffered a great tragedy in her life had every “right” to be angry at what had occurred the previous night, but when she stated that she wanted to communication avenues to God it placed her situation in a higher state of turmoil.  I do not know if she had any knowledge of God or had any background with God but I do know that when made such a statement it placed her heart into a more hardened category thus allowing our enemy deeper access to her heart.  God never intended for us not to have communication with Him but it was of our own doing that placed us into this idled condition so long ago and it is still working its destructive characteristics in our lives today.  If we are truly wanting to see such horrendous activities stopped then we need to once again have the desire to talk with God again with a pure and true heart.  When we stand up and make such statements against God and thus choose to solve our issues and problems on our own then we automatically defy our Creation and definition and blindly accept and proclaim judgment on our lives.

Choosing God and His Ways was never going to be easy, even back in the Garden of Eden even as Adam and Eve believed as such.  Our enemy shall do his best on every level to snare us and trip us up where truth is concerned.  Church, we have fallen for this liar simply because we have been tricked into seeing what is around us instead of keeping our eyes on Christ.  We have taken the exact same steps as Adam and Eve did that led them to fail and to thus allow our lives to mark death as our representative instead of God and Life eternal.  We have learned from the actions of Adam and Eve and it is evident that we are reviewing daily the consequences of not only their actions but ours as well.  In many eyes and hearts, we have “graduated” from God and have furthered our progress according to the world enough that we honestly believe that we can do things without God or His Word or Ways.  Through our own Creation process it is clear that God never intended for us to be idle either in spirituality or in the physical, and if one of these becomes self-centered the entire equation is thrown off and disaster is allowed to be projected.

As stated above, I have no doubt that the lady that has been referred to throughout this article experienced such devastating tragedy, but it is at this time when she needs prayers the most, not only from others around her but from her heart as well.  Church, through this example alone it is unmistakable that we have not done what Jesus commanded us to do for this lady wants nothing from us or God and if we had been doing what has been commanded of us that attitude and spirit would not be allowed to operate.  We should be ashamed of this statement and grieved by this statement from this precious lady but instead, we have been silent on the issue for I have not heard one peep from that day about how the Church is responding to this cry for help.  Granted, the media plays an important role in the suppression of God and any other mention of His name or works but even with that said I have not heard any side statements coming from the heart of the Church on this issue; which speaks volumes both to us and to God.

Our lack of action concerning such events says that our hearts are not aligned with what God wants us to be doing and saying to the dying world.  It is time that we change our hearts and return back to God so that He can restore our hearts and place them under the Covenant of eternal life and then have the correct heart in place so that we can teach the TRUE message of God and follow through in the command of Christ.  It breaks God’s heart to see such turmoil exist within His children but if we do not step up to the plate and do what Christ commanded us to do God shall continue the hardening process of this nation’s heart until it brings about the death of our presence as we know it.  The time is now to change our heart Church before God has to demonstrate His supernatural presence on this nation and our land.  As we watch our world crumble before our eyes we can ill afford not to pray and communicate with God, having no more prayers with God is following through with an abortive procedure and the existence of what God intended for us to be is effectively wiped out.

DLB

Who Do You Borrow From?

Who Do You Borrow From?

11/16/18

Credit is always a good thing as long as we do not get into debt over our heads so that we no longer have the ability to repay what we have borrowed.  It is the responsibility of those seeking credit to research the lender and understands what they and their company stand for before the deal is settled.  It is evident that many of us do not display this practice and take what is offered without any questions.  It is this principle that costs us our place from economic freedom and on the spiritual aspect, it deprives us of spiritual freedom and eternal placement as well.  For it has become common practice to grab whatever looks good and is the easiest to achieve and most of the time it is the natural presence of the world that is dangling.  God warns us about such participles that cross our eyesight and He wants us to know that it is time we ignore the bad loans and accept His gift of life instead or our debts shall catch up to us one day and we shall not have any protection over our hearts.

I remember when I was approved for my first credit card and how my father sat me down and told me about how great it was to have this opportunity and at the same time told of the grave dangers of getting over my head with debt.  Economic freedom is one of the greatest financial gifts the free world has to offer and it is given out so in good faith that requires your participation in repaying such gifts when used.  But it is an area that is widely tempting in the fact that it is so easy for us to acquire things that have no lasting value with this credit and then end up with nothing to show for it except a large bill to pay at the end of the month.  I wish I had listened to Pop when he sat me down all those years ago for if I would have really heeded his advice I would have been saved from many problems in the few years to come; however, being the “smart” person I was did my own thing and ended up owing way more than what I used the card for and as the old saying goes had nothing to show for it at the end of the day.  My dad was doing the correct thing for he was following the previous verse in Proverbs when he was doing his best to train me to do and stay on the right path, but if I failed then I would have a stable way to return.

As stated in the opening paragraph this type of borrowing does not necessarily have to be on the monetary side of things, it also represents the spiritual aspect of our lives as well ad while monetary debt is a pain to grasp a hold of and to control the spiritual has a much longer period of living if we fall into the same trap. Ironically, both sides of this topic have the exact same compounding debt truths and when I hear people ending their lives over a physical quality of life I cannot imagine what their spiritual lives are like as well because in almost every situation the gravity of such weight is present on both aisles.  I have to include myself in this issue because I have to admit that when I was heavily in debt because of stupid spending and taking from lenders my heart was not with God and had no intentions of living a life with Him either.  I was safe and secure in my own ways and as long as I kept that Prodigal Son aspect intact, I was a happy person or so I thought.  After a while, my life came crashing down and my world changed completely but after the dust was settled I still had the debt present and it weighed heavy, heavier than it ever had before.  I am proud to say that I never did anything ridiculous like going to a loan shark or any other shady place that would bail me out, for that would have been a complete disaster and cost me more debt.  Never ever deal with any type of loan shark or business loaners for they require much in return and their payment plans can get physical.

Proverbs 22:7 gives us a great detailed message about this subject and not to fall into hands that will harm you or provide bad information to you.  “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”  The main focus of this message is going to be placed on the second half of this verse and we will deal with the first portion at a later date, but there is a huge lesson that we need to understand here and it lies within the origins of where we are asking for help.  All of us need help from time to time in a number of ways, but we need to be very aware of who we ask for help because many times those who we ask demand something in return later if we are not able to pay what they deem is necessary.  Also, there are on occasions that the lenders change the rules of the agreement and want even further amounts of repayment and it is this time where many things go wrong and further indebtedness occurs.  Once again God is showing us that this small verse is a huge Kingdom verse and one that we need to put into practice every day of our lives.

The settings cannot become clearer here but just as humans do on routine instances we miss or ignore what God is trying to tell us.  Remember when Jesus told those around Him that no one can serve two masters?  Well, this verse is a precursor to that truth because it deals with two kingdoms, the two kingdoms that are vying for our lives, our eternal lives.  God uses this portion of a verse to ask ourselves about which kingdom are we asking to borrow from for there is a great deal of difference when it comes to what is handed out depending upon the kingdom requested.  God has shown us many things about His Kingdom and the kingdom of Satan and how different they are when it comes to what both can provide and through this verse God demonstrates how important it is for us to choose the correct kingdom when asking for things.  First off, we must remember that we cannot ask both kingdoms for things for God shall not work with anyone who wishes to live by worldly standards.  It is this concept that we like to bypass and just take what is right in front of us instead of making sure that the product that we are presented with is what we actually need.

When we borrow money or acquire any item on credit, at any price, and on any level, we automatically become subject to that lender, or we can say that we are now their servant until the debt is repaid.  There is a word that this portion of Scripture uses here and it is the word “servant”.  The Hebrew word used here is “weebed” and comes this Hebrew word comes from the root word “ebed” or “abad” which means to serve or to be a slave to someone or something.  When used in this context there is not much controversy because it eases our minds about the picture we have drawn about someone being a slave to something but we cannot ignore the other side of the kingdom issue in that it also refers to God and His Kingdom as well.  This word alone places the importance of knowing which kingdom you are asking for help from and when it is dealing with the spiritual aspect of your life, it becomes immediately relevant on an eternal platform.

Every day the world places things or bling in front of our lives and screams to us that we need this item and that it really does not cost too much.  Most of the time we know that what is being offered we do not need but look at the product and take it to heart and purchase it without remorse and then go to our place of residence and put it in a drawer or cabinet until we use it in about five years or so.  But while we do not use this product on a regular basis the repayment structure is not based on usage but the purchasing detail.  The lender expects payment in full as soon as possible and while they want their money or restitution they will continue to offer you other items of interest in order to increase your debt with them.  This process while being promoted as a great opportunity serves as a trap and will consume us if not figured out quickly or understood beforehand.  It is never a good thing to have creditors calling your phones in order to receive payment but it is a process that occurs when lenders want their money. 

It is this physical aspect of this verse that I could stop and say that God’s message is complete but He wants us to understand the more important aspect of this verse and how it deals with the spiritual aspect of our lives.  See, Satan is an eternal and spiritual loan shark and when we accept the rules and ways of the world there is a debt we must pay to the one who lent those things to us.  Satan will dangle items of the world in front of you and offer you to take them and while we may know that they are not good for our lives he will continue his pursuit of the sale just as a street vendor would do in a foreign country to a passing tourist.  It is this process that God refers to as kingdom banking and one that needs to be known before anything is purchased on the spiritual level.  It does not matter which worldly item Satan dangles in front of you whether it be lust, fornication, lying, stealing, idols, and any other sinful activity or thought that he can convince us is normal and okay to perform.  It is these items that we take into our lives that represent debt to the world and its ruler and when we accept such items we are then servants to the lender.  This means that we are now subject to what the lender wants us to go through according to his kingdom rules, which by the way are directly opened to us by this acceptance policy.  The most famous and popular way to obtain these worldly things is to use the wonderful phrase “it is my right to have _______.”  The ruler of the world will give you what you ask for but it shall come with a price and a slave’s wage with a master’s will over your head.  We cannot forget that when we do such an act that we are increasing our debt to this ruler for we are already paying a high price when it comes to our existence, so why add to this sentence?

It is this additional item list that Satan gains his foothold on our lives and when we haphazardly accept things without knowing what we are obtaining this hold on our lives becomes deeper and stronger.  As this subtle itemized buying process continues Satan is able to weave his way into our hearts and begins to show us that what he has to offer is much better than the items that his enemy has to offer.  It will pull your heart away from the things that God stands for and what He wants out of your life, this is a truth that Satan’s kingdom shall do in your life, you can even still attend church and be spiritually dead it is all fine and dandy in Satan’s eyes.  It makes sense that those who have accepted the world as their source for living go to church for the more your mind believes that you “require” to survive and it is your spirit that calls out to hear from its Creator but is masked by all of the world’s goods that you have obtained.

Now comes the fun part of your payment plan, the time when Satan wants what is owed him due to your purchases through his kingdom.  Satan shall never give you something without an agreement, known or unknown to you the buyer.  He does not care about your spiritual financial situation all he knows is that he has the legal avenues to reclaim what he has given to you and in his case since he is the father of all lies he does not care how much he takes back in return for his payment.  When we open our hearts to the world this is what we are allowing Satan to do in our future.  This setting can come tomorrow or it could present itself ten years down the road.  What matters is that at some point in time Satan and his cronies will want back what they have given to you and while they are taking back these items they will attack and take whatever else they wish because of the access you voluntarily gave them. 

This brings into light the Kingdom of God and what He has to offer us and how His gifts are completely different than what the world offers.  Satan wants you to have nothing to do with God and what His Word states because when known shall provide you with the capability to combat and to reject those binding issues that the world offers.  God hands out gifts and resources that we NEED not want.  It is easy to become caught up in the spectrum of the so-called “necessities” that the world has to offer and to be honest many of them are exciting to seek and to obtain, but anything from the world has a large and eternal price tag on it and shall eventually cost you everything.  The gifts from God cost you nothing in the spiritual sense but it costs you everything in the worldly sense because just as God goes against the world so does the gifts that He has and then gives to His children.  Both kingdoms desire your heart but the only one can offer you eternal life and eternal peace and rest and that is the Kingdom of God.

God and the gifts that He provides are eternal in nature and directly and sharply speak directly to the spirit that dwells within our lives.  It is the heart that represents the ultimate goal for the heart is the organ that controls how we think, eat, sleep, pray, desire, and everything else that we consider as life and living.  Both God and Satan understand that where the heart lies so does the rest of your existence, both also understand what is good for you but only one ruler wants us to live in such spiritual and eternal freedom the other wants you to experience eternal death and agony away from any presence of God.  We were created in such a manner that our spirit within our lives urns to communicate with its Creator just as any child would for its mother or father.  It is this presence together that the world seeks to separate and to destroy but God’s gifts for our lives serves the opposite by strengthening and solidifying these ties with Him.  His Word provides us with the knowledge and wisdom to combat the turmoil that the world offers and dim the bling that Satan places in front of our eyes.  It is these eternal gifts that allow our hearts to shine brightly to the darkened and dead world and is the objects of the subject that defeat the word servant or slave to the kingdom that seeks our destruction.  God’s gifts as stated above are free all we have to do is ask Him for them and this means that we are not bound to His subjectivity or demands but are allowed to use them as freely as we wish.

Whichever kingdom we seek our gifts from shall become an enemy of the other.  I ask you, for those who attend church and consider yourselves to be Christians but take hold to worldly principles do you become agitated at those who question your position on such items?  SO you ignore their reasonable pleas when it comes to these subjects?  Do you proceed to have arguments or shouting games at each other because of such differences?  Who is correct in these mannerisms and events?  God says to you on both dies, neither of you is correct for the delivery method of those who know the truth represents a worldly gift of division and those who harbor willingly the ways of the world are blinded by the bling of opportunity that Satan has within your life.  This is why it is so important that we understand the Kingdom concept of God and how everlasting Kingdom differences and truth is.  If we do not know how to interject the Gospel to those who are lost in a proper manner and way, we are just as bad they are and it actually places us in a category of elitism that is talked about in the book of James.  It has been, it is now, and it always shall be our responsibility to understand Kingdom principles AND know how to deliver them to those who are drowning and dying in worldly spiritual debt.

Church, do I have to ask which spiritual gifts you are presenting to your congregation and to the world?  It is obvious that what you are teaching comes from the world and not from God.  We need to grasp this verse and place it into our hearts so that we live by its rules every single day.  For when we ask this world to borrow its gifts there shall be an ugly price to pay in our future and how can we stand when we then turn around and offer such death gifts to those who are hurting or do not know God?  God is asking us, along with the rest of the world, which kingdom (bank) are seeking help and items to borrow from?  The answer that we give comes in the form of what we present to the world and when we present such items demonstrating to God exactly what lies within our hearts and which kingdom we follow.  God suggests that we turn our hearts around and allow Him to get rid of the worldly gifts that we have in our lives and to replace them with eternal ones that shall give us the necessary strength to defeat the world instead of joining its death rows.

DLB

For or Against

For or Against

11/14/18

This concept of reality has come into question over the past decade or so and has grown exponentially over the last few years.  The basic and fundamental base for this truth is easily projected in the worldly sense but ignored and reviled as an enemy of the popular State when it comes to the Holy Writ and Sacredness of God and life.  The one-sided presence of this basic law of life has now become a “right” and one that shows off the intent of the spirit that is in control of not only this nation but in all of the powers to be around the world.  God is beckoning us to not fall into the same category that His people did in the Bible but it looks like we might just have to find out the real Truth from experience instead of wisdom and knowledge of our history.  We need to understand that our hearts believe we live in frivolous times, but in truth, we are on the verge of complete destruction, we have time to change our hearts before God has to remind His people once again exactly who is in control.

How many times in our lives have we believed that the things that we are doing at the present are the right thing to do even when others are telling us that we are making mistakes?  There comes a time in all of our lives that we as individuals reach the point that we believe we no longer need to take or to heed any other types of advice besides our own.  That our minds have been made up and the choices that we make are deemed popular enough that comfortability and the pride of being “right” vastly outweighs what is actually in the best interest of our existence.  There have been many times that I have thought this case to be true and as I now look back at those times, I can once again hear my mother pass out that sound advice of hers that hindsight is 20/20.  How many things would we do in a different way if we had the opportunity and how many people would we not have to apologize to if we had such an opportunity to reverse the course before it occurs?  One of the key factors of Satan and his tactics against us is to lie to us enough that we believe that not everything God says is bad really isn’t and Satan manipulates the setting in our hearts enough that eventually, our eyes agree with him, a very dangerous pattern that many of us fall for and then find ourselves in a state of conglomeration down the road.

How many of us have placed this selfish ideology of ours up against the level of holiness and God?  Not as a level of punishment but an eternal standard that we can measure our choices based upon a sound foundation, a solid enough baseline that will ever be present in the good times and when things fall apart.  We easily forget or readily demean the position of a choice, water it down enough that we justify making such decisions like a whimsical decision or placing these important decisions on convenient circumstances instead of integrated patterns that continue our internal stability.  Do we converse with God on a personal and intimate level before blurting out these choices or do we ignore His presence and turning towards Him as we defy our true foundational Creator?  Just as we have watered down the word “right” so that it fits our own personal feelings, we have completed the same process with the word choice.  Not realizing that what both of these words actually say to others is that an election has taken place inside our hearts and we are standing by this election results.  Meanwhile, other people who have taken another position automatically become enemies of the elected state and are considered to be targeted until they are wiped out or go away far enough that one does not have to deal with them.  All reasonable conversational attributes of human nature with others that differ are erased all the while we are crying out for provisional and sectarian unity.

For the last few months, God has been returning us to the same Scripture passages from His Word.  Each time He does He adds a bit more detailed information about what He wants us to understand.  This process of His amazes me in that He does not give us the entire picture of what His Word says all at once, but as this new wisdom He shares comes into light, it brings our hearts closer to Him and it allows us to further know that we need Him more than ever today.  But the world is continually gaining strength and is making our relationship status with God more and more evident, in either direction of this line.  The world makes no bones about the fact that it wants nothing to do with God and everything that He represents, this means that the history and past course of our society no longer are welcome.  We have graduated from asking God for direction to demanding that our laws reflect upon how we feel at the moment, claiming evolution in practice as the source of this directional change.  When the same leaders totally contradict a position that they viewed a few years back from how they feel today, can only mean that a directional change has been warranted.  If one changes their beliefs and turns to God this type of change is noticed as well, ridiculed but noticed by those who have ventured off in the opposite direction.  This paints an ugly conglomeration of events that can only be solved with the confrontation of two kingdoms vying for the same point of reference. 

The relay of the gospel is the foundational message that God wants us to complete for through this command it is made known that the world cannot accept God or His Ways for if it did then God would not have given this command so long ago nor would Jesus have either.  Our enemy does a great job in sugar coating this fact so that we have inner sympathy for the world, enough that we drop our entire separation truth from the world and accept its boundaries within our hearts.  This is another example of us electing the world and voting its categories internally and externally and through this action, it is clear that we not listening to God and thus admitting publicly that we believe God is a fraud.  1 Samuel 8 deals with this aspect of electing the world and it is where God wants us to focus our attention again, for it is vital that we understand what the Israelites did in accomplishing this condition and how their actions demonstrated what was going on within their hearts to complement such beliefs.

In this passage, Samuel cannot believe that the people would go against such sound authority even though it was his sons that were one of the issues that the people had.  But the hearts of the people had reached a conglomerate verdict and had elected the concept that we should take into consideration when it comes time for local, state, and national elections occur.  God, however, makes it clear that the people have voted Him out of their lives in order to live according to the ways of other nations.  Israel had been so wrapped up in their own devices that they had become subject to the world instead of God and reached the point where their origins no longer mattered and were “ready” to pursue their destinies on their own terms.  There is no question that Israel had made up her heart to advance her presence within the world and no longer be separated from the world.  This elected choice of theirs had already been established and made known for God never argued against their position but only placed into context truths about how things would be when they finalized this election.  God did not hide anything or any aspect about their decision including the fact that they would be making these decisions and not God, directly placing the responsibility on themselves with no divine intervention first.

I know that not all of the people had such condemning beliefs and desires to go it alone that there had to be some that held out according to their origins and faith in God.  But it is very clear that the people wanted something worldly and thus acted upon their hearts and chose to live in the world and with the nations instead of their birthright.  This brings up the fact that many now believed that God was a fraud and that the ways of the world were better suited for their lives than what He had to offer, a setting that is being screamed in many of today’s societies.  Israel had come to the conclusion that they would boot God out of their ways, no longer trying to understand the reasoning behind God’s Ways but to incorporate their own ways so that they could become more appealing to other nations around them.  Israel had no excuses about what they were doing for they understood about the choice that they were making and once this choice had been made they set into motion their means of following that path.

I have no doubt that Israel understood what they were wanting to do but from how quickly they responded to what God showed them would occur in their lives it cannot be helped but to know that they were looking at things with superficial eyes and not spiritual ones.  It was easy to fantasize about how their lives would be while gazing upon the actions of others who came from different cultures and refusing to acknowledge and accept the realities of WHY God separated them upon their Creation.  The glamorization of the world’s gratuities are bling to anyone’s eyes and can be a process of consumption enough to forge an appetite for such opportunities and when talked about with others who have witnessed similar events the spoken wants of the same will eventually come forth from our mouths which is exactly how this movement in Israel’s heart began, grew, and then flourished until it became their own law within their desires.  God states in this passage of all the things that He had done for them up until this point in their lives and how they had forgotten them in their hearts, and even though Adam and Eve were not a part of the nation of Israel, God could have warned them about their actions resembling of what those two did way back in the Garden of Eden which led to disaster after disaster for everyone.

It is a known fact that many couples that have been together for many decades begin to take on physical characteristics of their spouse.  It is difficult to explain at times but I have witnessed this phenomenon over my life and this unity takes on a special meaning for the spiritual aspect of our choices as well.  If we elect a position to stand upon in our lives that ruler or leader of that kingdom shall be present within our lives and if we are witness to such kingdom on an intimate and continual basis then we cannot help but take on the characteristics of the kingdom we serve.  It is this detail that many slightly of see but for the most part miss when addressing those that are around them; however, as the alliances continue to strengthen with the world the followers of that kingdom gain access to those lives who call themselves Christians because they understand that because of the infiltration of the Church by the world we have become hapless due to our ineptitude where spiritual warfare is concerned.  When we have a personal election and side with the world, ANY part of the world, then we are allowing the mission that Jesus gave us to complete to be sabotaged.

Over and over I hear many people state that they cannot stand how this nation has become over the past few decades.  Why?  The reason that we have found ourselves in these situations is that we have elected such materials by our own accord.  Our problems are real and they are growing and as long as we continue to elect leaders that are self-serving cowards with no biblical morals to speak of you can expect only for issues to become greater in size and in number.  God laid out what would occur to Israel if they were to finalize the deal about wanting a physical king to rule their lives and nation.  God was dead on when He gave them specific details about what their nation would face if they sealed and signed that declaration and each one of those statements by God occurred and are still in motion today.  Frighteningly, there are vast numbers of Israelites that have still missed out on what God was saying to them today as back in 1 Samuel 8, yet God is so wonderful in the fact that He still allows us to choose our own destiny.  When an election is finished the results are final and cannot be changed, let us think about this truth when we are making our choices of today for they shall affect our lives and many others’ lives some time down the road; for an election result is a Covenant result and this process shall play a significant role in what the Bible has to say concerning our world.

In verse 7 of 1 Samuel 8, God makes it clear that there is a dividing line between Him and the world.  God also makes it clear that when people make this decision to leave the protection of God that they are taking their lives into their own hands because God cannot protect those who He does not recognize as on His side.  He cannot move from one side of the battle to the other in order to gain people for His Kingdom, the elective choice for God must strictly come from our hearts without any compromise present.  Verse 5 of 1 Samuel 8, states that the people knew that the judges over them were not walking in the light of God, so they decided to follow in the judges' footsteps instead of doing the correct thing by ousting the judges and letting God deal with them according to His Covenant.  As stated from the events in the Garden of Eden to the last punctuation mark in Revelation God’s definition is of one side or the other and no one can straddle the fence and serve two masters.  Yes, our enemy shall tell you that it is possible and okay for you to allow both kingdoms to reside in your life, but this is a grave and eternal lie that shall cost you your eternal position with God.

Do we recognize that the current situation that this nation faces actually is playing out each day within the spirit realm?  It is fascinating to me that with all of the so-called wise people around the globe that they cannot figure out that the answer to all of our problems is located in the Bible.  We have so many charts and graphs of how decimated our population has become with drugs, guns, sickness, debt, and every other issue known to mankind yet cannot find a single solution that is worthy of permanent relaxation within the population, but we sure do support those programs that promote the exact same problems that have landed us in this mess, to begin with.  I know that there are numerous people in this nation who do not approve of how this nation is directing itself and they foresee major catastrophes ahead if we do not turn our lives around.  I also understand that not all of the people that were a part of Israel in 1 Samuel 8 were in complete agreement with the decision that was made either but it was the heart of the nation that God saw and came to the holy and honest conclusion about which direction they wished to walk.  The same is true today and as each day passes it seems like this nation turns more towards the world and are proud of the decision to do so but what we cannot forget is that even though the world approves of our elections and wants further directional results it does not make our actions correct in the eyes of God.

If we continue to follow in this direction we must keep one thing in mind and that is when we pledge our lives completely to the ruler of this world we will have many issues that we might only dream about today become fully engaged in our land a short time down the road.  God made that statement in 1 Samuel 8 for a reason, not to try and put us under His thumb but because He created us He knows humanity like no one else ever could and He understands that when we do not abide by His authority we shall “righteously” approve of things and beliefs that shall only harm our lives and make us more miserable.  With every decision and choice we make in our personal lives and in our national lives we have an election and what our approval of demonstrates what is within our hearts, no exceptions present this is a 100% voter turnout which is exactly why we are seeing the violent divisions flashed across our screens today for we have reached a point in our hearts that we do not care what other authority figures say what we think is always correct and your other opinion is wrong and deserves to be permanently squashed.

So, once again we come back to the actions of the Church and to see what she has to say about the issues of the world and how they are being protracted into our atmospheric heart conditions.  The message that the Church has for its people is that everything is okay and that God accepts you as you are and you do not have to change one bit in your worldly beliefs in order to be saved and live an eternal life in heaven with God.  The Church has placed her total faith and outlook in the political world and is following and demanding that her congregations submit to such protocols.  How can this be a true message from Christ when it goes totally contrary to what God showed in the Old Testament and what Christ and the writers of the New Testament provided?  It is impossible to please God and the world at the same time; I have heard that saying somewhere before, have you? 

We have taken hold of the concept that our choices are flippant and what we have stated as our opinion as being our truth; our truth is absolutely wrong!  God’s Word is the definition of God and through His Word, we are defined and this means that everything that His Word contains is directly related to our lives and it is eternally important that we do our best to ignore and separate ourselves from the world and live under Covenant conditions at all times.  For if we don’t we will get what occurred in 1 Samuel 8 and what is going on in our nation today.  Wake up, Church!  For if we do not then God shall wake us up according to His supernatural Ways and we will never recover and be sustainable again.  It is our election and which side shall you choose?

DLB

The Same Command

The Same Command

11/10/18

Sometimes we become lost in how much the Old Testament corresponds with the New Testament and through this hidden accuracy of God’s Word we tend to misunderstand just how important God’s commands are to our lives.  It is far-reaching for our eternal lives and for the continual spiritual battles that we face if we just remembered how vital it is to keep God’s commands within our hearts and to submit to its meaning.  For such a long time Christians have ignored the Old Testament’s words and placed them into a cultural stigma that we deem unnecessary to live under, but through what God wants us to place into our hearts in this article should brings us to the point where we must take into consideration and bring it into our hearts that ALL of God’s Word represents life for all people.  Until we figure this truth out we shall continue to struggle with our fellow citizens when explaining or trying to explain the Word of God to them, God is a complete God and His Word represents His definition, so disunity has no consideration in His Word either.

When it comes to listening and obeying our parent’s rules the variances and levels of obedience to those rules varies with potential unlimited speculations.  I fell into that category so many times when my parents would say one thing and I would spend a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what they really meant.  When I was in kindergarten we lived in Dyersburg, Tennessee and my parents were pastors to one of the largest churches in Tennessee.  And while we were there I had a few friends that I hung around with for most of our tenure there.  This time period was in the 1970s and things were a bit different back then for most of the time parents would not have to worry about their children taking off and going down to a friend’s house alone; however, many parents also made sure that their children when doing such acts actually arrived at the requested destination too.  Today, I became nervous when my girls would walk three doors down the street to play with the neighbor kids.

One day I asked my mother if I could go to one of my friend’s house to play, that was one of the rules in the house I always had to ask permission first and at the same time receive permission from the friend’s house to go.  Up until that moment, or at least that my mind can recollect my parents would always respond with a “yes” or “no” when I asked to go to a friend’s house or to go anywhere without their presence accompanying me.  On this day, my mother threw me a curve when I asked her if I could go play for she told me when I asked: “I don’t care”.  So, after she had spoken those words I walked away and went out to the front yard and began playing alone and staying within the confines of our yard.  Now, I could find numerous things to occupy my time in that yard and I was plum happy to do so but after a while, I wanted something from inside and I went back into the house for a moment.  Mom met me inside and asked me why I did not go to my friend’s house to play?  I responded to her that she had told me “I don’t care” and that the word “don’t” took precedence in my mind as being the same as the word “no”.  Mom immediately sat me down and began to explain exactly what that phrase meant and that it meant that it was okay for me to go do what I had wanted to do.  Now, I was in kindergarten mind you so my grasp on the English vocabulary was not the most robust at the time, but my logic of what she said that day followed with what she had stated in the past, or at least I thought so.

I now ask you how many times have we studied God’s Word and read over verses and have missed truths that make things so much easier if we have figured them out beforehand?  Many of us think that God sits on His throne and does nothing but try and complicate our lives with vocabulary that we do not understand, which in turn causes us not to understand what God really is trying to tell us, I have to admit that this setting has been presented to me many times over ever since God began showing me what to write because I really believed that I understood the main concepts and truths about Genesis.  Boy, was I wrong on that belief.  The two Scripture verses that will be used in this article are Genesis 2:15 and Mark 16:15.  Both verses are well known and have been used many times from countless pulpits and have even been used in articles that God has given us through these writings as well.  However, God wants us to know and to remember that He is a consistent and pure God on all levels and when He gives a command at one point in His Word He gives the same command at another point as well.

If our enemy is successful enough to confuse our thoughts and beliefs about what God says for us to do then our hearts shall follow in this confusion and present as an unsure witness when times of battle arrive.  God demonstrates this truth in both testaments and it is our responsibility to study His definition well enough that we are able to know what to say when these witnessing opportunities arise.  Through this knowledge about God, we will have the capability of growing in God in areas that we need in order to survive against our enemy and his kingdom.  This is not an impossible task and while God is all knowing and all powerful He puts His definition in such a way that all of us have the capability to understand Him well enough so that when challenged we can have logical and simple answers to those who really want eternal answers.  Unfortunately, we find that when both of these verses are not followed (obedience) that the same loss of unity, peace, and eternal life follow, a destination that everyone wishes to avoid.

In Genesis 2:15 we find that God has placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to dress and to keep the Garden as God commanded him to do.  The reason God placed Adam into the Garden was to do such a command, he was placed there to work and to be active in keeping God’s Kingdom advancing in perfect order.  When I was younger I was taught that the Garden of Eden was the perfect place that God created for Adam and Eve to live and that basically, all they had to do was to inhabit the place and not have to worry about any dangers approaching their lives.  A logical thought process would be made if we considered such a utopic plane and one that Adam and Eve had to have thought about as well for as time went along they fell into the sleepiness and temptation of slacking that would eventually cost them their lives.  It is at this point that many people lose the point of God’s contention for it is not the focus on the Garden per se but the obedience of the man to complete the job that God had intended for him to complete that represents the eternal detail.  It becomes obvious that Adam and Eve lost this desire to obey God at all times for we find that in their future they would lose everything and be forced out from their paradise.

This brings into the topic the condition of the hearts of Adam and Eve and how over time they became incumbent with the thought of living in such a euphoric atmosphere and setting that when it came time for the enemy to introduce himself to them, a relationship was not too far off down the road.  It is through this loss of truth and divine purpose of what God commanded Adam to do in the first place that drives our enemy to seek out an opening into our heart so that this one command from God can be skewed and thus disobeyed.  There also can be no doubt that for a specific amount of time that Adam and Eve did keep in accordance to God’s command with a pure heart, the setting to which our enemy cannot stand and will stop at nothing in order to end such meant lifestyle.  But the more Adam and Eve allowed the Serpent into their realm, they had opportunities to doubt what God said to them and what He meant by such words; to put it in another way, Satan understands the meaning and importance of obeying God and what occurs when one does not so it is the logical motive and technique that he would use in order for us to stray from this one command to work for God’s Kingdom and to maintain its advancement as it grows.  Can you now understand just how we can become confused or unsure about the direction God has for our lives if we allow our enemy into our lives?

Since God created the Garden of Eden and humans in a perfect and specific manner, it cannot be understood any differently than a state of completeness.  It is this state of Creation that also defines God and His existence which means that He expects His creations and all other aspects of His Kingdom to act accordingly to this definition, which provides the recognition of an enemy who deviated from such a Truth.  The spirit of the age that the Serpent introduced to Adam and Eve eventually caught up with them and the consequences of this alliance proved eternally deadly.  It is this spirit that we can compare our lives and the existence of the Church through the command of Jesus to us as the reason why we fail at fulfilling this one or same command.  How complete was this command to Adam concerning working the Garden of Eden, enough that the word for work, tend or dress here is placed on the devotion of the worker to that of being a slave towards a goal, an extraordinary drive that compels the worker to do as much as possible on the expected level of accuracy with the utmost ethics demonstrated each day.  When this degree of work is compromised we allow our plan for our lives to override God’s plan for our lives and it is this lowering of our workplace that achieves self-kingdom alliances thus establishing a connection and bond with our enemy resulting in disobedience according to the command that God gave to be kept.

Now, we come to Mark 16:15 and this verse is another popular verse that many have heard over their lives it is also one that has been a common theme in the topics of the articles that God has shared with us over these past few years.  This verse states: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”  This short, quick, and straight to the point verse do not include any directional deviances at any point and it gives the single command that Jesus gave to His followers.  Throughout His time on earth, Jesus taught us to be the examples of God to those who did not know about the true God and what He has to offer them.  All of the teachings that Jesus gave during His ministry were wrapped up into one single command to His followers for it provides us with the work that needs to be done in order for others to hear and understand the eternal message of God’s salvation and plan for their lives.

If we are to go into the entire world and to share the gospel with those who do not know God we need to understand something.  Those people who may be fine individuals are still considered to be participants of Satan’s kingdom and may not willingly accept the words of salvation that we present to them.  Jesus never stated that witnessing to the lost would be easy work and it is for this reason alone that both God and Jesus stated that we follow God the Father’s Word at all times which means we have to understand it like the back of our hand because when eternity is at stake you cannot afford to make any mistakes when it comes to sharing the eternal truth.  Jesus uses the exact same command in this verse as His Father used when He gave Adam the command to dress and to keep the Garden of Eden.  Jesus places His Church into the entire world to work for His Father with the message of salvation, to everyone.  God instructed Adam to keep the entire Garden in order and Jesus does the exact same thing in His commission to His followers to preach to everyone.

Going into the world and telling others about God and His plan of salvation for their lives is work, for what we are doing is doing our best to share the message of God so that He can pluck them from the snares of the world and its death grip on their lives.  When we pull weeds, do they come up easily?  No way!  It is a fight to get them out of the ground intact as possible for we know that if we do not get the root out as well that weed shall grow back in a very short amount of time.  Satan does not want any of us to spend eternity in Heaven with God, it is his goal to see all perish in our sins and be tortured without the presence of God to protect us for our remaining existence.  So, Satan is not going to give up his conquests easily and shall do his best to fight back when the truth is shared.  Satan did the exact same procedure in the Garden of Eden and he continues to lie to us in this manner today.

The process of witnessing to others as stated above may not be the easiest procedure to complete but it is one that is vital on both sides of the command.  First off, we must be willing to follow such command with our entire heart committed to the cause for if we do not then Satan already has a foothold in our lives enough to mar any help we could be doing to those who need God.  Of course, when we first set out it is exciting and our hearts are full of joy but as time goes along and the road becomes a bit bumpy it is then that we need to fall back on the Word of God for instructions so that we can secure our own protection in God in order to share God’s protection.  The other side of the command deals with those who do not know God and if our hearts are not fully committed to God then how can we honestly expect for them to commit their entire hearts as well?  A totally committed heart to God shall never deviate from the biblical truth because God shall never ride the backs of a donkey or an elephant but shall answer only to Himself; therefore, we cannot preach ANY worldly status or present any acceptance speech that aligns ourselves with the world when we witness to others.  We have dropped many of the purity aspects of God’s witnessing command for ones that seek permission from the world instead.  This is a direct sign that we have fallen into the lying trap of Satan that deals in communion with the world.

We have an excellent example that explains exactly what we need to do to complete such a vital task and it begins back in Genesis with our first verse.  Genesis 2:15 gives us the statement that God placed Adam into the Garden of Eden that means that God separated Adam from other parts and this setting was a pure and holy site that God had made.  It was the act that God did with Adam that sets the stage and the importance of how our hearts should be conducted while we are witnessing to the dying world.  When we accept God into our lives and commit our hearts to Him, somehow on a supernatural level He takes us from the immoral world and places us underneath the covering of His son’s blood.  It is this separation from sin that brings into play faith, for if we try and explain things on our own understanding we shall fail miserably and thus provide a damaging witness process to others.  The world has no compromise in its goals for your life so why do we allow God’s goals for our lives to be compromised?  When the heart is not in complete trust with God we cannot be in obedience with Him either.  There is a reason God’s Word says to trust and obey.

So, this brings us to the question that requires us to examine ourselves and then ask ourselves how is Jesus’ command performance being presented and received by the world?  If you are not receiving any type of fallout in your presentation of Jesus to the world then you need to go back to God and allow Him to take out more of the world in your life, for the world shall not give up so easily and if one wants a good example of this then go to any news organization and watch videos of all the animosity against each other.  Many of us who consider ourselves to be Christians have lost the focus and the meaning of this eternal command that Jesus gave to those who seek His Ways.  We are now presenting ourselves in the same manner in which Adam and Eve did before they fell into sin.  The command that God gave Adam and Eve was visibly recognized by Satan as one that was not being followed according to God’s standard which meant that he had successfully infiltrated their hearts thus further allowing a sub-standard work ethic from them.  This sub-standardized work proved to be eternally costly to their lives and is in full swing today as well.

The Church has come to question the validity of God and His Ways, and sadly this means that our hearts have been turned away from the truth enough not to have complete trust in God any longer.  According to His Word, God states that if we do not trust Him then we cannot obey Him which means disobedience (sin) will automatically return as the god of our hearts.  Many no longer even believe that we must be saved and separated from the world in order to have eternal life with God, a clear lie that “provides” an easy path to salvation without any commitment what-so-ever.  Does this phrase and belief sound familiar to you at all?  It should because it is exactly what the world is preaching today about obedience to laws and authority or I should say the lack of obedience to laws and to authority.  Others spend countless hours reading Scriptures that try and justify their individual worldly beliefs in order to withdraw from any type of separation protection from God, a direct ploy from the personal playbook of Lucifer himself.  With all of the turmoil that we witness each day around the world, it would make sense that we find a solution to these issues, but our reasoning and logic that we suggest as solutions have fallen short simply because we have not reverted back to the only command God gave to us so long ago, just obey God and all shall be okay.

Church, we need to wake up and realize that we need God back into our lives so that we can once again completely fulfill our command that Jesus gave us to do.  When we live in such total obedience we are automatically fulfilling the command that God gave to Adam in the Garden of Eden as well for it is the exact same command.  What is our reward?  What reward did Adam and Eve receive when they had the utmost obedience to God?  A place of total peace, tranquility, and livelihood that one can imagine was the result of this living Truth.  Was the work that Adam and Eve did easy?  It would seem so at first but God asked for total commitment for a reason which means that their road was just as tenuous as ours is today.  If we are not totally committed to knowing the Word of God as it is presented from God’s definition then our walk with Him cannot be in obedience.  Only the world offers selfishness and self-serving reasons for doing something, not God.  Church, we need to repent and to allow God to infiltrate our hearts again so that we can preach the TRUE GOSPEL of God to those who need it.  One simple command that connects the Old Testament and New Testament link us together with Adam and Eve and when we live in complete truth we can do no wrong when it comes to fulfilling the command of God.

DLB

Mission Field

Mission Field

11/6/18

What do our minds and hearts quickly think about when the words “mission field”rattle our ears?  That is an easy question to answer, or so it would seem.  But is going overseas or to a land away from your abode necessary all the time to be considered the mission field or can it be presented right across the street from your home or even at your workplace or clients that you do daily business with?  It is easy to get caught up in the concept of seeing the overseas mission field as the only portion that needs to be filled, then appropriately send enough money to them so that they may are able to get the job done for God.  Is that what God wants for you and your purpose in life, just to send money to a faraway land even though you have the ability to walk across the street with a pie or cake to the hurting widow?  It is time we take another look at these fields of lost souls and re-evaluate what Jesus meant when He said that the fields are ripe for harvest.

I remember spending a good amount of time walking up and down the halls of my dad’s churches and looking at all of the missionaries that the church gave money to.  I also remember that my parents’ church would regularly host a mission’s conference and have numerous speakers from around the globe come and directly communicate about what God was doing in their part of the world and in their ministry.  On regular occasions, my father would have the missionaries that the church sponsored, speak for a service or two and recommit its support for the ministry that these wonderful servants gave to those who needed God in the most humble and complete way.  While my parents loved to host and to hear from these mighty people of God it was not until my parents began to travel overseas personally that their lives changed and they found the true understanding about what Jesus meant concerning the fields being ripe for the harvest AND seeing those fields with their own eyes.

I have not been on too many trips that I could consider being missionary work, Haiti and El Salvador being the ones that readily come to my mind.  I have traveled to Cote D’Ivoire with a group back in 1997 but it was a conference instead of a missionary trip but what I learned and saw with my own eyes there was remarkable and many of the sights and sounds are still burned within my heart, places, and people that I shall never forget.  Haiti and Cote d’Ivoire are the two places that changed my heart in many ways and set into motion a pattern of learning about God and His Kingdom that my life has been a part of ever since.  Approximately seven years ago now my biological family found me and our communication and love has continually grown ever since that time, and when I put all of what God did in my life on these trips and then add the story of my biology to it, I cannot explain exactly how God molded such a masterpiece into motion but He knew exactly what my heart was saying to those around me and gave me the ability to witness to many people who might not have understood the traditional minister.  To this day, the ministry that God has given me is not one of traditional methods or ways but God is not a traditional God either, for His Ways are unique as each individual person and for that individuality, I say thank you to Him by writing what He commands me to tell you.

My favorite songwriter left this world back in the mid-1980s when the small plane he was riding in crashed on July 28^th, 1982, his name was Keith Green.  The reason that he became my favorite songwriter was the fact that he was bold in his words and uncompromising in his commitment to God and Jesus his Savior.  He made no bones about his faith and proclaimed that he wanted nothing more than to know as much as possible about God and the plan that He had for his life.  Keith once said in a teaching session at one of his concerts that “God can’t cash out-of-state checks in Heaven, He needs you”.  It is this phrase of Keith’s that has stuck in my heart ever since I first heard it used on one of his records and it has defined what I consider to be the one and only command Jesus gave to us as the Church and that is to personally go and tell everyone that we come into contact with that Jesus died for their sins and that He loves us eternally.  It is not the monetary status that God needs for He already owns all monetary values, for He created them He needs the one thing that He cannot control and that is the choice of your heart to serve Him and to fulfill His Son’s command to His Church.

The passage of Scripture that we are going to use today has been previously mentioned in some of the articles that God has given us over the past, but there are an issue and a further detail about this passage that we need to understand and it has to deal with the commitment of the heart when it comes to the ripened fields that Jesus was looking at and talking about.  John 4:35 and it states as follows: “Say not ye, There are yet four months, then cometh harvest?  behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”  This verse tells us a lot about what time of the year this passage actually transpired but what many of us have missed is the detail about our eyes looking on the fields and how personal this verse Jesus made it.  If your life does not represent and fulfill as the mission field is presented to you then you can represent nothing more than an out-of-state check-in God’s eyes.  It was this point that Jesus was telling His disciples for they could not believe that He had stopped and was conversing with a hated Jewish enemy that they considered to be on the same level as a dog.

We cannot forget that this verse is one that Jesus is talking and He is talking to His disciples about what they had witnessed when they saw Jesus witnessing to the Samaritan woman.  How could Jesus talk to such a low life, a dog, a person who is inferior to their way of life?  Their questioning of Jesus’ actions clearly defines what this topic of this article is asking us, because what they publicly displayed that day was their understanding that it was just okay for them to write out an out-of-town check to the mission field that Jesus had been talking about with others and personally living over the past few years.  Now, I do not expect the disciples to know every small detail about what Jesus said and did to be instantaneously remembered but this is a huge aspect of what Jesus had been showing these twelve men for quite some time, and with the reasoning they approach Jesus with allows everyone to know that they were not getting it.

According to the answer Jesus gave them sums up the difference of those who only see the physical versus those who operate in the spiritual.  Jesus brilliantly answers them by pointing their attention to the fields that had some type of physical field that in about four months would be ready for workers to work and harvest what had been planted.  This answer is purely one on the physical level and to the disciples made perfect sense to them and the manner in which they looked at the field.  But Jesus places an addendum on His statement to them for He claims that the harvest is already ready and that the need for workers is now, not four months later.  It is this difference in the heart of Jesus from the hearts of the disciples and the knowledge of what harvest really needs tending.  When our hearts are in the physical it is logical that we see things on a timetable that has its peak or its culmination at a distance, but the spiritual is now and it is personal and needs to be attended to as soon as one comes into contact with it.  It is this reason that Jesus talks with the Samaritan woman for He sees the opportunity and uses it to complete the work that He is fulfilling and will give to those who follow Him to do.

What Jesus says is for the disciples to physically look at the fields that are in front of them, not the fields far off in the distance or in another land that they could not see with their eyes.  What this says to us is that it is not always a good thing to sit back and hear the missionaries speak about the wonderful amounts of people who have come to know Jesus where they have been ministering at, but for us to actually understand that the need for our testimony and witnessing to people is needed right in front of our eyes.  If this is not the case then why are there more missionaries coming to America than ones going out of America?  Why is it that many church buildings in small towns sit closed up or become second-hand stores?  How come the youth groups are huge in numbers but so anemic in spiritual growth that NONE of their regular attendees have any ambitions or desires to enter the ministry?  And, dear Lord, why is that many of those You have called into the ministry has fallen away and fell into the arms of the world?  It is because their eyes are on the timetable of the physical and they refuse to look and to live in the spiritual and your actions prove to be a worthless out-of-state check to God.

It took a few minutes for Jesus to get His point across to His disciples that He was not there to bring in a physical harvest but His single entity for harvest is the human heart.  Jesus had just spoken to a lady who was considered an enemy or a lower citizen that was condemned to an isolated area of the same region and the disciples had to be shown that she, her family, and town were the harvest that was ripe and ready to be told of the truth.  The home mission field is the core value system in serving the Kingdom, the problem is, that many people who call themselves followers of Christ have become crossed in their wiring and through this confusion have fallen for the fact that some of those walking around them are bad enough that they believe that they no longer have the responsibility to be a witness to them on holy biblical terms.  The disciples demonstrated these exact same concerns when they saw Jesus conversing with the Samaritan woman, but Jesus – the True Word of God – had His eyes on the eternal harvest and not the physical.

When we continue to live in the physical alone we cannot help but act in the physical and through this type of single-heartedness cannot see what God really wants us to do with those who are dying and do not know Him.  We may have good intentions at the beginning of our walk with Christ but if we do not allow God to clean out our hearts and make our hearts right before His eyes it will be no time before our eyes and heart wander away back to the holdings of the world; remember we were born into sin and that means it would be a natural process for us to return to the “easy aspect of our lives” instead of working that evilness out.  When we do not stick with God and turn from our ways then it becomes clear to our enemy that it is okay that he has residence within our lives and this gives him permission to invade our lives and for him to bring his buddies along with him.  Oh, Satan will let you attend church services, be a member of any denomination and he will even allow you to be leaders in churches, even pastors or priests for he does not care because he has your heart and he knows that eventually your physical mentality will shine through and plant another seed on stony, thorny, or on the roadside someplace.  This is not in the best interests of the fields that are ripe and ready for harvest, this action only represents us walking by and looking at the fields and continuing on our journey arguing that no one has come to work the field.

When we witness to our friends when they open up their hearts to us, we better be listening with our spiritual ears for there is a reason they are hurting and it is our responsibility to tell them that God has the perfect answer for their troubles.  It is our duty to show kindness to the poor and needy and to even be a witness to our enemies.  Do you see the Church being witnesses to those who stand against their positions today?  No, because first of all the Church cannot even grasp the concept of what life means enough to take a stand for it.  Secondly, we have become so mute on the truth that e have forgotten what the truth is, and honestly, when you combine these two aspects together and run them in tandem, we do not have any foundation to believe in much less stand upon.  This is the consequences of having the out-of-state check mentality and heart for when we can sit back and watch others and do nothing directly, our smiles shall be no larger than ever before.  WRONG!!!  What you are doing is forcing Jesus to once again remind us that our purpose in life is about winning the lost for God and if we are not doing that first at home and then around the world that we are worthless to Him and He shall spew us and our out-of-state checks from His mouth.

Many of us have the notion that the Bride of Christ is going to be this pretty little figure all dressed in white with her nails and hair all perfectly groomed with her makeup on just right.  This belief too is WRONG!!!  She will be bloodied and scarred from head to toe with bruises on her entire body from the work that she has been doing for God’s Kingdom and then receiving from Satan’s kingdom in return.  She shall know, understand, and witness to the fields that are in front of her eyes and her heart bursting with compassion for them even if they reject what she has to say to them.  Through this detailed passage of John 4:35 we learn so much about where our hearts should be and at the same time we see exactly where our hearts are at as well.  Where is your heart?  That is the question that God is asking us today for where your heart is that is where your eyes are located as well.  The mission field could be the little lady across the street or the gentleman that you run into almost every week at the grocery store or it could even be holding several crusades across other countries, whatever God calls your heart to do it is of the utmost importance that you do not run away but heed the call that God shows you.

In no way am I saying that those who give to missions on a regular basis should reduce their giving or to stop their giving for it is true that the mission field workers need our support in order to continue the spread of the gospel.  But God wants us to know that the mission field is right in front of our eyes as well and while we live in the most blessed nation in world history there are millions around us that do not know God.  I do not know if I shall ever be physically able to travel to another country again because of my health, but I do know that I can witness to the fields here in my community and region just as if I had completed a 4,000 mile flown journey to Africa.  If you are not willing to be a missionary to your own community and family, then your heart is writing out-of-state checks in God’s name and that shall not do anything for those who are lost.  Church, let us change our hearts before God has to change it for us for there are countless people all around us that we come into contact at work, in school, on the roads, grocery stores, salons that we can witness to, those are the fields that Jesus wants us to see and to make sure they have heard the gospel.  You will be surprised at how many people in your own community do not know Jesus all you have to do is see the local fields that are ripe and white for harvest.

DLB