Fixation

Fixation

3/21/15

One of the more common genres of movies is the horror flick.  There are billions of dollars that are spent every year trying to produce the best and scariest movie and there are even more billions that are spent by people going to watch such entertainment.  We all remember the first scary movie that we watched and how we were a little bit jumpy for a period of time afterwards, but eventually we got used to those types of movies and they no longer bothered us.  So why would our eternal enemy be presented any differently?  We all know that horror movies are not real and so we must allocate those same images to Satan himself in order to understand him, right?  Not so according to the appearance of the morning star!

When I was a kid I remember the first horror show that I watched and to one’s amazement it was not actually your typical horror movie, it was a Christian film about the second coming of Christ and how people were going to be left behind.  The movie was very popular in the 70s and early 80s and it even produced a couple of sequels which did well in many arenas.  I understand the reasoning of these types of movies and to be honest I also understand the concepts behind the true and “accepted” horror flicks.  I remember that the movie I watched scared me to no end and even though I tried my best to push the scenes from my head they continued to haunt me.

Over time I began to realize that God was trying to get me to see some things about my life and that I needed to have a change in my life.  Yeah I was young at the time but the setting of that film was so pronounced in my mind and the message that it drove into my heart has stuck with me until this very day.  I still remember that movie and its content, and while the times have changed dramatically the concepts of the movie still remain subject to every person walking this planet.  In the movie there were many people that had no idea of what occurred, many others understood but did not know why they were left and others knew but did not care.  In each case everyone made their choice and stood by their choices and the results came full circle and hit them hard.  It does not matter if the message of that movie was fulfilled in the 1970s or will be fulfilled tomorrow or in the year of 2090, we must know that it all depends upon our choices.

Even though I know that horror movies are not real and pose no threat to my household, I still know of the doors that they open and the potential that they carry into my spirit.  To this day I really do not like this type of movie and in my house they are not welcome.  I know that I cannot control what occurs at my girls’ friends houses but they have been taught of the possible spiritual repercussions and torment that these movies bring and while I hope and pray that they choose not to view them, it is still their choice.  Looking back at my first “horror” movie it is a wonderful movie and it did the job that it was supposed to by grabbing my heart and showing me the truth about what might happen after Christ returns to take His Bride away.

Most people know that Satan has had two names and yet it is a point that many people might not understand and the importance of this change is what is of concern.  We must also not forget that Satan is a spiritual being and has an eternal life; and because of his choices he cannot change his eternal status no matter how much he wishes or might wish to change it.  His hatred of God and everything that God has ever done continually radiates through every aspect of his actions and if he can convince God’s personalized creations that He is wrong or to doubt God’s existence, then Satan has done his job to perfection and he has those people right where he wants them.   It was through this choice of wanting to be better than God that cost Satan his name, Lucifer, his name’s true meaning, and his place in God’s kingdom.  No other action caused this process and fall, it was the patterns of choice that did the duty and began his process of destruction and revenge on God’s creations.

Lucifer was the name of Satan long before he made his decision to fall from his place in heaven.  Lucifer was created as a beautiful creature and was the most radiant angel, over the spiritual music of the heavens and if something ever happened to God, which is SHALL NEVER occur, would be in line to take over all the eternal duties of everything ever created.  This was the status of Lucifer and how powerful he was, all due to the generosity and pleasure from God.  Yet, Satan wanted more and this wanting caused him to deal harshly with the ideas and laws of God.  This thought process soon became a desire and a few scheming plans must have begun to take shape within the presence of Satan. 

It was through this process that things began to change in Lucifer’s spiritual heart, yet while this was ongoing I find something very intriguing here and that is this fact.  God is all knowing and at the “time” that Lucifer began his scheming against God, God knew what was transpiring and still gave Lucifer an opportunity to rethink things before he actually made the act that gave God no choice but to act against him.  While this was the example of a characteristic of God, it is the fact that Lucifer believed that his thoughts and schemes were not being monitored by God somehow, or that he believed that due to his status in heaven God must not have been paying too much attention directly towards him.  What an eternal choice to make.  The fascinating portion of this act is this, it is through this very same action of Lucifer’s that he uses on humans in order to get them to turn from God.  Of course Satan leaves out the eternity portion of things but his ability to deter our placement in God within our hearts sets into motion his plan for our eternal destruction.

As the Bible states Lucifer was a beautiful creature and one that shone greatly with a spiritual and magnificent light.  The word Lucifer means a bright and beautiful morning star that shines bright at all times.  Yes, bright and beautiful are words that are used in the actual meaning of his name.  His name is defined through his descriptive features.  Stop and think about that definition for a moment and hopefully one will make the connection between his name and his stature.  He was the greatest of the created being in heaven, he was at his pinnacle, the top of his game and it was at this time that the definition of his name took over his life and thoughts.  And it was also at this time that he fell, and he fell eternally hard.  Yet God did not change his appearance even after his fall from heaven, with one exception.

In the Garden of Eden setting God had made the perfect living space.  Everything that creation needed for existence was there in the confines of that garden.  It was beautiful and nothing was out of its place.  God had thought of everything and then turned it over to Adam and Eve to live in, to nurture and to protect.  That last sentence brings up a huge issue but I am not going to deal with it in this article, just going to let you think about it for a while.  It was at this time that Satan began to watch the patterns of the humans and at some point he made his first appearance.  With Adam and Eve being human they had all of the physical features that we have today, including the emotions of happiness and fear.  So, if Satan appeared to Eve in a grotesque manner with big pointed teeth and pointy ears and drooling all over the place, do you really think that Eve would have stood around and listened to what he had to say to her?

It would be logical to believe that if Satan had anything but a beautiful appearance that both Adam and Eve would have turned and ran away as fast as they could and would have told God exactly what had occurred.  I see a pattern here, one that Lucifer followed while he was still placed in heaven.  When Satan began appearing to Eve she must have had some personal thoughts about his presence and his “looks”.  I am not suggesting anything abnormal or sexual but ones that found a common ground and a reason to meet as friends.  Evidently the relationship that developed between Even and Satan was not of a great concern to Adam for it never has given any indication that there was any division between Adam and Eve over it.  So this suggests that Satan had a calming effect on Eve and was not hideous in appearance by any tune.

So if Satan’s appearance did not change even to the human eye, hat makes him so different that we can recognize the evil that he spreads?  There is no red colored skin and pointed tail to mark his appearance and no pitch fork to threaten our lives, so what gives?  What makes him so dangerous?  We must remember two things here and the first is that Satan is an eternal being and secondly that his eternal spirit was the thing that changed which means that his true intentions will be seen through his eyes, remember the eyes are the windows to our souls saying?  It really comes into play here and it is the one specific detail that needs to be understood and noticed in order to know that he is our enemy and not our friend.

Want an explanation as to why the world believes it needs to be beautiful all the time; there you go.  We as a world have glorified ourselves in the belief that we are beautiful in such a physical manner that it automatically takes tangible precedence over our spiritual aspects.  We make snide comments about those who we deem lower in beauty and snub out the ones that differ in appearance.  We fail to see that in this “beautiful” realm that we have incorporated that it actually serves as the foundation for many racial divisions that accurse our societies.  Satan has used his created beauty and has established that physical pride into our own lives and we have totally missed it.  It is not through hi actual beauty that has initiated this action, only his outward appearance that we have followed.  It is his coal black eyes of hate that we have failed to look at that defines his true nature.  How ironic it would be if we would realize that in order to recognize this false beauty, it would take the same eyes to understand the true dark manner of the beautiful created one that we define other humans.

It is the eyes of Satan that have changed and that define what his true intentions for your life really are.  It is not his beauty that matters nor is it his smoothly spoken words of encouragement and physical pleasure that are of any concern of his, it is your spiritual demise that he is concerned with and he shall do anything within his chained power to make this goal a reality.  Even in the Garden of Eden Satan did not desire to have a true relationship with Eve, his goal was to mesmerize her with his stunning appearance long enough to get her to doubt God and His authority over all creation, including her and Adam.  She must have not truly looked deep into his eyes long enough to see what was actually fueling his spirit, with all of the anger and hatred for her and that her existence alone was enough to enrage humanity for eternity. 

It was the physical captivation that he presented that overtook her thoughts and when the time was ripe, he struck out against her and the she was haunted forever through her own choice.  I am not saying that Eve was weak in any way, nor am I saying that she did not or was not able to make a rational or sound choice on her own, for the Bible does say her mind was active and knowledgeable with what God said, she just chose to add some things to His Word, and it was this action (choice) that Satan knew his plan was ready to be sprung.  It is through this example that God makes His case about truly knowing who our enemy is and what his true motives are.  It also gives us an example to what measures he will use in order to fool us yet at the same time reassure us that what we are doing is not wrong or does not go against God’s Word and laws.

Girls, when a boy comes to you and tells you that you are pretty, believe him but do not give him access to your body as a reward.  Guys when a girl thinks you are cute accept those words, but do not use those words to take advantage of the situation and abuse her body against God.  It is the job of our enemy to lie to a person well and long enough to have them compromise their standards for his purpose.  Then if this plan works, the doors are wide open for him to initiate any other divisive plot against you.  Am I saying that every person who tells you these things are bad, no but as one who has been tricked a few times I understand now that it only caused pain, suffering and heartache and most importantly division from God in my life.  They say that beauty only runs skin deep and it is true, both on the physical and spiritual aspects of life.

It is of dire importance that e understand this “beautiful” detail about our enemy.  He shall not stop at anything in order to separate you from God.  That is his one and only goal for the short amount of time that he has left on this earth.  We must have enough knowledge about our enemy to recognize this detail and the only way to obtain this knowledge is to know how to look into his eyes.  See, Satan cannot read your mind but if you look directly into his eyes and know what is in his eyes, he then will understand that you know his game which means that you have been talking directly with God and that you know exactly what to look for when the enemy makes his appearance.  It takes strict determination not to be swayed away from God and as long as we are focused upon the deep confines of Satan’s eyes and not be taken by them, we will know what his diabolical plans are for not only our own life but for the lives of all humanity.

It is sad to see that the modern Church has looked into the eyes of our enemy and have failed to stick with the truth about what is in his eyes.  We have become captivated with his lies that we have weakened our stance concerning his motives.  The Church has become focused upon growth of a building and its appearance instead of knowing the truth behind its corresponding growth.  The world’s population is continually increasing so it would be “natural” that church populations will grow as well, but as the world’s spiritual depravity grows it is painfully evident that the Church’s is following in this pattern as well, which ultimately means that her focus is NOT on God but on the acceptance of worldly standards.  How can I, a medical technologist make such a claim as this?  These words I share come not from me but from God.  God shares these words of knowledge with me and I am an obedient servant that records them in the personal manner that God gave to me; that is why I do this. 

God is calling out to His children that times are about to change and that the Church needs to get her head out of the clouds and reject the presence of the world in her life.  Over the past few years we have continually heard about the Arab Spring and renewal that it has brought to the Muslim communities.  It is time that we need to renew our hearts back to God and to seek His ways once again.  The Church needs to understand that our enemy is just that, OUR ENEMY!  He is NOT our friend and since we have allowed his presence to be all around us, we need to take the opportunity now to look into his eyes and see what his true plans are for our lives. 

If we really complete this act, it will become apparent that we need to shake this fixation of his “beautiful” ways from our lives and to completely separate ourselves from his accompaniment.  God created each one of us to be beautiful, that is of no question but it is through the physical perversion of this fact that is a major key that Satan uses against us.  God asks you to look into our enemy’s eyes and see his true motives.  God also asks you to look into His eyes and notice the difference.  God has given us the capacity to make this choice and God desires to give us eternal rest and peace while our enemy offers no eternal…..anything, for he has nothing to offer except eternal separation and gnashing of teeth.  Yes, you are created in the image of God and have His eternal spirit within us.  Each one of us is beautiful beyond measure but it is not limited to the physical side of our lives.  Our enemy uses this physical aspect to define our thinking and perverts it into becoming first in our judgmental stability.  It is a “great” tool that he uses in order to obtain his goal and it has devastating effects on our lives at the same time.

It is true that we cannot determine who our enemy is unless we have the willingness to look into his eyes and see for ourselves his true motives.  First we must be willing to recognize that we have an enemy and not to be blind to the fact of what is truth and what is not.  We as a society have lost this aspect and the Church is quickly following suit.  Secondly we need to understand that we cannot look at our enemy’s outward appearance and immediately accept that he is not evil.  Thirdly, we need to understand that our enemy is all around us and that it is not hard for us to look into his eyes to see the true motives.  And fourthly we need to then take a step back and tell him to leave our land for our land and our lives belongs to God alone.  If we take these steps God guarantees that He shall restore our land to its full potential and that includes our personal lives as well.  But if we choose to allow our enemy to infiltrate our society and personal lives, we will remove God’s hedge of protection from our lives and give free reign of our enemy’s destructive notions both spiritual and physical upon our lives; a setting that is not pleasant to think about.  The eyes have it folks and we need to begin looking in the correct place NOW!

DLB

The Blood

The Blood

3/17/15

If we did not have blood coursing through our bodies we would not live very long.  Blood is the key component of our existence that is needed in order for our bodies to function and if we do not have this blood our lives would cease to exist.  Through medical advancements we have learned that we can actually live and function without certain parts of our body, but if we have no blood in our veins and arteries we simply die.  Without blood none of our organs can receive the necessary vitamins, oxygen, water, iron, phosphorus and other vital nutrients for our survival.  So if our blood is that important to our physical bodies why would it be any different in our eternal salvation?  We cannot survive without blood, there is no option other than this statement and there is no other option than the sacrificial lamb that was slain for our eternal lives and restoration between God and man than His blood either.

When I was in high school I went to one of the job fairs that the local businesses put on, it really was not much of a choice since the fair was presented at our school that particular year.  Anyway, I was walking through the displays and ran across one from the hospital.  One of the small booths had a few pictures of some round objects that looked familiar to me, they were red blood cells.  The medical field was not a new concept to me since my mother studied to be a nurse when I was very young and she had kept all of her nursing books which I thoroughly enjoyed to read.  As I stood in front of the laboratory’s display board, a man came up to me and asked if I was interested in the medical field and when I replied with a “yes, sir” he then asked if I might be interested in considering the laboratory as a more specific choice.  That question and my ensuing answer got me started on a career in the laboratory that I am proud to say has lasted almost 30 years now.

As my time in the laboratory has tenured, the knowledge of the components within our bodies has increased tremendously.  As time has progressed, I have learned many things about the main study project within the lab, blood.  There are so many components of a red blood cell and a white blood cell that it would take me years to try and explain everything that each of those two have on their cell surfaces and each one of their functions.  We continually learn more and more about these cells and just how important they are to the human body.  Over the years of studying the cells and how they operate within the confines of the bone marrow and circulation it has become evidently clear to me that blood is the defining and foundational component that we have to ensure life as we know it.

Without blood we literally cannot survive.  I know that is a pretty powerful statement but it is true for if we did not have blood none of our organs could function properly.  It is the blood that provides all of our nutrients to our vital organs and it is through the blood and its penetrating membranes that provide all of the necessary fluids to our organs.  Without these vital fluids and nutrients our heart would not have the capacity to beat and provide the necessary pressure in order for us to maintain consciousness.  Nor would our brains have enough sugar to enable our neurons to fire adequately to have coordinated muscle and nerve movements.  Our stomachs would cease to digest food and our gallbladder and liver stop providing bile that is needed for proper digestion and clotting.  All life within our bodies would cease to exist and we would not be able to take one breath of life; all would not exist.

I know that for many millennia not much has been known about the blood but the importance of its existence and adequate level within our bodies has been studied quite extensively.  With this knowledge of blood and its components it should not be too hard to understand why God placed within our bodies when He created them.  The entire circulatory system is an amazing organ which fascinates the smartest minds and it is an anomaly that one still cannot fully explain.  Yet it empowers our bodies on second by second basis thus creating and giving life as we know it.

Yet, there are problems that arise from the blood and for these deathly origins we are still trying to figure out many things.  Over my years working in the laboratory I have come across many people who have had many diseases that have been born from the blood and I have witnessed many of these people suffer greatly because of this process.  I am a diabetic and while I am lucky enough to be able to control my sugar levels with diet and exercise not everyone who has this condition can offer the same response.  But I do know that while I have this condition it is my blood cells that I still require to live and if I did not have these red cells floating around inside my veins, my sugar levels really would not be much of a concern to me.

A few weeks back one of the popular TV stars was asked a question concerning God.  This actor is a staunch atheist and has no real thoughts about changing his mind either.  The person giving the interview asked him a question concerning God and it had to do with this: if God were real in your mind, what would you ask Him?  The person’s response was with a question of: how dare you, how dare you create children with cancer?  Not many people hear about this interview and I understand why, but it provides us with a vital clue as to how people view God and His fantastic creation called the human body.  God did not create us in any type of faulty manner, He created a perfect and beautiful running instrument that was designed to run eternally, even the most brilliant scientists of today still wonder why our bodies break down, for they really shouldn’t.  So it is fitting that since our bodies do break down that there should be a connection still that is present within our lives that can connect us to God when needed.

We can live without an eye or our spleen and we can even have a heart transplant if one is needed and available.  Most of our body parts can now be successfully replaced and can extend our faulty lives by years and sometimes decades, but we all have one thing in common and that is this: if we do not have enough blood in our systems we can have the finest organs ever genetically constructed but they will not mean one thing if we do not have the blood to fill them and make them perform as they should.  The organs will lay waste and will not be worth a plug nickel to anyone without blood, so why wouldn’t God choose this part of life to use as the savior to for our lives.  We all know God is Spirit and He placed His Spirit within our lives so this means that in order for Him to use blood as His defining “life” point, then He must have something in place to start with, so no spiritual additions can be argued later.  However, once a person begins to lose blood it needs to be replaced and this replacement process can become a continual infusion.  While the glucose and kidney function tests may remain normal, the blood levels continue to drop and the person presents into another metabolic setting, one that usually results in a permanent procurement.

Now, when reading the Bible one must contend that those events were real and that they actually took place and if one understands this basic concept it is easier to relate to the people in the Bible because they were just as human as you and I are.  They shared the same vital statistics as we do and cover many of the same questions and hardships that we do as well.  So why would their “innards” be any different than ours?  It is evident that blood was a part of their lives and that they understood the importance of blood and what it meant to their existence.  Did they understand what Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia was and what it did to the body?  I doubt it but they did know how important blood was and the corresponding significance of its presence was.  The knowledge of the importance of blood must have been the topic of some discussion between God and Adam and Eve and it must have followed with their sons as well, for if it had not, how would they have known about blood and its significance?

This was evident in the story of Cain and Abel and the example of their sacrifices to God.  Both men understood what had occurred with their parents and their past living space and they both knew that atonement had to be accounted for when it came to repentance and how to achieve this passing over of judgment.  Abel was acutely aware of what blood meant and used it fervently in his sacrifice to God who had no problems accepting this holy yet imperfect gift for Abel’s sins.  Cain on the other hand did not choose to offer blood but fruits of his work and nothing on a personal and intimate level and as we all know his sacrifice was not accepted by God.  The importance of blood and the shedding of blood in order to provide the necessary sacrifice set the standard for man and the relationship with God.  No other offering would be acceptable.  God provided a pure and holy covenant that He can never break and we offer up blood in return to which we cannot live without. 

This example proves that God is not just serious about His commitment to us but He has established an eternal covenant with an impossible and immeasurable reciprocation required upon our part.  I cannot believe that God would establish anything less than a perfect and eternal offering to “the table”.  And I cannot believe that He would accept anything less from our side of “the table” either.  God understands that we chose to lose His perfect created status for us and to make things acceptable to Him, He provided us with the “perfect” way for us to show our need for Him.  This concept of shedding of blood must have had many minds running during the times in the Bible and since they were human there must have been plenty of doubters, just look at Cain.

There is no way that I can explain as to why God chose this element to represent the one item within our bodies that He would recognize as acceptable.  I do know that all throughout the Bible blood is the symbol that God recognizes and that our enemy recognizes as the one identifying source of covering.  From the early days of the Old Testament to the Exodus of Israel and including the crucifixion of Christ blood has been the one source of covering for countless numbers of people.  And up until this date, it is the only acceptable offering that God has recognized as pure enough to obtain His mercies and forgiveness.  Once again Abraham was prepared to offer up his own son as the sacrifice that had been asked by God but God had another plan even though Abraham had to persevere a huge test until that final moment.  Abraham was ready to shed his own son’s blood in order to keep the covenant that had been promised by God, but the purification process was instead through a ram.

God was consistent throughout the Bible in how we can “purify” ourselves by the usage of blood.  God also made it very clear that there was only one way possible for this purification process to be completed.  While God did not require human sacrifice to obtain this holy and divine covering He did require our hearts to understand and to recognize the reasons why blood was the necessary component that completed this process.  Blood represents the single organ within our lives that provides the necessary ingredients that gives us life and it is through this blood covering that allows us to have direct access to God.

There is no way that our lives can be changed from this sinful state.  We chose to have this eternal placement put upon our lives and it is through the mercy of God that He has provided a way for us to seek and to obtain covering for this fact.  God views all life precious and has from the moment of life’s creation.  God makes each life very distinct and treats each life with the utmost of respect, for every life that has ever been created He loves.  God understands that there is a separation between Him and humanity and that separation cannot be closed due to the sin that inhabits our life.  If one recognizes this separation, then it will become clear that God is consistent in His ways and when one method is mentioned in the Old Testament that same method He shall follow from that point onwards.

It is not difficult to follow God’s patterns.  Even though He is a personality that our human minds cannot ever totally comprehend, He puts things into motion that we can understand.  God is not a God of variances or variables He is consistent all the time and can never change His ways or thinking.  Humans tend to place our standards upon other humans which make mistakes, lie, cheat steal and kill in order to deal with problems.  And now there is a growing number of people who wish to place God into this same category, which they 9the humans) can do this all they want but one day they will find out that God does not change and that He cannot change.  God chose the blood for a specific reason and He shall never change this element as the standard of covering and restoration.

When someone refers to someone else as being related then they accept the fact, whether good or bad, that they are blood.  My grandfather always viewed people and family from the standpoint of whether or not they were “blood or not”.  Not that he would treat anyone any differently but it was the recognition that set blood from non blood.  God is the same way in the fact that if you receive the blood over your life then you are made clean and whole.  This was the concept that the Old Testament procedures followed and it was through this sacrifice that their sins were forgiven and their lives covered.  But over time this heart service became a drill and monotonous

We may never fully understand what each blood cell might be able to do within our body.  Technology is advancing each day but we still have so many unanswered questions concerning the blood.  I know that through our study and repeated testing we have found out countless facts about blood and through these means researchers will inch closer to the full knowledge of what blood truly does.  I have the utmost confidence the same holds true if we continue to study God’s Word and what it really means to our lives, both physical and spiritual.  The more we study and comprehend the blood of Christ and what it serves in our lives the more we will want to ensure that we are covered by it. 

Blood was the center piece in Old Testament sacrifices and the meaning of the shedding of blood should have kept humanities spiritual fires burning, but like us today those fires burnt out and we began to do things our own way.  God sent messengers to tell the people what was going on within their hearts, yet the people still ignored the warnings.  When Christ walked the earth He preached and taught the exact same words and still the people did not understand His teachings.  How much more love can One give than offering His own Son up to serve as the final sacrifice and opening up of the relationship between God and man again.  There is only one way that mankind can return to God’s presence and relationship and that is through the blood of Christ.  It is this covered bridge that we will either ignore or walk under.  It is a gift of simple means, chose Christ or not to chose Christ.  Is blood that important?  You bet your eternal life it is.

DLB

The Sacrifice

The Sacrifice

3/15/15

There have been some people that have called into question the authoritative position of Christ and what He means to our salvation.  These overall groups of people have increased exponentially over the past few millennia and have increased their worldly acceptance at the same time.  While the majority of these people have great personalities, behavior and are usually upright standing within society, they have become a sticker in the Word of God and the authority of the blood of Jesus.  There are many aspects of this progressive thinking that need to be addressed but I am sticking to one topic here and that is the authority of Christ and the meaning of the Cross.  It is not my intentions to upset anyone, but most likely I shall because it will disprove their beliefs, but it is necessary because times are going to change real soon and we need to know and to understand the truth.

It is of human nature for one to believe that there are more ways than one to achieve a goal.  This is such a true human statement and can be accepted as the rule in almost every aspect of human life.  That is why there are ranges in our justice system which are handed down which include harsh sentences or leniency depending upon the circumstances and the reasons that said rules were broken.  However, there are some laws and crimes which have only one system of justice and even then justice is never always achieved.  While these rules, laws, and justice provides us with a formidable guide for our society, they all represent a flawed mind and will from their creators; which sometimes those flaws are evident.

A common term that many of us use goes like this: don’t judge me, only God can judge me, or unless you walk in my shoes don’t judge me.  There are numerous variations of this statement that we hear each day, but do we really understand what we are saying when we use those phrases?  I have to be honest here and point out that I have used those phrases for the decisions that I have made in the past and I understand why people use them but do we really understand what we are saying?  We are implying that only God can judge us and in the end that is true, but the question remains is this, do we mean it?

If we mean it then we understand that one day God will judge us for the wrong doings of our lives, which raises another question: How do we know what we are going to be judged on?  The only way we can understand that process is if we read AND understand the Word of God and what it means literally!  If we do not believe that the Word of God is literal how can we honestly say that we accept God as our eternal judge?  There is no way possible.  Which brings up another condition and question: if you have been forgiven, by God, for these wrong doings, then why is it so complicated for you to talk about them and address them to others so that they can see what God has done for you?  You are being questioned by your peers, so why hide what God has done for you?  Unless you are just using those words as a cop-out and a way to escape from the moment, either way you are not providing those people or yourself the truth.

It is an honor to use God as a backup defense when it comes to judgment, for He sees what is in my heart and He understands that I am human and most of all because He has provided a way that I can make mistakes, learn from them, tell others about them and still be forgiven into eternity.  It may seem like a complicated process, but it really is not and to make things this easy God has provided a single way in which we can have this eternal forgiveness.  It stems from the Old Testament Scriptures, carries itself right through the time of Jesus and leads us in today’s society and it all has to do with Jesus as the centerpiece. 

I am blessed to have godly parents who raised me in church and according to God’s Word.  My father was not always going to be a minister; engineering was his specialty and as long as he could remember this field of study was his everything.  He tells of his calling into the ministry by a vision that God gave him.  I am not going into many details, but it was short and sweet.  There was a hill with multitudes of people running up to the top.  At the top of the hill was a cross and as soon as people reached the cross and ran by it, they fell off of a cliff forever to be lost.  Dad cried out to God and asked Him, why doesn’t somebody tell them about the cross and to stop at it for it is their salvation, and God spoke to my dad and said that is what I want you to do. 

There is no way possible that I can argue with a testimony and calling from God such as that.  There was no other way that God showed my dad for their salvation and there were no second chances for those people who fell off the cliff after they had ignored the cross.  They did not even stop to ask why there was a cross there to begin with, but they continued to run, making the choice to go their own way.  This is where Matthew 1:1-18 comes into play and defines the only way that Jesus can be our salvation, but first we must take a step back and begin in Genesis and to the time of Cain and Abel.

How important is the sacrifice?  I would have to stand on the Word of God and proclaim that it is a matter of eternal life or eternal death and nothing short of such an existence.  How often do I wish that I would have known the purity of life as mankind was once created, but as I spend time wandering in this blissful state, I have to be honest with everyone and say that I too probably would have been tempted and have fallen just as Adam and Eve did that fateful day.  A true sacrifice cannot be presented in any ordinary fashion with ordinary entitlements, only pure hearts and pure offerings can be presented that comply with the rules of sacrifice can be presented.  How can one be expected to bring mediocre offerings and except pure forgiveness?

Let us look at the beauty of the sacrifice and what it sets as the standard for our eternal lives.  God is not a parent who thinks that our lives are just garbage and that we can be replaced at any time.  Our enemy does a good enough job of telling us that we are not good enough to complete life and that we need to continually adjust ourselves in order to fit in properly.  God NEVER placed us into the world for us to be like the world, He placed us into a perfect setting and we chose to alter that setting, thus creating our physical need to be accepted by our surroundings.  Our eternal lives were paid for by a furious love and a love that conquers all obstacles through the power of the blood and of the sacrificial lamb.  There is no higher calling within our bodies than that of blood, and it is through this element that our lives are measured by and nothing less.  So, if there is a way to atone for our grotesque and disgusting lives in a pure and holy Creator, blood is the answer.  And this blood must be pure and presented in holy terms in order for it to be accepted, no less, no fewer and no alternatives.  THAT is how important our lives are to God.

In the book of Genesis, there is a story that we all know about and it deals with Cain and his brother Abel.  We really do not know how much time had passed from when Adam and Eve were forced from the Garden of Eden, but we do know that when the story of Cain and Abel took place they were grown men with their own professions established.  The same state of choice is displayed in this story just as it in place within our lives today.  I do not have any doubt that these two men understood what it meant to present a sacrifice for both of them did it willingly.  Wait a minute; I thought that the bloodline began with Abraham?  It did, but God does not leave anything out and the basis and background of this bloodline and its importance beings with Cain and Abel.

The difference was that one obeyed the call for complete sacrifice and gave the one gift of life that God had deemed necessary for the repentant offering.  Abel had no problems with taking the best of what he had and offering it up completely to God and asking for forgiveness for all of his faults.  Abel understood the importance of blood and what it meant for the life of the sacrificial lamb and to his own life; I can guarantee that he also understood that for him to be totally reconciled with God, he would have to offer up his own life if necessary in like manner, or at least be willing to do such.  It was evident when the smoke from Abel’s sacrifice rose straight up into the air that God was pleased and accepted the complete life sacrifice of Abel.  It was not that Abel’s work was deemed better, but it came from his heart and was all around pure in nature.

Cain on the other hand, decides to do things a little different and chose the fruits of his labor instead of a blood sacrifice, an alternative route or idea if you wish to put it in those terms.  Yes, the sacrifice was of good quality and to the person who has labored greatly it would have seemed to be the perfect sacrifice.  Yet, no blood was shed in this sacrifice and with blood being the necessary giver of life for all living matter, the sacrifice of Cain fell short to God’s expectations and law.  This was evident when the smoke of Cain’s sacrifice went sideways and did not rise up into the air, thus providing a key signal that the sacrifice was not deemed acceptable in God’s heart.

This setting proves that there was only one way that God deemed a sacrifice to be acceptable and that was the best of the life of the household and a complete sacrifice with the shedding of blood to be included.  I find this story and setting very interesting in that there are two backdrops that come into play.  The first one, of course, comes into play during the time of Cain and Abel in which the basis of God’s laws had been told to them, probably many times over.  As brothers, they came from the same tent and heard of the many stories that their parents told them about the family’s past and what had occurred as a result of the choices that their parents made.  Adam and Eve, trying their best not to mess things up further, must have told their children of how things must be in order for the relationship between them and God to be restored.  And with the example of the tree of knowledge of good and evil as the remembrance, I am sure that Adam and Eve harped upon the reasons as to why they should do things the way of God and not of their own created doings.

Yet, God allowed both Cain and Abel to make their sacrificial offerings to Him and both did according to what was within their heart.  It was clear that Abel had no problems with his submission to God and to His ways and it was also clear that Cain had a problem with accepting God’s ways and did things according to what suited him instead of God.  At this point, Cain must have known that things were not right between God and him and also at this point he had a chance to make things right with God.  Just as with Judas he had to make a choice and if he would have chosen to make things right with God all would have been well indeed. 

But Cain decided to allow his emotions overcome him and began his revenge upon Abel, the one whose sacrifice was accepted by God.  Both men had the correct knowledge of God and knew what to do, but it is very clear of who wanted his own way and who wanted God’s way in their lives.  I find it very ironic that in the end that Cain chose to shed his brother’s blood instead of a true sacrifice to God.  I also find it interesting that Cain had no remorse for doing such act and how hardened his heart was after the fact even when his own brother’s blood was crying out from the ground.  Cain’s choice had been made and it tells a horrid story about the condition of hearts and who is in control of them.

I have previously stated that God has a set of laws in place for our own protection.  They are not there to inhibit us in any way but to keep us free from the world and all of the sins of its ruler.  I did not like it much when my parents grounded me when I was a kid nor did I like it when I received a spanking for my wrong doings.  But they had rules that I had to follow and when I thought that I was better than their rules they had to remind me that those rules were in place for a reason.  As I continued my growing phase in life I began to understand the reasons why they had rules in place for they saw the many dangers that were around me that I was not noticing.  The same concept is in place with God’s laws and it would behoove us to get to know these laws and understand the reasons as to why they are there, for while my parents’ groundings came to an end, our eternity is just that, eternal.

God could have accepted Cain’s sacrifice as he presented it, but it would have set the stage for Satan to be allowed to return to his heavenly and pure status before his fall.  God would have been deemed unworthy as an eternal Creator and would have thrown away his best example of eternal existence, humanity.  Many do not understand this concept and others just throw it away and do not wish to believe it as truth.  But God asks you to stop and think about this concept and to dive deep within your spirit and to hear the truth that is being told. 

DLB

Mankind's Ability to Remove Hedges

Mankind’s Ability to Remove Hedges

3/5/15

I mentioned in part two of this series about how open doors lead to major problems for humanity due to the leash laws that Satan has to abide by.  I was introduced to that phrase from my Uncle and it has changed my concept and beliefs about how and what affects my life…while I still fail at times I have learned to close those doors that I have opened and to once again give me a spiritual level fighting plane.  That level playing field is open to every person, group and nation that wishes to live in perfect peace and total abundance.  There are three examples that I am going use in this part of the series, and through these three examples God is giving us another chance to stop the calamities that are about to occur in our land.  We are on the verge of being shaken to the core and if we do not realize what we are doing, our enemy will have the authority to wreak havoc on our society for a very long time.

The first hedge that we know about in the Bible occurs in the Garden of Eden.  If we stop and take a closer look at this setting we will see that God created a perfect place for the perfect creation.  We also see that the ability of the human to make a choice is present as well, for it is obvious of what eventually occurs within the Garden of Eden.  There is a difference however in what occurs as a result of this choice of ours and it is so vast a result that we continue to live with it today.  When God removes a hedge of protection around us He sets the boundaries and is able to control what happens to our lives.  Some people look at this situation and say that God was too harsh and He allowed too much punishment to be upon humanity.  But when we look at the conditions of the hedge and how it was breeched, some things are different than other times mentioned in the Bible.

In this instance God had placed Adam and Eve inside the Garden of Eden and regularly communicated with them; face to face on a daily basis.  If God was physically on the earth that meant that the current conditions of the Garden was holy and pure.  As God and the humans got to know each other, God eventually said to them that there was one law that He had set into motion and it was one that we needed to follow.  Up until that time our enemy had no opportunity to challenge God for there was no direct law in place.  However, when God made the proclamation concerning the tree, Satan had grounds to tempt the humans, and so he did.

Adam and Eve both broke the one law that God had set into place.  This was not an immediate or overnight process, it took time for Satan to initiate and execute his plan.  It was the enticing of Eve that began the breakdown of the hedge that God had placed around their lives and for all intense purposes it seems quite evident that both Adam and Eve did not understand what was about them.  After a certain amount of time had passed, it became clear that Satan had an inroad with Eve and with this break he took full advantage.  At this time in the example I want to take time to reemphasize something that I have previously written and that is that we need to remember that while Adam and Eve were partaking with the serpent, God was not physically with them.  Yes, God knew exactly what was transpiring but God was not physically hovering over them and forcing His hand upon their decisions.  The decision to eat of the tree was strictly THEIR choice and no one else’s.

It was Adam and Eve who chipped away at this hedge enough to allow Satan to engulf their thoughts about the tree.  When our enemy saw the opportunity he did not hesitate, he seized the moment and used our own gift of choice for his favor.  In no manner did God release, tear or remove the protective hedge that was around Adam and Eve along with all of the animals and plants within the Garden perimeter.  God had done all that He could to make sure that humanity understood that there was a law in place and that it should not be violated.  God also provided enough evidence as to why this law was in place, for even though God cannot and shall not ever force Himself or His ways on our lives, He does provide enough evidence for us to use our ability to make sound and correct decisions.

It was this process of our choosing to disobey the one law that God had in place, along with the idea of believing our deceiver long enough for us to begin this process that removed the hedge of protection from around our lives.  See God places a hedge big enough and strong enough to protect us from everything that our enemy wishes, but as I have stated in the previous article Satan is on a leash and he cannot do anything unless he is given the authority to do so.  That authority comes from two sources, one from God and the other from us; and there is a HUGE difference between the two sources and it is on full display in the setting within the Garden of Eden.

It is clear that in this setting that after the “deed was done” God had to come take control of the situation, and it did not take Him long to find out exactly what occurred.  God had nothing to do with the fact that Adam and Eve made the choice to eat of the fruit.  Yes, God had planned for this and had already taken this into consideration when He created us.  But since we choose to disobey this means that it was our fault and it was our choice to do so.  In other words, Adam and Eve took the control of protection away from God and selfishly ordained their own wills to be the masters of their lives, thus tying God’s hands in the protection department by voluntarily pulling away the perfect protective hedge that God had established for them.  Therefore, God could not stop the destructive nature of the result of the disobedience and had to act accordingly to His perfect and divine authority.  God had to allow this action to take place because of our actions, not His.

We all know what the result was of this disobedient act.  Up until that moment humanity had no idea what sickness and death were and did not understand the sensation of pain.  Their life was easy and pure without any blemish to their name, but the choice to disobey changed humanity forever and still to this day, we inherit this suffering and there is nothing that we can do to change that physical trait.  It is this portion of the story that differs from the next portion which I have been writing about and that is the hedge that Job had around his life.  As God has shown us, it was God who removed the hedge around Job long enough for Satan to try and prove God wrong but in the end Job stood tall for God and Satan was disgraced once again.

God was in complete control of the situation with Job, and Satan had no power outside of what God allowed him to operate.  This proves that there are two sources of authority that Satan can operate through and in both cases he is still on a controlled leash.  In the story of Job it is clear that Satan could not do anything unless God said he could and even then he could only go so far with his destruction.  In the story of Adam and Eve it is clear that until mankind began taking the edges of the hedge away, Satan had no real authority to destroy, but when the time was ripe, he jumped at the opportunity and stole the perfect living conditions and perfect physical lives.  While Job suffered on the physical side of life, God protected his eternal status through the knowledge of His existence, whereas Adam and Eve ended their physical and eternal lives due to the fact that they chose to disobey.  See the difference, both physically and eternally?

Adam and Eve were not the only examples of this selfish and mankind sloughing off of the protective hedge that God had placed around people.  One would believe that once others would read this story of personal and permanent destruction it would not be difficult to follow suit ever again; yet, humans will be humans and eventually forget the history lessons of their pasts and once again consume their own path of existence.  And it was not too much further down the road that Israel once again decided to take matters into their own hands, ignore the messages and cries from the prophets of God, and do things their own way.

It must have been a great day when Israel believed that they had finally broke out of their confined living spaces and believed that with all of their advancements and achievements for their cause, all the while placing God on their back burner and away from their lead.  It is easy for people to forget where their historical backgrounds originate when all is going well, but it takes a tougher and more foundational society to understand that when things go wrong there is a reason and it is usually a specific reason as to why those instances are occurring.  However, if that person, group, nation or society is so wrapped up in their own “free” living conditions, it is just as easy to miss the boulder that is rolling straight towards you which is exactly what occurred approximately 725 BC.

A couple of weeks ago God showed us a topic that dealt with Israel during this time and the article that was written was in two parts, titled “Guess Who, Part I” and “Guess Who, Part II”.  I am not going to retrace those steps again and I advise you to read those articles to refresh your memory of the case of Israel and how our society is completely mimicking Israel in the years around 725 BC – 722 BC.  In those articles God showed us the devastating effects that each society endured and shall endure and shall continue to endure until we make things right with God.  One may argue that these two societies cannot be compared with each other since their origins are completely different.  This argument is based upon false foundations since both countries were originated for one purpose, the advancement of God’s Kingdom.  In a few weeks I will be sharing what God has given to us concerning our current country and how through our own actions and decrees are totally under God’s authority.

It is mankind’s choosing to either keep God within their society or not to have Him in at all.  There cannot be a middle ground for this would be considered half way or lukewarm and we have read what God does with that type of commitment.  It is obvious that Israel was lukewarm in their commitment to God and while they were living in this condition failed to hear what their prophets were saying and at the same time ignoring the warning signs that God had placed within their society.  It is during this time that Israel had to make a choice whether to live within God’s covenant barriers or to go it alone and do things on their own.  It probably took some time but it was clear that Israel wanted to do things their own way and through this choice paved the way for their future.  Some may wonder why God would allow such a choice to be made and then followed through with, but we always must remember that God shall never force Himself or His ways upon our lives, it will always be our choice, and so it was.

It is God’s responsibility to protect His children; this is a basic foundational law of a parent.  And it is never easy for God to remove, for any reason, His protective hedge from around His children.  However, since God cannot force His ways upon our lives, it leaves the door open for mankind to voluntarily remove this hedge by disobeying God’s laws of protection.  Just as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden, the human will of lust, greed, and self service as long as they are allowed to progress, will take over the human heart and thus force God out of our lives at the same time.  Remember, two kingdoms are present and they can never mix, thus if one kingdom is pushed forward the other is pushed backwards and this means that if God’s Kingdom is pushed back, then His protection goes with it.

Israel found herself having a field day with their lives.  Through their progressive laws and policies all became great and no one had any major problems.  Through this built up status they believed, and then boasted that they were the best in the land and that no one had the power or authority to challenge their current beliefs and ways of life.  They became so engrossed within themselves that they failed to recognize what was going on around them.  God’s warning became more intense and with each warning Israel ignored the cries of the prophets and continued to “fix” their problems with a humanistic and selfish methods.  Soon no guidance from God was needed for the satisfaction and physical gratification that they obtained from their gods raked in a more delightful setting than what they had ever known before, but what would one expect if you were playing on the team that has the home field advantage.

The actions of Israel allowed a series of events to occur within their society.  “Cracks in their armor” began to appear yet because of the belief that their duty was to progressively exist and positively advance those “God given” gifts would place them in an impenetrable state from what they were exactly running towards.  God gave them the ability to live as they did and nothing occurred so that must have meant that He approved.  Soon, Israel found out that they were wrong about this fantasy concerning God but they had “advanced” so much without God in their lives that when their entire nation fell to the Assyrians, they had no idea of why it occurred.

How can I make a statement as that?  Look at the devastation that Israel endured during this time.  Every facet of their nation was totally annihilated, piece by piece and when they were left vulnerable, the Assyrians who were a far weaker nation than Israel came and finished off the children of God.  They defeated the Israelites so soundly that the remaining people were taken into captivity once again and those that escaped were scattered abroad, never to form the nation of Israel while they lived.  In fact, the nation of Israel did not exist as they did at that time again, a complete nation until 1948 when the United Nations formally recognized the Jewish State of Israel.  Yes, there were other times that Israel had a nation but not all of their people were allowed to gather together, they were fragmented in different parts of the region and ruled over by numerous empires during that time; the Temple of God being destroyed twice by ruling and / or invading armies.

The question that remains is this: why did God allow this type of destruction to occur and why for such a long time?  If you remember when Adam and Eve chose to do things their own way it was their choice to do so.  God placed one law into effect inside the Garden of Eden; that was it.  Mankind could not obey that one simple law thus removing the protective hedge that God had placed over and around them.  By Adam and Eve doing things their own way and believing that they could get away with one small concept, they removed enough of that protective hedge to allow Satan all of the authority he needed to permanently destroy their lives.  It was not God’s doing it was mankind’s doing.

Moving forward to Job and how his situation differed.  It was God who set the stage for the removal of the protective hedge around Job.  It was God who suggested this to be done and then allowed it to happen.  However, even though God removed the hedge, He still had complete control of what the enemy could do and not do.  In the Garden of Eden Satan had free reign to complete his mission because of what mankind took away from God.  Not so in the story of Job, God was in control, not Job.

Moving forward once again to the nation of Israel and the time setting of approximately 725 BC and the events that are unfolding in this nation have become troubling yet the children of Israel believed that everything was going to be ok and that they were doing nothing wrong, especially in the eyes of their gods.  They failed to realize that their actions and through their choices they were removing the protective hedge that God had placed over and around them, piece by piece.  They were voluntarily placing themselves into a very dangerous position both physically and spiritually.  In no way did God approve of this process, but because it was our choice to break God’s laws and try and justify their rationale to do such God had no choice but to sit back and watch His beloved children suffer at the hands of everyone’s enemy.  In no way was it ever in God’s plans for His children, His personally created nation to suffer in such degree or manner, but through the Israelites own choices God had no choice but to watch it all unfold.

Let us fast forward to the present day and the state of our society but more specifically that of our country.  We have watched the world turn tail from God and embrace worldly factions and laws. 

Something to keep in mind while we are on the subject of Assyria and it was how relatively small their kingdom was when Israel was at its height.  Up until that time Assyria was not known for its military might and really did not pose any threat to any of its neighbors.  They were weak and small with no influence what-so-ever in the region, yet they took down God’s children without any fierce resistance from Israel.  Israel was slaughtered in every way mentionable and by the time was over, Israel ceased to exist.

An important term was coined after the Assyrians attacked and demolished Israel and it is a term that we use on a daily basis today.  The Assyrians fought so furiously and with such thoroughness that this ruthless action was named terror.  The Assyrian empire invented this type of warfare and they perfected it as they gained in numbers and in confidence as they marched all across the Middle Eastern region.  The Assyrians given with time formed one of the most brutal and menacing empires that the world has ever known and even though God allowed this regime to capture Israel and destroy her, His hand was not upon the Assyrians for they too came up against a mightier force which destroyed their world as well.  But the damage to Israel had already been done and God’s hands were tied simply because Israel chose to live within their own rules and laws instead of the ones that God had designed for them.  Israel voluntarily took that barrier away from them and suffered an unabated enemy’s wrath for their choices.  While it tore God’s heart apart He could do nothing according to His laws that were in place.  Once God establishes a law, HE CANNOT CHANGE IT OR GO AGAINST IT!

I am positive that not every citizen that lived within the confines of the nation of Israel in 722 BC agreed with the choices that the nation decided to thrive by; however, it is clear that the overall heart of the nation, or majority of the nation, did favor this turning away from God.  When we stop and think about the entire situation of that scene, it is difficult for us to rationalize that the righteous were slaughtered with the unrighteous.  But if God holds true to His laws He cannot be any respecter of persons which means that everyone who is within the boundaries of the attack might be included in the consequences.  It seems tough but this example should stand out to everyone that it takes a community and a nation working together in order to make the group a functioning society; however, we have this example to show us that sometimes the choices that societies make have disastrous consequences.

The most significant detail of this setting to us should be the fact that God is not in control of the situation that ensued with Israel.  It was our enemy that had complete control over the destruction process and it is amazing to see how his authority (chain) was extended for an extensive amount of time and space.  It also gives us a true example of how much our enemy hates our existence even though he continually lies to us and influences our daily choices.  It was ferocious enough to have God curse the Assyrian nation into obliteration, but not until our enemy had finished with Israel and the surroundings nations.  Another intriguing detail here is that after Satan had completed his destruction process, he did not assist one bit while Assyria was being annihilated by its newly found enemies, their consequences were just as brutal against them.

As God has shown us in the “Guess Who” articles our nation is basically identical in stature and status as Israel was around 725 BC.  During my growing up life I watched the Middle East take steps towards war, fight those wars and then end them with a hair’s width peace agreement that usually failed within a short period of time.  I also watched our nation take steps to break away the hedge that God had placed around us and over us and as time marched along, it became evident that we had pulled away enough of it that the word terror finally was allowed to hit home on our shores.  We cried to God for a while but steadily went back to our own ways of life and even increased our dependence upon ourselves instead of trying to understand and truly change our ways.

Through the words that God has shared with us over the past few years, I have continually used the example of our nation against the backdrop of the Roman Empire, but maybe I should have chose the ancient nation of Israel instead because or used together since all three societies has so much in common.  With the lifestyle that I have always known it would be hard to imagine that all of it would be gone, wiped out and totally destroyed by the most grotesque manner known to mankind; some ways might have never been recorded before.  I have no idea as to what, when or how this destructive force may arrive, but I do know that we are fervently removing the protective hedge that God has around us.  Our arrogance of being in charge has overtaken our spirits and like the failed banks, mortgage companies and other industries that have totally crumbled for various reasons, we shall fall even harder.

God will shed many a tear while our destruction is occurring, but because it was OUR choice to live outside of His laws He cannot stop the destructive forces that will come against us.  It must be known that ANY nation that has any contact or connection with God and then falls away will be subject to horrible consequences from our enemy.  Why?  Because Satan utterly hates God and everything that He stands for and if any person, group or nation falls into line with God and then gives the leash laws an opportunity to work, then all of Satan’s built up fury will be unleashed for at one point it was their choice to serve with God.  Falling away from God is HUGE mistake and a great example of a bad idea and it really puts Jesus’ words into context here when He stated on the cross “forgive them, for they know what they do”.

This week one of God’s chosen leaders spoke at a joint session of Congress.  The speech was not spectacular nor was it one that some of the audience agreed with.  We all know that some of the leaders of this country and many within the country’s boundaries did not show up for this event.  While this type of activity should not surprise anyone there was a telling interview that should ring loud to this nation.  This interview states the grown reality of the voters and reflects the ideologies of millions around the world today.

The speech of Prime Minister Netanyahu was not a bombshell of information but it was a Churchill like speech that placed the world on alert of another potential disaster.  While the PM’s speech was eloquently stated there were some in the audience that began to mock his words by using their own ignorance and arrogance as the foundation for their behavior.  After the speech was concluded, public remarks about this speech set the stage for a public mockery of God and the land that He established thousands of years ago through the words of one that has been associated with the Church for the majority of her life yet does not understand the content and underlying meaning of what the PM’s speech had to say.  The vile portion of her words comes in the form that she placed herself and her colleagues above God’s land by insinuating that her knowledge of a situation was insulted by the PM’s words.  It is one thing to boycott a speech and to disagree with the words of that speech, but to loft oneself above God and His anointed lands, look out we are in deep trouble.  Many may not consider their words to be very profound, but in many cases it is those words that define the attitude of an entire nation and it is through these words that the power of the invisible realm grabs its authority.

Some may not like this type of article or topic, but it is a topic that God wants us to know and to understand for if we do not stop and turn around NOW, these gruesome consequences shall be coming to our country.  I really do not want to wake up one morning with our country in total shutdown – not just the government hype either – but in total shutdown.  I do not want to wake up one morning and find out that the New Madrid fault line has split this nation into two halves.  I do not want to feel the ground shake because the Yellowstone caldera just erupted.  I do not want to hear on social media or through the news that 25 of our major cities have just been bombed by terrorists.  I do not want to hear that 100 dams have just been blown apart and floods are happening all across the country.  I do not want to read in the newspapers that thousands of U S citizens have been captured by drug cartels and sold into slavery or have been tortured and brutally executed, with all of these events, and many others, occurring within one week, less than a week or for an extended period of time.

To be blunt, our country is a sitting duck and our enemy is sharpening his sights upon our lives.  When he unleashes his violent attacks on our lands, it will be done with relentless persecution and suffering.  This country has known God ever since its creation and dedication back in 1607.  The proclamation of God is offered in our founding statement which initiates the plan of God in our country and also established the groundwork of our undoing if we ever turn away from that creed.  Ladies and gentlemen I am here to tell you that we have done such a thing and we are rapidly running back to our hedge each moment to pull more away.  Our enemy is salivating over our actions and choices and he drools with anticipation for the moment in which he shall strike.  I understand that it is hard to imagine this type of destruction and that while the threat is there God would never allow it, but that was probably the thought that the people had in Haiti when the earthquake hit or the people in SE Asia when the tsunami hit their shores or when Hitler began building the gas chambers.

As of this moment for whatever reason our enemy has been plucking feathers one-by-one, which means we still have a few moments to call out to God for salvation.  I thoroughly recommend that we repent and turn from our ways now instead of waiting to be caught in our own calamities; it will be so much better for us.  However, from the looks of things I doubt we shall heed the words of God and continue to march over that cliff, ignoring the cross as we fall.  God loves each one of us and it is His desire that we come to Him now and not have to deal with the total destruction of the civilized world as we know it.  Our enemy despises God and everything that He stands for and our enemy is eager to lash out at those who have known God more than those who have never heard of God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit.  Something to think about for a bit and that is it is not really hard to figure out that out of the more than 200 nations around the world that probably 200 or more have been told about God, which places them into this “most hated” category by our enemy.

DLB

God's Ability to Remove Hedges

God’s Ability to Remove Hedges

3/2/15

The second part in the series of Hedges will deal with the ability that God has to remove the hedges around our lives and our nations.  There are reasons as to why this event occurs and as this process is unfolds it is important for us to recognize what is transpiring.  While things may go from smooth sailing to rough shod during Job’s time, we need to remember that God was in control and that He will not allow things to occur without His divine approval.  This portion of the series is a delicate issue but one that has redemptive qualities.  Even though it looks like the advancement of God’s Kingdom and the physical purpose of job’s life had been stopped, it was then that the Kingdom was advancing faster than ever before, to the eternal satisfaction from God and to the eternal dismay of our enemy.

I briefly described the eternal state of our enemy at the end of the first part of the Hedge series and how that his life is solely based upon defeat and how he cannot redeem himself from this status.  One must place this next statement into our forebrains and continually flash it before our eyes; it was Lucifer’s choice to try and make things better for himself, and through this choice of his, was banned from his eternal status forever.  I also have to admit that humans give him some kind of sick sort of hope or diabolical false pleasure by allowing him to influence and dominate our lives; ironically, sometimes with little or no effort on his part.  But that is where our choice comes into play and it is also whether or not we use our hearts and minds in tandem in order to weed through the lies and hate so that we may find the truth.  It was through this fact about Job and of God that preempted God’s choice to Satan.  And it is through these circumstances that job rested upon God’s gifts and praised Him even though his personal world crumbled around him.

The fascinating portion of this story actually occurs before job’s trials begin, with the conversation that Satan and God have concerning Job.  As the conversation proceeds it becomes clear that Satan is frustrated with the fact that while he has free reign over where he can travel and do, he still has to have the permission of God to complete his works.  God actually starts the conversation about Job and offers him up to Satan’s hands, but after a short trial period of questions and answers from Satan God allows him to touch portions of Job’s life.  God actually sets the boundaries of what Satan can and cannot do to Job and his life and Satan cannot do one thing more than what God has authorized. 

There are many interesting facts in this short conversation between God and Satan.  Satan makes nothing but accusations about Job to God and questions Job’s loyalty and love for God because of the riches that God has allowed Job to have.  If Satan knew exactly what was in Job’s heart and what his heart felt towards God, Satan would have never made these accusations about Job for he would have known that job would pass the test.  However, Satan did understand exactly how far he could push Job and he took well advantage of the situation.  God on the other hand knew Job’s heart and knew how spiritually tough he was.  God also knew that Job understood God’s ways and His laws and what it meant to be a servant of God.  It was through this desire of Job that God had full confidence of how Job would act.  God never forced Job to act in any manner while Satan beat his dreams to a pulp, but after Job’s surroundings and life were destroyed and he knelt down to give thanks to God, I imagine the look on Satan’s face was just about the same as the soldier’s who beat Jesus to a pulp right before He was crucified.

God sets the ground rules before any event in Job’s life occurs.  Satan cannot override God’s decision which proves once in for all that Satan is on a leash and cannot do anything without the ability to complete his mission.  This fact will become important when the third portion of this series is shared, for if we choose to remove this hedge, all bets are off and our enemy can have our throats if he wishes.  See, God did not force Job when He removed the hedge about him and God shall not force us when we remove that protective hedge either.  God was in complete control of this hedge removal process about Job.  How much of it was removed and for exactly how long it was removed, we have no clue but the effects of that removal were so severe that it would call into question any human beings senses about why such terrible things would be allowed to occur on one family. 

As we read about Job and the physical conditions that he and his family lived in it is not hard to imagine that he was a wealthy man and basically had every need provided for him.  It is also known that Job must have been a hard worker and did as much as he could to provide for his family, including having adequate protection around his land and maintaining this protective barrier as best that he could at all times.  Job was blessed with a wife, children and numerous animals which encompassed his life to the fullest.  Job also understood who God was and placed Him at the center of his life and from all accounts made it very clear to everyone around him who he served. 

Job Chapter 1 clearly sets the stage for what is about to occur in Job’s life and there are many issues in this part of the story that while occurred many millennia ago apply to our lives today.  Beginning in verse 1 we see that Job is described as a true and just man that stayed away from evil.  This is a telling verse because it states the spiritual condition of Job and it also describes the fact that evil was common around his life; which means people had the opportunity to choose whether or not to accept evil in their lives or not, something for the reader to keep in their forebrains.  Yet our enemy does not see this pattern as one that comes from the heart of Job but because of the conditions that God allows him to live within on a daily basis and is the focus that Satan uses when conversing with God about Job.  Satan can only use what he is familiar with and can control which will be proven in the worldly settings of Job. 

The following few verses outlines exactly how much God had provided Job and how his daily affairs were ran.  From all indications Job ran a smooth and efficient operation and left no corner cut when providing for him, his family, farm and workers; it even records that his workers dines with his family on a regular basis.  From all of the described evidence Job had everything that was needed in order to run a successful business and to top it all off Job chose God as his guide for his life and treated everyone around him accordingly.  If one wishes to put this into perspective, look at all of the surrounding conditions that western society has enjoyed for many decades and one can get the sense of how Job might have lived.  Isn’t it wonderful to know that Job had enough confidence in God to endure these heinous acts by our enemy; yet isn’t even greater to know that God had eternal confidence in Job to push back the kingdom of darkness.

According to the next few verses it becomes clear that everything in Job’s world is consistently falling apart.  There is a certain group of people that come and kill some of Job’s servants and take all of the oxen from his land.  Basically at the same time, another person arrived with the news that all of the servants that were tending the sheep and including the sheep were burned up with a great fire.  Another group of people came and took the camels away and killed more of Job’s servants along with another report of the house collapsing and killing all that were inside.  There is nothing good about these reports and if any one of us would receive news of this content, it would not be hard to wonder and to angrily ask God, why?

But Job did not become angry with all of this devastation, he only purified himself before God and bowed to his Creator and gave thanks for the blessings that God had given him and his family for as long as He had.  So much for Satan’s acclamation that Job would “curse thee to thy face” statement that Satan used previously.  Job proved God correct and Satan wrong, just as God had knew he would.  And, being a “good” enemy and instead of sitting around and pouting Satan went back up to God and tried to up the ante so to speak.

At some point in eternal “time” Satan decides to go back in front of God and once again God basically asks Satan this question: what are you doing?  And Satan replied with basically the same answer as before, which proves that Stan really is not that smart but he keeps on knocking on the outhouse door.  One of my frequent sayings is that God has a sense of humor and I can only imagine that He would be using it here when He answers Satan with His own question: Have you considered my servant Job?  It must have been like a spiritual dig into Satan’s head when God uttered those words again; for Satan does know the past and he did remember the first failure that he had concerning Job.

I also find it funny that Satan continues to use the same line as before and that he had not thought of anything else to say in response to God at this time.  Satan once again sarcastically invoked the protective hedge about Job as the source of why Job would not succumb to cursing God.  This statement signifies that some part of God’s protective hedge was still about Job and his family and that with a portion of that hedge begin breached there was a part of that hedge that was still intact, for Job and his family were not personally touched in the first wave of calamities that they experienced because it was not allowed by God.  Only the things “about” Job were affected which meant only the things around Job could be touched; or things that Job had acquired.

But this conversation Satan took further and made it a personal vendetta against Job claiming to God that it was because he was not allowed to touch Job personally that was the reason as to why Job did not curse God.  So, with the same internal conditions of job’s heart intact and God knowing this, God authorized Satan to touch Job personally but placed one stipulation into play, Satan could not take his life.  This is a very important part here and one that many might overlook.

Over the next few verses of Job Chapter 2, it becomes clear that this time Satan’s attack is on Job himself and he places boils upon job’s body and covered his body with these sores.  Job’s family had been killed with only his wife left to be with him and it became so painful and disgusting that Job’s wife told Job to curse God and die.  I find it very interesting that Job’s children were in part of the first destructive wave but his wife was spared.  One would tend to believe that his wife would have been included in the destructive force that took all of his assets especially since his children were.  But there is a key principle here that both God and Satan understood and it was part of the groundwork that defined Job.

Remember back when God and Satan were first conversing and God gave Satan permission to take all that Job had but that he could not touch Job himself.  Immediately one would believe that those words would only include Job alone, but here is the principle that many of us forget.  Back in Genesis Chapter 2 when God created woman from man He set into motion the law of human reproduction.  It is commonly known that the only way that a man and a woman can be considered one is through sexual intercourse.  How important is this Kingdom law?  Important enough to prove as to why Job’s wife was not killed along with their children.  Once a man and woman become “one” with each other that Kingdom principle is in place and shall be carried with those people until their deaths.  It is for this principle only that Satan knew about and the sole reason as to why he could not touch Job’s wife, because they were one!  It also states that only a man and a woman can become one, even though humans try to pervert this law through human means.

This portion of the story also sets the stage for the reasons for purity between a marriage.  For if Job or his wife had not been faithful to that union and “oneness” she would have been made a target for Satan’s wrath s well.  Even though God set into motion this law way back in the Garden of Eden, He had to follow it and so did Satan.  God could not change it and Satan could not breech it without the legal grounds to do so.  I can guarantee you that Satan looked at every avenue in order to breech this union but because God’s law was in state, there was nothing Satan could do about it.  Anyone want to wonder why Satan has enticed our society into sex?  There is your answer.  It is well known that parents lose children sometimes and that death is one of the most agonizing times in a human being’s life.  I pray that my wife and I never have to face this but I do know that it does occur.  It is far more painful to watch our children suffer from the doors that they voluntarily open and walk through all in the name of having fun.  But it is through these actions and choices that our enemy gains the necessary authorization to wreak havoc in our lives. 

After Job and some of his friends had a long conversation and after God had given a thorough descriptive lesson concerning Kingdom to Job, it is written that Job was blessed with more land, more crops, animals and children than before his trials began.  This is another Kingdom principle that God will pour out on his people after the enemy has tried his best to thwart our eternal status.  But the key here is that we recognize what is transpiring and that we have prepared ourselves enough to act accordingly.  The only way that we can fully complete this knowledge is to turn our lives completely over to God and to allow Him to show us the truth about our existence.  Our enemy has provided many rocks along our paths so that we stumble and fall but in those hard and difficult times we must keep our eyes upon God and Hs ways, for they are the only sure foundation that we have.  I am thoroughly convinced that if Job had not followed God in all his ways, God would have allowed the spiritual hedge to be thinned a bit further.

It was these doors that Job and his wife that were not available that kept job intact.  Yes, losing his children was a huge blow to his life but at the same time it serves as an even greater example of how God cannot change His laws and as long as we do not give our enemy added leash length, which will be the topic of the third part of this series.  It is important that we understand that God loves us no matter what we have done in our lives, but it is also important that we understand that as long as we live within the laws of God and follow His Word, we will be under this protective hedge that He provides.  And even though trials, hurts, pains and many other ugly circumstances may arise in our lives, God is in control and has set specific boundaries that our enemy must obey.  But if we choose to remove that hedge voluntarily and continue to snub our noses at God and His ways, then all gloves are off and God has no power to shorten that chain on our enemy.  Talk about furious love!

DLB