Dangers of Hell

Dangers of Hell

11/24/19

It is widely known that humans do not like to dwell on issues or topics that have eternal finality, especially when it comes to an ending that can be considered a “controversy”.  All points of life give us many clues of how we should live and how we should make choices to suffice this life, but at the same time we have been provided a guide that shows us exactly what occurs both in the present life that we know and the afterlife that can become cloudy.  Many of these cloudy or controversial issues we tend to skirt because we do not wish to make waves with others, but God tells us differently in His Word and if we do not teach the complete Word of God, we will be held accountable for our lack of action someday in the future.  Hell is a very important subject that needs to be understood because it is real and many people are going to such a wicked place every day.  Hell was not created originally for any human being but for Satan and his angels alone, but now since mankind chose to fall those who wish to be away from God shall be so, eternally separated from Him.

How many of us are guilty of easing our thoughts and beliefs about hell?  I know that I have fallen into this category through my actions and explanations sometimes, but at the same time how much do we truly know about Hell and the reasons that it was created and who will go there for eternity?  Hell is a serious matter which is not treated with the respect and truth that it demands for there is no glory in Hell and its inhabitants shall never be exemplified on any level with the exception of pain and torture.  The Scripture verses that God gave me for this article really points to another trial time in a person’s life but there is a detail that many us know about yet have not understood its context and authority.  God has a fascinating way of giving us examples in a unique way so that we can figure things out before they occur to us but as it has been said numerous times before many of us do not reach that understanding early and have to repeat a few situations before we “get it”.  But God wants us to know that there is no second time around when it comes to being in Hell, for once we choose this place as our eternal home we can never change our minds again.

Matthew 25:40-41

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.  Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”

Job 1:6-12

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.  And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou?  Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.  And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?  Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?  Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all he hath on every side?  thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.  And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put forth not thine hand.  So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.”

Job 2:1-6

“Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.  And the Lord said unto Satan, from whence comest thou?  And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.  And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.  And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath he will give for his life.  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.  And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold he is in thine hand; but save his life.”

Scripture makes it very clear that we should not take Hell lightly by any means or manner.  Hell was created for a specific reason and for the one being and his followers that blatantly chose to disobey God and to not follow His Ways.  The definitions of the sins of Satan are infinitely growing just as the sins of his followers do every day as well.  Matthew 25:41 tells us the specific reason for which God created Hell and according to this verse everyone who accepts Satan and his kingdom as truth shall receive their eternal reward, eternity with Satan with no presence of God at all.  It pains me to hear people say that God does not exist or that they want nothing to do with God because of whatever reason.  These people have no idea what they are confessing and refuse to acknowledge that there are any afterlife setting and placement waiting for them.  In this verse it mentions that Satan will be there, his followers will be there and that is all.  Furthermore, this passage says that those who choose to follow Satan will be told to depart from God which directly says that where they will be going God shall not be present.  It also means that since God is not present in Hell, He will have no jurisdiction in Hell and Satan shall be able to torment and torture you however he pleases.  It is this detail that many of us forget to include when we think about or talk about Hell for where God is not present Satan not only has the home-field advantage he has unlimited control and power as well.

Verse 40 of this passage sets the standard of how God views our hearts and what our hearts in return should reflect back toward God.  The heart is the only vital organ that God relates to for it is the centerpiece that drives our lives.  If it is connected with God it shall desire only to follow His Ways and to seek what is good to be shared with others according to God’s Ways and not mankind or the ways of the world.  See every deed that humans do comes from the heart and if it is just superficial then the overall actions of the heart shall be rewarded by the world but when the heart acts in the Ways of God not only will others be treated righteously but they shall be taught the Word of God as well which is the Truth that God mentions here in this verse; the cornerstone of His definition and the projection of Him to the dying world.  God also states that if we do not fit up to this Standard of His, our punishment shall be forever in the same place as Satan.  This can only mean one thing, our selfish actions were on equal terms and level with Lucifer when he fell from Heaven.

This is where God takes a turn and throws us a curve when it comes to the Scripture passages He uses to show us what He means.  Most of us know the story of Job and how God allowed Satan not only once but twice the opportunity to strike Job with afflictions.  It is this detail here that we need to understand and the difference of what occurred to Job and what Hell is like to those who choose Satan over God.  In the first passage for this article, we have God and Satan interacting between each other concerning what Satan was doing and then about a specific person who loved God and stood upright in all of his ways, and after God initiates the subject of Job to Satan He then directs exactly what Satan can do to Job to so-called test Job to see whether or not God is correct or if Satan is correct.  Now, what God allows Satan to do is pretty much everything physical yet not personal in that nothing on his person can be touched.  If we read the passage of Scripture immediately after this, we will find that what Satan does to Job’s land, possessions, and servants both is horrific and grotesque in nature for only one servant was allowed to escape to tell what had occurred.  Also, Satan was allowed to touch and to destroy all of Job’s family and servants of the other houses that were under his family’s protection.

In the second passage of Scripture for this article we find that Satan is still not satisfied with the defeat that he already has obtained for Job has not cursed God through the devastation that was dealt upon him.  Here we find that Satan now wants to get personal about things when it comes to Job and to be allowed to strike his flesh and to personally inflict specific harm upon Job’s body, this is the ultimate example of been given an inch and taking a mile.  Once again, God allows Satan to have permission to torment Job but this time his attack can be specified on Job and his body, with the exception that Satan cannot take his life.  Basically, Satan could anything his wished to Job and he did so as described in this passage.  Such pain and agony this man must have felt and to have to endure not only the physical pain but also the result of his own wife telling him to curse God and die.  But once again we have the detail here that God wants us to understand about His presence and Him not being around our lives too.

We cannot deny that what Job went through was horrific in every thought imaginable, but the detail noticed here is that in all aspects of Job’s trials God was present and instructing what and what not could happen.  God was in control of the situation both in the good times of Job and in the bad times of Job.  Some people did not see this Truth that lived around Job, including his own wife but God was still present.  It must be remembered that Satan cannot do a single thing unless God authorizes it and for God to authorize a process, good or bad, He must be present.  God being present and in eternal authority is the detail here that needs to be understood concerning Hell.  Our personal world may be shaken apart a time or two but as of these moments, God is still present and is still merciful in all areas of life.  God created the earth for life and for the growth of life, Satan had access to the earth back in the Garden of Eden and he has access to the earth today.  God did not create Hell for His children He did so for the devil and his angels.  This means He created Hell before humanity was present and means that since God’s Laws are eternal our complete disobedience and denying God places us in the same category as the devil and his angels.

In no way, shape, or form does the passage in Matthew mention that God was present in Hell.  Yes, Jesus went there to defeat Hell but only He has the authority to leave through the strength of His Father.  Once this place was created, it cannot be changed and the conditions of why people are in there cannot be changed either.  Therefore, since God cannot be around sin of any form, God is not present in Hell.  This means that Satan has no boundaries when it comes to those in Hell and he can do whatever he wishes to them for as long and as hard as he wants.  True hatred comes from Satan and as of this moment he is limited to what he can and cannot do, but in Hell he has free reign and he will definitely dole out his torment to those in his domain just because of this eternal hatred to God and His definition.  Hell is not a fairy tale and it is not a fictitious place, it is real and it is eternal and it is very much alive.  There is no God in Hell listen to what God is saying here there is no God in Hell.  He has no dominion here and Satan, while tormented himself shall take you to this place gladly to grant your wish of denying God.  This is the detail that is missed or not really thought about concerning Hell.  Satan had every authority to grieve Job but to the extent of what God said he could do and not do, in Hell that shall not be the case.

Look at the extent Job went through because of what Satan was allowed to do, just think about what he can and shall do to you when God has no say over his treatment of you.  Hell was not originally created for you, not one child of God was to be even considered for the occupancy of Hell, but through our disobedience in the Garden of Eden that occupancy became an option.  It is eternally vital that we never forget that choosing God is a choice in itself an eternal choice with eternal consequences.  The dangers of Hell have been witnessed here in these three Scripture passages, but only a glance of them.  They should stir your spirit enough not to scare you but to want to have a relationship with God and an eternal place of magnificence that our finite minds cannot comprehend.  God sent His Son to die for our sins so that we may have everlasting life, not everlasting torment and torture.  I recently heard a sermon preached by a person who spent some time in Hell through a dream and as he was describing it this thought about God not being in Hell was given to me along with the passages of Scripture to use.  There is a reason folks, time is running out and we need to change our ways before our time is up and God has to say “enough” due to our willingness to sin.

Church, so where are we with this article and the subject?  Do we talk about the truths about God and about Hell or do we shy away from the entire truth about God and His Word?  Hell is directly and indirectly mentioned from cover to cover in the Bible, for every issue that humanity faces that does not support God and His Ways is an example of Hell in its limited form.  God is real and Hell is real and the way that people reach Hell is real as well, more real than we want to admit, but this must change or many of us shall find out just how wrong we were about all things God.  It is time we take back those lives that we have lost before it is too late for them.  The only way we can do this is by going out into the world and preaching the Truth about God and what His Son did for us on the cross.  It shall be tough because Satan does not like to be pushed backward but it must be done or we shall see so many of our friends and loved ones missing out on eternity.  And most importantly, we shall be held accountable for why we did not reach those who were lost.  For those who do not wish to obey God, do not believe in God, or just find God to be false, I plead with you to reconsider God and His presence in your life for there will be a day coming that you shall not have that opportunity again to choose Him and for those who consider themselves to be assembled as the Church, it is your responsibility to witness to those who do not believe and fervently witness to them at all times.  The single most danger of Hell is that shall be no God present with you and that thought alone should speak volumes of just how bad the place called Hell is.

DLB

Painfully Natural

Painfully Natural

11/23/19

I will never personally understand the sensation and the physical pain that a woman goes through when she delivers a baby.  Through the profession that I have loved for decades now, I have been witness to many scenarios in the birth room including the birth of my children.  The process of giving birth is not easy by any means and it would seem “normal” to do whatever possible to limit the agony and stress but for the most part, this “easiness” is only a partial plan, so why would a woman choose to go through a process either alone or with someone who does not share in the total joy of birth?  From all indications in the Bible, the conception and birth processes were not as they are today and this process is just as much a responsibility of the father of the child as it is for the delivering process of the mother.  God accepts life as His own since He is the definition of life, so when we decide to have children it should be a time when love rules the heart and not the world for the processions afterward will be challenging and all the help necessary will be needed.

Genesis 3:16

“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

Some of you may know that my wife and I have four daughters and while three of them were born from my wife one of them was born inside my first marriage.  All of us know that while Ariana is not from Bonnie, Bonnie loves her with all of her heart and treats her just as if she did give birth to her.  There is no separation when it comes to giving life for the process all around is the same and should be treated as such.  With each birth setting, Bonnie will tell you that all three girls’ birthing process was totally different and while they were different there were some common themes that presented with each process.  The pain was the one that stands out the most when asked and my wife makes no bones about it either.  The only issue I have with the birth of three of my daughters is that I was not able to be present for one of them.  Tatem my oldest was conceived before I entered into the picture so I missed that part of her life.  It does not matter for I accepted her as my own and continue to love her as such today.  But here lies one of the major issues and problems of today, the absence of the father when the process of childbirth occurs, there are countless reasons why this occurs but once again a common theme exists, they are not there and it adds a great deal of pain that is not necessary.

When our third daughter was born, I remember that Bonnie’s process of delivering began a few weeks before Rachel was born.  Many times late in the evening she would begin contracting and believed that it was getting time for the delivery, and every time would stop the contractions and end up going back to the house and going back to sleep.  While this process was a bit frustrating I had the privilege of being with Bonnie each time these false contractions occurred.  Not too much later Rachel was born early in the morning and all went well during and after the birthing process.  The only hitch in the process was that the lady next to Bonnie in our room was going through a very rough ordeal in that she was about to deliver a stillborn.  We were asked to hold down our celebrations in consideration for this young lady right next to us.  I cannot imagine how this lady must have felt hearing Rachel cry at times and the laughter and joy that we experienced when we held her.  To this day, I think about this lady and how she must have felt when she finally delivered her dead baby, nothing but pain and sorrow I imagine.  Another example of how the birthing process takes hold of one’s heart and delivers its own pain and agony to the human being.  One of the sounds that a human never forgets is the wail of a mother when she loses her child, I have heard this deep cry many times over my career in the medical field and it is one of more pain than one can imagine.  It is this inner pain that is an addition to what God states here in the verse that we shall be using for this article.

Our last daughter was born in the operating room and her presence has been exemplified through this birthing process.  Bonnie knew that Rebekkah would be different from all her sisters just by the way she acted inside the womb and how Bonnie carried her during this period of time.  Sure enough, Bekkah has been a joy to watch grow into the person God defined her to be before she was born.  As you can imagine, since Bekkah was born in the operating room there were some complications present that warranted this precaution but as time passed the tense time faded and she was born naturally and all has been well ever since, minus a few experiences in the emergency room along the way.  In all of the delivery processes Bonnie remembers the pain of the deliveries but at the same time cannot fully remember what it did to her during the delivery process.  This is a common remark from mothers, remembrance but no regrets what-so-ever.  The process of birth is a timing issue and when Rebekkah was ready to enter the world her life was now ready to emerge.  She had to pass through the curse of sin in order to take a breath, this is painful to everyone involved.  The pain is present but treatable but it must occur in order for life to go on.

In every birth setting with our daughters, there were some types of complicating factors that came into play.  The Scripture verse that is used for this article clearly claims this fact and that through the process of conception, the pregnancy time period, and in the birth itself.  This is a given for every birth that is performed around the world.  While some birth processes are easier than others some type of pain is involved during this process, as the ladies have found out there is nothing easy when it comes to this entire process.  When we look and study this verse we can see that there was a huge change in this process, whatever that process was when sin became the leader in our lives.  I find it so disturbing that we seek temporary or superficial responses to such improprieties that we have no control over, so why do we make choices that increase such pain instead of doing what we can to limit such aggressions?

What is God talking about here?  It is all about how we deal with issues that we have inherited and which direction we take things and God wants us to think about His plan first and take route instead of what the world offers; remember it is the belief in the world’s system that brought into our lives, Genesis 3:16.  There is an interesting portion of this Scripture here when it states that God will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, because it suggests that the process of reproduction was different than what we know it today.  It seems like the process was easier and without any pain or sorrow which makes sense because when God created man and woman they were perfect in all ways so there would be no pain present in the beginning.  This is also a statement from God and one that since mentioned cannot change.  Yes, mankind has formed drugs to help the birthing process along and to limit such pain but the effects and results of such a process still to this day hurts the female when she delivers.  In other words, the birth process is no longer perfect but flawed and subject to the sinful life that we chose to incorporate into our lives.

Two words here that God wants us to understand here in this article and those would be the words “greatly” and “sorrow”.  The verse translated from Hebrew goes like this: “To the woman He said: I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain will you bring forth children.  Your desire [will be] for your husband, and he {will} rule over you.”  Now many modern day women have problems with this statement and to be honest the man has taken his role in this verse way too far by claiming physical authority over the woman on a single level.  This is not what God was mentioning here in the past portion of the verse and we have discussed such Truth from God before and it is the reason why we are not dealing with this portion of the Scripture today.  However, this last portion of this verse is very important when it comes to future health and overall well-being of the woman; the world shall NEVER teach this and will only mock it saying that this belief is antiquated, out-of-date, or just wrong on all levels of personal freedom.

The word greatly that is used here comes from the Hebrew word “harbah”.  As we see in the previous paragraph, the literal usage of this word means “sharply” and gives us a confirmation of the intensity of how this process in the woman would be from that point onward versus how they were before.  The definition of the word “harbah” is as follows: be or become great, be or become many, to make large, to multiply, increase, to increase greatly or exceedingly.  In any one of these descriptions that one wants to use for the definition of “harbah” it means that another level of completing the action of this word has become higher or greater than it was before and this word is used in the infinitive absolute which gives it a heightened intensity manner when it is used with a verb.  Clearly stating that there is now a huge difference in the way things were going to transpire from that time forward.  Also, with this usage of the grammatical definition of this word its meaning will be a certainty as well, not an if or maybe in presence.

The second word that is focused on here is the word “sorrow” and is correctly defined as pain and comes from the Hebrew word “issebownek” which is translated: pain, labour, hardship, sorrow, and toil.  This literally means a process that takes effort and one that is not easily rendered.  Like many of us, men know the process of giving birth looks very painful to us and we can only imagine what it must feel like when the true labor and birth process begins.  Being in the job I am in I have had plenty of opportunity to see and to hear women give birth and I can tell you that it is not a very pleasant setting, and it does not matter if modern-day drugs are on board or not, the entire process hurts and it takes a toll on both the woman giving birth and the baby that is born.  The overall process is tough and difficult so why would we wish to bring on added issues to the entire process and place grave shadows over our lives by obstructing such a process to its completion?

God is referring to the cessation of pregnancy, loss of the father of the child due to lack of commitment or acknowledgment, or any other physical and emotional stress process placed upon the mother and child.  There is no question that the processes of pregnancy and childbirth are hard enough when both father and mother go through them together but why add ripped relationships on top of such conditions?  The idea of sex is a thrown around term with advertisement after advertisement promoting free sex without any complications or consequences.  What many fail to admit or to recognize is that when the union of the two people is broken so goes the unity of the relationship; it does not matter if the couple is actually in a true relationship or not, when this act is enacted a relationship is born.  Producing a child is the epitome of life and God can only be represented by life.  Satan cannot be represented by life for there is no good in death.  So when a sexual relationship ends with a child being conceived, it is only fair that he/she gets the opportunity to live according to the result of such a union.  See, giving birth is a holy correction and one that our enemy cannot stand thus the reason why abortion and suffering sex is so rampant and popular to the world.  To put it plainly, when you take a baby from the womb you are adding an unnecessary stressor to the woman’s body, instead of allowing her to complete the term; in spiritual terms, when an abortion is committed it equals a death and death equals Satan which automatically promotes and progresses his kingdom of death not only in the woman’s life but for the life of the baby itself.

I understand that in a day and age where more seems to be better, that one would try to obtain every item they could in order to fit into the crowd they wished.  But it does not make any sense why we must add to something that is already been fixed and that we know is painful.  In no way at all, is God suggesting that we do not have children He cannot say this because it would go completely against His definition but He does want us to know that everything the world tells us is a lie and will add nothing but burdens to our existence.  There is a specific reason why Jesus said that His yoke is easy for He alone takes away the burdens of the world.  The good news is that God can help us with the decisions we make if we only keep Him first in our lives and seek His wisdom in every aspect of our lives we encounter.  Additions to our inherited burdens are not privileges but unincorporated weights that the world piles upon us, most of which are voluntarily requested.  God is showing us and telling us that this type of living does not have to be and that He loves us and He wants us to live under His Covenant and not the worlds.

This is the question that God wants to ask us: why do we wish more or added pain upon ourselves over a process that is already spiritually and physically cursed?  God is not talking about the result of the pregnancy but the attitudes and aspects to which we add to this process.  Not only does abortion immediately pop into our thoughts, but alcohol poisoning and heavy drug usage also play into this painful delivery process.  Domestic violence against the mother routinely crosses this small community’s emergency department and it is almost unfathomable to think about what goes on in a large city ED.  God knows that every aspect of this process hurts and is uncomfortable on good days, but it breaks His heart to know that we purposefully and voluntarily add to such an already painfully natural process.  It does not have to be like this, ladies please choose wisely who you wish to have sex with for it follows a pattern by which this initiative begins.  Choose a good man who will protect you, your body, and the baby not one who will be willing to kill such a prize just because it is an inconvenience or controlled method of lies.

Almost every day we hear something to the effect of “it is my body, my choice” and that is a true statement, but what do you gain when you rip out a life from the body?  No one ever states how hard it is after the procedure is complete, either on the body or inside your heart.  Then along comes the Church, and does nothing but condemn the woman for such an act, or it promotes her decision and allows her redemption without any support or teaching.  Both instances are wrong, for the Church should understand and promote life at all costs and when a woman comes to the Church the leaders should be supportive of the woman and not the procedure.  The Church has been another source of pain that women have endured over the years and it should not be this way.  The process of birth and of pregnancy is tough enough and while many of us limit this Scripture passage to just the physical pain category of the woman, it cannot be ignored that all areas of this subject are tied together since all aspects are present.  The current beliefs and teachings of the modern-day Church are bad enough when it comes to such dealings, why compound these pains with not doing our best to correct the situation and also doing our best to teach these wonderful yet devastated women the correct path of life through God?  And as one says the “it is my body, my choice” statement, kindly remind them that adding a consequence to an already inherited consequence does not come from God but from the world.  God wants no suffering from His children, and this Truth should be the focus of our mission.

DLB

The Dutiful Christian

The Dutiful Christian

11/14/19

Do you live a type of dutiful Christian life or do you express one that shows off abundant life?  Looking at the title may bring some confusion to some because they believe that it deems them well if they only receive and not give.  In truth, this is a grotesque practice that many place their Christian lives upon and one that goes against the entire meaning of the Bible.  God does not settle and has never settled for a redundant and stagnated existence so why should He expect one from you?  God has always gone the extra mile to ensure that we have everything we need in order to project to a dying world the Truth about Him and His Son.  Abundant means to grow and the only way that we can do this is if we are alive in Christ and completing the command He gave us to do.  Our status as a Church and Christian does not match up with what Jesus taught nor does it match up with the Standard He set before us.  The world is dying and we should not take any part in the euthanasia program, our mission is to bring life into the world through the eternal Light and shed blood of Christ.

Luke 22:1-6

“Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.  And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.  Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.  And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.  And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.  And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.”

Matthew 20:17-19

“And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be brayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they condemn him to death.  And shall deliver him to the gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.”

I must admit that I have not always been so diligent in my work ethics.  There was a time in my life that I was told to get a job instead of me desiring to have a job and through this attitude of mine I did not last very long on that job.  Yes, I was in the medical field at the time and at this time I worked at a fairly respectable medical facility, yet I was not pleased with my work because my mind was preoccupied with other selfish matters and it proved costly for my start in this workforce.  Don’t get me wrong, I never placed in of the patients on the medical floor in danger, but my actions did influence a few later decisions down the road that may have had different consequences.  I was young at the time but even then, my age had nothing to do with what my heart was saying to me at the time; if I only could go back and change my attitude back then maybe things could have been a tad different years down the road.  I was a dutiful worker but that is where it stopped.  Being dutiful describes a person who may get the job done but makes up their own rules as they complete the job, a structurally dangerous position to put oneself into yet countless of us do it every day including Christians when it comes to spreading the Word of God.

I performed all of my duties well during that time but while I was writing down the details of my work I knew my heart was not into the job as it should have been.  It became a burden to me when I showed up to work for it seemed like I was only drawing a paycheck and not fully caring for those who I was attending to.  My actions were increasingly noticed by my superiors and instead of adjusting my attitude to help not only the patients but also myself I chose to begin not showing up to work.  This stupidity of mine eventually led to my dismissal, not being fired but conveniently laid off due to a few budget cuts where it was necessary to let some folks go.  I fit into the riff-raff section and it was easy for them to make such a decision.  I really did not care at that time but as I look back on those few months there at that facility I understand that my actions were completely unprofessional and I was rightly let go for a job dutifully completed yet with no true heart involved.  It is this attitude and appearance of many Christians that God wants to show us and to give us a warning to, because God does not need dutiful Christians, He needs Christians who are steadfast for the Gospel desires to live out and to teach the entire Word of God and to teach others by being a living example of how to be different and separate from the world.

The difficult portion of this article’s topic to deal with is that almost everyone who has been associated with the Church for a long period of time knows someone who falls into this dreadful category.  How many people do we know that have sat and listened to ministers, other people of faith, other fellowship leaders, or just some members of their family stand up and say that they no longer believe in God or in the Word of God?  This action from these precious people does not come into their hearts overnight but has grown over weeks, months or even years deep within their lives.  Their decisions also mean that they have given a fair amount of thought to what they now believe which is not God but the world.  I know this process must be hard and for a good portion of the time painful, for as I have stated before I have found myself at this point in decision making as well.  On the other hand, the decision to leave Christianity may come with suggestions from friends or other casual acquaintances that have left the Church or have not even been in church a day in their lives.  The influences can appear from any direction and usually have a great effect on a person’s life.  In all of these instances, I have never heard a person who has left the Church and Christianity state that they did so because God said it was okay.

How long does a person have to contemplate leaving God and why should it even be a consideration from a person understanding the Truth about their life and everything around their surroundings?  Hasn’t anyone thought of this question before and if so why have they been silent about it?  Or, has anyone ever thought about just how deep such a process such as this goes and to what extent a person will go in order to achieve the falling away?  These and many other questions should set off alarm bells and loud whistles in our hearts for if a person who truly believes in Christ and everything that He did for us while on earth, while in the ground and after He rose again should quickly squelch those buzzers.  Yet, this type of dutiful heart falls for such lies and deception from those who have no clue who Jesus is and what He did for us.

Many of us know the more common stories in the Bible for we learned about them when we were in Sunday School or sitting in the youth halls within the church building or even in the pews listening to the preacher talk for a long time on Sundays and Wednesdays.  Whatever the case might have been most of us know the more popular stories thus qualifying us to be a target of Satan’s dutiful belief strategy of deception.  Within the Word of God, we have many examples of people falling into this complementary positioning in church confines but when studied thoroughly one will find that a great deal of those who attend these church sessions treat them as “religious services” only and therefore bring no life outside of these congregational gatherings.  So, why would anyone not believe that we could fall for a trap such as being a dutiful Christian when we take a look at these attendance sessions and compare them to the number of unsaved people these wonderful attendees bring into church?  We have a beautiful example here in the New Testament that we should be aware of and I do not know if many folks have thought about Judas in this manner before.

The Scripture passage that is written at the beginning of the article makes a huge statement about Judas and the ongoing process that went through his heart for a period of time, and what that process meant to Judas and for the disciples.  We have to remember that Passover was still a short time away and it was at this time that Judas met with the chief priests to set up an idea of how to lure Jesus into their trap.  Judas was still a part of the twelve disciples and attended every session with Jesus, he did not go away and be distant from them but he tried his best to make it known that nothing had changed within his heart.  In today’s time frame, it would be the equivalent of us attending church and just sitting there not really paying attention to what is being taught all-the-while looking at our phones and wondering this part of our day would get over.  What Judas had agreed to do had already been decided he just had to figure out the right time to execute the plan, this is why it is important that we protect what our ears and minds hear and think because once a thought is planted it will grow in its intended direction unabated.

To prove such a point of the mind and heart, in the 2^nd Scripture passage of the list above we find that Jesus foretells of His betrayal, death, and resurrection and once again it goes right over the heads of the disciples.  This was not the first time we read that Jesus foretold of His future but each time it seems the disciples grew more tone-deaf to His words.  Now, at this point in some people’s minds, one would think that a thought or remembrance of previously mentioned settings by Jesus would have been triggered and one would ask the pertinent and logical question.  But we do not find this question being asked here for we immediately read in the next verse about “parishioners” coming to Him and asking Him for a future favor.  It is this passage that brings many of our thoughts and processes together when it comes to understanding and then applying the words of Jesus and of His Father into our lives.  This passage also represents the prime example of how many of us act today sitting in church, pews making our appearance yet not having the willingness to hear and to know what God says to us that day.

Here is a tough question that we must ask ourselves: what is the difference between us not remembering the Word of God and applying it to our lives versus the act of betrayal by Judas?  The answer is simple, there is no difference for both acts in the question – in the Scripture verses – display a betrayal by humans.  If we have the audacity to sit in pews on a continual basis and do nothing to advance the Kingdom of God to those in need of His eternal Salvation it is a betrayal against what Jesus told us to do.  We are effectively planning Jesus’ own demise for if we are not representing Him in all ways and areas of our lives it means we seek to hide Him from what His life was meant to do; Judas did the exact same thing.  How so?  Judas never fully understood what Jesus’ ministry and life represented thus he enjoyed the ride so to speak but when it came time for the Truth to be told he followed the world instead.  We act the exact same way when we sit and not seek God for everything He has for our lives, this process is not an on / off switch that is regulated by our control but an inner light that shines in the darkness to expose which is bad and those who are lost.  Shining a light into the darkness is not going to settle well with those who control the world, dutiful Christians do not understand this and will hide their light instead of holding it out and up for everyone to see.

This Truth comes from the Kingdom principle that declares no two kingdoms can be served at once by people.  Either that light is shining brightly or it is out and not doing its job.  Your appearance in the dark is much shaded and dimmed to the eye, but when a light is present more details are noticed.  It is easy to think about the actions of the Pharisees and scribes and how Jesus embarrassed them enough that they wanted him dead, but when it comes to Judas we stop short of understanding his willingness to betray Jesus and how he had plenty of opportunities to change his mind and to repent.  But his “unity” with the group was at a standstill and it was time to break away for he had made the decision to leave.  This scene unfolds through the meeting with the chief priests, which means Judas understood their animosity for Jesus and also knew how they truly felt about Jesus’ presence on earth.  This brings into motion today’s concern when it comes to those who have the same type of feelings toward God and the mission that His Son gave us to complete.

See, there is no real difference from the betrayal that Judas did on the Passover evening and the days beforehand then what we do when we forget the Truth about what God has provided for us then walking away from Jesus at some point in our lives.  The condition of the world has not changed since humans decided to make their own choices through rebellion, it has only become worse and almost impossible to inhabit but yet somehow many of us decide to try.  Church, this does not want God called us to do, He also did not call us to scream and yell at those who do not know Him either but show them His Life and Love through the separation from the world and its standards.  Both conditions state that while being a part of the crowd the belief in God and His Son faded away due to the compromising settings of the hearts.  Also, we play the outward appearance of being a Christian, most of us do it quite well (perfect onion) but inside we have the blacked heart of rotting layer upon layer and moving its way to the surface.  Get back into the Word of God folks, there are numerous examples of what happens to humans and nations when choices are made for the world and against God.  God loves us and has given us the perfect instruction book to follow, it is not a dumb book and it definitely is not an outdated book but one that shows life and provides the answers to life.

I understand that this topic may be a little tough but it comes straight from the heart of God and it should serve as a warning to how He sees the condition of our own hearts.  In no way does God wish to change the status of this nation but unless we, the Church, stand up and once again proclaim God as our Savior and eternal King, this nation AND the Church she harbors shall review their existence in a way that cannot be deemed as acceptable to others any longer.  God is giving us a bit more time before our lives change, but once a certain point is reached there shall be no turning back.  There is no way possible to know when this type of situational change may occur but in a moment our lives will understand.  This past weekend four families’ lives changed because of a choice made by younger members of the community, good kids but a choice that shall haunt the community for many years to come.  God wants our hearts, completely not just a portion of it.  It is our responsibility Church to show and to lead the way to those within our lives that continue to live as dutiful Christians.  Are you included in this group?  Being dutiful will not separate you from the world, it takes dedication and spiritual growth in order for you to climb out of the world.  Church, it is our obligation to strive toward being like Christ and as the world’s power grows we need to grow in strength as well and there is no way possible for us to complete this mission if we are sitting around and being dutiful.

DLB

Sinful Exercise

Sinful Exercise

11/7/19

How is it that this practice comes to our hearts almost every day?  It is a promise from God that He will take away our burdens when we lay them down at the cross, and where we fail this Truth is when we pick them back up and repeat such activity over and over until our physical bodies are tired and our spirits are basically nonexistent.  It is this action of exercise that God deems sinful yet we blatantly ignore the concept of what the cross is for and hold onto the anxieties that we bring to the cross in the first place.  There is no survival in this process and until we throw those burdens away and leave them there our lives shall always function in a defeated condition.  God did not send His Son to die on the cross for us to perform sinful exercises in front of it, He sent His Son to heal our diseases, provide eternal salvation and a holy life with absolute peace intact.  If we do not follow the instruction of the Word of God it means we do not believe in its Truth.  God wants us to change this process and turn our hearts to Him and to obey His promises.

In a day and age where almost every commercial break demonstrates how important it is for us to be physically healthy, society leaves out the more important truth of how our inner lives should be ever healthier.  It seems like there is no end to such physical grooming and shaping and why would it not end for this industry racks up trillions of dollars each year in revenue.  Some people are now looked down upon or at least frowned upon if they do not participate in some sort of exercise program that can be nationally attended.  This concept is not a bad one folks, but when all of the attention is drawn to the physical there is never time remaining for the spiritual which is exactly what the world wishes we would thrive within.  There is a huge eternal Truth here that many cease to practice or do not practice at all and end up sinfully exercising due to the simple fact that we do not adequately and properly take care of our spiritual lives.

Psalms 55:22

“Cast your burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

1 Peter 5:7

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

This time last year, I was engaged in a rehab program that was designated to strengthen my heart for I had just come off of triple bypass surgery.  There were no complications to the surgery and my recovery time went according to plan, in fact, I returned to word two weeks before my previously arranged return date, all went well.  However, for a while, I was going through some exercise regimes in my therapy class and as God jogs my memory I remember one certain exercise that gives us a good picture of what occurs when we perform these sinful exercises before the cross.  I would stand up straight before the mirrored wall with a lightweight dumbbell in each of my hands.  I would then bend forward as far as I could go down and allow my arms to just hang for a few moments.  After a few moments, I would slowly raise back up to the standing position with the dumbbell and repeat this exercise for approximately 10 minutes before moving on to the next station.  After a few days of completing this exercise, my therapist would increase the weight of those dumbbells and the task would become a bit harder.  Yes, they were light but when you approach a therapy session for a specific condition it means that your body is not in the best shape or condition that it was previously.  I did not like exercise programs when I was young and really do not like them now but I understand their purpose and I accept them for what they are and how they train our bodies to regroup and to function again after some sort of lengthy letting it go ceremony.

I know that this example of mine is not the perfect example that many of us complete while coming to the cross but it is one that gives us a good picture of what we should not be doing when we stand before the cross.  Do we understand that there is a specific detail that we must follow while we are standing in front of the cross?  This detail is not one of a religious ceremonial procedure by any means but one that gives eternal purpose to what the cross stands for in our lives.  This detail is given in so many Scripture verses throughout the Bible yet the message that these verses teach us are not obeyed like they should.  When we do not obey them they do become a religious ceremony and one that means absolutely nothing to God, Jesus, or the meaning to the cross.  It actually defiles the cross and everything that it stands for, an idol that we look at and continue on our journey without changing one bit.

In our first passage, we see the truth of what we are supposed to do when we approach God because it specifically says that we are to cast our burden upon the Lord.  We are supposed to cast our burdens on the Lord.  The word “cast” here comes from the Hebrew word “haslek” which means to throw, cast, hurl, fling, throw away, to throw something away.  This means that whatever we have with us that is not good for us we can throw them to the Lord and He will not let us see those things again.  Furthermore, the word “burden” used here comes from the Hebrew word “yehabeka” which means burden or lot and refers to that which is given to someone. And the third word used here, or it is a phrase in this case, “upon the Lord” which many of us know that the Hebrew word origin here is al Jehovah” and the phrase means upon, the ground of, according to.  Lastly, the phrase “will sustain you” comes from the Hebrew word “yekalkeleka” and means to sustain, to support, maintain, measure, or calculate.  When you put all of these words and phrases together you have a statement that gives us a place of refuge and safety because when you bring in something and leave without it, it is a wonderful feeling and one that makes us free indeed.

The second passage we have here comes from 1 Peter 5:7 and reaffirms what the first passage tells us.  Peter tells us that it is our responsibility to cast our cares upon Him (Jesus) for it is not God’s Will that we carry the burdens and anxieties of the world around with us.  Sinful exercises appear when we come to God and confess our sins before Him which is the eternal and spiritual practice of dropping our baggage at His feet.  Our problem is this: we do go to the cross and ask for forgiveness, we let loose our burdens while we are on our knees before Jesus.  We look into His eyes and are refreshed because we have done what we need to do in order to be saved and restored.  However, when we stand back up and begin to turn away we simultaneously bend over and pick up our bags once again and take them with us.  This is where the concept of sinful exercise comes into play because we leave in the same spiritual condition as we arrived, nothing has changed.

The word that this second passage that is important for this article is the word “care”.  “Care” is the word that the King James Version uses but is translated from the Greek word “merimnan” which means care, worry, or anxiety.  When one stops and thinks about this word and its meaning for a moment, it becomes clear that these definitive words mean exactly the same as what is used in the first passage of Scripture when the Psalmist uses the word “burden”.  As in the first passage, we find that we are commanded to do a specific action which is to cast our cares (anxieties) upon him.  The ONLY “him” that this verse can be referring to is Jesus because if the author was referring about any other person then this entire letter would be considered fraudulent and a fake, not representative of the Truth about God, His Son, and Holy Spirit.  Then, every other epistle written by this author would also be in question concerning its authority.  Also, we find the exact same pattern here that we did in the Psalms passage, we leave our problems with Christ and do not bring them with us when we leave.  If we do take them with us we are in disobedience and therefore accepting sin back into our lives as a willful practice.

These two verses of Scripture are beautiful representations of why Jesus came to this earth, lived amongst us, died for our sins, and rose again.  As stated many times before, every passage in the Word of God points to the fact that we have an option of surrendering our lives to God and living peacefully and blameless.  When we practice this sinful exercise program we will eventually bring back to the cross bigger bags and burdens, it is a guarantee and as long as we continue to live in such a bound manner those bags will increase exponentially until we will not be able to single-handedly carry them all at once.  This is not what Jesus died for nor is it what God created us to live under.  In every Scripture that says for us to carry our burdens to the cross and to lay them or cast them at the feet of Jesus, NONE of them say for us to pick up those burdens when we are done.  NONE of them!  SO why do we continuously perform such exercise programs?

This action of ours is disobedience to God and we all know that when we disobey we are committing sin.  I understand that this type of disobedience is not placed into the “normal” category of sin but we need to recognize that even this description of disobedience represents sin.  Furthermore, if we routinely come to the cross with our baggage, squawk at God and then turn around with baggage in hand it is called rebellion and the setting and ground within our lives have sinfully grown.  Here is another thought one must consider when we pick back up the bags we have placed at Jesus’ feet and that is: when we perform this act we allow ourselves to open doors that the enemy will use against us sometime in our future.  See, when our bags become bigger and thus heavier it means we have picked up more things along our journey; more doors.  We have no more room to excuse our burdens or troubles because we have voluntarily picked them back up and went on our merry way in the same condition that we were when we arrived at the cross.  This completes one “rep” of this sinful exercise.  Now, being human I can ask this question: how many of you will not address a hurtful situation again when you think about it?  Okay, most of us play that game over and over in our heads until we cannot even sleep at night.  Guess what, you have just completed the second “rep” of this sinful exercise.  These “reps” shall continue until you go back to the cross and LEAVE the burdens and anxieties there.  The same setting shall repeat itself if you pick up those bags again; just leave them there.  Why?  Because Jesus cares for you, this is the 2^nd part of the second passage used here.

But when people do not understand what the cross is or what price was paid for on that cross gross innuendos and flat out lies can be administered to our lives.  Look at all of the insults both physical and spiritual that come across our eyes and ears every day, it is so sad to hear about some of the things that humans have to endure, all the while knowing that there is a perfect solution to every need, insult, problem, burden and anxiety that the ruler of the world throws at you.  This horrific condition has now come to the point where people do not even believe that the cross is a viable or true answer, so they stay away and do not even bother trying to seek the Truth.  Humanity screams at us that God is dead and that He does not hear what your heart says and that He does not care enough to be concerned with someone like you.  It is beautiful people like these who fall for such lies and continue to be dumped on by our enemy, the one that they follow.  This type of repetitious living will not give you strength, but shall only provide further and deeper pain until all you can feel is anger toward every aspect of your life and world.  Congratulations, with all of this weight that you are carrying around you, have also voluntarily presented yourself to your enemy with an enormous amount of doors to make your life even worse.  Do you see this pattern in anyone you know or care about?  What about in the daily news feeds?  We are in trouble Church, and we have fallen down on our command and the results of our dereliction of duty are unfolding right in front of our eyes.

Good news, Church!  God has called us to separate ourselves from this world and to teach those who do not know Him the Truth about their lives and their potential freedom in Him.  But in order for us to complete this command of His to us, we must STOP practicing the title of this article and allow God to work through our lives as we should be.  As long as we continue this exercise activity, our effectiveness in what we are commissioned to do shall be null and void and meaningless.  Talk about being an example of a goat and not a sheep.  When we drop all of our cares and worries at the feet of Jesus He guarantees us peace and freedom from this world, the one item that countless people seek every day but at the same time evade it because of their lack of understanding about this promise from God.  Church, we have got to start teaching the Truth about the Word of God again, we can no longer afford to sit by and believe we have punched our ticket to Heaven; this belief actually is a sin and a sinful exercise because you go to the cross every Sunday and sit there without changing one bit.  There is still time to begin the work that Jesus commanded us to do, but we have to stop this sinful exercise program and show the lost of what true freedom really is and who it comes from.

DLB

Correction Whilst On A Pedestal

Correction Whilst On A Pedestal

11/01/19

For us here in Western society it has become a challenge to see who can build their personal pedestal higher, a sign that our focus is on worldly goods instead of the eternal foundations.  But when we study the Bible we find that this type of belief was present in the Garden of Eden and really has not diminished at all ever since.  It is imperative that we understand that our ambitions should always be directed from God and not human sources for when our lives are turned toward the world the only result can be an entire crumbling around us.  We tend to put aside the truth about our foundation and its structure and from the looks of our societies today we really believe we are sound and secure on our own.  God wants the best for His children at all times not just when certain criteria are met and in order for this to occur we need to have His Ways first in our lives and live by those Ways continually.  Blessings and fulfillment can only be represented in such a holy state of living and it is our choice to live in such perfection or to take our chances with the deathtrap of the world.

Genesis 2:15

“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

Genesis 3:23-24

“Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

Genesis 11:1-9

“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said to one another, God to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language: and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

It is easy to spar with those who seem to have more possessions or status than the one complaining about the situation that they are currently living in, but how often do we complete such an adventure instead of trying our best to correct the situation?  For the most part, we tend to look toward others and their living conditions instead of directly focusing on our own, placing ourselves into a minority status without even knowing that we are created in such a manner to be as glorious as any other.  It is true that there have been many people richer than you or I will ever be, but what does that status of financial well-being mean to their inner sanctum or their spiritual harboring condition?  I have not really understood the experience of true starvation yet I know some people in my community who have, how do they look at me and my status, and is this specific condition the most important status of all?  It breaks my heart to see animals mistreated in such a way that they do not live to fulfill a child’s dreams, so, yes, anyone who hungers.  However, none of this means much at all if we do not have God first in our lives and live under the covering of His eternal Covenant because it is His pedestal of Creation that we should stand upon and not the one of the world.

If you have read the past few articles that God has given us, you will understand that His message to us has been to turn back to Him and to place yourself back under His eternal covering.  While this is not a new subject for God to talk about it does seem more relevant as each day passes for the tension among nations grows with each leadership session and with personal details coming forward about each opposing side.  Leaders state that they pray for the top leaders of their respective nations yet live selfish and worldly lives while “praying” for turnarounds to appear.  This type of behavior comes into light on a personal level as well which makes sense because it takes 1 to include 2 and it takes two to include four, etc, etc.  Our individual and national actions and appearances say a lot about what we actually believe and how we believe and giving rise to this conduct almost always reflects our foundation too.

When we look at some of the people around us it is easy to figure out that they have elevated themselves onto a higher belief just by the title they want to claim.  It is common for western societies to define themselves as leaders of the free world, capitalists, CEOs, CFOs, and numerous amounts of other titles with initials after their surnames, but what does all of this high class looking words mean to the human heart, I mean, do they represent an eternal standard that is better than say someone with just a bachelor's degree?  How deep do these initials run and how do they affect our ways and means when encountered by a force that is unexplainable?  It is this type of setting that God wants to share with us and for us to think about because God could care less if you have a Ph.D. or not all He wants is a heart that runs to Him and seeks His advice for an everyday life standard.  Do we understand that when our eyes and hearts are off of Jesus that we sink just as Peter did when he took his eyes off Jesus on the water?

The truth is we were Created to be standing on a pedestal, a holy and eternal one that is focused totally on God.  The first passage of Scripture for this article demonstrates this Truth.  God made our lives perfect, oblivious to pain, suffering, disobedience and the knowledge of sin yet it was our choice to throw all of that away and follow a lie in order to satisfy a lust buried in disobedience.  It is this original standard that God created us that Satan loves to show us that we belong up there and that when we are upon this pedestal we do not need anyone or anything to tell us what to do or how to act.  It is this position that Adam and Eve were told about and then selfishly began to realize it thus allowing doubt into their hearts about the Truth and the True reason why God placed them into the Garden of Eden, away from everything else that knew sickness and disease with no spirit present in their lives.  We can never forget that every move Satan makes against our lives is the exact opposite of what God meant our lives to be and if he can convince us enough to wander from God he then has us in his grasp and shall serve as the source of our troubled future.  We are quick to point fingers at Adam and Eve for all of our problems today, while we should be pointing at ourselves for following in their footsteps instead of keeping our eyes and hearts on Jesus.

There can be only one reason why Adam and Eve lost everything they had and that was that they made the choice to disobey what God had given them to dress and to keep according to His Ways.  We find this fallen stature in Genesis 3 as God has no opportunity but to force them out into the world that the ways they chose to believe.  No, God did not want this action to take place but we see that God had put into place a certain standard and told mankind not to fall from that standard for any reason.  God also told Adam at the same time what would occur if he disobeyed this eternal command.  Now, to some this punishment did not fit the crime and to those who believe such a lie, God wants you to understand just how important you are to Him and how vital it is for His children to obey His Ways.  God is the only being that is Holy in every way possible and even Holy in ways our lives, minds, and hearts cannot comprehend yet.  ALL others who wish to tell you that they are like God are liars and cannot compare to God on any level.  And if we believe that anyone else is comparable to God then we deserve nothing more than being tossed out of the Garden of Eden and till the ground from which we came.

When we take a look around and see others committing disobedience to God, how do we respond?  Do we notice these actions and turn away and allow them to occur uninhibited or do we try our best to convince those wonderful people that what they are doing will cost them dearly at some point in time?  Just as its holy counterpart, disobedience never stays idle presenting no growth, which is not how it is created, established and grown.  If that were the case then Adam and Eve would have died off and that would have been the end of sin as we know it until another deceptive round with Satan occurred between another human creation.  This type of setting never occurred for when God made humans He did so in such a manner that He guaranteed our survival until He said it would be over, not any other created being, if this type of ending would have been established then God would not and could not eternally and Truthfully call Himself, God.  Therefore, since God took the correct and appropriate steps in the beginning to create something holy and perfect, having watched that perfect creation blatantly disobey, He had all the authority to punish mankind in the manner that followed His definition.  In other words, God was True to His Word at all times and this act from Him should be the true thinking point our hearts should remember before we do something disobedient.

The last passage for this article proves that sinful behavior on a self-made pedestal occurs not just on a singular or individual level.  Extraordinarily, we skip over the collective destruction of the world Scripture passage and incredibly there is a pattern and a reason why this occurs.  See, in the beginning passage for this article we see that God has placed into motion the specific instructions for mankind, then in the second passage we see that mankind had broken this perfect union and state with God and was sent from the Garden of Eden as a consequence for their decision.  Not long after this releasing of humanity into the world, we find that sin had overgrown the entire world and God had no choice but to destroy the world due to the growth of sin, which He did but not until His prized Creations were miraculously saved by the provisional hand of God.  Humanity was once again allowed to start over and begin again, yet not in perfect conditions as was in the Garden of Eden but in continued struggles with the world.  It would seem logical that humanity would remember its sinful past and not repeat it again but just as all future histories of mankind we did not and went our merry ways without God being the center of our existence and as we notice within a few more chapters in Genesis we come to the next storied devastation of humanity.

The third reference shows us a triumphant picture of the brilliance of what occurs when humanity puts their issues together and work through major obstacles.  It is a picture of desired determination and when looked upon as a superficial achievement, not much could be finer; however, there is a huge distortion present within the massed populous, and one that demonstrates the content of the heart through their own lusts and self-centered ideologies about the rise to equality with God.  We see that in the first portion of this specific passage the people wanted to build themselves a monument to their existence one that will remind them who they are so that they would have no desire to leave the city and go elsewhere; to serve as their origin and definition.  Now, to worldly standards this would be the definition of a home or home place where one would be born or to grow up in, nothing wrong with this concept but as we continue reading the remaining part of the passage we find that there is no mention of God in their lives which tells us that mankind has once again fallen for the trap of Satan and believes that all is well without Him as their God.

I have heard some people during my lifetime say that what God did was of His own selfish nature and that He never gave mankind the chance to thrive together as one society.  While this is a valid point on the worldly level it does not provide any truth in the fact that mankind would survive this type of learned behavior simply because at some point their focus would be adjusted from togetherness to selfish rule.  Even though God changed the course of the earth through the flood, He did not change the course of mankind by altering any part of the gift of choice, it was still present and alive.  It is this aspect that we have the purpose of what God allowed to occur in the lives of man during this time.  Why would mankind have any desire to follow Truth when they would eventually, and according to this passage already began to unify themselves under one authority, and it was not God?  They had created and established themselves on a pedestal that did not include God as the builder and while this city and tower were to be magnificent in stature there was no focus on God or His Ways.  God saw the pattern of sinful and selfish desires popping up again which would have led to another annihilation of mankind through their mortal ways and God did not wish for that to occur again.  So, we see a correction occurring before God reaches the point of having to admit that mankind was a complete failure again, so He confounded the language of the people and sent them on their way in total confusion.  Can you imagine how difficult it had become to try and communicate with a family member who could not now understand your skills who moments before easily figured out what you wanted?

God in His brilliant and Holy manner once again demonstrated and reminded that mankind that there is no way possible that we can do things or accomplish things on our own.  No matter how equal we may try to become without God and His Principles it shall never occur and at some point, God will have to remind us again.  Each time we believe that we can do things on our own what usually happens?  Some type of problem or issue presents itself to us that tell us that our accomplishments are nothing more than dirt and that everything we do should glorify God through our hearts and because of His Wisdom residing within us.  This truth goes totally against the world and its ruler and when we allow the world to govern our actions destruction shall inevitably occur because those actions are built on sinking sand and not the perfect foundation.  Over the course of His Word, God shows us that He will step in when He deems it necessary to correct us. Oh, how I wish we could recognize our fallings before God has to wake us up and correct us on our own pedestal.  We can never forget that when God corrects us on our pedestals that He does so in such a manner that we shall not be able to stand on that pedestal again, a Truth we need to seriously study and change quickly.  I really do not want a similar repeat of Genesis 11, do you?  I know God does not wish to harm His people either, so why challenge Him on such an idea?  God is not wanting to show His hand against His people, but while we fail to see the spiritual devastation that we folly upon ourselves, He does see and warns us before we totally destroy ourselves.

Which pedestal are you representing today Church?  Is it the pedestal that you have created for yourself or is it the true pedestal that you have allowed God to build?  We have been blinded so deeply that we fail to even recognize this selfish building plan of ours is man-made and not of God.  Ironically, we have scattered ourselves so far away from God that we no longer can admit there is a difference in our foundation; we believe that we are doing things adequately and efficiently under the blessings of God.  Furthermore, why should we believe otherwise because God has blessed us with enormous prosperity with no signs of this status changing, so why should we change is the logical perspective that the world would ask.  If this question ever pops up in our minds it should be a signal that we need to rethink things through and see if our projects mimic the world or do they serve the eternal and Holy Creator.  It is obvious that the ways of the Church have voluntarily fallen short of God’s direction for the Church and that they have purposefully moved off the eternal Rock of Salvation and chosen the soft underbelly of the sands of the world instead.  So much so, that many condemn the actions of those who are still on that Rock and doing their best to fulfill the command of Christ.  We all know about the story of the fall, the single path back to God, and the consequences of earthly unity yet we continue to strive to reach God on our own foundations and terms.

Why do we continue to reject holiness and purity and build ourselves on a foundation that cannot stand when storms arrive?  God has given us plenty of warnings and examples of how our physical and infrastructure structures are inadequate and will certainly fall when tested, why do we still fall for this selfish instinct?  As of this moment, we have the opportunity to stop our scattered lives and return to God and live under His Covenant protection and stand on a solid foundation.  Church, God is strongly calling to us to return to Him for times are about to change for the worse and if we are not standing on His Foundation our lives shall be destroyed.  Are you tired of the doom and gloom?  Then let’s change our course of heart function, return to God and allow Him to heal our land.  Following God is the only thing that shall show us that the pedestal we are standing on is eternally inadequate and will prevent us from falling from our manmade pedestal by climbing down it and allowing Him to build a solid foundation for our survival.

DLB