Old Counsels

Old Counsels

1/28/19

In this day and age of constantly wanting something new to look towards we have a tendency to forget that what is older may be the better option.  Our lives seem to gather more wisdom as each year is added to our existence and when the tiredness of everyday pathologies surround us we tend to seek out such old counsels in order to provide comfort and security when needed.  New is a good thing but as a standard of measure, it cannot be relied upon to guarantee certain expectations in our daily meetings it is at this time we must rely on those things that have been around for a long period of time to serve as our reference.  There cannot be anything or anyone older than the God of the Ancient Days and the wisdom He brings to our lives, all we have to do is to allow Him access to our hearts and we shall immediately see the difference His presence makes.  It is time we turn back and seek God and to allow His Son to cover our hearts so that He may begin the restoration process of purity once again in our hearts.

We have all been in the position to listen to older people hand down advice to us younger folks at some point in our lives.  None becomes more important to our hearts until after our elders have left our presence for it is at this time that our hearts begin to realize that their advice and knowledge was proven to be an invaluable asset that we tended to ignore or not even heed when it was given.  Every human being has lost a loved one or a mentor in their lives that we wished that they were still around to ask advice or just listen to the words of wisdom that they talked about for no real reason.  I often think about how I would have reacted to the words of Abraham, Isaac, or Jesus when they were on the earth and if I would have ignored them just as I did the words of my parents when I was younger. 

I miss my grandparents and a few of my uncles, aunts, and cousins for they have gone from this earth and for a number of reasons I was interested in other things while I was around them.  However, I have the faith in what I do know about them to continue my searching for the Ancient of Days’ eternal Life and His wisdom that He has given through His Word and it is my command to share with you all that God has shown me so far; my old counsels are alive and living within my heart and He serves as the source of this wisdom He shares with you so that you as well can share to the dying world that He loves you and desires nothing more than for you to spend eternity with Him your Creator.  God serves as the only source of eternal life and lives in complete contrast of what the world provides, so let us take heed of His Word and return to His Covenant protection before things drastically change before our eyes.

With the culture of death rapidly gaining steam, it has become apparent that the young people of today believe that they are righteous enough within themselves that they do not need or require the advice from the ones who have been around for quite a bit longer.  I understand the concept that the younger generations have for all of us have at one point in time been younger and thought a little bit different than people before us, but to continually slam and then ignore the people who have forged this nation and have protected the ideas of this nation for centuries is absolutely absurd and dangerous when looking upon those who wish to destroy this nation.  Our ways of thinking about the spiritual aspect of our lives have changed as well and no longer do we consider God to the be the leading candidate for our representation nor do we even want Him to be involved in our daily lives enough to find guilt when our hearts chose to do wrong.  No longer do we rise up early in the morning and seek God before anything else occurs in our day and we would not know how to properly pray if we had a scripted prayer in front of our eyes.  Our old counsels are no longer considered important enough to derive any useful information from and thus left alone and ignored, no wonder the culture of death runs rampant today.

The passage that God shares with us today is Isaiah 25:1-2 and in this passage Isaiah tells us how important it is to keep the old counsels close in our hearts and that when we do not keep these counsels terrible things have a probability of luring us into deadly traps.  This passage also gives us details that when we keep our old counsels that many indifferences and horrific problems will not be any threat to us for our spiritual lineup is in accurate order.  Isaiah declares that when old counsels are heeded their advice and wisdom far outstretch any adversary that will produce themselves in our times of peril.  This passage also gives us a clue in what old counsels we need to seek advice amongst as well, for we know that throughout human history wise counsel can be supplanted by old worldly ideas that prove generous at first but disastrous in the long run.  It is not an unknown idea or concept that we seek out true values when it comes to help in times of need and how we follow through during these times are clearly represented as we walk through such angles.  The readings of true and faithful guides are the only way possible to stimulate our minds well enough to think clearly in order to prove our worth during trials and temptations.  When we publicly and openly declare that God is our source of wisdom, knowledge, and guidance there cannot be any question about how sure-footed we shall defend our decisions in both the calm moments of our lives and in time of battle.  Verse 1 of this passage begins with such a declaration and as soon as the declaration is completed the blessings of a godly return are immediately noticed. 

Verse 1 of this passage also brings into advocacy of such faithful and true resources and how if we rely upon the Word of God and His Ways we shall be provided with perfect information even if the battle does not arrive.  Now, one may say that Isaiah really did not need any counsel since he was one of the more famous prophets recorded in the Bible, but we cannot forget that he was also a human being and had fears and trials just as you and I do today.  So, when we look at his life and his purpose that God had for him and then add the human aspect in with it we cannot ignore that fact that Isaiah needed such counsel and reassurance when times were rough.  It is a known fact that Isaiah lived a long time after Abraham but many times Isaiah and the other prophets often refer to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as references due to the wisdom that they displayed well before the prophets’ lives a trend that they used but many people who they prophesied over refused to adhere; kind of sound like something we would offer ourselves into accordance with today?

If you are wondering about these wonderful old counsel references are located and the importance of such examples we can find them in Genesis Chapters 12-15 when God is directing Abraham according to the establishment of God’s Covenant with him and for the remaining people who would follow Abraham in life.  So binding was this faithfulness and truth that the origins of this Covenant came from God Himself as the originating source, not mankind which means that God, once He established the settings, cannot break or violate such agreement because He cannot violate or deviate from anything He Creates and establishes.  How can anyone use a more definitive source of information that faithfulness?  Are we faithful to everyone around us at all times, no way.  It is the establishment of Covenant with God’s people that defines the good, true, and faithful design of references for God through His own definition cannot violate His non-varying existence which means that His advice to us is freely given but at the same time necessary that we understand His Ways according to His definition and NOT ours.

The word faithfulness that is used here in verse one comes from the Hebrew word emunah which means firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, and steadiness.  All of these words that are used to define this word faithfulness in verse one refer to a solid and firm foundation that does not waiver for anyone or for any occasion.  The act of God is true and pure without any deviances present and thus can be stood upon as the solid foundation when storms or adversaries approach.  When God’s Word says that He is faithful it means that He shall never leave us no matter what the occasion might be, our only issue is that we forget about Him and His stance with us because of our oversight concerning our self-righteousness, and when this occurs we cannot help but miss the truth about what God has promised us in verse two of this passage.

Verse 2 states the following: “For thou hast made of a city a heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.”  What a mighty testimony of truth about how God shall make all of our immediate and personal issues disappear if we only understand and use the statement in verse one of this passage.  God has not changed one bit from the time Genesis 1:1 came into existence, He did not change when He walked with Adam and Eve nor did He vary when dealing with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Lot, David, Daniel, Amos, Joel, Habakkuk, and we must include Jesus in this non-wavering category from His Father because Jesus asked at one point but God said no.  God’s standard concerning truth and faithfulness came under attack long before humanity was ever Created when Lucifer challenged God for supremacy and God proves this eternal truth and faithfulness content through the fall of Lucifer when He told Abraham in Genesis Chapter 12 that He shall bless those who bless thee and curse those who curse thee and God has not failed in any of these holy categories as of then or this moment.

In a world that daily screams for truth, it can only provide dice to which our hearts continually roll to see what relevance we can find in that outcome.  Our eyes have become so blinded upon selfish attitudes we cannot see that God is right next to us tapping on our heart’s door trying to give us the answers we are crying out for, but we refuse to acknowledge His presence and continue to listen to the ways of the world which only provide more anger and more confusion on every level.  God has never directed us in a wrong direction or placed us on a path of destruction only we have done this by listening to the ruler that hates our existence.  When human faithfulness becomes the sole reliance category for truth and completion it can only be asserted on a personal and selfish method of achievement, all of which are based on flaws and lies.  Gravely, we are subsequently seeing a divide growing in all directions and we have now turned to this divide as a wonderful concept in ridding of those ideas we deem unacceptable not knowing exactly the permanent and eternal damage we are doing to our existence on this earth.  Relying upon selfish counsels is one of the oldest levels of counsel that humans are familiar with; however, it is this selfish ordinance that caused us to fall from purity and thus setting the standard for our demise ever since.  When you put into perspective this truth about our faithfulness and truth to ourselves and toward others, there is no way possible that we can ever believe that our ways are sufficient for any major decision or election in our lives, which means we have only one eternal and true option for counsel and that is God Himself.

Okay, Church, it is your turn to confess about who you consider as your old counsel?  Any answers from those who are reading this letter?  Do you dare speak that God is your counsel yet keep the ways of the world in your heart and forebrains?  If any of you question as to why the world is in the shape that it is in, then it is quite evident that you have not studied the Word of God very well for as each day passes the Bible is being portrayed as absolute truth before our eyes.  Yet, the Church sits silently on these measures and conducts herself in a manner quite contrary to God’s definition and what is more asinine is the fact that she believes that there is nothing wrong with her spirituality while participating in such follies. 

I used to have a difficult time in understanding why the Bible said so many horrific things would appear and then be accepted as normal in the last days, but God continues to show me exactly why He wrote those words and the reasons why these issues are coming to pass before our eyes.  A recent President’s motto was so clearly correct that we need a change, but what he was advocating was a change in the wrong direction and the Church flat missed it.  How far from understanding are we you ask?  During the American Civil War, there is no question that both sides suffered greatly but while this needless bloodbath was being conducted both sides continued to have faith in God and trusted Him that things would end very soon.  We have surpassed this effort to keep God in our lives so in doing so we place ourselves at the mercy of our flawed and finite vision in order to solve these gigantic cities in front of us.

Over the last few pages, we have learned that God is the only way possible for us to have a counsel that is not only stable for the times of today but eternally stable for as long as humans have been in existence.  If we only seek His face on all areas of our lives and incorporate His Ways into our lives we would find that 1) human logic is futile and not stable on any level and 2) that our lives and surroundings would run a lot smoother and controlled.  Yet, we continue to play the world’s game of selfish believing and create far more internal and spiritual self-inflicted injuries that cause more harm and hurt than answers.  We have read the Scriptures superficially and found nothing and cry out to God that He is no longer around in our times of need, but according to this passage of Scripture He is not only there with us but leading the charge against our enemy’s fortified cities but we have no clue about His presence due to our not knowing His Word.  Church, we have fallen and are continuing to fall as we read this letter from God, but there is good news and this good news is that if we turn our hearts back to God He shall stop our fall and stand us up on solid ground again.

It is time we stop our petty differences and self-righteous attitudes towards God and follow His Ways as they are written.  The Bible is there for us to have a guide and a wisdom reference and not as an interpretive measure for our pleasure.  The eternal war that the Bible contains is not self-contained but eternally bound for our positioning and for us to tell others that there is a way out of this mess, but we first must know the Way so that we may continue Jesus’ command to us.  We have at our fingertips the best old counsel that mankind has ever received and we throw it on our tables and allow it to collect dust.  There is a way that will lead a man astray and it is guaranteed that when this occurs that man is not in the Word of God as he should be.  It is evident that this truth has hit the Church as well and it is time that we change this scenario and then let the world a light again for God.  Our change back to God lies within the ways and words of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, not of the world.  Satan is no old counsel, he is a liar for only God is the eternal and pure old counsel that shall see us through and defeat all enemies but we have to turn from our wicked ways in order for our eyes to know the faithful truth right next to us.  The glorious answer to our problems, the One who cannot violate His agreement and places all responsibility on our presence to uphold this great faith and trust for when we do everything is given to us freely and without discourse.

DLB

Prosperity First

Prosperity First

1/24/19

None of us can deny the fact that the majority of our decisions we elect come from financial bases, this is a common comfort level choice and one that many times are easily handled.  But what happens when we overcrowd our lives and hearts with such material witnesses, and to what degree will we sacrifice if times arise that we need to help others out?  How does being continually satisfied help out our hearts when it comes to the eternal gifts we are supposed to be giving to others?  God warns us quite often in His Word about such fallacies and what they lead to if not allowed to be washed away by His Divine cleansing.  Can the Church honestly stand before God and say that she has done such eternal blessings to those that are in need of God?  I believe that question can be easily answered but not in a manner to which she can be called a Bride.

It cannot be denied that there are plenty of reasons why God continues to share with us about our financial settings and how it directly relates to the eternal status of our hearts.  Sadly, we continue to revel in the blessings that God has given us while ignoring the Giver, a dire condition that shall end at some point in time.  Even in the times of the Medieval Church and up until today the buildings that denominations construct represent the finest of all materials that money can buy yet there are no spiritual reckonings that climb from the floors of these buildings and grace the ears and heart of God for they are strictly monuments to mankind and not true and eternal representatives of God and His Temple.  I cannot just mention mega churches and the followings they have for in all honesty many of the small churches located in small communities are just as notorious in their secular living and heart pounding as those who we see on television each week.  This is an abhorrent issue that stinks up the nostrils of God and if we do not turn and run back to God we shall see another aspect of God that shall not be so desirable.

God has no problems with large churches for it pleases Him to see His people gathered in one place to worship Him alone.  The problem lies within our definition of “worship Him alone” for we have completely written God out of His Word and placed our idea of what He should be in our hearts instead.  This is bad fruit people and it is a production line that when given to those who need the eternal Word given to them will make them sick because it is contaminated with the world and the message it brings.  These incorrect messages that ministers, leaders, and people who sit in the pews are providing are destroying people who need God and the message of worldly acceptance to those who are lost is just absolutely ridiculous.  Yes, these churches are preaching and teaching an eternal message but it is not the eternal message from God it is from the enemy.  The shepherds of today are not focused on the true matters of the sheep and have placed the value of the sheep on their appearance and garment futures.  It is this aspect of leaders that God wants to address us today for He is not just wishing that pastors teach the truth but His desire is for all of us to be in this correct teaching pattern when it comes to those who are lost.  The financial aspect of prosperity does not always have to lead the way in such deception either, images, tones, demands of obedience can also hinder the truth about the flock as well.  In other words, the shepherd should have their eyes on the entire flock at all times, for danger comes in many shapes, forms, and directions and the shepherd should not be part of the danger.

There never should be a time when the shepherd is not available for the flock and if they are away they should provide extraordinary care for the flock for even if not all the flock knows the shepherd is gone attendance will certainly fall away anyway.  If the people of the congregation are not being properly kept and taught then it is clear that the person in charge is not or does not have the correct heart in play.  The modern church has forgotten this principle about Scripture and its Ways for now if we watch ministry programs on the television or listen to them on the radio how may many minutes or what percentage does that program go into raising money to stay on the air?  It is not the shepherd (pastor) that is supposed to be in the spotlight or first in line; it is the flock for it is the eternal caring setting of the people under the pastor and leaders that mean the most.  Ezekiel 34:1-3 serves as our reference in God’s Word for this article and we shall see that the waning attention of the shepherd is not a new thing.  Indeed, this passage of Scripture that was written thousands of years ago not only described the conditions of the leaders of Israel then, it also predicted the behavior of the leaders of the Church from Jesus’ time forward and most definitely today.

A while back, God gave us a beautiful picture of how the Church is organized structurally with the illustration of a normal triangle △ with the leader being on top and the congregation behind following.  However, with the command that Jesus gave to His followers to go into the world this organizational structure does not match and will not match until the organization is opposite ▽ in which the people are in the lead for it is well known that when people are out witnessing there will be more saved due to the percentage of witnesses out and about than just one or two.  This truth goes back to what God shared with us a few paragraphs above that it is the spiritual health and fitness of the people that are more important to the world than the pastor – the one who should be leading and watching, not being preoccupied with obsolete causes.  Verse 2 addresses these obsolete advantages that pastors and leaders use in order to feed themselves before the flock and thus create then establish legendary stability of self-indulgence instead of focusing on the feedings of the flock.  When the pastor is fed but the flock continues to starve the result of the flock is death for it has become clear that the leaders are distracted from what is truly needed.

It is a true statement that the leadership of the Church should come from the pastor, but the heart of the leadership needs to be in complete tune with God and His Ways in order to provide the congregation with the adequate food necessary to sustain them while they are out in the world.  Look at the spiritual attendance of the congregation in order to see how well the pastor is doing.  Is the growth of the congregation but not the spiritual abilities of the congruent with the physical growth or is the physical far outweighing the spiritual?  How about no growth at all or are we having difficulty replacing the aging pastors and leaders due to the shortage of those who are being called into the ministry?  I believe that the answers are quite easily ascertained without much argument which is a sad commentary since the Church is supposed to be alive and bringing to the darkest corners the eternal life of the people who do not know God.  Pastors should be concerned with the spiritual growth of the people first along with the continued spiritual growth for God will use a congregation of twenty that is mature in the spirit before He will use a congregation of one thousand who is rich in numbers only.  A spiritually fed flock shall lead the world into the direction that it needs voluntarily and not have to be coached into witnessing a prime example of an upside down triangle.  How important is this truth?  God is saying to those in this passage that what they are doing is wrong, God uses the word “Woe” here and when this word is used there can be no mistake that God is not a happy camper about what is going on.

How can a pastor (shepherd) have any other interest in any other goal than doing what is right for the flock?  To be honest, if this truth is taught then there is no reason why the physical prosperity teachings need to be present from any pulpit for the blessings of God should fall into place according to the definition of Scripture.  When I was a young lad, I remember sitting out on the porch and shelling peas, snapping beans, shucking corn, completing many other types of food details.  Shamefully, I must admit that I did not like doing such chores back then but while I was doing them I was unknowingly reaping the benefits of the “salary” that my father was receiving for the ministry that he was doing.  I had no clue what some of my chores were accomplishing nor did I understand the reasons why either but in time my parents shared with me how they got paid for many years and my heart sank because I was unwilling to have a cheerful heart during those younger years.  My parents’ eyes knew exactly what was going on and what the congregation needed, not my will God but yours.

Ezekiel 34:3 hits the final home run when it comes to what occurs when shepherds do not complete the assignment that they are supposed to be providing, “Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed; but ye not the flock.”  This verse makes it clear that the shepherds are living quite nicely off the flock but not reciprocating the truth in return.  The shepherds are not feeding the flock as they should but with meager tokens compared to what the shepherds eat.  The Medieval Church is famous for living in such conditions and the modern day Church has followed suit for when the leader of a church drives in a fancy automobile and lives in a multimillion-dollar house with 24/7 security around their palace, while some of their congregation barely makes ends meet, Verse 3 is being fulfilled all over again.  God does not care about your physical numbers first that is NOT His type of prosperity and definitely NOT the type of prosperity any Christian leader should be emphasizing to their congregation.  God is spirit and He is only concerned where your spirit shall spend eternity and it breaks His heart every time a person who has been sitting in church all their lives or has been influenced by the Church all their lives dies in their sins and spend eternity away from Him.

When the shepherd finds out that there are a certain few who can provide the necessary fruit it is easily recognized by others about what is transpiring before their hearts.  The second part of verse 3 sums everything up when it talks about how the shepherd actually kills them that they have fed, maybe not in the physical terminology but definitely in the spiritual aspect of their lives.  On the outside, your appearance seems to be donned with the sharpest dress at the dinner table but you fail to treat the flock with the spiritual food that needs to be given for their survival.  When the spoils of the fattened gift (the word actually means butchered) become evident the leaders feel obligated to see that it is their job to oblige their appetites with others situations, kind of like the old Roman Emperors watching their citizens suffer in the Coliseum and lose their lives for sport.  The emphasis is on the leaders and not the congregation and it is this action by the shepherds that fail to recognize that their actions are killing the flock because of their lack of duty to the Truth.  How can the flock be fed properly if the shepherd does not take them to the appropriate table for dining?  How can the shepherd do such a working task when they are not even concerned with what the flock is doing, what the flock is being taught, or where the flock is actually at?  It is impossible because the table that the shepherd is seated at is not the ideal pasture that the flock needs.

These type of congregations may be great in number but one who understands the true core and value of The Church can walk in and spiritually notice the dissections of such congregations and know that while superficially the flock looks healthy, they are spiritually anemic and are on the verge of death.  When a pastor places themselves in a lineup with physical prosperity they automatically line up their flock in the same direction.  How can we adjust our lives and hearts from the world if we are so precisely engaging in the physicality of the world?  What God is saying to us does not stop at just the pulpits, but it also includes those who go into the world and exercise what Jesus commanded us to do.  I do not suppose that an infected flock does much witnessing and by the looks of the condition that the Church is projecting today that assumption is fairly accurate.  It shows exactly what kingdom the leader and the congregation are committed to for it does not take too much admission for the world to grab hold but it takes the lion’s heart and determination to live and to witness for God.

God is troubled by the lack of truth, knowledge, and concern that the leaders of the Church today have for people and for their congregations.  As stated before, God would love to have huge congregations gathering in His name at all times and then going out and witnessing to those that need Him in their lives, what a magnificent vision that is and should be.  But reality slaps us in the face and we find out that our large congregations have a revolving door with those seeking to find the Truth, not finding it and then leaving still in search for the needed spiritual food they crave so much.  We have missed the Truth about God and His Word and what it means to live a separated and holy life for Him.  This belief has filtered down from pulpit after pulpit denomination after denomination and the bleeding of sacrificial lambs to the superficial presentations to those around us are beginning to stink with the vile smell of sin that we actually are portraying.  These superficial markings decry the truth about commitment to God and reflect and lift up the level of acceptance of the world that resides in our hearts instead.  This artificial truth stunk in Ezekiel’s day and it stinks, even more, today because we are a larger organization than what Israel was back then.

Pastors and leaders today have lost the truth that the congregations that they are blessed with are not theirs at all, but they are God’s children (sheep).  I have heard many a preacher say that their church is doing well and their church is financially strong and that their church is _______.  What these people are declaring is that they are taking the fattened sheep and slaughtering it for their own wishes and not returning the Truth to the entire flock.  It really does not matter what type of prosperity that catches the eyes of a church leader it is the fact that something derails the truth of the Truth being taught to the congregations that matter.  There are billions of lives each day that leave this earth not knowing who God is and it is a shame and a scam when they have been fed lies about who they are and what God made them for, all-the-while countless ministers are more concerned about what type of car they drive or how fast they can afford to bring in the newest sound system.  The purpose of the Church is not to become rich in the world and its status, but to make sure that everyone who walks through those doors knows who God is and how the people need Him in order to survive not only the world but live in peaceful eternity. 

The shepherd must always have their eyes on the flock and their attention on the flock when they are out and about, but their responsibility does not end there either, for when the flock needs attention on a personal level that leader needs to have the capability to be with that sheep until time has passed.  The question that now remains is to ask if we as the Church understand that it is not just the responsibility of the pastor to perform such activities but it is ours as well.  This is where we have fallen down on the job for we have put it into our hearts that the pastor is the only one that can operate in such a capacity.  It is our responsibility to listen to the pastor (shepherd) and to follow the instructions of this leader but we cannot afford to have lame leaders standing in our pulpits drinking coffee while sending out watered down messages to those sitting in the pews.  It is time that the leaders of the Church stick their nose back into the Word of God and lead the sheep as we are supposed to be led.  Jesus is coming back at some point in time and we need to know that unless we have listened to the Master’s command, we will be walking through that open gate into the world and quickly devoured by the enemy we do not know how to defend against.

DLB

Being Judgmental 2

Being Judgmental 2

1/18/19

Having the authority to speak a person’s mind has always relied upon the truth and sometimes when this truth is viewed by others and not by the one receiving, things can become a tad heated.  We have become stuck in a quagmire of self-righteous behaviors that we deem a necessary to fit in with societies today, but at what cost has this prediction cost us where has it led us when it comes to the concerns of our dignity and the required survivability we cling?  God did not create us to be cowards or creations that skirt around the truth for any reason, but because we have succumbed to the worldly standards we have sequestered this attitude within our hearts.  God does want us to stand up for our beliefs which include His Word and Ways but we can never accomplish this holy act while joined at the hip with the world.  God’s Ways are not our ways nor is His Ways the ways of the world either and until we turn from our wicked ways our land, both personal and national, shall never be healed.

A word of warning but mostly advice concerning this article before we start, for it is not going to be a pretty or easy one to swallow because it deals with a huge worldly liability called pride.  It will place the correct lineage of authority and livelihood in its correct order and it is this aspect of the topic that may not settle too well with some, but that is okay for one must remember that the words that are typed here are not mine but God’s which means that you can delete me from your reading list but you cannot ever delete God’s Word from your eyes, ears, and heart.  God’s desire is for us to live in true peace and happiness and unless we heed the calls that He is saying to our hearts and to allow Him into our hearts, our lives shall continue to turn down ugly paths and absolute heinous conditions can only follow.  God loves you and it is His Will to see us prosper in all areas of our lives and not suffer one bit as we journey this life together.  Furthermore, always remember that the words that are used in these articles are not mine and that I am only obeying what has been given to me to give to you.  God loves you and so do I and it is His desire for you to know the eternal Truth and not a jaded lie the world spreads around.

Over the last few years, we have had a few conversations concerning this phrase and how volatile it can become when engaged between two opposing sides or personal ideologies.  The phrase “don’t judge me” or any other type of variable is a determining statement that basically shuts down any type of argument for another opinion or concern.  This type of language usage represents a powerful weapon that many use in order to secretly justify their actions and do not wish to have understanding between other concern parties, to the point where caring friends or family members become hurt by such words when used as an aggressive manner, so much so that the relationship between the parties can become damaged or even broken.  Can we imagine what a society would be like if parents bought this phrase from their children when the parents asked questions about their whereabouts or what they did on their dates?  Oh wait, that ugly scenario is already in place.  So, where does this mean in terms of authority and who actually has the placement of such a position?  Do we remember that this type of authority questioning has been given to us in the Bible?  A couple of prime examples are presented in God’s Word and ones that we really should heed for they give origin to such selfish and gainful positions and the consequences of them when acted upon.  One of the more popular Scripture passages provides us with this non-judgmental attitude that many people take and then demonstrate to those around so with that we return to Genesis Chapter 3.

Through this lack of knowledge concerning the inside makeup of every human, we cannot help but follow one of two paths with one path leading down a wide path with all sorts of highlights that adorn every step we take or the other path which narrow and stony and does not represent anything like what the wide path has to offer.  The obvious choice would be the easy way out without incurring any tough or tumultuous responses around, but that silver lining has its own dangerous curves that once taken and experienced cannot be returned or changed which means that whatever comes your way along this glorious path you alone are the one who will walk the results.  This path is one of self reliance and self preservation which means you really do not have to answer to anyone at the moment but yourself, a tempting game of fate that looks like a great gig but when crunch time arrives most are not prepared to experience what is front of them, then disastrous choices are made in the name of comfortability, and relaxation which never arrives either.  The detail that needs to be understood here is that the enemy that came to Adam and Eve had already been thrown out of Heaven for the exact same attitude and God would not have ignored this issue by allowing Adam and Eve to go about things on their own.

As Genesis Chapter 3 opens, we see that the woman is having a conversation with the Serpent and it seems to be one that is not of an excited nature but one that is calm and collected.  God has shared with us this truth a while back and should be fresh in our minds and during this article we are going to give Eve a break and address the other half here because the action taken by this other half directly relates to our lives today, and that is the state in which Adam chose to take or in this case, did not take.  After the introduction and preliminaries had finished, Satan takes command of the conversation pretty quickly by stating what God had said along with a lie attached to it.  The woman corrected him but added a lie as well which gave the necessary complimentary access to humanity and with this open door, Satan did not wait any longer and over the next amounts of time got the woman and Adam to eat of the fruit.  The key here is that Adam partook of the fruit when the woman presented it to him, and Adam had said nothing about the act that she had just committed.  It is easy for us to say that Adam was wrong in the decision to eat of the fruit but what about not standing up for the position in which he was created for and put into by God in the first place.

It is this non-action by Adam that serves as the subject of this article and how Adam passed a non-judgmental action when the woman reached for the fruit.  The question that many of us have is why would he just sit there and allow things to occur especially when he was the one that directly received the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil from God?  God did not leave anything out when He said these words to Adam nor did He leave out the consequences of such disobedient acts.  This passage oozes with this phrase being projected because Adam should have said something before things got out of hand, but all he did was take the fruit from the woman and eat it as well.  It is this act that Adam demonstrates that he was not in a leadership position nor one that would have the willingness to stand up to the Serpent when he suggested such a topic to be discussed.  In other words, Adam did not “pass judgment” against the woman or the origin of the act the Serpent and demonstrated a certain level of intimidation that had been supplanted by his original authoritative stature.  Up until the moment that the fruit was eaten, Adam could have stopped such sin from entering into our lives yet through his lack of doing anything we have our issues today.

Adam fell down as a leader and as a husband by sitting around and not taking the lead in the situation, at least he could have done was delay the act by reminding the woman of what God had said but according to Scripture not a word was uttered by Adam during this passage and thus doing so failed to act as her protector and equal authority figure.  There could not be any question that both parties understood what was about to occur and what transpired afterward and within a few verses down in Chapter 3 we see the entire attitude of Adam change with how he declares to God about who He gave him as his wife.  It is this future statement that reaffirms that Adam was not going to challenge either party or himself at the time of the fall, a procedure that through the will of a leader to stand up and say that what another is doing is wrong and should not be done.  We can only imagine what the woman would have said if Adam had stated something against the action at the tree but it probably would not have been very nice for it is obvious that the detrimental thinking had already been invoked and processed by the Serpent into their lives for an extended amount of time.

Once again we find ourselves following in the directional footsteps of Adam and Eve and many other people that are included in biblical settings, yet do not heed the wisdom of this history lesson and travel by way of by the moment living instead.  Our minds have developed such cautionary phrases for a reason and while I would love to say that every time these phrases are used they are done so in a loving manner but that would be a lie just as Satan used in the Garden of Eden.  The usage of this phrase of “do not judge me” can be heard just as loud through the eyes of another as if it was coming directly from their mouths and it is a phrase that gains leverage or tries to gain leverage over another so that the selfish will or made up mind can complete the task at hand.  Yes, we should always be in control of ourselves enough to make correct decisions in harsh conditions but from the passage and tone of the passage, Satan had done enough blurring the line of distinction concerning death that both Adam and the woman no longer feared what it meant.  This is where Adam should have stepped in and took control over what was being stated to them and defended God and His Ways but he did not and thus allowed the words of the enemy to take root in his heart. 

In normal relationships, it would seem logical that each would stand up for the other and since the attack was directed towards the woman it would have been Adam’s responsibility to do the standing, but as stated above and probably due to the fact that Satan had worked on his heart, that never occurred and when nothing immediately occurred to the woman he took of the fruit then the entire single unit was compromised.  It is this part that tears many relationships apart when the other half does not adequately and properly stand up for what is important and right concerning the sanctity and unity of the relationship.  Passing on judgment is exactly what Satan wants out of our lives for when we do this and allow injustices to occur the process of separation and devastation is on course.  If Satan is for something that automatically means that God is against it for Satan stands for disobedience period and nothing else, a law that so many of us forget or try and pass on the judgment about.  Stop and think about this passage for a while and see the difficulties that change our lives when we do not stand up for what is right and commit to the road that we are given by God.

The Church now plays the part of Adam in Genesis 3:1-6 and regularly supports his silence as we accept the world into our lives and continues to believe that we are saved and can be welcomed into Heaven as Christians.  It is our obligation to warn people about sin and how it affects our lives both in the present and in the future including the supernatural status of our existence.  But we have become so fixated at pacifying the world and its creed that we stand still in silence as baby after baby is chopped up and then scream profanities at those who come against such heinous acts of disobedience.  So many other issues can be placed into this equation and fit comfortably without distorting truth measures and it is this act of “passing” judgment that is going to cost us not only our nation but our lives as well.  We have lost the truth when it comes to the importance of standing up and telling the Truth according to God’s Word and what it says about what is good and what is evil.  Church, why are we sitting idly by and watching people partake of the sin of the world and us not even standing up and warning them?  It is because we have taken up the mantle of Adam in this passage and are partaking of the fruit as well.

Satan’s perfect setting is for God’s children to run amuck and not have any accountability in their decisions or over their lives.  This society is in full swing of destroying every system that has been put in place so that we do not have to answer to anyone or any law.  Do not judge me has been rapidly deployed and thoroughly demonstrated as cultural norms while the ways and means of such a foundation while being seen every day are completely ignored.  Ignoring the truth is the best example of not doing anything about the phrase “do not judge me”.  It cost Adam and Eve their eternal bliss with the impending result hanging over our heads until we draw our last breath, so why would we entertain such devastation?  When we do not tell people that the things they are pursuing are wrong and harmful then we are falling into the same trap that Adam was in when he sat silent and then took participation in eating of the fruit.  There is a reason why this verse mentions this scene, for while Adam and Eve had full cognitive recognition of their actions God knew what they were doing yet allowed them to fall.  We do not have to follow in their footsteps but we have the ability to live for God once again.

We have systematically accepted the opposite to be true and thus cannot see what this deceptive maneuver has done to our societies.  Church, we are running out of time and we no longer have the relaxed freedom from God, it is time that we gather our loved ones around and to share with them and to remind them that God loves us and that there is a Savior that shed His blood for us so that we can escape this terrible act of death.  The question was presented above about what would have occurred if Adam had acted as he should have and not just being a willing participant.  The answer to that question would be witnessed if the Church decides to follow through with the command that Jesus gave to all of us for both commands directly related to our protection, salvation, and restoration through the Godhead.  It is time we repent from our non-judgmental status and stand up for God and what is right for how can we stand before God and plead our innocence or deeds when we cannot even be more than a willing wretch supporting those who are not in the accurate position of judging when it is necessary?

DLB

Death of a President

Death of a President

1/11/19

This event is considered to be one of great heed to a country or nation in desperation with a solid outcome that has no choice but to shift gears as the changes occur.  It is a shocking experience when this type of mayhem happens and the world is taken back a bit until the settlements have been made and stability once again calms the fears of the people.  But what occurs when a national president is assassinated or removed?  How does the world respond to such an ordeal?  As of this moment, we have no idea for such a move has not transpired as of yet, but unless we change our hearts and return to God we shall see such a horrific event occur which will have life-changing settings on every level of every nation in this world.  God is calling and tugging this nation back to His confines of Covenant and if we do not heed this warning our presence on this earth as we are known today shall cease forever; it is written.

During the span of my lifetime, there have been approximately 47 presidential/prime minister assassinations that have occurred around the world.  Most of the names on this list, if they were noted, would not mean much to people in the western hemisphere because they lived in small nations that did not and continue not to require the necessary notoriety that larger nations seem to command, but in any case the leaders who lost their lives did so in such a horrific manner that all of their deaths should be noted for their countries were involuntarily placed into further dire straits through these acts.  Anwar Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin are two names on this list and for the most part, are recognized as top leaders of nations who lived and served through difficult times in the Middle East.  In either ideological case, these acts declared national emergencies within their borders and had the potential of creating international consequences throughout the respective regions.

This nation has been blessed with a lack of political assassinations during my lifetime with the last one being the murder of John F Kennedy in 1963 with the attempted assassination of President Ford in 1975 and the assassination attempt on President Reagan in 1981 being the closest to such a tragedy during my lifetime.  The time is ripe for such another attempt or some other political violence to take place on a sitting US President.  When President Reagan’s life was in danger there were mixed emotions concerning what occurred.  Some of the interior levels of our society went into a panic mode while others continued to stay calm while the day unfolded.  Many people cheered this event while others cried in the horrors of the possible outcome.  The nations around the world also stood in wonder lined with the same-sided emotions, some ready to strike us or our allies if their governments wished.  As it became clear that the scare concerning the President’s life was just that, normalcy began to return and all heightened emotions settled with only a whimper remaining which would soon dissipate.  Today, an abhorrent minority seeks to end this sitting president’s life in order to lose all obstacles in accordance with their ideology of life in this nation.  Can we actually consider ourselves to be a civilized society when a listed amount of people wish the President dead by means of assassination?

Looking back at history and noticing when the large empires and dynasties fell, it is not difficult to notice that when this tumultuous time arrived the entire known civilized world suffered greatly.  New nations and regions formed, wars began, assassinations and plots against governments were planned and then executed, and numerous other non-rested agencies transpired as the world tried its best to keep calm and direct their pressures in an even and outward projection so that their constituents did not panic and totally revolt.  One of the more recognizable results of such a fall from a “superior” nation comes in the form of shattered dependencies on that global status and if there should ever be a condition of time where the one providing such dependencies loses its status and power of course fear and control shall fight for control of the remains.  It is easily conceived that this type of dependence continues today with the majority of other nations when looking up to this nation and this fact needs to understand for when this nation does lose its status due to its arrogance and selfishness, the nations and their stability shall be changed forever.

It is this factor that many people fail to see and to recognize on a spiritual level.  Oh, do we ever understand our “status” on the physical aspects of societal organization yet at the same time ignore the most important condition of it all.  We have taken the blessings of God and have thrown them around like the old saying goes “we have money to burn” and have rubbed everyone else’s noses in our blessings as if it was us who originated such things.  We have grown exponentially over the years since our creation and establishment and ever since these early days of our presence have been doing our best to incorporate our selfish ways into the blessings.  No longer do we feel the need to glorify God for everything we have or to even have a basic appreciation for the resources that we have developed.  This is a sign of inner weakening infrastructures due to a lack of gratuitous inhabitants who fail to understand that these blessings are meant to be shared in a manner in which other less fortunate nations do not readily have access.  However, with such blessings said it the key ingredient of this equation lacks the authority in which it is being given for correct procedures of delivering gifts are selfishly and manipulatively divided up according to what some people wish to give while others do not.

When the divisions of a nation become intertwined with the distribution of services the outcome of such deliveries cannot bring forth any good whatsoever.  Our hearts have become so infiltrated with a status that as we “gladly” hand out these gifts to others we demand that the media cameras be present so that pictures can be taken of our good deeds towards men.  I am reminded of many narratives of Rome when the Barbarians were at the gates of that empire’s capital for many wanted to welcome them into the lands without understanding why and what they were doing there, completely ignoring the truth concerning the siege that was around their city yet doing their best to pacify the invaders with the same type of gratitude.  Rome was so arrogant and protruding that it had lost her capability of understanding the events around her and could not imagine that some other lands or ruler could be aroused enough to challenge her stance on any modern issue.  The demands at the negotiation tables have been directionally subjected to one goal and no other option considered a comparison that is easily defined over and over today.  Emperors rose and fell while the Empire continued on its course of physical destruction, and while the people who loved the State along with those who did not also watched as their beloved standard fell to the ground never to be picked up again.

While Rome, Egypt, and Greece may have had their dynasties ups and downs, post societies had enough stamina and viable contingents to continue needs as they came along.  When our society and nation falls things shall become more complicated, joint freedoms from smaller and previously “non-negotiable” nations will be thrust into the open and suddenly have an equal opportunity to rule as any other country.  The fall of this nation can be demonstrated and then orchestrated as the death of a president for it shall be just as such.  Not only will regional countries be affected, but the entire world shall be included in this fall due to the presence of its leader being no longer capable of existing.  Our borders shall no longer be intact as they are now in fact, they will not be as such in that day.  Many commands, controlling points, companies, businesses, cities, countrysides, and countless other amenities shall be gone and washed away.  Yes, churches shall be torn out and no longer listed on a map, for when God declares His presence known and His hand an operative, all things are subject since He is the Creator of all things.

We see this type of assassination occur in the New Testament as well, for the eternal Head of the Church was brutally crucified for no real crime, which brings us to the passage of John 19:28-30 which gives us a slight glimpse of the death of Jesus.  Just as today there were leaders within the local and religious communities that either loved Jesus or hated Him.  Of course, many had their doubts about who He was but when ones truly opened their hearts to what His mission was they began to understand exactly why He was sent to the earth.  Jesus faced an array of presentations each day, I mean, one would easily become a tad paranoid if you had the major religious leaders constantly following you as you went along your daily business, wouldn’t you?  Jesus was taken by the world and cruelly executed as a common criminal, actually dying between two convicted thieves.  Everything Jesus said and did during His ministry years was for a Divine purpose yet those who failed to recognize this did everything in their power to end not only His ministry but His presence as well.  Jesus was not the person that many thought He would be, nor were they impressed about His common appearance and how He did not look and fit the part of what the religious establishment believed the Messiah would be like. 

The people who did follow Jesus and took after His ways reacted in a very humanly manner, they scattered and ran away as fast as they could and placed themselves into hiding.  They were in a state of disarray and division that they had not known before but could not avoid or ignore because they lacked the confidence of what Jesus taught and preached to them, so much so that His closest companions did not believe that He was alive again even after He had told them that He would be.  Complete chaos ruled the followers of Christ and the Early Church members had no reason to form another gathering due to the fear that they would suffer the same fate as Jesus did.  Right here, we have the unbelief patterns that were implanted into the Church shortly after Jesus died and rose again, so how easy is it today for us not to completely understand or believe in what the Bible says about our purpose and lives?  From this moment forward no nation had singlehandedly ruled the world again, many have tried since this time and even the physical Church has tried to do so but only fulfilled the actions of a certain disciple in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Along comes a nation made from nothing that over a given period of time becomes the single most powerful nation on any and every level the world can imagine or offer.  The United States is considered the ultimate democracy and representative of freedom for every person who draws breath and while our foundations were established in a holy proclamation we were set apart for this Divine act from God another option for those who wished to seek God and His ways without persecution or commands from others.  But just a period of time was section off of history for our foundations, so is another period of time that took the separation issues of holiness and shoved it aside for inclusion with otherworldly standards.  With this time period accessing itself we have grown accustomed to being a selfish nation that indulges in our own reflections and technologies trying to reach immortal status on our own.  This lifestyle was okay for a while but eventually began to creep into our daily devotions and business duties, growing at a rate quick enough that this condition of superiority now flowed internationally and without repentance.

We fail to recognize just how far we have fallen to the lies of wealth and prosperity instead of witnessing to others through these blessings that God gave us.  I have often wondered why people desire to come to this nation when our own attitudes portray us as an arrogant and egotistical society that cares nothing for anyone else especially when we are looking at our profiles and then publishing them over as many networks as possible.  It is this type of example shown that should be repulsive to anyone trying to enter this country, yet they still come.  This inciting type behavior shall be the key to our downfall and the main reason that the President and leader of the physical world shall be taken down by the sovereign hand of God.  Ever wonder why the United States and its land description and its people and presence are not mentioned in the end times according to the Bible? 

There is a reason for this and it stems from this nation being dead with no ability to govern law and restraint over other nations any longer.  Sadly, what we did portray to the other nations during this tenure of leadership shall be reflected in a horrific manner on nations by other nations for the children almost always reflect what they have witnessed growing up.  When one reads the bible, especially the end book of Revelation, there is nothing good going on in the world and any idea of happiness and tranquility is not mentioned.  Why?  Through our own arrogance and selfish maladies, we transformed a good societal setting into a greedy manipulative congressional election that infiltrated each national heart with their own individualistic indulgences.  Our hearts are completely hidden around our perfectly shaped onion layers and unless we allow God to change the blackness of our hearts He shall begin to peel away each layer of our established country until our heart is exposed, then He shall change our inner layers in such a way that one cannot believe.

What is so devastating about this truth is that we have a perfect example of this type of behavior in the ONLY book that can provide a way for us to crawl out from this pig pen and it, not the passage that God wants us to understand for this article either.  Israel demonstrated this exact attitude in 1 Samuel 8 when it wanted to leave God for the ways of the world.  Their demise began in their individual hearts and eventually presented this demise publicly and nationally.  Look at what occurred to their nation when they elected this process into existence, over time their nation was split into two kingdoms then destroyed one by one both sent into captivity and doomed themselves as a definitive and recognized nation for millennia.  Do we really believe that God shall not perform the same types of discipline on this nation when He has done such things to His own Created nation?  Take heed to the consequences of our hearts for they are real and accurate and so is the Word of God and the direction He has for your life and for this nation.

This article is NOT about the survival of President Trump or the thoughts about his demise or assassination.  This article is about the idolatrous patterns that we as a nation and leader to the world have followed in order to “assure” ourselves in getting our way.  It is laughable to believe that with the state of affairs this nation believes it should exist within that we could be equal to an ant walking on a sidewalk much less equal to any other nation or fellow employee.  President Trump was elected by God alone, brilliantly through a human-made process in order to give us a bit more time before He has to act in a Divine fashion and speed up the end of humanity as we know it.  Isn’t a wonder that certain people want this access of accuracy and election procedures destroyed?  You want proof?  Why is it that both sides of the divide political aisle disagree with him and his thinking?  Just the other night people were saying that they did not believe a word of what he was going to say in a prime time speech of his.  These words and these opinions came public BEFORE he said a single word.  This type of activity is EXACTLY what this nation and others like us are doing to God and the Word of God.  I have no idea if President Trump really proclaims himself as a Christian, but I do know that he does respect God and God is using him in order for us to wake up and repent before it is too late.

We still have the opportunity to delay this action by God because for whatever reason God still believes that we have a shot at redemption, but how long will this belief of His last?  Church it is time we take the reins back into our hands and once again become the witnesses to those who deem the world as their friend and lover.  As world history has taught us or should have taught us that no good thing comes from a leader being killed or have a violent death.  Our world has endured such torturous events many times over with the biggest of them all hanging right around the corner.  It is for this purpose alone that Jesus sent us into the world in order to project His light of Truth to those who are in darkness.  We can still save this President from death but it is totally and strictly up to us to prevent such a catastrophe.  We have the tools, we have the instructions, and all Jesus needs is for us to use what He has given us.  So the basic question that presented to us is this: do you wish to see the President die or live?

DLB

An Aborted Life

An Aborted Life

1/9/19

Whether we understand this word or not we are all affected by its definition at some point or circumstance in our existence.  Not many scenarios will place this word in a good context but we have to contend that some folks just limit its definition to one setting and justify its presence through such doors.  God never intended to have this word a part of our lives, but through the choices that humanity made so long ago we are stuck with its grotesque ability to dominate our hearts.  God wants His children to understand that there is healing that He wishes for us to have when it comes to this word and when it is applied to our lives in such an amplified manner.  This is an inherited word that God warned us about and that Jesus defeated when He rose from the dead and we need to start administering His authority over this death word’s deadly authority for if we continue to accept it as a part of our existence then we have no alternative but to live its consequences.

The world has a wonderful manner of inflating or deflating a cause that suits their opinions, beliefs, and ways of living.  This notion and specification of word usage is a dangerous practice for it serves one's purpose only and does not take into consideration the word’s entire meaning and overall function in language use.  Anytime a person, place, or thing is used as a singular item of interest and subjected to ridicule by an opposing opinion the direct content of such noun probably has been misused or misdefined largely enough that if one steps back and looks over the situation can see that it is used in violation to the meaning of the word itself for selfish reasons or gains.  It would be easy for us to limit such a topic to one item and focus solely upon the ramifications of such devastation in a person’s life, but the word abort has so many more features to it that cannot be ignored and God wants us to understand these features so we can combat this word according to His Ways.  Also, we must contend that God cannot create such devastation in any created being He authorizes to live, therefore it must be a word derived opposite to life and has the definition of ceasing or ending; such a word is death.

Have you ever watched an action movie that has something to do with a governmental mission involving a certain amount of people going to another place and performing some type of operation there?  Or have you ever watch some type of military movie during your lifetime?  What about a spy movie, or any other type of espionage setting, James Bond comes to mind?  If you have, then you will understand that sometimes when the operation has just begun or is about to take place an order from someone high up shouts the command to abort, abort!  It is this word that tells the people involved in such missions to immediately stop the mission and to get out of the area as soon as possible for some type of breach has occurred and the attacking forces are at an increased risk of exposure before the target can be neutralized.  While many of the spy movies and military action movies are fiction based stories, these types of operations have been stopped for various reasons and thus fall into the category of an aborted mission.  It is this type of action, or stopping of action that is going to be used here in this article as a reason why God did not plan for this word to be used in our lives but left the option open to us whether or not to abide by His Ways or by the ways of the world.  So, if you are wondering, yes the word abortion is used in the Bible and it is a word that was chosen by us to accept, for we must remember that God is a complete God on all areas even when it comes to the words He uses in order to make His point to our hearts.

The definition of abort is one that explains it all and while there is an obvious definition that many automatically refer to in conversation the overall and complete definition does reflect the same conclusion a stoppage of some type of referenced mission.  Webster defines abort, abortion, aborted as follows: to terminate a procedure prematurely, to become checked in development so as to degenerate or remain rudimentary, to terminate the pregnancy before term, to terminate prematurely or to cancel.  As it can be read, the complete definition of the word abort has a general desired meaning but just to one area of life as usually directed by popular demands.  It can be drawn as a conclusion that the overall meaning and definition of this word equals to death before it was supposed to naturally occur and it is this truth that one can honestly say that abortion is directed and spoken about in the Bible, for when God uses a word in reference He does so in such a manner that follows His own definition which is eternal and complete and therefore we have this defined word first used in Genesis 2:17.

The entire definition of this word seems pretty bleak with no way out of its finality and fatality but in order to understand its realm we must first return to its origin and we can find this beginning in the Bible in Genesis 2:15-17.  We see here that God is instructing Adam about his duties concerning the Garden of Eden and important it is that he obeys God’s command concerning such duties.  God also makes a command that Adam do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and it is what God says next that brings into play an exotic yet dangerous word and condition that had to have Adam’s mind spinning, but with God being God and through the operations that He exists told Adam everything he needed to know about the word.  That word was death and the entire phrase was given to Adam in such a clear and precise manner that Adam had no reason to ignore its content.

But as with any other figure of speech that we fully do not understand, Adam had to toy with the idea about this deadly condition in which at first he must have been very frightened with it and vowed to himself not to even entertain the notion of such finality but as any “good” human does eventually Adam began to think otherwise about the command and it was at this moment that he and the woman became subject to the other side of the block and were already playing into the hands of the enemy.  We should also find it intriguing that God brings up this word at this point in time, which means that death was not in the immediate lineage of humans at that moment, for if it was then there would have been no reason for God to bring that word into play for it would have already been established as a sentence within our lives.  We also know that when God creates something He cannot produce any flaws within that Creation, it is perfect in every way yet He gives them gifts of choices that convene inside and allows the Creation to follow as needed.

Human understanding and categorical language differentiation astound me sometimes in that we pick and choose which words to say but not always use them in a correct manner.  All of us are guilty of such usage and while most do not correct the usage we accept the words used in a context that is more popular to our daily lives instead of looking at the entire definition.  I am so guilty of this pointed out deficiency for when I was in high school supposedly learning about grammar and sentence structure I had no intentions of studying that deeply in order to produce finer and more accurate sentence structure, I wanted my “C” in English and go on with my life.  Regretfully, this attitude of mine way back when cost me dearly over the next few decades and I must admit I still struggle with mastering words and structure.  But God uses my heart to share with you exactly what He wants us to know so that we can follow His guidance at all times without having to experience any type of termination of our purpose that He has given us to complete.  Our only flaw is that we tend to run across this word in particular and then freeze because we do not understand or know how to wisely defend God and His views on the matter.  We compartmentalize free will into a selfish category and place it on a worldly level of equality which bastardizes the holy intention of what God did not want humans to ever face.

We have teetered around this word so much that it has become a common thread with one usage only, and that is the termination of babies.  While this is a part of the definition of the word it is not the idea of such action that is warranted but only manifested through the selfish free will choices that we live.  What God understands as death means a total and complete separated state from Him whereas we see this abortive action as a choice to rid ourselves of either a result our choice of an act, a result of two people consensual acts, or a choice of someone else’s acts against another.  In either way, the word still has its intended end, death to a living spirit that has a Divine purpose for humanity.  But this word does not stop here and its meaning and message continues to be a thorn in our side as each day of our lives pass, for since Eve and Adam ate of the tree that day death has always been an end game for humanity, an aborted life that we cannot ignore or get around.

Humanity has fallen for the belief that terminating a life will make their lives easier and simpler and clears a path of their planned activities and growth.  We see this type of examples in the mob activity and in the gang lifestyle; both existences torment others into getting out of their way and if stood up against think nothing about alleviating the problem.  It may sound like a totally different scenario and condition but when we go back to the word abort and look at its entire definition and keep that entire definition in mind we shall find that it means the exact same thing, life has been shortened by another human for ______ reason.  It says something about the heart of a society and nation when their number one goal is to ensure that murder can be justified through the laws of the world.  As with everyone who is reading this article knows, all I know is life and even though my genetic makeup stinks and my life could be snuffed out at any moment, I thank God every day that He has allowed certain people in this nation to have the determination to create and then establish procedures that will keep my genetic markers in check for a while longer.

As each day passes, I become more disenchanted with the societal concerns that roll across my eyes for the majority of them enrage against the responsibility of life and glorify and advance death to others on every stage of life.  It saddens God’s heart to hear His beloved Creations cry out to end life as they know it unwittingly fulfilling the curse of Genesis 2:17 upon our lives.  We have no clue, that through these actions and commitments to the results of Genesis 2:17, we have elected to sin and thus establish an aborted life as a punishment disguised by a lie we have fallen for.  A terrible waste of God’s merciful plan for our redemption even though the plan sits right in front of our faces as we cry out for answers that ultimately plagues our bodies and spirits.  We must once again come back to the truth about death and that there is nothing good about this process and we must do everything we can to prevent it from taking our lives before it is time; for if God intended for death to be a good thing then He would have instilled it within our lives, to begin with, and not issued its presence due to disobedience, nor would He have put into place a direct path in which to overcome its sting.  So, yes, abortion and all of its demise against life is addressed in the Bible and defines the line of which Kingdom has control of a person's life.

It is sometimes difficult to grasp the concept that sin creates, develops, and then establishes in our lives and serves as the foundation for death, but it is an inevitable consort that none of us can escape.  However as it has been stated many times before and it has been mentioned in the above paragraphs as well, God has established an escape plan for those who wish to know eternal life with Him.  This next statement is a harsh one but it comes from the heart of God and serves as a foundation of our lives and why we are present on this earth.  Ending a life here on earth does not mean that our lives are over, but in truth they have just begun for our eternal life still exists; however, we must contend and accept that our eternal life, while it is a glorious thing, cannot do the humans one ounce of good for their time on earth is done.  Yes, heaven rejoices and our lives then know exactly what it means to be pure and holy again but the designed eternal status on the earth is thwarted and only memories are left to those who continue to walk this earth.  Just as Keith Green famously said so many times during his ministry here, God can’t cash out of state checks in heaven, He needs you.

Sadly yet not unpredictably the world has graciously accepted this pattern of death for those who wish to follow its lead.  Our enemy has done a fabulous job in smoothing over the truth about this result concerning death, and throughout the ages of time has convinced countless people to end others’ lives while fulfilling this command of Satan.  But Satan has not stopped there for he has moved into the Church world as well and now claims millions of lives through the name of God and in the name of God.  The Church has fallen into bed with Satan and his patterns of the world and has done so with the same gratuitous heart that Satan employs against God.  The imploring of self and self-realization into our lives has produced Church leaders with false accounts of truth and the position of life where it concerns the definition and existence of God, ignoring the holy judgmental status of death and what it means to those who lose their lives at any stage of their existence.  Grotesquely this practice of abortion in all of its meaning has been accepted by the Church and is now worming its way through all demonic denominations that are present on the earth.  God created Adam and Eve as one entity through Him just as Jesus created the Church as one entity through Him.

How can we stand as individuals before God and justify any type of death sentence on anyone?  God is not talking about criminals who have done heinous crimes against humanity, or is He?  There is nothing more ugly than an unrepentant thief about to be executed, think about that one for a moment.  But the Church stands before God every day trying her best to justify equality through worldly mannerisms all the while ignoring the truth about the one who they are standing in front of.  Oh Church, it is time we get on our knees and repent before this nation falls into the greatest abyss this planet has ever witnessed.  We have allowed the enemy of life to infiltrate our hearts to the point where we now call evil good and good evil.  Our existence shall continue to splinter until we figure out that the accepted lies that we have fallen in love with actually contribute to our aborted life and when we stand in front of God to give account of our life, how can we defend our motives of abortion while death was already a guarantee due to humanity’s disobedience in the first place?

DLB

I Can Breathe Again

I Can Breathe Again

1/6/19

How difficult would you think it is to allow yourself to become run down as time slips passed us?  This is a question we all must ask ourselves and usually does not physically present itself until some major catastrophe occurs that brings us to this attention.  If the physical can become in such a condition what makes us believe that our spiritual lives cannot reach the same condition, a condition that while least remembered has the longer-lasting consequences than the physical alone.  God has given us an eternal outline and plan book of how to escape this terrible outcome, but during the game of life, we tend to choose to run our own plays instead.  One cannot help but look at the tragedies that are occurring each day yet we fail to recognize that these atrocities against humanity shall continue and increase until we turn back to God and once again live under His Ways, a holy mark that will do our spiritual lungs a much-needed breath of fresh air.

As I have previously mentioned over the years’ writings, my genetic makeup is not of the best stock and that it seems like as time goes along my health issues slightly increase each year and I have to find another way to combat this rising cost of living.  So, given this unknown information way back when and when I was a young man was offered cigarettes I was wise in not electing to accept them for it would have only increased my advancement of cardiac and circulatory issues.  However, the things I did do to my body when I was younger did manage to prove the doctors correct and while I am thankfully hanging around today, I am reminded of my decisions way back during my youth each morning when I rise out of bed.  Yes, they do hurt and while I am not claiming them over my life I cannot ignore their presence for sometimes their company takes my breath away.  So, it is in my best interest and advice to myself to adhere to everything I can in order to make my body perform as it should for as long as possible and to reject those items that would do harm to me while this incredible journey of mine continues.  But how many times a week do I ignore this truth and intake or partake of rituals that present such harmful items into my life, if known that number would be staggering which is why it is vitally important to me that I do my best at all times to recognize such wicked items and to keep them from my life.

I remember when I was in high school the big environmental issue was how all of the cities around the world were in danger of becoming endemic of lung diseases due to the amount of pollution in their local air zones.  It seemed like each night provided more people on the news verbally abusing the local, state, and federal governments demanding that these places of pollution creators be shut down but as they screamed and yelled they provided no viable alternative to rid us of this ugliness.  This was and still is a huge concern but one does not hear too much anymore about the air pollution that hangs over the major cities of the world today, for we have moved on down the line and are doing our best to tackle another issue that many have deemed more important.  Overall, there are not too many people around that would say that environmental issues do not need to be cleaned up and most of us understand that this task is one that will not come about easily either.  Differing opinions on which area should be worked on first, which issue should take the higher priority, and we surely cannot forget which politician will benefit from such idiotic accreditation speeches afterward.  It is for this last mentioned setting that shall prove that no major cleanup shall occur for our personal gains and attitudes have overridden any hope of getting anything done together resulting in a corrupted physical state that will only become worse as each month passes.  I am not an environmentalist by any means, but I do see the issues at hand and these issues need to be addressed on all levels.

But there is another issue that needs to be addressed first and foremost and that is the spiritual environmental condition of our lives and it is this issue that God wants to speak to us today for it is a condition that we are allowing to continue that is literally sucking the life out of our eternity and placing us in a dire situation when it comes to spiritual life.  The Church fails to recognize that when we allow the world into the walls of our heart that those conditions will keep in line with their advancement, not slowing down but increasing in strength and power choking out the life that God has given us way back in Genesis 2:7.  Many pass over this verse and focus on what follows Adam’s creation, but we need to understand just how important air is to our lives and how our bodies depend on quality and quantity of supply in order to operate efficiently and satisfactory.  God cannot complete anything in a haphazard manner or to give out only half of an effort He must operate in a complete and holy manner at all times so when He gave His breath of life into Adam it was of good quality and the necessary amount for Adam to take over and to function accordingly.  Adam was never meant to know and to feel pain or any type of malfunction of his existence but to maintain a healthy and pure flow at all times but as time passed this mechanism of purity began to have doubts that would eventually lead to his downfall and take with him the entire landscape of living.

While we believe that we are working on all cylinders, our bodies are actually working overtime just to keep up with our daily demands of stability resulting in the fact that our output has decreased tremendously because the majority of our energy is spent on trying to keep us functioning instead of providing the energy to those who need God.  When we look back at how we were created, we cannot help but notice that God’s breath was pure and holy that was placed into our lives by Him this means that on all levels understood and felt complete perfection while delivering upon the command that God gave.  Part of the dominion that God gave to us was to keep and dress the Garden this was the command to Adam, which means that if God gave Adam this task then He had to have given him the physical ability to complete this task as well and NOT a limited supply or damaged goods.  This breath of life that God breathed into our lives serves both the physical and the eternal and is not limited to just one aspect of life.

How would we know when God has been allowed back into our lives and hearts?  When I had my first stent put in I was talking a walk during the middle of the night and I suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway.  The nurse who was assisting me on this first walk asked if everything was okay and I did not say anything but took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  The amount of air my lungs received was incredible and it was at that moment that I realized just how deprived of air I had been previous to this procedure.  A new feeling that I had over time lost sensation of and over this period of time learned how to adjust my body enough to believe my body had adequately adjusted properly.  I ignored the first real symptoms of this loss of air believing that at some point, maybe tomorrow, that I would take the correct role in order to keep my air flow intact.  Years later a second warning was given and with the second chance thwarted God gave me a third for some reason.  Recently, my genetic toil caught up with me and I found myself with vessels from my leg and chest in new positions around my heart.  This time God showed me a sliced onion with a black dot in the middle and said it was my choice to allow the blackness to grow or not and while I was learning to live again speak and share with others that this is the condition of their hearts as well, not only physical but mainly and more importantly spiritual.  And we all know that if a heart is not functioning correctly the production of clean and solid airflow cannot be delivered on a normal basis and it is at this point that this nation along with many other nations is at.

What I failed to recognize is that even though I had a plan for my recovery, I fell short in its delivery and needed someone whose expertise could change my situation and place it back in line with the path that I needed to be on.  The path that I had chosen disallowed me to be vital to the world but a dependent on my vital signs for survival.  We have never been intended to survive on our own systems but to seek God for our needs, which in turn, give us the ability to keep and dress our dominion properly.  A while back, God used the illustration about how our eyes have become clouded and veered off focus as an example that our ways have moved away from His perfect path for our lives.  God is now working on showing us other parts of our bodies that need to be cleaned up and purified so that we can dutifully perform what we were created to complete.  Our lungs control the energy and nutrients that are supplied to our bodies so we can do the work necessary that lies before us each day, but just as we have allowed pettiness to creep into our daily routines so have we allowed the world to infiltrate the airways of our lungs to produce a less effective source of provisions for our lives.  With the schedules that we deem necessary each day, it is easy to forget that unless we continually seek after God through His Word the world shall take advantage of this lack of truth and spill into our lives by way of the legal state.  God shall be relentless in this type of demonstrations and examples for He understands what the world is presenting and He wants His children to know how to combat the ways of the world.

I cannot count the number of times a smoker has stated that they need to go out and smoke a cigarette in order to clear their lungs.  These wonderful people know what they are doing to their bodies yet still believe in such a lie about how it “clears” their lungs to bring harmful chemicals into their existence.  We do so many unjust things to our physical bodies that it is almost incomprehensible, so just imagine what we are allowing into our spiritual lives on that level especially when the majority of people do not even believe that we have a spiritual aspect of our lives.  What is it going to take for us to realize the harm that we are doing to our eternal instincts by allowing such spiritual garbage to be thrown into our hearts, will it take us being stripped layer by layer until something drastic occurs? 

I pray that the Church wakes up from her spiritual slumber and takes notice of what is occurring in her neighborhood.  This sickness and spiritual strain on circulation coincide with the physical condition of the Church for both go hand in hand.  Once my physical attributes began to show themselves, it was time for me to take notice of my spiritual aspects as well to which I found was deep in controversy with God.  I could not believe just how far down and drug down I had allowed myself to become spiritually it was sadly enlightening to my heart when this revelation occurred and while I was not yet writing my story was coming together just as God had planned it out so long before I took my first breath.  God understood where my heart was at and where he is at today and even though I would have loved to have told people what God was saying fifteen years ago when this cardiac process of mine started, He was not ready to show me because He saw the condition of my spiritual heart and it needed a bit more work still.

Church, if we do not wake up and begin to serve God as we have been commanded our spiritual existence shall be overrun and our physical presence on the earth shall be no more; how is this known, through the words of Revelation Chapter 3.  We have handed so much of our authority over to the world and what is so sad is that we fail to recognize that this authority that we have turned over is actually the breath that Jesus gave to us when He gave the command to go into the world and preach the gospel.  We have accumulated so much worldly smoke (acceptance) into our lives that we no longer can decipher which information is good and which is bad, fulfilling the curse of worldly progression that Genesis 3:7 initiated.  Let us stop our heart and lung disease and allow the Great Physician to prescribe the accurate remedy for our condition.  I guarantee that when we do, we will stop for a moment and take in a deep breath of clean and holy air into our spiritual lungs and feel how God intended for our lives to be lived.  We do not have to wait until heaven to find out this freshness of clean and holy air.  If the truth is known, if we wait until we get into heaven to find this breathing scope it is also a guarantee that we will not know this truth because we did not fulfill our command on earth before our calling home.

Repent Church and allow God to fill us with His breath of life again so that we can keep and maintain the job that Jesus commanded us to do.  The world cannot give us the air and nutrients to function that our body requires so let us stop the intake and partaking of such dreaded worldly pollution and allow God to change our lives from the inside out.  The adaptations that the world is offering highly concludes with the destruction of your existence so it is imperative that we stop colluding with this death process and function as we are supposed to, for the command of Jesus to His Church is our air and our source of breathing and it is time to stand up with this new lung capacity of ours and say to the world I can breathe again.

DLB