Seemingly In Control

Seemingly In Control

12/26/21

Have you ever found yourself in a situation that has approached rapidly and presented itself with numerous challenges; with no time to waste, you had to make quick decisions hoping that you got them all correct?  Many of us have been in those types of situations and when you look back on those times and decisions, you wonder how you made it through or even survived.  How many of these times were warnings about what is going on or what has occurred in someone's life, or maybe even in your life.  How did you really respond?  Did you believe that you were in complete control of the situation or did you fall apart, and how did the situation turn out?  God has always been the only true source of protection and control measure that humans need; however, we tend to forget this truth and forge things on our own.  It is clear that if we do not have God as the source of our identity, we will believe that we are in control of our lives, but in the end, the setting shall change for the worse and destruction imminent.

I remember one time in my life, that I believed that what actions I was doing, what path I was on, and the decisions that I was coming to were all in good parts for my life.  It was a time in my life that I believed that I was in control of every aspect of my life and that I really did not need anyone else's advice on what was projected.  Even though I was not in good shape I had no hard signs of trouble in my future, had no real major issues with my health, and had a beautiful wife and family in my corner.  It seemed like all things had fit into their appropriate places and that nothing could stop the progress that I "was making".  Little did I know that this path was taking me down a dark path and even though I continued motions of everyday life, these patterns of repeated hurt were about to show up in a major way.  That was when I had a heart attack at 35 yrs of age, then a decade later found myself on the operating table undergoing a triple bypass.  What seemed like a controlled pattern of life was anything but that, and that was when I realized that what I believed to be true about my life and the life around me was not true at all.

You remember a few years back when ISIL had control of a vast landmass in the Middle East, and how they bragged about how powerful they were and that no other government had the authority to change their way of life or take over the land they had overrun?  They believed that no one or nothing could stop their progression against others and to prove this they took several hostages from other nations and then began parading them around for the world to see.  After a while, the videos became more personal because individuals would be seen in prison jumpers with their captors over them.  Vile messages would then be given and knives or swords shown.  Oddly, the prisoners would be on their knees just sitting there having no emotions or struggles at all, it was a puzzling picture but the truth would soon be shown.  The captors would then begin to sever the heads of the prisoners and for just a brief second and only at this moment would the expressions change on the faces of the prisoners.  It was too late, for their head would be off and then places on their body with the person committing such crime slowly and calmly walking away.

Many of us watched in amazement as each week these types of videos were presented, sometimes groups of prisoners would be executed at one time while other videos showed single acts of execution.  It was not until the Allied forces began to close in around the ISIL camps and strongholds that we found out the reasons why the prisoners were so calm.  One of the prisoners escaped from his holding place while ISIL fighters were trying to fend off the "invaders" from the West.  It was his testimony that shed light on why the prisoners were so calm immediately before their lives were taken from them.  The video in which these innocent people were murdered was not the first video made with them in setting, there were many "dry" runs before that eventful day and the reason the captors got away with things is that they continued to tell the prisoners that they were just making ransom pleas to the world, which they did; however, those videos were never made and presented to the world but the illusion was there and it was drilled into certain people's heads that all was going to be okay.  Far from the truth because one day the real video was made and the execution was carried out.

God gave me a dream a while back and afterward He allowed it to sit in my heart for a while before allowing me to see exactly what He meant by it.  I usually do not think about all of those dreams He has given to me over time and on a routine basis, but every once in a while they pop back into my thinking and I cannot ignore what was shown to me.  As stated above it has been a while since God showed me the dream I am about to describe, but only parts of it in short detail.  The dream was with me doing my job and having a normal time performing it, even the way I was talking and acting with my patient seemed so normal and uneventful.  As the patient and I were looking out the hospital room window, I saw a plane flying by in the valley, the normal time scheduled but for some reason, it was off its normal path and it was flying lower than normal too.  All of a sudden I saw the plane slow down a bit make a hard left turn, turn upward and then take a nosedive straight down.

God then zoomed my vision close enough to the cockpit of the aircraft so I could see the pilot sitting in his seat leaning back onto the back of his seat.  His hands were on the steering mechanism of the aircraft but holding it normally and not tight at all, like in a calm state and not in a panic.  Then my vision returned to the room and I continued to watch the aircraft descend straight down until it hit the ground and caught into flames.  Some details have been left out of this dream but the important highlights are given.  What had me puzzled for so long and the scene God kept bringing me back to was the zoomed-in portion into the cockpit where the pilot was calm and not panicked at all.  I could not figure it out, it did not bug me but I knew something significant was coming concerning this dream but did not know when.  God has His own timeframe and I have learned over the years that what I think is the correct time is not what God considers to be the correct time, so I waited.

My wait was over a short time ago, when out of nowhere God gave the interpretation of this dream of mine and when the answer came it stopped me still for a moment, but it all made sense.  The reason the pilot was not panicking or acting afraid was that he had been through this process many times before and it was common ground that this event was occurring.  This also meant that the current situation that the plane, the people on board, and the pilot and the crew expected something like this to happen.  It is difficult to imagine such a sight or position to be in but this is exactly what God spoke to me as the answer to what I had wanted for some time.

Then the second part was shown to me, the plane and all of its modern technology and comfort represented the modern world, especially this nation, and that another problem was going to happen but we will not be too concerned since something similar has occurred many times before.  However, instead of the plane somehow turning back up to normal flight status and altitude, it shall hit the ground hard and fast and will have no survivors left after the great fireball ends.  This Word from God was a bit hard to swallow and for a mere second, I had wished that I had never asked for the interpretation but I knew I did not mean that thought and began taking in what I had been shown and told.  God shows us or gives us warnings well in advance of things He must do in order for our hearts to turn around; however, many times we miss these warnings or flat ignore them out of pure spite then act shocked when God says enough.  Even at this moment of shock, we fail to recognize or admit that we have been totally manipulated by the world into living the way we have.

It is not too difficult for us to know that God allows us to be in control of our wills and choices, but He cannot idly stand by and watch us destroy ourselves without any signs to make us think.  It is at this time that we should rely upon the things we have been taught and the things that we know to be true, which brings us to our passage for this article and it is an important one simply because it shows us that no matter who we are all of us can be tempted in such a manner for us to take our own course and not stay on the path God had ordained for us.  Our passage of Scripture is as follows:

Matthew 4:7

"Jesus said unto him. It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God"

This verse is one that is familiar to many of us but there may be some out there who have not seen this particular angle of what transpires here, myself included up until a few months ago.  It has always amazed me that Satan believes that he is in control of everything that involves our lives since we live in his world and more often than not listen to his voice.  This verse shines when it comes to the point that Jesus puts Satan in his place by telling him exactly who is in control and where he belongs.  God allows things of a certain nature to occur but if we do not understand what is really (spirit) going on then we have become subject to the worldly manipulation of the incident or event.  God expects us to remember His Word and His Warnings during these events, for if we do not we shall easily succumb to these temptations.

Satan believed that he could get Jesus to bow down and to serve him just for one moment, just one time and if Jesus would have done this Satan would have let Him recant his submission immediately.  Satan does not care about a second time because once he has the first you are then subject to sequential positions in the future.  It may not have been an immediate effect on the world, but if Jesus would have given in at any point during His ministry our lives and spiritual resources would have been destroyed and made void.  Jesus probably would have been allowed to continue with His ministry without any interference from Satan, and when it came time for the crucifixion of Christ Satan would have laughed hysterically because he would have known that Jesus' life would be null and void because of His fall earlier.  It would have seemed like normal life and a mocked persona because no eternal authority could have been displayed as it was designed; a going through the motions if you wish to call it that, a common everyday event, nothing special or holy about it.

The same is portrayed in the dream that God showed me that night and when He explained what that portion of the dream meant.  This nation was destined to be great on many levels with the purity of God over us, but we decided to go on our own journey, take another path, one that serves ourselves and not God.  God allowed this path to continue and up until this day still has, but there will come a day that the selfish pilot will encounter another fall and this time things shall be different.  It is easy for us to expect such destruction from the world but it comes as a huge surprise when we realize that things are not going to turn around as they have in the past.  I never saw the actions and emotions of the pilot as it became apparent that the plane was not going to recover and hit the ground.

Now, each time this dream runs through my mind I cannot help but remember that the pilot of that aircraft honestly believed that things were okay and that he was still in control of what was about to occur because he had been through this many times previous.  How many of us have those same thoughts and beliefs about our lives and what we are going through?  How many times has God allowed us to pull out of potentially devastating situations and finish the jobs, paths, or events that we were on, numerous times I am sure.  But we need to ask ourselves if we are prepared to hit the ground suddenly with nothing in our life surviving, this shall occur one day and it will take us to our eternal home, are you ready for the truth about who is in control of your existence?

God wants us to know that this dream not only predicts individual lives but the life of this nation and the Church.  All of us have gotten away with horrible things and issues against God, and since we did not learn from these mistakes and engrained them into our lives as forgetful actions God has not lost control of our plane, and one of these times our plane is going to hit the ground and burn away.  We have constantly listened to the god of this world and have enticed others through this method of deceit, and for many decades God has allowed us time to remember the Truth about who we are and what our purpose is yet we spit in His face with an evil laugh and say we are stronger than Him.  God is in total control of our plane, on the individual level, on the national level, and on the Church (spiritual) level, not us.

Church, are we strong enough to resist temptation from our enemy just as Jesus did?  Or are we flying our own plane on our own flight pattern through our own security and patterns?  It is not going to be very long before we see our world change in ways that our minds could have never imagined, including the Church and the government.  All aspects of our lives shall change and we shall see that we were not in control at all.  Prepare yourself Church, for these times include us, hold tight to your faith and trust the Word of God completely.

DLB

Yet They Did

Yet They Did

11/13/21

How many of us have taken things and after a certain amount of time believes that we have gotten away with the thievery?  It is a common trait of humanity to follow through with something such as this, just for the sake of getting away with something just to add it to our property or self-worth.  At the end of the day, most of the time there is a trail that leads back to you or to one or more of your accomplices and the truth comes out in its own fashion.  The methods of finding out the truth may differ in many ways, but the process will conclude at some time and the guilty parties revealed. This process must not need to even be conducted if obedience to yourself and to your Higher Authority is kept clean at all times.  However, there are those who insist on becoming sly toward others and thus deem it necessary to test the system.  One common theme, there may be an admission of guilt but most of the time there is no apology or remorse for the wrongdoings.  this hurts God and those around us that are affected by such selfishness, but this course can be changed or even skipped totally, but it is up to you to make the choice.

There is not one of us on this earth that has not done something wrong and believed that we have gotten away with this bad thing or event of ours.  I have done my share of stupid things in my life and have hurt a few people during this march of mine.  I have learned so much over the past few decades about behavior and the choices that we make and how it affects not only me but others around me as well, involved or not.  During this younger period of time, I thought I was smarter than my parents and everyone else who might be involved in such activities.  As I look back and think upon some of those instances of ridiculousness that I was involved in, it amazes me how wrong I was to even think to participate in them much less actually be involved.  Now, do not get me wrong, these things I did were not in an illegal manner and I did not destroy any personal or business items either.  The things I did were of a personal matter but they hurt some people along the way and at that time I really did not care about my actions, I have never claimed to be a saint by any means and I shall never claim to be one down the road either.

Over the years, I have confessed all of my stupidity to God, at least those that He has reminded me of.  We all know that our human mind shall not work against what has been driven in the past, for it buries it instead, keeping the pain and agony hidden for as long as possible.  It is for this reason that we need to ask God to search our hearts and to show us our wicked and evil deeds so that we can be eternally free while walking this sod.  I have not gotten away with any of them for the actions of my youth still linger about and when the opportunity arises, God makes sure amends are made.  But even if these selfish deeds of mine would continue to be hidden I could not really be free with my life and live according to the Ways of God.  I am glad I did not get away with these things that I did, but I have to admit I did them and did my best to hide those deeds at the time, all in the name of fun and "living" as an American teenager.

When I look back on these times, I cannot help but ask myself why God allowed me to live?  I was an ornery little boy and one whose mind was constantly on the go, but at the same time, my heart becomes flooded with the Words of God that He loves me and that He has a plan for my life, and that I should always strive to deter temptation and sin with the correct direction that He has provided.  In our Scripture passage, we see that Israel believed they were battle-ready but it was one family that caused the defeat of God's army all because Achan went ahead and did what he knew was wrong.  God had set the standard high, separating the Children of Israel above every other tribe and nation, this standard had not changed since the fall of Jericho or even when the battle for Jericho was approached, commenced, and in the aftermath.  Everything and everyone was to be destroyed with a few of the rich metals consecrated before God and brought into the treasury of the Lord.

We now come to the present Scripture passage in Joshua 7 and we have the results of the heart that are now in question, God has already spoken to Joshua and told him once again what to do in order to correct the situation.  The passage is as follows:

Joshua 7:17-20

"And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: And he brought his household man by man; and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.  And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.  And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus I have done."

Now, in my experiences in life, I have noticed that for some reason the process of selection has a purpose no matter what that selection procedures and purpose might be.  I have served on a few jury selections over the years and as I have sat and watched the proceedings unfold it has become clear there is a real reason that the person in question is present in the courtroom.  I cannot explain this feeling but I know it is there and there is a reason I am in that place.  As we read the passage of our Scripture, it is clear that God is still giving Achan a chance to repent before things go down the formal path of judgment.  But he waits until each family above him is isolated and brought before Joshua.  Achan stands and allows the procession to be paraded in front of Joshua, knowing that as each family is called out of the line of his succession, one that should have made waves of anxiety flow outward from Achan because he knew that he made a gross error in believing that he could pull the wool over God's eyes, yet he did; he actions define the foundation of disobedience.

I remember during boot camp that someone had not cleaned up after himself after he had finished in the bathroom, and of course, we had a spot inspection that evening.  When it came time for the bathroom to be inspected, all of us were called into that small area and were asked who made the mess and did not clean it up.  Stupidly, all of us kept our mouths shut believing that if no one said anything the matter would go away.  Within a few seconds time, we were in front of our bunks standing there while our drill instructors tore apart every locker and bed in the bay.  It was only then that the culprit spoke up and said that he was responsible, it did not matter the entire flight was punished for this misdeed and untruth a pattern that we see here unfolding in the family of Achan.

In the waning verses of Joshua 6, we read that Jericho's walls fell down without a single fight for them just as God had said.  The army of Israel went into the city and completed the fight just as God had said.  It is true that if the army had not done exactly what God had said to do leading up to this victory, that the victory would have been had and that total defeat would have abounded.  The people knew this and saw what happened when obedience was followed, so why would anyone be selfish enough to think they could override the Word of God?  In theory, no one would have had the guts enough to try such a ridiculous thing, yet Achan did simply because God was not the centerpiece of Achan's heart, he was just following along for the journey and the spoils of God's victories.

Also, those who do disobedient things do not take into consideration that others will be included in this disobedient act, not just the single person or small group involved.  This type of behavior is the epitome of how one believes about himself when a deed is done in secret or for personal gain.  Achan's pride and knowledge of what he found during the cleanup of Jericho were rewarded with certain items that he knew should be destroyed.  God was not talking to a bunch of dummies when he gave specific instructions of what to destroy and what to get into the treasury.  What Achan did is a perfect example of how pride is allowed to cloud our decision-making and lean on the physical instead of the spiritual, a deadly intake that if not ignored and correctly pushed away will lead to destruction.

What do you believe Achan thought when he learned that Israel had been defeated even before they reached the gates of Ai?  Did he wonder and pretend along with others as to why this defeat had occurred?  Was he asked by other members of his tribe and family about the situation, because you know the news of such a defeat traveled quickly from tribe to tribe?  This is all part of the sequence of disobedience in that a deed was completed that was not in congruence with the instructions previously given; therefore, the caper had been noticed by the authorities and now the lines of questioning were about to begin.  Yet, Achan and by then everyone else who knew of the disobedient act kept silent, committing to the disobedient act instead of ending it before further actions transpired, which is why the entire family was included in this act and not just a single person; remember, God is a complete God on every level and all times.

How many of us do the exact same disobedient acts when it comes to doing what God says for us to do?  As stated at the beginning of this article, I did some stupid acts when I was younger, totally missing what God had planned for my life and why He had that plan in place.  It set me back many years until I was at the place of total submission to God and what He had for me to do.  We do not have to wait until our lives hit rock bottom, or we do some stupid act that costs us our lives to come out of disobedience to God.  As we have read here, Achan did not get another chance to redeem himself after the fact, he and his family were destroyed; another obedient act by Joshua.  

First, I am going speak to this nation concerning its disobedience, for it is grave and grossly evident in the eyes of God and while you play your games of deceit God is watching your hearts become darker and darker with sin.  He sees your sinful meetings and deceptive hiding methods, He sees and hears your words of rebellion against your own people and your God.  God sees and hears the desperate attempts from your actions with your enemies to conceal deals and agreements in order to continue the shadows of evil that you invite into your land.  Every deed that you make and complete is recorded and will take heaviness upon your land when God decides to enter His judgment against you.  Your vile words of religion disgust God because you placate His Word with sinful gestures flowing and exploding from your heart; wicked are your words and actions and your government shall be the stronghold that shall lead no more for it shall be in shambles and non-recognizable by any other country any longer.  You have turned my nation into a land of desolate virginity yet whored around your physical qualities like a common prostitute.  

You openly defy God in the name of equality and equity and dismiss His Ways as obsolete myths that should be shelved in some museum someplace and never to be restored as a guideline for common Truth and Life.  Your treasures have become the dominant source of inspiration and truth about you, you cannot function without such means God sees and knows this but  God says these stores shall be ruined in one day and shall never be returned to you in such an orderly fashion.  You have refused to return to your Creator, instead, you followed the god of this world and his lies, therefore, you shall reap what you have sown and you shall see God's Glory in all of its fullness.

Church, you do not escape this disobedient act either, for you have not heeded to the Word of God as being the eternal Standard and Light to the world.  You have failed at your mission through your own selfish desires of being selfishly correct and establishing your own religion within your heart.  I established one Church under My blood of Salvation and that message is the ONLY mission that is needed to secure people into My Kingdom, not yours.  You have grotesquely misguided many people in ways of the world and have placed them into a specific category of judgment, you have whored your hearts around within congregations for monetary and personal gain all under the guise of My name.  Many more truths about your behavior God can mention but He stops here, for there shall be a time in the VERY near future where all things in the Church shall be exposed without exception.

God has always placed His people above the world and He has always desired that they worship Him in spirit and in truth, but they have repented not and have lived in the confines of the world.  God says "Enough" and it is time for the shaking to begin.  With all of the examples in His Word we should have no doubt that judgment is coming for we have slapped God in the face just as the world has done.  You have shut your eyes to the footsteps that the world is taking to usher in the Antichrist and his beliefs, you have been silent as the blood of my babies has been shed all in the name of selfish pleasures and lack of responsibilities.  You have played games with my Word and have twisted and distorted its eternal meaning to prospect your own lusts and ways.  Why have you allowed such sin to darken every corner of your heart?  Why have you disobeyed every command that I have given you to do and to live by?

It is true, that our shaking shall be far greater than what the worlds shall be, and the world shall be an utter devastation zone.  God must judge according to His Standard and Church we are that Standard but it has been lowered to the level of the world's, a grave and purposeful act that shall cost us everything we know.  Church, you have brought treasure after treasure of the world into your tents trying to secure yourself if things go wrong.  God spews you out of His mouth for trusting the world first and not in Him.  Church, we deserve to be cut down to size because of our Achan-like activities.  We have placed the Church at risk due to these sinful deeds of ours and God wants each and every cell of the body to know that He has watched every detail of our activities and we shall be taken into His custody in His time.

For many years I would have not believed that a single event in the Bible would mean so much to the survival of the Church and to the life and existence of this country today.  Pray Church, pray, pray, and pray some more, and when you think you have prayed all you can pray even more. Achan, you have done your job and your spirit has lingered in our lives for generations now and even though your story occurred so long ago we have played the exact game you did way back when.  Yet they did!!  Prepare, for the Glory of God is upon us.

DLB

The Relationship of the Accursed

The Relationship Between the Accursed

11/10/21

Why is it that humans do not work at the relationships that really mean something to them, and embrace those that can do not right?  This is a question that many of us consider almost every day yet tend to fall into the bad example column when times become rough.  It is no secret that the entire Bible gives us clue after clue of how to properly address and live in good relationships with others, but at the same time seek out worldly relationships and leave God to His own Way.  When this occurs, we cannot help but fall prey to our enemy's tricks because we have forsaken the One that can provide us with the wisdom of how relationships work, and during these failed times we forget that relationships do not have to stay on the human aspect of life either.  Our actions were given to us through God's gift of choice and it is our responsibility to know about these relationships and how our choices can affect not only our individual lives but others around us too.

Being raised in a Christian home, God was a continual topic of discussion a good portion of the day.  I did not see this as a bad thing but one of information, that my parents wanted me to learn about so I could share Him with others. From way back when I can remember many conversations concerning this matter, none of which were repetitious but only building blocks from the foundation of those first lessons.  One of the more interesting topics of conversation was about food and how I should never take food for granted because one day I may not have any.  Some would see this as a threat not to eat your veggies or cook way too much and then throw it away and not keep it for later.  I have to admit for a while I did not see this as an issue but as my life took its turns later I understood what it meant not to be wasteful and to appreciate food and the qualities it gives to our bodies.

Living in this day and age one would not readily believe that there would ever be an opportunity to have a relationship with food and how suppliers can take what is pure and true and perverse it into a shining idol of greed or even place curses upon it so that the spirit realm is manifested when ingested.  Does this seem a bit far-fetched?  To most folks, it would but we must take into consideration that there are parts of the world that are more spiritual than our western societies are, and being spiritual does not always mean being on the correct side of the spiritual either.  I say this to tell you of a story that was told to us while on a trip to Africa.  One major way Voodoo and Satanic churches placed spells on the unsuspecting people were to place these curses and spells on food and give them as gifts to the selected people.

The reason I tell you this story is that in order for this type of ceremony and casting to occur is that one party does not need to understand what has occurred in order to accomplish the desired spiritual effect.  However, if any and all parties have been involved in an area where such teachings or observations include such tactics their lives must have been exposed to certain spiritual laws that govern our surroundings.  On this trip to Africa of mine, all of us were told not to accept food from the local people due to the fact that it could have such spells and curses upon the items.  Do you know how difficult it is to not accept things from those who look you in the eye and you know that they have nothing?  There is a relationship with the things we accept into our lives, whether it is food, drink, or other items of substance and it is this spiritual law that God wants to share with us today, a Kingdom article about obedience and why God says yes to certain things and no to others.

Some of you know that I live in western Colorado in a small town and that there are other small towns around me that I have interactions with every day.  But do I really know what transpires in each of these towns or do I just receive a small bit of information about the what-doings concerning these towns?  What about the specific things that go on in individual households, or meeting halls, or even churches?  There is no way possible that I could understand such settings unless I was directly in constant close contact with each individual setting in the towns; an impossible task to complete.  It assessment includes those people you know and those who you have no clue about therefore increasing the odds that you do not know what they do good or bad.  But God has the ability to know everything and to see what each person does or thinks about doing and it is this detail that He shows us in our two passages today:

Joshua 7:11-13

"Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it in even among their own stuff.  Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.  Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you."

Joshua 6:16-18

"And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city.  And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.  And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it."

We must realize that the city of Jericho was a formidable city with a great number of people inside its gates.  Jericho was an enemy to Israel, God knew this and so did the leaders of Israel.  God had everything planned out and had placed His instructions into the heart of Joshua.  However, the plan for the attack was totally unorthodox and probably confused many people in Israel, not to mention everyone who watch the plan unfold with circle after circling of the city for a specific amount of days; no conventional weapons were used at all during these marches.  All went according to God's timing and plan with a complete victory for Israel even Rahab was saved just as God had planned.  So, we can safely say that with Jericho's walls down Israel was still in the Will and Plan of God and that their relationship with God and Jericho changed afterward.

We know that Jericho was not a city of God and that they had many idols and statues present within the walls and the houses.  We know that God knew exact details about such items and people and that there was a specific reason that nothing was to be spared from the city.  The people of Israel did not know every detail but it was not theirs to know either, only that they were supposed to leave everything accursed alone.  Also, there were a few things God said to be taken to His stores in Israel, that was all.  This means that some of the personal items had previously been held in high esteem for some reason by the inhabitants of Jericho, a relationship had been formed on some level between the people and those items.  This first passage is one of trusting God and through this trust obeying what He had commanded and for the most part, this was followed.

But we know God to be a complete God, a 100% God at all times, which means He sees all actions from people and that He cannot change His Word for any reason.  Let us take a moment and think about what would have transpired if Joshua did not have the relationship with God as he did.  This relationship with the accursed would have eventually grown and would infiltrate the very life vessels of Israel, including Joshua and his tent.  Joshua did not take his actions lightly but it is evident that Achan did and had no real concern for God, Israel, or his family for he hid those items under his tent, how brazen can a human be?  The answer to this question lies in the fact that Achan had established a relationship with those items thus opening himself and his family up to the idols or any other graven images that those articles were used for.  Or, it simply could have been that God did not want those items going to the Israelites anyway.  Whatever the case may be, God did not want His Words to be disobeyed and He made it clear what to do and what not to do.

An age-old adage states that you are what you eat, well the same is true when it comes to what you accumulate as well and if these items are not in good standing with God, those possessions shall infiltrate every inch of your inner being and so shall your associates be subject as well.  In a day and age where relationships are superficial and thrown away as wrapping paper, we fail to recognize what it means to have a deep commitment to anything or anyone.  It is easy for Christians to say that those who do not know God cannot know what they are doing when a subject such as this is presented, God asks us, and whose fault is that?  Remember, Achan was a member of Israel and had been around for quite some time, and witnessed many miracles previously which means in modern terms he would be a church member.

Look at our churches today, and one should be able to see these types of hidden relationships within the congregations.  There are so many double standards and straight-up hypocrisy amongst those who call themselves Christians that our actions have made the entire Church sick and accursed.  The abuses we have allowed to infiltrate our hearts turn God's stomach simply because we have been warned over and over not to allow any type of sin to dwell in our lives and to never allow sin to enter into our tents.  In many ways, God has been specific in His instructions for the Church but just as in Joshua 6, there have been many areas where He has not, just to say do not do it.  God also makes it clear in Joshua 6 that Israel will become accursed if they disobey His command, and they did.  We have become the exact same as Israel was, our nation and the Church have become run-down institutions that cannot even function enough to honestly pay bills much less fulfill our mission and calling from God.

We run with the world and do our best to catch up with the wickedness it gives off.  Ignorantly, what we are really doing is turning from God and subsequently treating Him as our enemy; a complete failure of a blessed and complete nation that was created for His purposes and no one else's.  In Joshua 7, God has a leader with whom He can talk and can instruct what to do.  Sadly, this nation and Church are more concerned with their personal feelings and denial of the Truth that we have no option for eternal correction, nor do we even want this correction; we are fine like we are according to many people.  We have become comfortable enough with our treasures and monuments that our hope and trust lie within these items.  We have failed to realize just how far away from our Establisher we have gone from, and it is this action of ours that Achan did way back in Ancient Israeli times.

Achan and his family were found out and even a confession from him about what he did could not save him from the punishment he deserved.  His relationship with the disobedient heart against God then took from God and then tried to hide his actions believing God would let it slide.  Achan did not come forward when the army of Israel fled from the battlefield, he stayed silent.  This is a great example of how humans believe relationships should be administered, by leaving God out and doing our own thing, an eternally bad choice.  We will deal in deeper detail concerning Achan and his demise in a later article, but let me just say that his life was over never more to be considered, yet it was remembered for a grave purpose.  Still, we cannot ever forget that yes, one person's actions can affect an entire nation and this result does not have to originate from a "big or popular" person or leader.  This example also reminds us of how important each person is to God and how He wishes us to have obedience in our hearts at all times.  Relationship with the world brings accursed issues into our lives and we should have no part in this temptation.

There should never be any doubt that a single person of God believes that their small or insignificant disobedient act would warrant an act by God against an entire nation or the Church.  Remember, God is a complete God and that means that everything He creates or establishes needs to work on that complete basis.  We have read this many times over in Scripture and for some reason, we continue to think we can pull a fast one on God.  This setting also promotes disobedience and leniency from the tribes, for there should have been no way Achan should have believed he could get away with this, even after God gave him time to repent before his punishment was doled out.  Church, what are we doing to ensure that our lives do not have any trace elements of Achan?  This may seem like a minute matter but disobedience and the following thereafter is a grave resource for eternal separation from God.  A little bit extra is not worthy of eternity away from God.

Oh Church, we have fallen down and have allowed wickedness to infiltrate our hearts.  We have had the best of God for such a long time and still, we have willingly sinned against Him.  Our time is about to change and it shall be a turning point for God's Glory that we have never witnessed before.  God's Glory did show up in ancient Israel at this time and we must never forget that God's Glory cannot mix with the world, and most importantly, if we do not correct our sins before God voluntarily, then He has no other option but to do it Himself.  God has never lost, but His people will as long as sin reigns in their hearts; it does not matter which timeline one wishes to inspect.

DLB

No Time To Lay Down

No Time To Lay Down

10.23.21

When things go unexpectedly wrong it is common for humans to go through a stage of pouting and seclusion, and while this normal emotional reaction occurs often it does not mean that it is appropriate.  Yes, sometimes a quick period of reflection of what went wrong is warranted but to completely stop the progress that has been granted is not.  How many times have we felt such a stoppage when it was not needed, or that we took advantage of this time and extended our pouting exercises too long?   This action too is common and God really does not want time wasted in this manner.  The real truth is what happened and what caused such a loss that never should have been.  God does not hesitate on any issue and neither should we, we have a mission to complete and there is no way possible for us to do what God has commanded laying down and pouting.

It was basketball tournament time when I was in my early years of high school.  Granted, we were not the ones favored to win the entire tournament but we did have a good team and could win a few games before a strong opponent would be faced; this is tournament life as some sportspeople say.  During the first few minutes of the game, we could not hit a shot, not even a layup without making a mess of things while on the opposite end of the court our opponent could not miss.  I was a bit concerned about the conditions and after another basket from the opposing team, we inbounded the ball and after a few dribbling steps I called a time out.  I believed it was an appropriate time but as soon as we started walking over to the bench we all noticed our coach had a confused look on his face, then asked who called the timeout.  I spoke up said it was me, and he immediately asked me why?  Then he said never mind and sat us down and let us rest for a moment.  No instructions were given or anything else said before the breakup of the huddle.  As we were leaving the huddle he reminded us all not to waste timeouts for we may need them at the end of the game.

Even though my coach did not say much at that time his silence and his presence around us said enough and it refocused our heads and we completed the game without any further instances and even had a comfortable win over that evening's opponent.  I questioned myself for the rest of the game and for the next two games for I had realized that I did not trust my leader enough to obey everything he had said to us previously, and it caused me to stall and not be at my best for the day and days to come.  We won our next game but lost the next two and our season came to an end, but the point is in that first game, we (I) should not have panicked and should have just listened to the coach and what he had told us right throughout the season plus the important words he gave immediately before the game.  I jumped to conclusions and took a potential asset away without fully knowing why our coach said the things he did that morning.  

I know that this example does not fully comply with the title of this article but it does speak about the confusion of one who did not understand what was going on at that moment, stopped the progress of the mission to take a rest and gather up why things were going wrong.  It was unnecessary, and I just had to wait for the instruction of my coach to get the bearings back in alignment and continue forward.  There are greater and more accurate examples in the Bible than the one I just gave and the passage for this article gives us one to think about for a while.  Our passage comes from Joshua 7: 10-11 and is as follows:

Joshua 7:10-11

"And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?  Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff."

In the previous passages in Joshua 7, we find that Joshua and the army of Israel had prepared exactly how God had told them to prepare for all the battles that were before them.  However, unbeknownst to Joshua, Achan had taken things that God had forbidden and even hidden them underneath his family's tent.  This small amount cursed Israel in the battle of Ai, so much so that the entire army of Israel turned their backs and ran from the warriors of Ai before they reached the gates of the small town.  This was embarrassing and even more confusing to Joshua since for all he knew everything was done correctly and according to what God had said to do.  So, the embarrassed and confused leader threw himself on the ground after rending his garments, face down, and stayed there, did not get up.

For a certain amount of time, God allowed Joshua to lay there but after that time God needed him up and doing what was necessary which was correcting the reason why Israel ran away from their enemy at Ai.  God understands that there is a time for everything, He has said this over and over throughout His Word, but most importantly is the mission He has commissioned His people to do.  So, an idle or broken piece of equipment cannot be allowed to stall the entire mission, it must be fixed as soon as possible in order for the orders to be completed.  God could not have the leader of Israel lying flat on his face pouting and wondering why things went wrong for an extended period of time; oh and by the way, naked as well.

God wanted Joshua on his feet doing the work that needed to be done so that the order that God had ordained for Israel would be completed.  God does not like idleness and He cannot operate His Glory through such a stagnate condition, His Kingdom is always advancing and increasing.  God understands that humans become weary and troubled during tough times but at the same time God has built within us a mechanism that should take over in these times to fix the broken and continue with the advancement.  Joshua would have eventually got up and figured things out, but how much time would have passed before this would have occurred?  Would the enemies of Israel come together and overran the camp of Israel before Joshua had cleaned the house?  It is possible, but God could not allow that to occur.

God told Joshua to get up and Joshua did not argue with God and did what God said to do.  At the same time, with this initiative from Joshua God told him exactly what the issue was and that it was his responsibility to find the culprit and correct the necessary before any other actions could be taken against their enemies.  All it took for God to provide an answer to the problem is for Joshua to get up and to present himself to God for instruction.  This procedure, God is calling us to do once again, Church.  The question remains, do we even understand what our position is that God is looking at in order for this passage to apply to us?  How many times do we have to hear God ask us why are we laying down on the job and not up finding out what is going on?  We have lost battles folks, and it is our responsibility to remember what God has said to us and to figure out where the sin lies within our houses.  Our job is not to sit around in defeat, God does not know defeat, He cannot be defeated, so see, our sitting around is sin in itself.  God is not going to make things all rosy to those who disobey Him, He cannot and if we do not have the initiative to get up then we are doomed.

Do we see ourselves as Joshua was, lying face down and naked on the ground?  As in sitting in our pews and doing nothing for the kingdom of God, watching the enemy walk all over God's people, and allowing him to defeat us in our own houses of worship?  We are defeated even before we get outside the gates of the enemy.  We run away with our tails between our legs back into our tents and we really do not know anymore why this has occurred.  The leaders of the Church have been lying face down on the ground for so long that they have gone asleep and are no longer capable of leading people in the manner they should.  They ignore the Word of God and replace it with snoring so that they can remain laying down and not engage in the battle correctly.  They have no problem with the sin that is in their camps.  This is exactly why God could not allow Joshua to remain in the place that he was, he had to get up and take care of the issue before him.

If God had allowed Joshua to remain there for an extended amount of time, the sin that Israel had committed against God's Covenant would have eventually progressed into the tent of Joshua.  This is the normal pattern of sin and God could not allow sin to encompass His people more than what it already had, so God had to move.  Unfortunately, today we have ignored God's nudging and have remained in our tents with the hidden sin underneath our soil.  We have known about it but have done nothing to correct the measure; therefore, we have sat and waited and waited, and continue to wait until this very moment.  We have waited for so long that we have lost our vision to complete the mission God gave us; in other words, we no longer desire to fight for God or His Kingdom.

This action of ours is one of the main reasons God is going to shake the Church in a way that most people shall not understand.  A shaking so severe that many people will walk away from the Church and never step foot spiritually or physically in her again.  Yet, at the same time, there will be many people who catch fire for God and begin to preach the truth about His Kingdom and once again teach the mercies of our God.  It will be tough but as we see in the coming articles concerning this time period of Joshua, if we do things according to what God has told us to do and how to do it, our lives shall be better off than one can even imagine.  We cannot afford to remember that there is no time to lay down and stop the fighting, we need to get up and find out what is wrong and then carry on with God.

DLB

It Was Not Joshua

It Was Not Joshua

10/21/21

It is no secret that for the most part, ever since the establishment of the Church she has committed or allowed atrocities to occur within her confines.  All of which are inexcusable and indefensible and cannot be taken back as a means of correction.  It is also agreed, that a good portion of these horrific actions was donned by leaders of the Church community or was known about by them and allowed to be continued.  In no terms ever, did God mean for these actions to be allowed in His Church and because of these humanly completed deeds, God's name has been dampened almost to the point of being totally dismissed even from those who still believe in God and in His presence.  God wants us to know that there are plenty of ministers and leaders in the Church that continue to serve Him faithfully and care about those in need of God.  It may not always look like roses around the area but God is still faithful to tell the secrets of those who need correction.

Most of us share a common thread about our lives in that the plans that we have made do not always go according to the script that was written and designed.  These plans of ours become subject to alterations due to various amount of wavering circumstances that many times cannot be controlled, but this is not always the case for there are times that things do not work out and no reason really presents itself immediately.  While most of our journey can be predictable even though a few stumbling blocks may arise, it is common to have normalcy for the most part when plan making takes place.  Humans like to have a plan of action for many reasons if not just to keep us on track to reach a certain goal, there is nothing wrong with this for it brings us stability and confidence so that we can function safely as much as we can.  Wandering aimlessly about this sod does not pose too much of a stable direction and this wandering way will cause severe heartburn if not corrected quickly.

These unexpected issues and conditions that seem to appear out of nowhere, can really be frustrating to our systems for when a plan has been drawn up it means that a timeframe is at hand and some type of goal reached within a certain amount of time.  It is also these instances where no real explanation is present either, one has to be searched for, because you realize that everything you accomplished up to this derailing process has been done correctly and without failure.  Answers to questions such as this sometimes take a specific amount of time to be answered, while unfortunately a few are never solved.  We chalk it up to an unexplained experience and occasionally bring it up to see if we can take another line of action to get release.

But what occurs in our hearts when the plans that have been made and executed that come from God do not pan out like He said they would?  The questions really start to pile up for you know that you were positive that God shared His plan with you and that your spiritual ears and heart heard what He said.  You look back and see that everything that you did was right on course with what God told you to do yet you failed in this duty?  Also, those that were involved in this plan know what occurred and they cannot help but think that you were the cause of this failure; and of course, your mind is racing thinking the exact same thing the others are thinking as well.  All of these examples bring us to the next portion of Joshua that God wants us to know about and the Scripture passage is as follows:

Joshua 7: 11-13

"Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.  Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.  Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Osrael: though canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you."

There are circumstances that take place where not every detail can be administered to especially when it involves specific actions from a few individuals.  This is one of the issues conquering armies or overtaking companies must address and deal with, but not every leader sees eye-to-eye with such a potential loot and it is the point of a good leader to assume the corrective position of such behavior then take the appropriate measures to correct the situation.  We see here that Joshua has been asking God about why and what occurred on the battlefield and how come things went so wrong after careful and holy preparation was adhered to.  This must have been a scary time in Joshua's life for he was so sure that he had followed everything that God said to do, and yet the battle was over before it even really began.  There are many tidbits of information in this passage that we could address but we are going to stay with Joshua and the knowledge that he was not the culprit of this demise of Israel.

Joshua had been through some pretty tough times in his past, starting out in Egypt, going across the wilderness for all those years, taking over Israel after Moses and Aaron had died. Joshua was not a rookie at his position nor were all of the people in his command, all had experiences with the world and with God.  The people knew how to act and they knew what would occur if disobedience found its way into their hearts.  Joshua was never ugly in the sense that he came across as arrogant or bold because he was innocent of such behavior; however, he did want to find the problem and take care of the issue before trodding along to the next battlefield.  Israel was in a mess, with disbelief and chaotic hearts present in the individual tribes, they had to be.  But only one family knew what had occurred and yet kept their mouths shut hoping God would pass over this detail and allow things to just go on as planned.  How many of us have some such a thing by hoping God would not see our actions and just let them slide?

Let us look at the word "transgressed" in this passage, for it defines exactly what the mood was in Israel and how Israel was thinking at the time.  It does not take an entire population of a nation to make it evil in the eyes of God; however, when the entire nation was warned by God not to do something then did it anyway, yes that nation and all of its inhabitants are included.  The Hebrew word used here for transgressed is "aberu" and it means to pass over or by or through, alienate, carry, carry, do away, take, take away, to emigrate, leave, to vanish, to perish, etc.  This word is a deliberate action word and one that was done without obeying what was established as a boundary.  When God says someone or something has transgressed His Covenant, it is serious business for a violation has occurred and since it cannot be broken, it has to be in order at all times.  This is why it is important that every detail with God is known and lived without exception.

We know that Joshua was "off the hook" with God because God was having a direct conversation with him concerning what the issue was.  God did not miss this detail nor did He allow it to go unnoticed when the battle time arrived.  God also began to tell Joshua that there was sin in the camp and that it was his responsibility to find it and to rid Israel of the accursed items.  Joshua also understood that when the people responsible were found that it would be a high price that they would pay for this disobedient act.  While Joshua could breathe a sigh of relief that he was not at fault, he knew that someone was and they had to be disposed of quickly.  Joshua understood what it meant for God to say that He was no longer with them until the accursed was gone, it meant that they were totally vulnerable to the enemies that were around them and that if God allowed a few men to get killed for an unknown issue just think what He would do while the sin was still known about and active.

Because Joshua knew that God's faithfulness would include devastation if the present sin was not weeded out properly, it fueled Joshua to stand up and be the leader God chose him to be.  All of us know that it is easy being a leader when things are going good, Israel was just over the supernatural victory of Jericho; what a rush that must have been to witness and to participate in, but it was also the source of the accursed thing that God was speaking about.  It must have been hard for Joshua to make the statements he did after God told him of the issue, but at the same time, Joshua knew he had to complete God's Word or Israel would be doomed and then he would be at fault with God.

God gives leaders the opportunity to do the correct thing when wrongs are discovered.  God expects a true and appropriate action, one that He would do, you know, what His Word says.  Battles and wars do not have to be on the table for this type of calling to take place, as a leader this type of action is taught to be dealt with and to be settled as soon as possible for if it is not, it is a guarantee that animosity and distrust within the ranks and file shall arrive.  Just as God gave Joshua the duty to seek out the fault, God also reassured Joshua that he was not responsible for what had occurred to Israel but that he did need to correct things immediately.  Whether we know it or not, God followed a pattern that we read about in the New Testament where correction must first be done in the House of God.  Joshua was tested and proven worthy of such a corrective task, God rewarded Joshua and Israel after the correction was made and all went well for the time being.

As our study of Joshua 7 continues, we will see many aspects of leadership being shown, but also how to deal with sin and what it means to rid ourselves of its clutches.  It is not too hard to see where God wants us to be when it comes to being leaders to those around us and to other nations.  While many people deny our special status in the eyes and heart of God, this nation was established to conquer the world and its leader but just as with Ancient Israel, we have allowed an accursed thing into our hearts and have waivered ourselves from God and His Ways.  One cannot help but wonder how long God would have allowed Israel to be defeated until He told us what was going on, we have taken our leadership role and thrown it to the ground all in the name of equality and equity with the world a grave position to take since the same authority that was given to Israel was given to this nation so long ago.

What does this mean for the Church?  It means that right at this moment we are in the camp of Achan and not in the position as Joshua.  Go back and reread what God stated concerning the status of Israel in this passage.  God says that He will not be with Israel until the accursed thing is gone which means everyone fits into that category and until Joshua (the Church) stands up and cleans what is dirty God has severe issues with us and we are vulnerable to any and all attacks from our enemies.  There is no excuse for our behavior, Church.  We have not been a Joshua and we can no longer claim or say that we were not Joshua.  Joshua was not punished for the mistakes of Israel because he did what God required of him to do, but we are in contempt of what God has ordained us to do as leaders and this needs to be corrected immediately or God is going to shake the Church in ways we have only heard about in history.  It might not have been Joshua but it surely is us!  Do you want a return to normalcy?  Then be like Joshua!

DLB

Loss

Loss

10/17/21

Not many of us like to lose anything or lose at anything for losing damages our pride, and it is our egos that usually take the brunt of such emotional setbacks.  Also, we know that loss can appear in our lives not just on the physical aspects, spiritual loss is one that can be lost as well and one that has far more ugly consequences.  Do you know that God never intended for us to lose anything, not even our lives?  But for some reason, the Church has forgotten this truth and has stopped teaching it to the dying world and now allows death to invade every section of our hearts without any sort of argument or fight.  This lack of life within us is a deep statement that we no longer have God within our hearts for we all know God can only teach and promote life.  We do not have to live in such a manner, we can correctly teach the world to live and to flourish again, but it shall never occur until we put God back in our hearts.

It is a commonly known truth that humans do not like to lose anything or at anything for it signals a sign of failure, for we like to keep up our appearance that everything is fine and that our prideful status is intact on all levels.  But for most of us, this plan to keep our status lifted after a loss does not work and reality sets in when we are seeing exactly what has occurred in our lives.  We also know that loss comes in a variety of forms and that it does not just have to be on the physical level.  A loss of a job, of a parent or sibling, loss of status, or overall possessions are just a few to mention for now.  Today, we see the individuals that claim to not have things of value in their lives but when our eyes watch buildings and businesses burning because of such false thoughts it is a selfish act of entitlement that has been accepted into our lives by Satan.

However, let us talk about a more generalized loss, one that is on a massive scale where almost everyone around you is placed into this loss category.  How would societies respond if such a series of catastrophes would strike the world and basically take away everything that humans believe that they deserve to live during this post-modern world?  What would our attitudes be then?  To be honest, we would not know how to act for we have become so dependent on things of this world that we have meltdowns when the internet is off for some uncontrollable reason for a few hours.  We have lost focus enough about what is truly important and have placed all our cares upon these fly-by-the-night toys that we cannot even take our eyes off these machines long enough to see the approaching waves.  This is a disastrous policy to withhold in our hearts and will only prove tumultuous when that ugly day arrives.

It has been prophesied many times throughout the Bible that there will be a day that everything shall change in some land, nation, or even the world.  Many of these prophesies have already transpired and have brought massive destruction to those involved, unfortunately, many more of these truths have yet been fulfilled which should give us a warning large enough to not complete things that would bring such desolation to our lives.  Talk about having to walk through a grave testing period, I can only imagine - for now - just what the attitudes and character of the people would be when this occurs.  We would like to think we would act civilly toward each other but given what we have witnessed over the past few years in certain cities, I do not believe our reaction to catastrophic loss will be anything good or civil at all.

However, in a world that has nothing to do with God or His Ways we cannot honestly believe that any of our actions will be on a helpful plane.  If we have no trust in God we cannot act according to His Statutes and this includes civility, peace, and calmness.  Our two verses today give testimony to such attributes of God and of humans who trust in Him in all things.  The two verses are as follows:

Psalm 56:3

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee."

Isaiah 41:10

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

These two verses show us that anytime we are in trouble or dismayed for any reason that God is with us and He has not abandoned us.  However, if we do not know this status and presence of God before things become bad it will be difficult for us to live in such harmony after grotesque events arrive.  There have been many warnings that God has given us to heed, and like ancient Israel, we have ignored them all for we see is the blessings from God as our protection.  This is the big mistake that all humanity has against God, our faith resides in the things around us instead of the Life that should reside within us, so naturally, with worldly goods at our disposal, they will be turned to for answers first.  How quickly we will find out that this loss that we will experience will be overall and not just a targeted few areas, God does not operate in incomplete terms when He is trying to get our attention.

Sin has no order that can withstand any time of challenge, that is why when the Glory of God hits, it shall do so in such a manner that all things shall be disrupted.  Therefore, when these calamitous events strike all we will have to fall upon is our own belief system which is what inhabits us; if one thinks that this shall be an easy process to overcome, think again for controlled chaos already reigns in our hearts wait until it is unchallenged.  Furthermore, we will have no idea about how to overcome such events because we have been blinded from the Truth about how to survive such ordeals.  See, it shall not just be on a physical or monetary system that these failings and disasters occur, we are talking about psychological, social, spiritual, and physical ones all rolled up together at one time.  All shall crash before our eyes; this is what God has shared with us in His Word and it is what we are about to witness with our own eyes.

How can we trust in God when we have no idea anything about Him or His Ways.  Not everyone shall be in turmoil during this time there will be those that are happy as a clam even while the world is completely crumbling before their eyes.  Here lies the difference, for those of us who will not panic, we shall be once again shoved into the spotlight and placed at the wall to be stoned.  You have heard of the saying, misery loves company, well that shall be an unspoken motto of these days of turmoil and no one will be able to escape.  Sadly, a good portion of this misery shall come from those who have sat in church pews for a long time, maybe even all their lives for even while their ears heard the truth taught to them, their hearts never heard one word or syllable spoken.  Remember, no matter how many times we might say to those who recently died "rest in peace" they shall never rest in peace if they did not live a peaceful life, our physical lives are not a dress rehearsal for the afterlife.

So what happens when the leader of the free world falls?  It takes everyone who followed in our footsteps with her.  The loss that shall occur will be one that many sarcastically or facetiously refer to as "of biblical-like proportions" but in this case, it shall all be 100% true.  The only way possible to make it through these coming events is if we know how to properly and truthfully cling to the hands of God and we will only be able to do such a task if we know how to trust in Him alone.  It will be like a modern-day Noah's ark scene, there will be those who listened and a majority of those who did not and they will not have a chance to survive.  Yes, this does sound grim but it is strictly our own fault, for we have deliberately chosen to exclude God from every aspect of our lives and because of this action and choice of ours, we deserve nothing less.

Many will see the results as their eyes are opened during this process, just as many or even more shall react angrily for they shall not understand why such concerns have overtaken them.  All of this is a part of the procedure and process of loss, by the direction of God.  I am at a loss for words when it comes to the actions of the Church up until now, we have heard the Truth taught to us for centuries and have still continued to water down God to make our own selfish ideologies relevant instead of God.  This grieves me because if we have not understood this process and mission that Jesus commissioned us to complete in these days of quiet, how do we even think we will be able to complete such a journey when everything we have known has been destroyed?  It has always intrigued me to read about just how thorough God was in His methods of dealing with Israel in Scriptures and at the same time I have been just as intrigued about how He will deal with His nation that He established to represent His Light unto the world but has fallen into darkness.

It has never been the desire of God to allow His children to witness any loss, God cannot lose nor does He intentionally give out loss, He cannot for He Himself cannot lose remember He has never been defeated.  So why does God allow such happenings to occur?  He allows them to occur so that we will once again choose His Ways over the world's for He knows that as long as we choose the world as our leader our eternity shall be even darker than the current state of our hearts.  In every instance in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, God has allowed ugliness to abide with His people because they are not following and obeying His Word.  In EVERY instance!  Once again, God reminds us that He is a consistent God and one that cannot change in any shape or form.  We must tell these lost souls that they do not have to add their eternity to the coming losses, there is good news here and it is in the form of Jesus.

Right at the moment, we have a volcano that erupted almost a month ago, it is still spewing lava from that day until now.  It is acting like no other volcano has ever done, not only is it continuing its eruption but it is gaining in intensity each day, it is not slowing down or subsiding at all.  It is this volcano that has prophecies attached to it and from what I have been noticing, things around the world could change at any moment.  How can we, the Church, stand by in amazement at this phenomenon knowing what we do about its future, and be totally silent?  Yes, it is beautiful to watch, but we cannot place worldly beauty ahead of God.  Church it is time we shout to the world that they need Jesus, forget about your public standing or worldly priorities.  The time is now that we proclaim God and prepare our hearts for the coming challenges very soon.  Speak to the world with the boldness of God at all times and rejoice in the fruits of God and His righteousness.

DLB

Glimpse of Hell

Glimpse of Hell

10/13/21

The title of this article may take some of you by surprise, but it is one that is dead on and presenting itself today.  Not much is spoken in the Christian realm about Hell, nor are its characteristics given on a regular basis so that people can see the Kingdom warfare that currently whips around us.  God is absolutely correct to state that Hell was created for the devil and his angels; however, because of our willingness to disobey we now fall into this grievous process.  We have allowed ourselves to become so numb concerning Hell that we are almost to the point where we no longer believe in its presence.  There are many signs and symptoms of Hell that our eyes behold every day, and God wants us to take a few looks sees into this truth. 

Once a culture finds out that something that has been taught as evil or something one does not want to accept as normal is "not so bad" the inhabitants tend to back off from the lethality of said chambers.  When I was a kid, my parents would occasionally yet consistently tell me things about what Hell stood for and what it was, and who would inhabit such a tumultuous place, and how Jesus conquered Hell when He was in the grave.  They also told me that individual people can express hellish traits and that if one understands Kingdom principles that recognizing these ugly measures would be able to correctly fight off those tricks of the devil.  It is possible that people can recognize these attributes of the worldly kingdom and not have to face its consequences or control over a person's life, they can be defeated right from the introduction and they will go no further.

Sadly, many people who identify as Christians do not wish to understand such spiritual truths; therefore, cannot fully win the battles that continually advance on their lives for they wish to fight physically and not spiritually.  Also, this lack of understanding concerning the spirit realm weakens them for the enemy fights both spiritually and physically and if you only are able to fight in the physical you have already lost half the battle, the important half.  A while back, God shared with us about being whole and it is vital that we witness to people and through that process, we become fully whole but if we cannot tell people about the entire Gospel, then we will not win very many people to Christ.  

Look at how we deal with those who approach us in an argumentative manner, look at how we respond to them as they throw a tantrum for the beliefs that we stand for that do not agree with theirs.  It is sickening that we have no true offensive motion toward the ones who use vile profanity and hurl vicious insults our way.  Many of us return the favor and begin a yelling match with them, trying to take this approach will only raise up further and deeper anger towards you and most importantly, God.  Another time in the past, I was commenting on a specific social media post and one of the responses that I received was a tirade filled with profanities along with a few physical suggestions that are impossible to achieve.  Anyway, I asked this person if it was necessary to use such colorful metaphors and he replied with a long list of them and said that it was important enough to him so I had better get used to it.

As time has gone along, I have noticed that those types of words and phrases have become more easily stated and are being used as part of normal grammatical sentence structures.  I find it repulsive and embarrassing at the same time that the younger generations cannot dissect a sentence but they can add such filth without batting an eye.  It is this type of word usage that God wants us to think about today and our Scripture text for this article is as follows:

Matthew 25: 29-30

"For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

It is frightening to hear some of the spoken words and phrases that come from our hearts that are directed toward another human being or group of people.  Yet, today it is acceptable to use such degradations against each other and what is more devastating is that this word usage can be spoken in two forms, both of which are harmful to the recipient.  If you sit down on a public bench downtown or just walk up and down a school hallway, you will hear these phrases coming from every type of kid or adult on a regular basis; no repentance at all, they just shout it out loud some even use them as to get one's attention a few steps away.  What we do not realize is that our language is taught to us and we learn it according to how our hearts receive and accept it.  Slang is almost always an issue for many people and times, it can be a derogatory statement that we pick up and then use as the common language of that day.

Look at how people act today, and if one really studies this behavior of the population they will see that those words and phrases are constantly being used in all sorts of references.  Moreover, it is the aspect of anger that is transmitted to many who differ from other opinions, why is that?  It is a Kingdom issue and principle that should be understood and dealt with appropriately but obviously, it is not.  The problematic aspect of this is that it does not matter what context one says or directs those phrases to they have a derogatory catch tune with them and when they have been relayed to others, the content of said words or phrases enters into the spirit of the listener.  This allows those meanings to next and then grow in that environment and it is not too much longer than those words and phrases can be used against someone else.  This is an evil method of spreading the kingdom of Satan, thus creating a newfound hatred for those who disagree with the new "life" and opinion within.

Soon all opposition to your individual program will be accompanied by anger and when you look into the eyes of these people, there is nothing but anger present.  This is where the gnashing of teeth comes into play and it does not paint a very good picture or outcome.  In this passage, we find the word "gnashing" and it comes from the Greek word "brygmos" which means grinding or a grating.  In the English dictionary, the word gnashing means grinding one's teeth together, having one's teeth set on edge, or biting down in pain, anguish, or anger.  In whichever definition one wishes to attend, there is nothing sweet, kind, or innocent about the definition or action of this word.  This verse also says that darkness will be present in these people's lives which is why the gnashing of teeth is granted permission to live and thrive.  This scene plays out when the treasure (worldly) that many have stored up and savored enough to bury is attacked; therefore, when attacked it is counted as a loss and will be defended appropriately (worldly) according to their defenses.  But, Christians do not see this fight, nor do they comprehend exactly what is being fought over.  Many of us have watched such encounters between people with opposing opinions and at some point, it seems like things are going to subside and the parties involved part in separate ways, but for some reason arguments and anger flare again and the entire scene is compromised again.

What we are witnessing in these examples is people of God confronted with those who do not believe in God or the Ways of His Word.  I believe that this is pretty obvious to some with many not figuring out what is actually transpiring.  The people who are angry and refuse to listen to the Truth are fighting against just that, the Truth.  If people are fighting against Truth then that means they have no Truth within their spiritual confines and that means they can only act like those involved with Hell.  In other words, what you are witnessing and seeing is a glimpse of Hell.  This is how people in Hell shall act but in Hell, it shall be far worse because while this is only a glimpse God is still present here and in control of all situations.  In Hell, God shall not be present, their wish granted to them for eternity.  Jesus gives us a pretty good idea of what one characteristic of what Hell will be like and from this example alone it is not going to be anything fun at all.

This is where God struggles with the direction of the heart of the Church, it is not fully understanding her mission and the importance of her mission.  How many of us have actually thought about this passage in such a manner?  I know I had never looked at it in this way, but it was a tad unnerving to me when God showed me this fact, the fact that this is a glimpse of what people shall do in Hell, live in tormenting conditions but the difference is that they have the option and choice to change now but not in Hell.  They will have a life but without any hope of productivity or profitability, which is a key ingredient and example that God is nowhere to be found.  

Another interesting portion of this article is that its verses come directly following the Parable of the Talents, which accurately depicts what occurs when we are given something to take care of and multiply but sit on it and build an unstable existence.  How much more defined of anger and selfish inner content can one display from the heart toward any other person?  Growing to the point where the wickedness of the heart becomes so blackened that it goes to the extreme of gnashing its spiritual teeth, not to mention the physical teeth as well.  Once again turn back to the thoughts of how people act around you that do not agree with your opinion, can you see a similarity?  It is right in front of us folks, Jesus gave us this picture thousands of years ago and its presence still lives amongst us.  This should tell us that we have not gained much ground in the knowledge of the spirit realm.

It also means that we better start putting our hearts back into the Bible and study its every letter for if it cost people their lives back when these verses were written you can be sure that this legacy has not changed at all.  Do you doubt this concept?  If so, go read the story of Cain and Abel, and then think about his action toward his brother and then revisit this passage again; it is very clear folks.  We have reached the point that we would rather film such a gnashing of teeth episode on our phones than try to mediate the situation's end.  God cannot operate on any level when peace and truth are not present, it is spiritually and physically impossible.  So, yes, if God is not present on any level then what you encounter as a result is a glimpse of Hell.  God says this type of setting is a glimpse of Hell, only a glimpse or small or quick portion.

Church, we have given away so much spiritual ground (your lives) that it is difficult to see exactly what damage has been done.  But this state of life does not have to be this way, God can repair and restore our lives back to where He intended us to be but we must first repent and set our hearts back to spiritually beating again.  If we do not stand up and fight for our eternity and to share the Truth about eternity to others, this glimpse of Hell that we are witnessing today shall continue to grow and a progression of sin like we have never watched develop before, an enveloping to be honest.  It takes guts to stand up to the world, but if we do not do it now, how can we stand when times become really tough?  God loves each and every one of us and it is our responsibility to tell those who are lost of the salvation plan for eternal life, for if we do not and continue in silence this glimpse of Hell shall increase unabated and all Hell will be released upon us.

DLB