Life Matters

Life Matters

4/9/19

There are countless ways to interpret this phrase with most of these interpretations resulting in disagreement attitudes against all sides who hear the specific words.  But are we listening to what is important here or are we getting our grammar points mixed up, I am not talking about how the sentence structure actually is but what the focal point is when certain phrases or words come forth out of our mouths.  It seems like we are running ahead to reach a goal without any value to our names to purchase it and it is this object that God wants us to know that through our off the cuff remarks about who we support really entails how far off what should be the most important issue to our lives.  God loves life on all levels and since He is most interested in life He really wants us to understand that we cannot live a full life without Him first in our lives and when He is first in our lives all of the adjectives to describe life may be around but they do not rule us.

As all aspects of our lives become increasingly polarized, it is difficult to even have a basic conversation with our neighbors without being afraid of making a statement that might be construed as offensive.  I find it very frustrating not being able to just freely say hello or hi to someone as they pass by me coming in or out of a restaurant or store.  Along those lines I have noticed people deliberately put their head down and watch the ground go by as they pass another person, just to say that I did not see you or give the appearance that they did not want to talk or to be social with someone else.  I have found myself simulating that type of thought through my head as someone approaches me in such conditions and as I struggle to speak when they come near, I find myself screaming at me inside for I have never been like that in my entire life.  It does not end there either, it has now invaded how we say things or what we even support or do not support, that counts and if we do not agree with everything the popular opinion deems true, watch out you have a target on your body and it will be hit many times in quick succession.

When I was a young kid, it was said of me that I never knew a stranger and that I would talk to just about anyone.  While that part of me still exists today, we must be more careful than before because it seems like most people nowadays are at trigger point and just waiting for the next opportunity to explode.  How silly and ridiculous have we become because of this attitude and increased frustration level?  Our belief that our opinion is the correct one and if anyone disagrees with it should be subject to a screaming match or punch in the face, is destroying our capability to obtain what we as humans desire the most and that is happiness, love, and peace.  Also, this hyped up internal activity sensor of ours defines to others how we define life and demonstrates how we will react to real problems when that day arrives.  Is this how we were meant to live or how to approach each other on a social basis?  It is hard for me to accept but there are many people in this world now that this type of hyped up level of existence is the only way they know how to live for they have achieved a successful approach in allowing the world to control them thus nullifying any opportunity of knowing what real life is and how to live it abundantly.

We have heard the cries of “black lives matter”, “blue lives matter”, “red lives matter”, and even “LGBQT lives matter”, “army lives matter”, but one phrase that is ruled off limits is “all lives matter”.  This seems a bit unorthodox when you look at the individual stances versus this overall stance but when you add how we personally look at things it does make sense because we only see through selfish eyes and deem only what is important in our eyes as worthy enough to notarize such a stance.  But are we seeing what these phrases do to us and how they are defining how we exist, just by using these phrases alone?  What about the placement of life itself in these phrases, do we know where we are placing life in our eyes?  It does not matter which phrase above you use, the position of life is in the last position and serves us as secondary items after the words protrude from our hearts.  What is God saying about this and how does it pertain to my life and to your life?  Let us take a closer look at how God views life and how He wants us to live and if we open our hearts to this Truth, we shall see that these phrases are destroying not only our concept of a heart’s sentence structure but our spiritual sentence structure as well.

I am fifty-one years old and have been out of school for quite some time now.  However, when I was in school we had a grammar exercise almost every day that included a test called diagramming a sentence.  If you mention this type of test to a young person today they will look at you funny and say that they have never heard of such a thing.  I really did not care for these tests even though I did fairly well on them most of the time.  But while I was required to take them I did not like them so I really had no oomph behind the answers I gave but even though my heart was not in that test I did learn some things about grammar and what word categories serve as important ones over the lesser ones, emphasizing this truth when building sentences.  It is this type of sentence structure that protrudes from our hearts that gives everyone else the clues they need to increase our human divide with each other deeper and longer which can only represent a quicker demise of our existence.

First off we are going to address the situation and usage of adjectives in the phrases that are now running rampant in our daily lives.  What do you see common in the words black, blue, red, and yellow that come before the word lives in these phrases?  Most of you know that these words are being used as adjectives to describe life or group of lives.  Now, normally this type of descriptive actions would not cause too much heartburn with other when spoken but since these phrases have been designated as ignition statements and offensive ground phrases to gain leverage over others they can no longer be included or associated with the word “all”.  In this instance with all of the polarized hotheads running amuck today, it is deemed more important to classify “self” as the first priority, it means that everyone else must be represented in their own individual categorical mode as well; therefore, the word “all” becomes an “offensive” word for trying to be inclusive all around.  When our words directly become focused on adjectives or adverbs instead of the noun, we are in trouble and thus are blinded by what comes out of our hearts towards others.  We must remember that it is okay to use adjectives and adverbs to describe life but we should be mindful about where they are placed in the order in which it directs the truth about life first and not the descriptive word.  When adjectives become more important than the noun then we have no option but to identify with that adjective instead of the noun and when we live out this way we cannot help but voluntarily segregate ourselves and place us back into a mental state of world slavery once again.

What does the Bible say about inclusion of life and how God views life when it comes to His prized Creations?  One very popular verse sums up how God feels about all of us and that verse is John 3:16.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Where is the divisive factor in that verse?  This verse tells us that God sent His Son for everyone and not for just a few select people.  There is no mention of job holders here nor is there any mention of a color scheme either but for all who believe on Him.  God states here that whosoever wants to change their lives from the attitudes of the world and the grip it has over them, He is waiting to do so.  To God, your life matters and your life matters, for God can only represent life for that is His only definition.  So, if God has no limits about who can be accepted what gives us the gall to believe we have the authority to reject any biological person from receiving God?  Oh wait, I guess that the usage and emphasis on these adjectives instead of the noun reflect what is in our hearts, which is blackened and dark and not full of light.  There should be no demeaning life when God is the source of light in our lives nor should there be any segregated congregations either.

Next, let us take a look at how having Jesus in our lives makes our life viewable to others.  We can see just how important and different our lives and how we view life through another very popular verse in the same book as above in John 10:10 and as a matter of fact, we even see an important grammatical point used here too.  “The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  Here we have another example of just how opposite God and His Ways are from those of the world.  One of the most easily missed questions that many misses is the fact of how do we know who is the thief that is stealing from us, especially when we do not submit to the entire Bible as the authoritative author of our lives.  Then one comes to the end portion of this verse and we find that someone else brings us life abundantly, and yes this wording is an accurate one and one that has special meaning for all of us.

This verse clearly states that Jesus says that He is the one that was sent to bring us life which means that no one else ever can claim this purpose again; even though many have failed at trying.  Here we have the word life being used in its glory by itself and since it is used in this context we find that the truth has been spoken.  However, we also know that God does not just sit on the usual but takes His Ways to the unusual and Jesus does so by the next statement that He makes in this verse.  Yes, Jesus could have stopped with the middle portion of this verse but God will do anything possible to show His children that He eternally loves them and with the final portion of this verse gives us that unusual setting.  Jesus says that through Him He will give you life abundantly.  The emphasis is spoken up front “life” and is meant to be stated in such fashion for then the adverb arrives after the noun which transforms the noun into a specialty and not just an ordinary.  Life abundantly is something totally different on all levels than black lives matter or blue lives matter, the emphasis is reversed and so is the positioning of the words.  Yes, in both instances the emphasis is placed on the first word and purposefully so.  In today’s society along with many writing concerns, it is acceptable to believe that the catchwords or intended target words are placed first thus creating a stage so that positions can be ascertained quickly.  One cannot be anything or have anything until life occurs and thus it should be eternally noted that life is the greatest gift that any human has ever received and if that person should know Christ and their personal Lord and Savior, it does not matter what this world throws at you, you shall have life abundantly.

We often hear that the Bible is outdated and should not be used as any reliable source of help or guidance, but when we study these two Scripture verses we have two great pieces of advice about how to mend our divisions with others and close the doors of anger that deeply compromise the potential survival of so many today.  When we understand the concepts of God’s definition we will know that His purpose alone is to give life on the highest level without any division present we can see this in Genesis.  The order in which God states how He gives life here should be indicative of how we should pursue life as a single entity of establishment, not one as segregated or partitioned, for there is nothing higher than life abundantly.  The word abundantly here comes from the Greek word perisson which means that is more than what is expected or generally given.  Church, why are we not teaching this eternal truth about how we should live?  The answer is simple, it is because we have fallen for the complexities of the world and the idea of real truth no longer exists within our lives.  Over and over it has been proven that a person who is steadfast in Christ will accomplish better results than many others who hold onto the world.  What must be painful for God to watch occur is that His children constantly cry out for this life abundantly but as soon as their cries end they curse the One that shows up to give them abundances.

Church, we can once again fulfill the mission of Christ by teaching and promoting life abundantly instead of segregated blue lives matter or any other adjective lives matter.  God did not create mankind in a divided manner but one that was created, established and grown in unity through His Presence, His Law and His image.  When we place adjectives in front of life we bring forth a worldly lie that may seem acceptable to some but for those who live life abundantly shall recognize that what they are presenting is a destructive mannerism that can only reflect the first portion of John 10:10.  Nothing positive or eternal comes from stealing, killing or destroying so why do we even entertain these worldly phrases for when we do we only promote our destruction.  We have the authority and the power to change this worldly mentality Church, but first, we need to get the spiritual blinders off of our eyes and allow God to clean our hearts again.  We are the only hope that the dying world has and it is in our stance that God will either restore our land or destroy it.  Of course, the world is going to do its best to segregate humanity as much as possible for it is in this state that we become most vulnerable and the least productive.  God is the opposite of static He is always moving forward in His eternal light and positive manner.  It is our choice to walk in either path but for goodness sake, always choose life abundantly.

DLB