Obstruction

Obstruction

12/29/19

This word has been used for numerous occasions to make a point about someone’s activities.  It does not matter what type of activity one refers to either, for at some point all of us have sued this tactic to delay another progress or maybe even ours.  In the Kingdom of God, there is no obstruction present nor can there be since God’s definition alone settles any obstacle that might have the guts to stand up against Him.  However, one obstructive force did try once to override God and he and his followers were thrown out of Heaven and thus began a campaign to disrupt anything and everyone he could in opposition to God.  It is our job to identify this obstructionist and point him out to as many people as possible but in order to do this we cannot just recognize the superficial aspects of such a hinderer but we must understand the origin of where this obstruction process came into our lives before we can defeat this nasty order of sin and death.

The definition of obstruction is as follows: the action of obstructing or the state of being obstructed which means this: to block; be or get in the way of.  It is this word that many of us use on a daily basis without even speaking a word to another person, a process that we use in order to obtain our way or a process to silence someone that places a different view than yours; whatever the cause may be we knowingly or voluntarily commit an obstructive act even when we brush our teeth.  For the most part, it is relatively safe that most people do not want to harm others by their methods of obstruction, yet sadly, the percentage of those willing to do harm for obstructive purposes continue to steadily grow.  Why?  Why do we have to resort to a violent method to render our cause viable to others?  Forcing others to submit to a cause through obstructive views and means is not freedom but tyranny and this method of passage has grossly elevated such hostilities between people not only in this country but many others as well that no one really can be friends or have friends any longer.  The definition of this word and it's original or tender does not come from a personal or human setting but a spiritual setting long before mankind was created by God which makes this word and it's meaning an eternal word and one that has a spiritual origin.

A quick reference about my heart sport soccer, one that will give light to just how dangerous obstruction can be to our lives and to others as well.  One of the most brutal and vulgar aspects of this game is when a player from the opposing team comes up to the player with the ball and physically knocks them off the ball forcing them to the ground.  Usually, this event occurs when the player with the ball is running at top speed headed to the opponent’s goal.  It is this foul that causes the most injuries to players in this sport, so much so that some of these instances cause broken bones or even career-ending injuries.  This is how dangerous obstruction can be to people, yes this example is a sport but if it can cause physical damage that is crippling it can to cripple a person’s spirit.

Obstructive behavior is noticed around the world in many different forms.  A few weeks ago, one political party impeached the President of the United States strictly on a party vote with obstruction of Congress as one of the formal charges.  This act leads some to question the real reason or the root of the problem and if this action would even perpetrate the actual crime that was believed to be committed, exposed, a dangerous precedent set into motion that many have no clue about what it means for the future of countless citizens, groups, or even this nation.  Another issue popped up this last week and it comes from a comedian who stood up in front of her audience and proudly proclaimed that she had an abortion and loved it.  She also encouraged the ladies in the audience to become pregnant and then go out and have an abortion saying that they too will love doing.  This person also stated that she absolutely loved being God and that it gave her so much power and having such power made her feel good.  This statement of hers, referencing almost a direct quote from Satan to Eve, which this conversation shall serve as one of our passages of Scripture for this article concerning obstruction and the origin of the word and process.

How many of us would continue to practice this word if we really believed its origin and what it established in our lives by the established being that started it all?  Each day we see scrolling across our screens some type of protest that wants to obstruct some type of function ongoing in a portion of the world.  We must ask ourselves this question, does it do an overall good for this to occur and if so, what do we think about those who stand in the way of such differences of opinion?  This nation has been riddled with protest after protest about some sort of injustice that they believe has occurred, in many cases, they are correct but shutting down interstates and state highways, are these methods the correct manner to protest?  In truth, the act of obstruction has become a spiritual aspect in our lives, and rightly so for it is from a spiritual origin that this word raises its ugly head.  Ironically, our belief and the subsequent misuse of this word that actually thrives inside our hearts which while we may complete the act of obstruction toward others we truly have obstructed ourselves even deeper.  See, we were Created by God and God cannot be stopped for any reason known or unknown to mankind; not saying some beings have tried but when they did they failed miserably and their actions were eternally marred because of it.

Isaiah 14:12-15

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the most High.  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

Genesis 3:1-7

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God made.  And he said unto the woman Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat from every tree of the garden?  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”

In the first passage of Scripture, we see that Lucifer began all of this obstruction nonsense when he decided that he should be the one in charge of Heaven, thus establishing the motive within his heart to be like God and if at all possible higher than God.  It was this act of Lucifer that first initiated the opposition to God and to the advancement of His Kingdom.  Nothing or no one before had any plans to do such an obstructive process because they understood that there was no higher power than God Himself.  At times I stop and wonder what Lucifer was thinking and why would he even do such an idiotic thing, but then I quickly have to end that process because I myself have overpowering ambitions within my heart at times; yet, I do not believe I would ever think that I could rise above God, that thought to I must nip in the bud because I remind myself exactly how many times I chose not to do what God had planned for me to do, which is the perfect example of obstruction.  See, God was here and alive long before He created angels and He sure has been around longer than humans so this can mean only one thing, since God has no beginning and no end He cannot change His course nor can He be hindered (obstructed) by any created or uncreated being or belief; therefore, since this is a Truth statement it is only Satan, his angels, and his kingdom that serve as the origin of obstruction.

We now come to the second passage of Scripture for this article and we return to the Garden of Eden with the three major players all gathered around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, having a conversation about who is correct and what would really occur to those who did their own thing.  There is no doubt that God had warned Adam and Eve about the reason why His garden needed to be kept and dressed but as time drug along this threat seemed innocent enough to warrant conversations with the enemy who questioned the Rule Maker.  Adam and his wife knew that Satan was a liar and that he was the only one who had lied in the past, so one would think that this would be a great reason to leave him alone and to fight him off as God instructed previously.  Shortly after this conversation ended we find that Eve and then Adam believed that what the Serpent said was more accurate than what God had stated sometime in their past – a dangerous position that some Christians hold about the Bible and how old it is – so they both ate from the tree and we find that sin had a green light into their lives and subsequently into yours and my lives as well.  Ever since that fateful moment Adam and Eve allowed Satan to obstruct God’s plan for their lives, humanity has suffered the consequences of going in a down-hilled manner ever since.

There is no way possible that we can accurately account for all the wrongs and obstructions that have occurred because of this allowance way back in the Garden of Eden.  Also, we have only a fraction of information of all the wrongs and obstruction attempts by Satan after he fell and before we came into being.  Both settings are mind-boggling at best and really overwhelming if one tries to spend any lengthy amount of time trying to sort them out.  Since the Serpent leveled this obstructive component into our lives, it is this one-sided opinion of his that we use many times in our obstructive content against each other.  Therefore, since obstruction has its origins on a spiritual level it simply does not exist on a personal or physical aspect either, it is an obstruction against YOUR eternity.  In any case, known or unknown, if resistance is presented in front of God obstruction is in play.  Make no mistake, God’s Kingdom shall be fulfilled it is just whether or not our hearts allow it to be fulfilled peacefully or not.  In this true light, we make fools of ourselves when we cry obstruction of justice when it is ourselves that caused such an event to occur initially.  Countless numbers of us fail to grasp this truth and then question why we suffer devastating consequences as a result of such processes.

Unfortunately, we are currently witnessing this cruel amount of consequential results from an unjust process within the nation’s government leaders.  There is absolutely no question that one side of the political aisle is out to get the President, but at what costs do these folks have to expend in order to witness what is really going on here.  ALL parties involved in this procedure are at fault, NO ONE is innocent and it has taken the presence of this President for some to recognize this fact and how dangerously close we are to a supernatural destruction followed by a national implosion that shall change the entire course and world statistical structure.  I cannot help but look on with inner tears as some elected officials make this charge of obstruction yet deliberately squelches so far 80 official motion requests to recognize abortion is murder.  Here we have just how deep obstruction has infiltrated our lives in that we have forgotten that anything that God does not ordain equals death and we would wish to guarantee death to millions of potential rocket scientists, doctors, engineers, inventors, pastors, etc because we cannot see that killing innocent babies is just a horrible obstruction to God as lying to one another on other issues.  Physical obstruction is a direct product of the origin of this word which makes it a deeper issue and one far more dangerous to our eternity because it grows on a regular and generational platform.

Church, how do you stand on the issue of obstruction to God?  Are we committing this vile act and sin on a routine or voluntary basis?  It pains me to say this but, I believe we obstruct God and His Kingdom more than we think we do.  We have incorporated our personal feelings and personal gainful methods into the heart of the Church at a steady pace ever since the Early Church was established by Christ.  You doubt this to be true?  How many denominations are thee today and why were these denominations created?  Yes, I believe we have placed personal beliefs into the heart of the Church and therefore have provided Satan with a mastered tool of obstruction to God’s Kingdom.  Whether you know it or not, God places individuals into leadership positions for a reason and it is NOT for you to obstruct what He has ordained.  God has given us the perfect opportunity to take a closer look at our hearts and to see the sin that God has shown us is there, give it to Him and live in a purified and restored life once again.  Instead, we have acted foolishly on all levels due to the fact we do not know God and His Word at all and have shamefully exposed this fact to everyone around us, especially to God.

It is obvious that if we DID understand the Word of God we would be very cautious in what we protest and what we obstruct.  God expects the people of the world to act according to such foolishness but from the ones who claim to be of Him?  Also, if we truly understood the Word of God each and every person who considers themselves to be a Christian would have no problem standing with God on the right to live and to live abundantly.  Our lives and church buildings would be filled with the Spirit of God once again and over a short period of time, all of our problems would simply disappear.  Yet, another day goes by and we see another obstructive process being formed and executed in our world.  When are we going to change this procedure Church?  It is strictly up to us to do such a change but until we turn our hearts back to Him and seek Him and His Word again in our lives, the change we all want to see shall never come close to our grasp.  Obstruction is a word and condition from Satan himself, so why do we claim it as a part of our duty to instruct?

DLB

Not One Word

Not One Word

12/28/19

Have you ever tried to defend yourself by thinking up a lie in order to cover up an incident that you knew you would get into trouble if your parents or your spouse or boss ever found out?  Humans love to try and explain their motivations when things they have participated in go wrong but every-once-in-a-while some try to not make any excuses and come clean when asked.  This type of action from us reflects just how our hearts live and how they were influenced in the first place, definitely making that choice.  God did not create us to function in such a failed capacity, and when we find ourselves in such a situation, we usually bumble things up so badly that our future movements can almost be determined without occurrence being offered.  God wants us and always has wanted us to live without fear of any type of lie being tied to our existence for we tend to forget that sin is a lie directed at God first.  It is time we learn from time from two famous people, ones we have more in common with than many ever have thought about, Adam and Eve.

How many of us out there have done something that we knew was wrong and even though we knew it was wrong we did it anyway?  We became caught up in the moment then made the choice to follow through with the act or acts that we understood to be wrong.  The weight of the moment far outweighed the results and it was this thought that convinced us to continue with the misgivings.  But the scenario does not stop with the act being committed but afterward when all is said and done we have another moment to figure out exactly what has been accomplished and for most of us, guilt immediately follows such an act, so much so that we begin to do our best to justify our actions and to minimize its results.  Most of the time when this realization process arrives, we become quiet and think of ways to explain our actions not only to ourselves but to anyone else who might find out about the deeds you committed.  I know I have been in some of these situations in my past with most of them being stupid petty things that did no harm but were pranks that were truly mean in nature. 

How many criminals do you know, commit a crime and then immediately go turn themselves in to the police, confess what they did and turn over all of the evidence to convict them without even having a trial?  Not many I would say.  Most turn silent and wait it out to see what occurs down the road, that road sometimes being years in time.  It does not matter what the offense might have been it is usually the criminal’s intent to get the job done and then flee the scene hoping no one saw it occur.  We see this occur over and over in our society alone, most get away with the incident but every once-in-a-while witnesses show up and information gets passed along to apprehend this person or group of individuals.  Again, we have the point of attack taken and completed but afterward, there remains silence from those who commit crimes against others selfishly hoping that they can keep what they have done quiet long enough for people to forget what occurred.  This is all part of their getaway plan and silence and laying low is a key ingredient in such a plan.  It does not matter if the story about such a crime is fictional or a gruesome truth, the crime always wants to be hidden for as long as possible.  I heard a great one the other day, stating that one or two states are going to allow accused people to return to the crime scene to make sure everything is in order as it was when they committed the crime; sorry, but that is just hilarious to me and serves as a reason why people who do wrong stay quiet and try to formulate plans on their own.

Genesis 3:6-8

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.  And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.”

In our Scripture reference above, we see that Adam and Eve realized what had occurred as soon as they had completed their choice of sin.  Up until this moment in their lives, they did not have to have any contingency plan for when things would go wrong because God did not want them to have such a plan.  God created Adam and Eve in a certain way and in a specific manner all of which had no guilt or shame due to the fact they were created in perfect and holy conditions, living in a perfect and holy place too.  But as soon as they disobeyed God their world changed for the worse and sensations and physical emotions came over them, feelings that they had not experienced before.  Of course, they had to stop and take good looks at themselves because their eyes had changed from the complete and total spiritual to the physical, an alignment that was not readily handled with care.

Verse 7 states that after their eyes were opened they knew that they were naked which created an entirely new condition that according to them, needed to be corrected.  It was this process that has been discussed many times over in books and sermons and it is true that Adam and Eve believed they needed to cover up their bodies.  How far had they fallen before this process had to begin?  Enough to warrant no cry out to God for help or to inform Him of what had occurred, which He already knew what had transpired because was all-knowing back in the Garden of Eden times as well as today.  This verse quickly tells us that Adam and Eve began their search for material to try and cover up their nakedness, an escape plan if you wish; yet, no word to God about what had occurred.  Are you seeing a pattern developing here?  If we are honest, this pattern that Adam and Eve took is almost identical to what we would try to cover up when we do things incorrectly.

Now, another detail appears here in both situations in that before Adam and Eve allowed sin into their lives they had no reason to hide from God, nor did they have to hide anything from God for they had nothing wrong to worry about, they were still in perfect working order.  The same conditions apply to us before we make the choice to allow some stupid idea to run rampant in our minds and commit some type of foolishness to complete the stupid idea of ours.  Just as Adam and Eve demonstrated to us, no matter which one ate first, both were involved in the undertaking and so it goes when we are following through with our stupid ideas, you might not be the one that actually commits the crime at first, but your presence is perfect set up as being involved thus carrying out the idea as they are the others with you.

We see in verses 6 & 7 Adam and Eve not talking much but hurriedly formulating and then putting their covering plan into action.  It is clear that they did not have any other plans to talk with God about what had occurred nor were they concerned that God already knew what they had done.  It is fascinating to me of how humans try to justify their bad actions through thoughtful plans afterward, all hoping that the authorities will not find out.  This process of making coverings for themselves took some time for even the expert seamstress with modern equipment would still require a bit of time to complete such a covering.  Another point of order here is that Adam and Eve also understood that God would eventually come around looking for them which is why our minds hurry up and try to think of what to say or do when we believe we are about to be caught.  Short conversations must have been quietly passed between them while they were hiding behind bushes and if we are fair to the human race it probably is not difficult to know somewhat what was said between them; but as stated above, nothing about coming forward to God about their deeds is ever mentioned in Scripture.  The longer they had to make their fig leaf coverings the further along this new detestable growth pattern was allowed to run.

God also wants us to know about the process that Adam and Eve took in order to tie all of the fig leaves in an appropriate pattern good enough to be considered complete.  This was not the type of effort that they had to be concerned with previously, for the focus of their lives was around them and not on them.  Adam and Eve knew that God is a complete God all the time they had been with Him and they knew that His consistency would not change either, yet instead of having a repentant heart they complicated the issue by continuing to cover themselves their own way just as they had done when they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  God loves a repentant heart but even as much as He does He cannot dismiss the evidence of sin that comes with the disobedient territorial dominion.  Still, Adam and Eve mention nothing about repentance as verse 7 comes to a close.  Ultimately, this action or non-action by Adam and Eve should erase any notion that they did not know what they were doing and could use this as an excuse for their disobedience, just as we try to do when we think of and then follow through with our stupid ideas.

As each day passes in our lives, we see the effects of such ridiculous disobedience unmasking itself.  It does not matter if one lives in an urban society or rural community, this force of selfish indignation comes into light.  One cannot dismiss these events as normal or natural for it tears away the hearts of those affected and renders them defeated yet somehow our laws and governments have chosen to protect the criminal and punish the victims, another detail of silence that strikes to the core of our everlasting existence.  Adam and Eve were created and placed into the Garden of Eden to dress and to keep it not to allow sin into its confines.  God created and ordained Israel to perform in such a separation manner afterward, and then Jesus established the Church with a command to go into the entire world and preach this separation (Gospel).  Just like Adam, Eve, and Israel, the Church has chosen to bite from the apple and then formulate a plan to justify its reasoning for doing such stupid idea.  God already knows the sins we have committed, and He wants us to stand up and face Him with repentance in our hearts, not a covered up lie He already knows about.

It is one thing to expect people who do not know God to think about, formulate, and then commit specific stupid criminal actions toward others for that is what the world promotes and demands from its subjects.  These types of acts coming from such hideous hearts could be considered as a “normal” procedure but when they begin to rear their acts that stem from the Church, it can be shocking on a level that is hard to describe.  Is this the truth?  Wasn’t Adam and Eve a representative of what the Church would stand for today?  Wouldn’t the nation of Israel be another example of this representation?  Yet, in both of these instances, they did gross negligence against the law of obedience to God and His Ways.  It is this act of doing bad things and then remaining silent while trying to make a plan to cover it up that has gotten us where we are at today.  Where are we at?  We are on the curb sitting down with our mouths shut as the world and its sinful parades walk right on by our position.  We no longer believe the power of repentance and obedience and how one must walk with the other in order for us to live an abundant and restored life.

Church, we can no longer afford to sit back and watch the world walk on by and not stand up and proclaim the gospel to these dying people.  I do NOT care what the pope says for us to do concerning this matter, we are to shine the Light of Truth into the darkness and Yes, Pope Francis, you must proselytize in order for God and His Light to shine.  The plan that God has for our lives is already spilled out for us we do not have to stop and make up excuses for the Word of God if we do things correctly in obedience.  The only time mankind is silent is when they believe they have done something wrong and wish to hide it, as Christians we should have nothing to hide, period!  If we do, then we need to confess to God our sins, repent from those sins and live in a loud and prominent manner the restored life that God only can give.  Are you living this kind of vibrant and loud life, Church?  Or are you sitting back and trying to figure out what to do with the sins you refuse to let go of at the cross.  We have very precious little time to witness to a dying world, we cannot be like Adam and Eve who were enticed over disobedience and then sit in the bushes trying to cover up an already known sin.  The solution?  Do not sin and live in obedience.  What does living in obedience provide us, you ask?  A voice of truth and confidence standing in the open waiting for further instructions and conversations with God is what obedience gives us.

DLB

Remembering Stone

Remembering Stone

12/20/19

What type of atmosphere would present such a person to remember stone?  How many of us in this world can relate to such an environment growing up, sadly, probably more than we care to imagine?  That type of growth pattern was not the intention of what God had in mind when He placed us in the Garden of Eden, but as sin continued to infiltrate our choired living standards this type of upbringing was inevitable.  Even though our lives were opened to a multitude of discourses, God did not have just a single plan that was destroyed because He already had figured out what our lives could have turned out to be.  We do not have to remember a stone heart growing up nor do we have to pass that stone on to our children either.  God has given us the perfect opportunity to change our surroundings according to His Ways, not as the popular worldly view wishes to command us from.  God loves to turn our stones of heart into beating and living organs again the question is this, will you allow Him to do so?

Some of you may know that I was adopted when I was a baby and the story that my parents received from my birth mother sounded good at the time but after decades passed, I found out that what was told to them was a lie.  Mom and dad always told me about my roots and how I was adopted and that somewhere out there I had brothers and sisters.  Details were not really revealed until about ten years ago when my biological family contacted me.  Not much time to go into specifics but my older brother was never told about me until that time of contact which really had a confusing tone to this new knowledge of his.  At the same time it, my appearance answered some questions he had since he was a young boy but mainly, threw open a gated community of unanswered questions that still had not been witnessed yet.

Now, knowing this information about my biological family, I was still kind of numb when the news broke about their contact, but I had an idea about them so the shock of everything was not a devastating blow.  Not so for my brother, he was hurt and angry and still is in some ways about this arrival if you please.  His family and mine have a wonderful relationship today and it grows as each day arises but it has brought up many hurts from his childhood once again and he struggles with them at times, completely understandable.  The relationship with our biological mother is no longer present and through many instances that occurred before I came onto the scene of their lives,  and probably shall never be redeemed.  I look at my brother and hear his voice ring out with deep and inner questions about his younger life, with no real concrete evidence to support truthful answers.  In turn, this knowledge hurts me as well even though I was not directly a part of his growing up years but I cannot help but think about what my heart would be like if I was not placed into the loving arms of my parents so long ago.

Jeremiah 17:1-2

“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart and upon the horns of your altars; Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.”

Hebrew

“The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, engraved with a diamond point on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.  Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles, by the green trees, on the high hills.”

How many stories of similar worries could be told of people today?  Of course, more gruesome tales could be extrapolated upon by either reading about or hearing from those whose childhoods were not of structured purity.  We cannot ignore such conduct for it is a common item that our eyes and ears would hear if we took the time to listen to simple conversations around us or to take a few moments to look into someone’s eyes to see what their heart bears to the public.  It breaks my heart to think that people my age or even older and younger than I did not have wonderful parents or great childhood memories growing up; yet, at the same time I cannot help but think to myself about those people whose hearts were broken and hardened when they were younger.  Now, they pass on the same type of separated and fractured love toward their children for it is all they know how to give, or they cannot love in depth or in truth because their inner heart is rock hard and cannot change if they wanted to, a dilemma that even many medical professionals either ignore or do not know how to deal with properly and adequately.

In addition, we have some parents who have made deep and worthy vows to not raise their children as they had been treated but always end up following in their parents’ footsteps many of which falling deeper into the stone cold-hearted atmospheric raising that has added implications against their children.  This lack of understanding about what really has been allowed to infiltrate their lives only further deepens the eternal lies that sin has been allowed to grasp a hold of.  It is no secret that kids look like the parents that created and bore them but so often we forget to deal with the inner (spiritual) doors that we pass along to our children without even knowing what has occurred?  The Textbook of Psychiatry has even taken the chapter of true forgiveness from its pages and basically forgets to teach patients that forgiveness is the key to any mental or inner healing, but gives these hurting people session after session of feeling techniques and prescribed drugs as their therapy closings.  This teaches people to be dependent on a human profession that is just as messed up as they are for control of what lies within; Satan’s dream of masking a lie with another lie and it is the perfect setting to allow such devastating youth days fester and grow within untreated until it is time to pass those traits on to the next generation.

This passage of Scripture brings up a couple of points concerning just how hard we have become toward our lives and also how far we have fallen away from God our Creator yet it also describes what our actions shall lead to when we do not understand that God is the ONLY way to our physical and eternal peace and rescue.  In verse 1 of this passage, we find that it is being said that the hearts of Judah have become like stone or metal and that in order for anything to be said from such a heart it must be done so with a sharp and strong enough instrument that will forever engrain its markings.  The general term used for “a pen or iron” means that it would be a chisel or some type of instrument with a diamond pointed tip so that its markings would penetrate deep into the surface.  This verse also refers to the idols of the land and how much they mean to the hearts of the people, thus forming a single stone cry as a sign of their allegiance to what their hearts desire.

It is bad enough that the hearts of the people in Judah have hardened as much but it is verse 2 of this passage that deals with the more serious issue and that is the growth of such idolatry and selfish servitude that we see that the future of Judah is now adorned with precious little ones that shall remember the activities of their parents which will detail deeper and further into sin and sinful indulgences as a norm of life.  Many people will say that their actions do not influence anyone nor do their actions deeply affect them personally either, until trouble comes along of course.  It is the doorways to sin that mean so much in this passage and it is of dire importance that we understand that if we accept the world into our lives and use it as a routine function of our existence that is what our children shall see and then at some point begin to use and rely upon as their truth.  Satan is the only influence that reverts back to your past or to things in the past and then continues to use these issues against you in as many ways possible in order to get you to stay on his side.  He does not tell you that as long as you allow this door to remain open, he and his buddies have direct access to you and to your family through your willingness to comply with this spiritual law.  Oh, and it really does not matter if you believe in this spiritual law or not because it is there and it is functioning through your doubt too.

The word that is of great importance here is the verb “remember” and how it is used through the Hebrew definition of it.  The Hebrew word used here is “kizkor” and every meaning it refers to always returns to the active process of remembering something of importance or big enough in experience worth remembering.  In this instance and usage, it cannot be termed as a word or process that is easily or quickly forgotten but a process of routine growth of importance within the heart of the person, or as already noticed in this verse the heart of Judah.  Also, this type of memory would be one that would bring back some type of stability to the heart whether or not it would be pleasant would depend upon the remembered activity.  Most of the time when one deals with the world it shall seem like a good thing at the beginning but become a burden by the time another young setting comes along; now, you have two to deal with and grow.  This verse also speaks about the altars and groves that Judah placed along the green hills, the word groves in Hebrew is “Asherah poles” which served for one purpose only and that was idol worship.  Grotesquely, this verse continues its specificity concerning the children for it will be the children that remember such proceedings which means those practices are now a firm part of their lives and ready to be passed along to their children.  These poles and altars were established for a reason and it was over time that these poles and altars were demanded upon their existence as a right of life and to live according to such rituals.

This process may not seem too bad for some folks reading this article, but in order to appreciate the dire necessity for understanding here, we must be reminded or remember what took place at these groves and altars that Jeremiah refers to here.  It is the children that are of some older age that this verse is talking about, for it is their hearts and minds that recall exactly what their parents did at some past point in their lives.  The altars were not an altar to God but an altar to a god who demanded real sacrifices as gifts for healing, fertility, wealth, status and any other worldly state a person or family would wish to obtain.  But the one major item that would stick into their mind is that one day in their past they had a younger brother or sister and then at another day in their past they did not.  Parents teach their children through actions and through conversations that come from the heart which means that those practices are accepted and normal within not only that particular family but in others' presences as well.  If continued, this process of sacrificing would become a normal setting and one to be expected at least once during their young adult lives and that right there is the prime example of a heart that had been molded over time and hardened through the confines of the world’s rules.

It has been presented to us a few times over these past three years that this nation has formally elected the spirit of Jezebel, and while her spirit continues to expose herself every day we must be reminded that she will not command a presence or an audience at first but eventually demand your attention.  There are many issues that the world deems precious and should be fought over and it is through this passage of Scripture that we see the results of such programming by the world shine through children and their children and their children.  It is a generational practice that becomes enough of a part of people that they are lost without its practices and through these practices, the person’s “truth” is magnified and adored.  How is this known or how can this be said?  The last portion of verse 2 gives us the authority to say it, these groves and altars were located on the green high hills.  This means that they were strategically placed so that when it was time to incorporate the practices everyone would be able to watch it take place.  They were proud of their accomplishments and performances and had no reservations about their activities.  To put it into today’s terms they shouted their sacrifices from the rooftops.  Once again, we are called to remember that Jezebel does not wish to be exposed until she exposes herself in her own timing which is why it is vital that we allow God to chisel away at our hearts of stone.

Some might say that this type of activity never occurred or that if it did it was not on a major scale that could have involved the entire nation of Judah.  I would like to inform you that God cannot help but see some type of sin within the heart of our lives, for He understands that our physical lives shall cease one day, which is an abomination to Him, but it is the voluntary sinful acts that make up these categories that do the eternal damage.  These wonderful people were the direct descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob God’s chosen seed for the separation example from the world but it was they who chose to be separated from God.  It was their choice to leave the confines of a Law governed by God for one that is flawed and dead in context.  Their hearts were persuaded by the events and interactions with the world that became their influential statements of change.  The evidence from the world became greater than the evidence from God, at least to some of them and then more of them until most of them agreed with the world.  Their spiritual vision was turned into physical lust and desire which then illuminated into spiritual vulgarity and vanity enhanced by their demands to leave God.  How many do you know or have heard people say “I tried God once” or “God left me”?  It is the exact same influence here today that was present in Israel’s heart way back when.

It is obvious that the day-to-day activities that Israel began to perform became the centerpiece of their lives.  This is a common factor that all of us deal with and one that should be the grounding place of God and His Word in our lives first.  It is indisputable that Israel had been born and grown through God and His Ways but at the same time it is also undeniable that the world had its influences on their hearts as well and eventually, the world’s ways became deeply appealing more to the hearts of Israel than God did.  God expects us to work and to keep our dominions intact for that was the command to Adam and that command has not changed for today either; however, when we lose track of God and His position in our lives it becomes easy for our enemy to gain access to our hearts, infiltrate them and then claim resident status legally.  It is this allowed resident status that begins the process of stone building and if we do not proclaim the truth against this stone formation, it will consume our lives in such a manner that will overpower us after a calculated amount of time.

Church, this is a problem that we need to understand because if Satan can fool the children of Israel enough to convince them to leave God and seek out a life in the world, we will be easy targets for this activity.  Since God is addressing this issue, we can safely estimate that we are either in dire condition of this occurring or most likely it has already taken over in our hearts.  This means it is built up enough that God recognizes it as a problem and is showing us that we need to have it removed.  We should have no problem with God doing this for it is the purpose of our lives to show everyone else what is going on so that they can remove things as well.  Through this message from God, we should have the initiative to stop and to get on our knees and ask God to show us where our hearts are at in the stone building program of Satan.  If we do this, God promises us that He will heal our land; this includes our hearts for it is our hearts that represent our land.  If we do not complete this task then our hearts shall continue on its stone building project and at some time in our future, our hearts shall no longer beat and thus be claimed for the kingdom of the world.

This type of trickery from Satan has not changed one bit over the millennia yet we have not learned from our history because we still fall into identical issues today.  This passage of Scripture informs us just how things become if we do not continually seek God and allow Him to search our hearts on a daily basis.  Not only are we hardening our hearts against God and the desires He has for our lives but we are actually shaping our children’s hearts with this pen of iron and diamond tip.  Think about this folks, we are shaping our children’s hearts by living for the world and its ruler.  If we shape their hearts starting at a young age how hard will their hearts be by the time they reach their teen years or their young adult years?  What are the chances of them seeking God and living for Him at these ages?  What will become of our nations if we do not spread the Truth about what Satan does to and with our hearts?  Church, let us change our hearts now so that we can teach our children properly about the auricles of God so that they may live in holy eternity with God.  It is well written that God does not wish for any one of His children to die in their sins and spend eternity in a place marked for the devil and his angels, so why do we begin making that death process possible ourselves?  Our command is not stonework but tell those stone hearts about God so that they may beat once again.  Remembering a rock is nothing special, but eternal life is beyond our imaginations.

DLB

Erase The Hate

Erase The Hate

12/15/19

To what extremes would humans take to complete the title of this article?  It seems like we try so many different angles yet find no true answers about how to stop this stage of choice in our lives.  It becomes disheartening to see such activities occur each day and while our eyes watch these events unfold we cannot help but wonder if we want things to be this way.  It is a constant state of turmoil that our origins were not created to live in but here we are still fighting for peace and tranquility.  The directions we pursue these answers are so far off that even new suggestions are being doused even before their consideration, but there is an answer that shall guarantee us this erasure and it is easy to obtain.  The path is small but it is a single change that changes the heart and that answer is God.  He has provided the perfect and eternal answer to this chaotic life that presents itself to us each day all we have to do is accept His Ways into our heart and our covering and peace shall overtake our lives and shine to others at the same time.

The plain and simple truth about this phrase should not be too hard to obtain for it is the greatest opinion concerning humanity that we all get along with each other.  Day in and day out on some level of our lives we do our best to disprove this unity condition that we most desire, yet our lives continue in such upheaval that overtime we begin to believe that anger and hatred for others is inevitable and that it would be easier to embrace this instead of peace and unity.  I must give some credit to those who proclaim this “Erase the Hate” phrase outwardly for their intentions and opportunities are of sound nature.  But as much as they try to erase such anger in our world it seems like they lose far greater ground then they gain and it is this place that we find so confusing and complicated to overturn.  We fail to see that through all of the human-initiated ways we fail to make any progress and then naturally lash out when those ideas and plans do not produce the intended result; but what can we expect from a process rooted in evil and hatred in the first place?

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Hebrew

The heart [is] deceitful above all things and beyond cure who can understand it?

For a while now, I have been noticing with increased frequency, bumper stickers on vehicles that have the title of this article on them.  They come in various sizes, shapes, colors with sharp and catchy designs on them and if you like or collect bumper stickers it would be a fun one to have.  And as the frequency of my eyesight catches these new popular advertisements I cannot help but believe they are useless because of what immediately comes across my new screen or computer monitor each morning, noon, and night.  It does not matter what part of the world one wishes to observe, this pattern of violent behavior toward fellow mankind far exceeds this bumper sticker's message and hope.  So much so, that the ones who so desperately end all of this ugliness in our lives are resorting to extreme measures in order to get the message of losing hate out but as stated above and many times before, how can one expect anything different from a species that is born already flawed.  I too try my best to incorporate this phrase into my life on a routine basis and this phrase and concept has a wonderful purpose and provides hope for countless people around the world.  Just this last week, this nation was driven into grief once again with the shooting events in Jersey City, New Jersey.  It was initiated by hatred toward an ethnic group by another ethnic group claiming to be superior to the targeted group.  A senseless act of cowardly actions to promote a cause or belief, a process that only could be originated and then detonated by Satan himself.  Here is the amazing thing about this “erase the hate” phrase, all of us have it in our lives and it is not selective in its inhabitance either.

I have to pose a question here concerning this topic and it is a direct question and one that hits home to my heart as well.  For as long as I can remember, the medical field has grown and its fingers have entered into almost every sector of this nation’s gross national product just due to the fact of technological advances.  It has been a national and worldly cry to cure cancer, the flu, the common cold and any other disease or syndrome process that afflicts humans.  But do we really want that to occur?  If just one type of cancer would be cured do you know what that would mean for our lives?  For those who were cured, life but for those who deal with or specialize in that specific cancer, they would lose everything.  It is this question here that is posed to our hearts about hate, how many dollars have been embedded into our lives to stir up hate and discontent against those who differ from us and are we really willing to risk our “stability” to end such nastiness?  Think about that ladies and gentlemen for it is the question God asks us in this article concerning your eternity and future placement.

So, why is the process of erasing a known stressor in human existence difficult to get rid of?  It seems like it would be the way to go and the way that all of us should strive to live but for many people that anger and offended heart cannot remove such conditions and eventually display the resulting pattern that lies deep within our heart and spirit.  While some are looking to end this hateful attitude toward others the lie continues to spread openly and outwardly with each breath we take.  Back in June of 1998, a man was tied up to the back of a truck and then dragged behind it on an asphalt road until his body had no breath left in it.  The man who was responsible for the crime itself was executed this year yet claimed his innocence of a hate crime until he too took his last breath.  Why would anyone do such a thing?  Would you believe that it is actually in our nature to be evil and to do hateful things?  Some may not like that question and some may find it repulsive to believe but it is the truth and it is the sole reason for the way we act.  The Bible says this to be a fact and in this statement, this verse also gives us the answer to our hatred problem as well.  Notice in this previous sentence that the word “answer” is singular and not plural; it is written as such because there is only One Way to obtain peace and to have a life with no hate.

Jeremiah tells us the exact condition of our hearts and how they function in this single verse.  The verse is a commanding verse yet it is also one that is so informative that God could have written this single verse as His Word and it would have been sufficient to describe our need for Him.  The verse is not a dramatic or drawn-out verse but one that goes quickly to the point and makes it clear about what the topic is.  Of all the sermons, written articles, and books produced around the world about God it is clear that the most popular message concerning God is that His Ways are pure and Holy on all levels and in every manner and that there is only One Way to achieve any kind of peace and holiness and that is by turning our hearts over to Him.  We see this once again in this verse and another Testament to who God is and what He should become in our lives.  This truth is turning, however, in a direction that is not of good value for many pulpits have incorporated human ideas in finding God and thus producing a message that includes worldly acceptance as a goal of Christianity.  ALL of these inclusions are false and represent a clear and deep picture of what this verse in Jeremiah contends.  The selfishness and wickedness of the heart cannot have any place with God and until we return to this Truth the problems that we face today will not only continue but increase in size and numbers for the foreseeable future.

The beginning of this verse uses the phrase the heart is deceitful.  That portion of Scripture alone should be ample proof that it is the heart of mankind that is the source of all our divisions and issues in life.  There is nothing good about being deceived because this word represents the ultimate betrayal that any human can do to another.  On that line, betrayal is the highest form of sin that humans can do to God as well and unfortunately, both sides of this word run parallel with each other in stature, status, complexity, and finality.  It is through this first portion of Scripture that defines exactly why all human attempts to erase the hate fail and fail miserably.  This portion states that through this definition of our heart that it is totally impossible for us to produce anything good because the next portion of Scripture goes further by saying the heart is desperately wicked.  The conjunction word “and” is the key here because it ties both acts of our heart together for our heart is both a liar and wicked in its spiritual and inner composition a grave definition that according to the Hebrew origin of this text cannot have a cure.

The actions of humans has always told history many things about what lies in our hearts at the time things occur and unravel and through the old saying that humans do not learn from history cannot ring any louder either.  When one looks at or studies history in any depth it is fascinating to read just how many things societies have to face century after century because we did not learn things the first time around.  Another phrase made popular by the cartoon figure Garfield, “hope springs eternal” also applies itself here as well because one cannot but think about this phrase when reading these old issues popping up today.  One detail that is almost always left out of these historical debates about history is God, the vast majority of historians and scholars literally beg people to change their ways yet justify the actions of historical figures and situations at the same time. All pointing to the wickedness of mankind but failing to address the truth about why they are wicked in the first place.  It totally goes against human nature to admit they are wrong and that they cannot correct issues by themselves, it is this belief that leads to further division and siding that eventually separates people from others.

The true answer also cannot be found either as long as we center our thoughts on ourselves.  But in order for us to change course and to actually resolve issues in our lives we first have to admit that we cannot accomplish these answers alone.  This verse in Jeremiah was written during a time in Israel’s history that was proving to be tumultuous at best and not during a time of peace and happiness.  The words that Jeremiah proclaimed to Israel fell on deaf ears and cold hearts the same hearts that were wayward in their beliefs yet failing to come up with answers to their problems.  You want to wage a real “Erase The Hate” campaign?  Turn our wicked hearts back to God and allow His Ways infiltrate our hearts and at the same time, we shall fall under His Son’s blood.  Until this single truth is applied in each heart that beats we shall never see any improvement in human relations.  We have set a standard and that standard shall continue in its path for it was rooted in Satan and in his kingdom, it does not matter who you are either.  You can call yourself a Christian and still produce the vilest content toward another person; it is for this reason God’s Word is the only Way to erase such hate.

Kind of hits you where it counts doesn’t it Church.  Have we personalized the Bible for our own endeavors enough that we have masked the Truth of its eternal content?  Have we watered down its message to “reach” the world so that they can be comfortable with the lies that inhabit within them?  Have we gone so far away from God that we would object to the teaching of a real sermon or street church message?  There can be no harder yet simpler truth than what Jeremiah writes in this single verse and yet these words basically mean nothing to the modern Church because we have accepted the ways of Israel and not the Ways of God.  Even though modern technology and techniques differ from biblical times our hearts do not for they are just as wicked, wretched, and deceitful ever since humans left the Garden of Eden.  Also, in these words written in Jeremiah, it is clear that the hearts of Israel had no content for God only the world.  Look at today and we can easily compare notes to both societal settings.  In truth, we have not gained much spiritual advantage since Jeremiah wrote these words from God, and we whine about “returning” back a few years when a person God elects represents our nation?

We should be ashamed of ourselves for we have no leg to stand on nor do we have any excuses for our current problems of hate.  Jesus went to the Jewish archenemy, witnessed to a woman and stayed the entire weekend, ending racial divides with the Word of His Father, why is it then we are still battling racial issues in this country alone for over three hundred years then?  It is because we do not wish to address the real issue and origin of our hateful behavior, OUR HEARTS!  Our hearts are as black as the darkness sin provides and we do not wish to change it.  In other words, Church, we are committed to the death of the world and not the life to the world.  And remember, God is a complete God and when He says He has had enough of our behavior we SHALL be included in the devastation because God allowed the finest of Israel to be destroyed in Daniel and since God cannot change...

We still have time folks to change our hearts and to once again change the world and to expose the darkness, but I have to say that our time to complete the command of Jesus is running short.  Almost every day we see signs that the end times are here and that we are preparing to see major events unfold before our eyes.  But as long as we fail to recognize what God has told us to be prepared for is not recognized by those who supposed to love Him we too shall miss what is headed our way.  God loves each and every one of us and it is not His desire to see anyone perish for eternity and have to face the second death.  Jesus has given us the commission to preach His message to every one who shall listen and to those who do not wish to listen for both sides complete the whole world.  God is the only answer to how to erase the hate and we cannot do anything on our own to overturn this rule of Satan.  It must be God who lives within us and who gives us the authoritative words that shall change this world and rid ourselves of the hate and live in holy health.

DLB

Reverse Repentance

Reverse Repentance

12/6/19

Has anyone heard of this phrase before?  I do not believe many have thought about it but just as many or even more have experienced it sometime in their lives.  The concept of returning to a place or to another point in our lives usually reflects on a better condition or situation but what if that return is reversed for the worse and people find themselves in an uglier position.  It is this condition that God wants to talk to us about today, for it is a more common practice than we believe, so serious that it is causing many Christians to lose their faith and go back to their sinful ways of their birth.  Jesus has triumphed over this sinful condition and if we are not prepared to defend ourselves against this lie, then we shall easily fall into this same growing category.  Church, it is up to us to preach the truth about life and who is the eternal Author of life itself, but it is easy to see that something is terribly wrong with our settings and we need to not reverse repent but continue in eternal repentance and restoration.

It is no secret that each of our lives presents new challenges that tire our bodies out in every sense of our being.  Most of us try our best to put in a full day’s work, an honest day’s work so that we can come back to our house and regenerate with our loved ones before the next workday arrives.  There are not many so-called “cush” jobs any longer for almost every opportunity and position is under some type of demand for applied results that give way to services rendered.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with working such a day and then laying your head down for your rest period and then waking up at a later appointed time to repeat the next workday.  Yes, all of us become beaten down with such a pattern but we continue to strive for the desired results that everyone involved wants, so why do we become so revolted as such a process, and why do we refuse to let go of something of this sort until we completely walk away never to return again?

I have been in my current working field now for over 30 years and I must admit there have been times where I wanted to clock myself out from the establishment and never return again.  I know all of us have had such dreams of performing such end-state duties with our place of work, yet most of us do not end our day in finality but arise the next day and plug along in the same environment in order to provide services to another.  See, our hearts drive us in such a way that we cannot just give up something without a major fight and result coming from that fight.  If we did not allow our hearts to be subject to ethical work conditions, our morals and standards would not stay stable and would eventually return to a previous state that we lived under some time before.  This usually means a drastic lifestyle change with a corresponding attitude change as well.  A type of change such as this can only mean one thing, a step backward and resorting to a loss of status we currently know.  Now put this into a biblical sense and place our spiritual hearts into the position of worker for a moment and even though one may not be successful as they hoped to be in their Christian walk they must understand that the attitude and appearance they show to others does have bearing on them.  It is this pattern that God wants us to understand and to think about because when one comprehends the Truth about repentance and restoration we cannot forget that one can reverse this course and to return to their previous lives; returning into their sinful birth condition if you please.

Previously in an article, God referred us to the Scripture passage of Jeremiah 8:4 and wanted us to think about what our position was in just allowing the world to punch our lives without us standing back up and defending ourselves as God taught us to do.  So, in this article, He is going to use that same Scripture verse again but this time we are going to focus on the last half of the verse and will be showing us what occurs when we just fall down and do nothing to get back up, and exactly what we are doing when we act in this manner.  The passage reads like this, first the King James Version and secondly the actual Hebrew origin:

Jeremiah 8:4

“Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Shall they fall, and not arise?  shall he turn away, and not return?”

“So you are to tell them this is what the Lord says: Do [men] fall and not get up again?  Does one turn away and not return?”

We all can see the picture that has been painted here concerning the issues and the heart of Israel.  Israel has decided to walk away from God further as each day passes with no cause to pause and think about what their actions entail.  It is evident that Israel has made up her mind over a specific period of time to make such a decision to follow the world and to leave the confines of the Ways of their origins which God established alone.  The world must have had a pretty good scheme going on to entice not just certain individuals of Israel to want to live without God but continually increasing that number until a group became disconcerted with God and eventually, the majority of people had made this decision as well.  The wiles of the world do have a way of beguiling humans into believing that its ways are not really that bad and that it would be okay if one stray away from protection long enough to have a little bit of fun.  It is this enticement that cost Adam and Eve their home and it is the same type of condition that we read about here that led to the destruction of Israel and Judah.  The ignorance of the people toward the warnings from God through Jeremiah came at a heavy price because the people chose to ignore those words of warning and to water them down by limiting the ability of God to perform such acts against His beloved people.

Through these acts of denial and liquidation of the Ways of God in their lives, they performed a redundant process that many knew about and were taught to avoid again yet discounted the Truth when it was told to them before devastation occurred.  Remember, that only Adam and Eve were born in pure and holy conditions and were the only humans to understand and know this type of living.  The remainder of humanity is born into sin and we will continue to be born into sin as long as births occur, with all of us not being left out of this status.  It is here that God wants to set our hearts into the reminder mode through these actions of Israel for it is almost identical to what we are running toward today with our own actions and where the title of this article comes into motion. 

Way back in Genesis, God established His Covenant with the people of Israel through the life of Abraham and that Covenant has not diminished or changed in any way, shape, or form for it continues to grow and flourish today.  It is through this Covenant that God set the foundation for an eternal Covenant with His people, both Jew and Gentile by giving us His Son as the eternal Sacrifice.  When God first made the Covenant with Abraham He set into motion separation of those who wanted to be linked to God and His Ways, these folks eventually became a nation and formed Israel.  At this time, anyone who blessed this nation was protected by the blessings of God and those who cursed Israel followed suit with the curses of God.  So, what happens when a person, group, or nation that has chosen to be separated and protected from the world by God (Covenant) decides to go back to the ways of the world instead?  It is called reverse repentance and it is the message of this article and what Israel did that sealed their fate in destruction.

We are born into sin, this is a given.  We choose God and His Ways and are thus separated from the world according to the Laws of God and through the choice of Covenant with God.  This process comes from the heart and its growth is determined how much we see and continue separating ourselves from the world’s plan.  This choosing to follow God and to live under His Covenant is called repentance and this allows God to restore what our enemy has been allowed to take from us ever since the Garden of Eden.  What Israel began to entertain was the ways of the world again which means she decided to go back to the ways that she was in after Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden before God made Covenant with mankind.  This is the act of reverse repentance because Israel chose to leave God and to return to their worldly ways.  They actually repented against God to the world and pledged their heart to the world with this action which explains why God asks the question in the second half of this verse about why mankind doesn’t return to Him.  Only an individual, group of people or nation that has given their hearts to God can do such an act for if one has never chosen God before they in truth have never left the world in the first place; in other words, they are still living in their born into sin origin.

We cannot forget that what is not of God is not an original status for our lives and that the world can only provide what is unnatural to us on all levels.  We have many outlets and true information about what Israel did in order to arrive at this wanted unnatural condition of their hearts.  The entire Old Testament is filled with reference after reference of such acts all accumulating up to the formal leaving from God which led to their destruction.  The pattern here is clear, if we choose to live for God and accept and willingly follow His Ways our lives and places of residence shall remain fruitful and abundant but if we ever decide to leave God and to go it alone our lives and land shall see destruction and devastation like never before.

Just a simple question remains: are we turning against God and leaving His presence and Covenant behind to seek the ways of the world?  The answer is just as simple and clear as the question: yes.  Over the past thirty or forty years or so we have accelerated this distancing ourselves from God at a rapid pace, almost seeing if we can beat our own time in this process as each year passes.  Ironically, we have become so obsessed with this movement away from God that we no longer are able to see the damage ongoing in/to our land as a warning sign of things greater to come.  Oh, we see the physical aspects but we are blinded to the spiritual aspects which are eternal in nature and do not represent the immediate.  What is more frightening is that the Church has fallen into this blinded category as well and she fails to see what is happening around us even though she states she is a committed believer in God and in His Word.  In short, and in hard terms, this returning to the world from being under God’s Covenant is the origin and foundation of the word and condition of adultery.

Some people deny the fact that this nation was founded on the principles of God which is their blindness both in spirit and in truth.  Yes, there are many aspects of this nation that have nothing to do with God but every origin of this nation was idealized by the wisdom of God and the desire to please Him to make the world a greater place for all.  It was and still strictly is our choice to include God in the decisions of this nation and when we do He is faithful to heal our land and our hearts to make us a true shining light to the dying world.  However, when we shun God and go about our own way and pervert the truth as it has been given to us, our land shall not be healed and our lives shall methodically become diseased from the inside out.  We cannot deny that this death process is rampantly becoming more visible each day we wake yet we have no true plan of stoppage.  It is this decaying process that gives way to the painful symptoms of a reversed repentance offers and until we go back to the appropriate Physician our symptoms, pain, and decay shall continue.  See, even if God did not ordain this land as a ground of safe haven for those who wanted to worship Him freely, what lies within our hearts would determine His presence anyway, or lack of presence too.

The message of Israel became warped and self-centered which led them to a place of sinful demise that could not be stopped because of their blinded spiritual hearts.  Over and over, Jeremiah told the people of Israel of the warnings from God but they did not properly listen to one single warning or word.  God told them that they were returning to and restoring themselves to sin and they snubbed their noses at Him and went along their merry ways.  They had come to the point where they had no intentions of living under or following God and His Ways which placed them into an automatic mode of reversal that cost many their lives through disobedience and a nation its identity for countless generations.  God gives us the Book of Jeremiah to illustrate just how important it is to make sure our hearts and lives are in tip-top spiritual shape when it comes to life and that when we have the urge to fall away or to go on our own that we need to stop and to quickly repent before that foothold becomes a stronghold.

Church, what do you say about this passage and what God is saying to us today?  What is your message to the dying world and to God?  See, we do have a message to God and it is through our lives and how we witness to those who are lost because if we do not witness to those who need God, then we have no message to God.  If we allow the world to penetrate our hearts and to allow its presence to begin to rot our hearts then we cannot have a message to God.  This is another small point of Truth that we need to understand how we are to live for God and to keep ALL aspects of the world away from our lives.  Repent, Church!  Allow God to take over completely so that our message to God will be one of eternal repentance to His Ways and to Him at all times.  In no manner can we live under the ways of the world and not be in True repentance to God, but only the kingdom principle of reversed repentance which will not only cost you your life but those who you were destined to share the Gospel with as well.  So every time you try and voluntarily preach and teach that a portion of the world inside your life is okay, think again and repent yourself before you find that you have incorporated a reversed repentance too.

DLB