Bloodline of Jesus

Bloodline of Jesus

4/3/15

Many people are now saying that the consistency of the Bible is in question.  These accusations are not just coming from the secular regions but to some dismay they are being introduced from the religious communities as well.  However, it is the important issues within the content of the Bible that we have missed and for many people have ignored.  Details within the Bible are very specific and when a pattern is set and then followed throughout it must have been so.  The question of Jesus’ bloodline follows this unique pattern yet it contains an unusual detail that speaks volumes and at the same time proves that Jesus is worthy of being the eternal and pure sacrificial lamb.

It was not up until a few decades ago that scientists proved that it is the father of the child that actually determines the sex of the child when conception occurs.  This was a remarkable breakthrough for the scientific community and it explained a great deal about the genetic transfer between male and female.  I have four beautiful girls that have been created and I love each and every one of them will all of my heart, yet no boy has graced my bloodline and due to this scientific advancement I have to say that the reason that I do not have a son is strictly my fault.  I joke and say that God said that there are enough Bishop boys running around the earth that He would not allow another one to “grace” the world and that He has a sense of humor because I continued to try for a boy.  No matter what my girls are my life and I would never trade them for anything.

I do not wish to sound sexist in any manner in this article, so please do not get me wrong.  God has some important details to share with us and I pray that the words that I use do not seem sexist in any way.  The Bible states in the book of Genesis of this originating sequence and this should be the reason why that this detail about males should not be surprising.  We all know that the Bible was written long before any type of genetic studies or specific information was available or known and through the statement of Genesis 2:19-22 it should be clear enough that all doubts should be squelched.

In this passage it states that God places Adam into a deep sleep and takes a rib from his side and forms the woman.  Now my father has a beautiful and accurate description of this process that also compliments the letter I just wrote about equality.  I am not going to quote my father exactly but these are his approximate words that he routinely uses to explain the relationship between man and woman.

God created Adam first and it was not until after Adam was a full creation did God decide to make his helpmate.  God did not create Eve from the ground for this would have placed her into the same category as the animals and she would not have been under the same Kingdom laws as man was, so God did the best thing ever and created woman from Adam’s side, his rib.  God took a rib from Adams’ side and formed his helpmate to share all responsibilities with Adam, both physical and spiritual.  Eve was not created from his foot so that he could step on her ambitions or to control her every movement.  Nor did God create her from Adam’s head so she could control his every thoughts and subordinate and subject him to her authority and have no respect for the first created human being.

Instead God chose to take a rib from Adam’s side which represented the middle of Adam, to be his equal just as the ribs line the middle of the body.  God mean for Eve to be with Adam in all manners as his equal and to be involved in all decisions that needed direct attention.  With this type of creation both divinely created beings would see eye to eye with each other and would have every opportunity to live accordingly.  No respecter of persons nor would there be any greater creation than the other, equal on all levels and unique to their own standards. 

It is this setting that should have rang bells in our head about who determines the sex of our children.  Once God establishes a pattern or law He cannot change it and this pattern is directly explained with the creation of Eve.  When God stated that man needed company and that it was not good for him to be alone He set out to create the perfect person to be with Adam.  Adam was a fully developed human being and it was from him that Eve was created.  This is the pattern that God set into motion that day and it is still in effect today.  Yes, a person can adopt a baby or child but for that infant or child or adult to be adopted it first had to be created by the union of the male and female.  No matter how the process of conception is completed, it takes a male and female to complete the process.  This process cannot be changed and it was first set in motion in Genesis and it is still going strong today. 

Another side issue here is how Eve was created and how it falls into line with the birth of Jesus.  God made Adam alone, by himself and there was no one else with him.  The Bible does not say for how long Adam was alone but it was long enough that God said it was time for someone to help him.  Adam was created first and Eve later; not at the same time.  This is a unique creation step that included Adam, a created being, and God.  No two humans were involved in the conception of Eve.  And as we will see later, Jesus’ creation was the exact same manner, a unique method of creation that has not been performed since. This manner of creation also brings to life that God can do anything He wishes and once He begins a process, each one is unique and distinct and represents a whole new inquiry about life.

After a period of time the Bible states that Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore a son.  The word “knew” here refers to the act of sex and the Hebrew word used here is quite specific in origin and has basically only one meaning.  This means that the act of sexual relations had been established between man and woman and that the conception patterns are the same in those days as they are today; a male and a female must be present in order to create another human being.  The next portion of the passage states that Eve conceived a child which means that the presence of the male sperm and female egg joined and created a new human life.  The last portion of the passage states that Eve bore a child.  As the first two portions of this passage it follows the exact same patterns that we see today when a child is born.  From the first recorded child birth up until this very moment that you are reading this article, nothing about the physical process of child birth has changed.  It is a miracle that with modern technological advances that allow people to have children these days, but it is still the same biological process within humans that creates human beings that gives each one of us our own start in life.

From this point on in the Bible a pattern is formed and is repeated in many passages throughout the Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures.  This pattern refers to the lineage of a person and through the word “begat” defines who the father of the said person is.  We have countless chapters in the Bible that demonstrate this pattern and it leaves us no doubt to whom the fathers were and how the blood line was passed down from generation to generation.  The typical and continual pattern of the father creating (begat) sons and daughters never changes in the Old Testament and with this detail proves that bloodline comes from the male side of the issue.  I also understand that these passages tend to become mundane, confusing and even boring at times.  But in their own manner, they serve an importance that defines God’s specificity and timing through the creation of humanity.  This portion of Scripture deals with history of mankind and if understood enough, can explain how lineage activities come into light in the New Testament.

Some of the more “famous” people within the contents of the Bible follow these same long lineage “begat” passages just the more “common” people or lesser known within the same biblical contents.  This does not mean that only a certain few people are worth mentioning but that if every detail was filled in the Bible would be a massive text that would be overwhelming in stature.  Mary is a good example of this type of passage for it was her life that was used by God in order to bring the perfect and eternal sacrifice for our lives into the world.  The usage of Mary also spells out a unique switch and further defines God’s perfect plan for the destruction of His arch enemy and ours, Satan.

The pattern of male lineage continues without interruption until a certain event at the beginning of the New Testament.  When the New Testament starts with Matthew it records the lineage of Joseph but at the end of his line there is a remarkable change within the line along with an interesting omission, or in this case divine change.  Matthew begins by listing all of the male names that leads up to Joseph.  It is a complete lineage and one that follows the original patterns from the Old Testament. However, Matthew 1:1 states that these were the generations of Jesus Christ which means that the lineage of Jesus and is specific to Him alone.  And then Mary changes the entire setting.

After all of the names are listed in biological and chronological order, Joseph’s name is mentioned with a few changes taking place concerning him.  The entire lineage of Joseph uses the word begat up until and including Jacob the father of Joseph.  But here it stops and immediately states that Joseph was the husband of Mary.  This is the change that makes all the difference in the world and for humanity.  With the pattern that was formed and followed throughout all of Scriptures, it changes with Joseph, Mary and Jesus.  This is not a typo or some error in order to change the settings of humanity but it is a divine change that sets into motion the fulfillment of a scene in the Garden of Eden where God foretells Satan of his ultimate defeat. 

Matthew 1:16 says that Joseph was the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.  We all know that Joseph and Mary were betrothed to each other.  The equivalent, yet different, comparison that we have today would be like an engagement.  Then in sequence the verse states that Joseph was the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus.  This means that Joseph and Mary were married when Jesus was born but it leaves out the fact that Joseph was the father of Jesus.  And at the same time it brings into play the name of Mary and if you look back in the Old Testament, how many times was the mother’s name of the child mentioned?  This is the huge change that makes all of the difference because if Joseph was not the father of Jesus and Mary was still a true and pure virgin, then that means she got pregnant by some divine presence and not by a human male.

If God could create the female from the side of the male then should not be any question that He could in turn create another person through His this process He must have a special purpose to have used His own spiritual DNA.  God understood and has never departed from the act of sacrifice as being the redemptive process of restoration of our relationship with Him.  God also knew that with these sacrifices blood was to be shed but it was imperfect blood and pure in content.  Yes, the animals were perfect looking and came from great bloodlines but the sacrifice’ blood was still subject to death; a flaw which God overlooked but still had to perfect for all eternity.  Some people kept this truth within their hearts and passed the information down to their generations, but many forgot the true meaning of this practice and systematically became cold to its truths.

What does this choosing say about Mary?  We all know that Mary had two human parents, so she was not a divine character and had no redemptive aspects on eternal matters.  On the other hand, her human status does not mean that we should ignore her life and to “throw her existence to in the wind” either.  God choose this young innocent lady to birth His only son and to give the entire human existence a chance to personally see God at work for our eternal lives.  We cannot afford to place any human being on a higher plane that what they are, human for if we do then we are in subject to the same categorical level as Muslims place Mohammad.  Before jumping to any conclusions, think about what that statement says and ponder on it a while; could it serve as a god?

God keeps His pattern of reproduction and laws in tact when He chooses Mary.  When God created Adam, He did so from the dirt that was still holy and pure.  The same went for Eve when God took a rib from Adam and made Eve from it.  Mary was just as innocent as Adam was in the regards to sex and therefore, chose the perfect vessel for the creation of a divine / human so that the world may once again have a chance to have true and equal relationship with God again.  What more intimate way could God give us than the presence of His son?

So, God had to initiate through a guided bloodline, a unique heart to which to bare His divine Son into a sinful world.  This process says so much about the human bloodline and what role the female plays within bloodlines; it actually elevates the female and not downgrades her.  Matthew 1:16 states that Mary gave birth to Jesus and at this point in Scriptures it does not continue the human bloodline as His father, which means that God was the Father of Jesus and not a human being.  This places Jesus into a divine and holy bloodline status which only two other people had known, Adam and Eve.  So why wouldn’t God continue His perfect reproduction process with His own Son as He did at the beginning of His greatest creations? 

God was very deliberate in keeping with the formal lineage of succession when the author of Matthew recorded the people before Joseph.  He was also specific to mention that Joseph was the husband of Mary.  God also made it very clear that Mary gave birth to Jesus and it also placed into the factual category that Jesus had no earthly father.  This can have only one meaning that Jesus was created inside Mary’s womb from God alone.  It is a known fact that when conception occurs it is not felt.  The pleasure of the sexual climax is felt but when the steps of conception occur, this process is not known on any level, it just naturally takes place.  I have no explanation of how God preformed this miracle and we on earth shall never know but what I do know is that the process was competed and Jesus was formed the instant God decided.

It is through this bloodline of God that establishes the perfect sacrificial bridge for all mankind.  The significance of a blood sacrifice throughout the Old Testament should have given the people hope that one day their sins would be forgiven on the eternal basis, not just year to year.  Yet the world’s super powers overcame their hearts and the direct purpose for which the sacrificial process became a mill or production line that served little more than a ritualistic service.  That is why we completely miss things as humans because we place little redemptive value upon what God’s laws mean to our lives and we lack the frugality of their meanings as well.

I do not find it unusual or weird in any way that God uses blood throughout His Word to penetrate the depths of His laws and wisdom.  I also find it ridiculous that we try to thin out His laws and the meaning of His sacrifice in order to justify the mere words and actions of our daily breaths.  We continually demean the value of God’s love for mankind and ignore the severity and true jealousy of His concern for our eternal security.  We belittle Jesus’ mission on earth by placing Him as a political and social figure instead of ourselves desiring to teach His ministry to a dying world as He did.  It is for us that Jesus came into the world to serve as a sacrifice for our lives, not to take sides of a political argument about a human choice.  And Mary did not birth God’s Son in order for her to be elevated as a god or deity in order for us to have another object to worship. 

God gives humans the choice to accept Him or not and it is through this gift of choice that Jesus agreed to come to the earth and to live amongst His people.  See, since sin entered into the Garden, God has not been able to set a His physical foot on the earth, so He had no choice but to create a human, yet keep the divine bloodline in tact in order to show Himself to the people once again.  It is a perfect plan that God gave us and it is strictly up to us to choose Him or not.  The holy bloodline is secure and it forms a covered bridge for each one of us so that we may be in complete relationship with God again.  But if we continue to scoff at this bridge and reject who is on the other side, then one day that choice will be taken away; and the ironic thing is that the choice will be taken away by a final choice that we ourselves will make.

DLB

True Equality

True Equality

 4/2/15

It comes as no surprise that everyone wants to be treated equal.  It is mankind’s goal for everyone to obtain this quality of existence but as we have read about in history and are concurrently experiencing today, it is impossible for humanity to completely agree on this form of state.  Mankind has lost some kind of connection to this state and so far has failed to reach this goal, yet there has been one great example of unity within the human history and there has been one terrible example that actually set into motion all of the horrid practices of inequality; of course all of this is in the name of equality. This state of equality is obtainable but it has nothing to do with human / human status but it all stems from our relationship with God or in our current frame of mind lack of relationship with God.

The other day I was scrolling through some news sites on the internet and I ran across a headline that said something like this: Church sign brings community into uproar.  Well, for the most part I do not open these types of news stories because they are filled with hate speeches from both sides but I took a chance on this one and clicked on the link.  I was surprised at two things when I opened this news headline; one was about the sign itself and the message that was on it and the other about how the people were responding to it.  On the other side of the block I was quite amazed at what the sign had to say, for whoever placed that message on it knows exactly what transpired and that person also understands what the results will be when humans try the same thing on their own.  I dare to say that this pastor and her / his congregation understands the principles of Kingdom and for that I ask that God continue to strengthen this church and the efforts they are doing to bring the truth to a dying world.

I cannot remember which church placed the message on the sign and to be truthful it really does not matter, it is the content that was stated that makes the difference.  The message on the sign was this: Lucifer was the first being to demand equal rights.  As I stated above I was a little taken back at such a statement from a church, since for the last few years many churches have been promoting earthly and worldly acceptance instead of what the Bible has to say about the truth of the matter.  I was very impressed at this sign, whoever placed the message there and that it was allowed to stay up.  This message also states that this church will be teaching the entire truth about the Bible and not just a portion of it which is exactly how things are supposed to be done.  It is the responsibility of the Church to teach the entire Word of God and not just portions of it, whether it agrees with human feelings or not.

I also understand the criticism that it is drawing for if we do not completely understand how things began we cannot comprehend what we are living today.  Our methods of equality are strictly based upon human wants and beliefs and while that is a great theory to have, that theory cannot become a truth unless we know all aspects of why inequality has been initiated in the first place.  It is through this sign’s statement that the origin of this inequality exists and until we accept this truth, all of our efforts to live in equality will only result in more division and hatred for others.

God has shared with us a while back about how things began even before humanity roamed the land.  But to set the stage for this letter, we must refresh ourselves of how we have come to this state of being.  We must remember that God created angels before He created mankind and that these angels are spirit beings that are eternal in nature.  The key here is to remember the order to which God created things and in this case He created an eternal being first and in that manner alone.  God’s creation of the angels first sets the stage for our own creation and the order to which we were created.

When God created mankind He did so in a specific manner for God already understood that a huge change was going to occur within our lives simply because of the choices that we were going to make in the future.  So instead of Him having to admit He made a mistake later to His immortal enemy, God performed a magnificent creative process that automatically bypassed His enemy and further infuriated his plans against God.  With the spirit beings having already been created and had made the choice to fall, God knew that to prove His love for us He had to create us a little bit different than the angels.

It clearly states that God created our bodies from the earth first and then placed His Spirit within us.  It is this order that makes all the difference for our eternal lives.  Because spirit is eternal and the spirit that He placed within us is also eternal.  If God would have created our internal spirit first then created our physical bodies that would be the order to which we would have be judged; spirit first and body second.  This was the part that Satan watched being completed and it really made him angry because he knew that our creation order was different than his and that through this order God had made a way for a restoration process before our spirits were to be judged; unlike his situation.  In other words, since Lucifer was spirit and he made his choice to be equal to God, his selfish means caused him to be eternally separated from God.  And if God would have created us spirit first, then our death process would be equal to that of Satan’s, eternal first and no chance of restoration ever.

This is exactly what played out through God’s divine plan for our lives and since we automatically inherit a physical death, it is our eternal lives that Satan now deals with on a continual basis.  If for any reason he can lure us away from God he will do it.  It does not matter how, when or why but he will do his best to confuse our hearts in order to provide that little spec of doubt so that he may have legal grounds to proceed with rent payments within our heads.  And it is on this level that he plays the equality issue, fully knowing that as long as we chose to separate ourselves from God the better chances that he has to make us fail.

The relationship that mankind had with God while they were in the Garden of Eden was like no other creation has ever witnessed.  Up until the choice of sin, mankind and God were on a visual and speaking level with daily communication times to recount the events of the day and for God to teach Adam and Eve a few things about Kingdom.  There were no divisions or separations from each other and God could walk the ground and appear to Adam and Eve at any time He desired.  The way our minds are programmed they cannot truly comprehend this feat but it is one that must have been so magnificent that words cannot accurately describe it. It was the entrance of sin that transformed our relationship with God and it was through this choice that physical death resulted. In Satan’s mind he had ½ the job completed and immediately he began working on the second half.

I find another tidbit here that is fascinating to me.  Up until the point where Adam and Eve sinned there was no mention of any arguments or bickering between Adam and Eve.  Why would there be any of this type of words or activity if they were equal? Even in the manner to which Eve was created from man gives us details of how both were equal to each other.  The answer is simple, there was no inequality up until the moment that they chose to sin.  Then what do we read?  They start accusing each other of why things occurred and this shows that inequality and division was then present.  This also presents another example for those who wish to blame God for the problems that humanity continues to face today, even inequality was not around until mankind chose to mess things up; it was not in God’s perfect creation process at all.

It was this relationship that man had with God that defines equality.  Even though humans were far less in creation as God is, the level at which we were able to directly communicate with God sets the picture into motion on equality.  Adam and Eve could physically and spiritually see God and directly talk to Him.  God walked on the earth which was pure and without any form of destruction, sin or death present.  It was holy in every way and through this perfect setting God could have His presence visible in this atmosphere.  The story continues that when sin entered into the world God could no longer walk upon the earth because He had to deem the ground unworthy because of the tree that was eaten from.  It might not seem fair for this to occur, but God is a complete God and even the innocent bystanders sometimes get caught up in the allowances of God.  This canvass should be kept in mind for present and future developments that are rapidly transpiring in our world today and we should take serious note as to what probably will occur if we do not truly change our ways.

Immediately after Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit their eyes were opened and they realized that the protective and pure hedge that was around them was gone.  This sole act of disobedience changed the course of human history forever.  The Bible states that they covered themselves with leaves trying to hide their nakedness yet up until that time they had not even realized anything was “wrong” with their appearance.  It was obvious to them that their equal settings had been changed for they knew that they had changed in a certain manner.  Such emotions that must have been running through their minds and hearts at that time, and then to hear the voice of God calling out to them that afternoon must have sent a flood of intensity through their veins.

The position of Lucifer tells us a lot about why he decided to make the physical lives of humans so difficult.  It all stems when for some reason he decided to challenge God for His position.  The Bible states that Lucifer was a very powerful angel basically like being the number two person in line.  Now, this next statement shall NEVER happen but, if for any reason God would die or cede His place Lucifer would have been in the position to take over all creation.  As I just stated, this shall NEVER occur and it was this thought and want that cost Lucifer his position, his eternal name change and his eternal place separated from God. This end is what is in store for us as well if we do not repent and allow God to restore ourselves into His ways.  Or, if we chose not to then we will be equal with Satan for eternity.

Now, the question remains as to how we can restore equality back amongst humanity.  Even though it would not be an overnight process the answer to this question is easy and quite simple to obtain.  Restore our relationship with God that is how mankind can become truly equal in all of our eyes again.  That is the ONLY way that true equality can be obtain throughout the human race.  We must deny our selfish desires and dreams and turn our hearts back to God so that we may fully understand the process of His restoration process.  Godly restoration brings us back into equality with God first and then after that all other issues will fall into line.  However, this equality shall never happen as long as we place our laws over the laws of God and for the Church not to drop the charade of playing church.

When will we ever see God face to face again?  I have no idea but if we want to have that opportunity again and to have a lasting conversation with Him, on pleasant terms, we must turn our lives around pretty quickly and allow Him to restore our equality with Him.  The old adage states that a person cannot have a great horizontal relationship with anyone until they have a great vertical relationship with God first.  This letter shows us that we had true equality at one time, both with God, and between man and woman.  This was lost as soon as the vertical relationship was severed; however, God lovingly put into place a divine process in order for this equal relationship to be restored and until we recognize this path back to Him we shall never bear witness to equality on any level again.

Satan can never have his position back and as long as God is God this is the sole reason as to why Satan cannot ever have his position back.  The Bible states that God is perfect in everything that He does and that it is through the choices of His creations that cause things to occur the way that they are.  God gets the blame for many things that is not His fault but is actually due to the choices that we make along the way.  It is through the choice that Lucifer made to be equal with God that cost him everything, for eternity.  God cannot change this due to the fact of how Lucifer was created, an eternal being only.  Hence as to why Satan is so upset at God for creating our bodies first and not His spirit first.

The second part of the news article I read that raised my interests was how many Christians were responding against the message on the sign.  Of course one would expect the non Christian to respond accordingly with their so-called hate speeches towards those who disagree with their positions, but when people of God criticize a biblical truth, it says that we are in big trouble folks.  People have now begun to accept the world in such force that they are watering down the gospel enough to try and justify their worldly beliefs instead of cleaning their closets when necessary.  From the looks of things and how society is turning, those closets which are now empty should have been cleaned instead of abandoned.  I am not just referring to one aspect of a person’s closet either, I am talking about the entire realm of that closet, the identity of that person and the only source of existence that those people know.  If a person leaves this closet to find comfort in the world they will be in for a huge disappointment, from every direction, because that relationship shall bring nothing but inequality.

So I guess the verse that states that God will heal our land rings pretty true if we decide to allow Him back into our lives.  We have proof that the relationship between God and man was derailed when we chose to disobey God.  We also see that Lucifer was the first created being to initiate the inequality process and we also know that God has provided a way of restoration of the equal relationship that we once shared between each other, both on the physical and spiritual aspects of our lives.  One further detail to remember and that is if we do not turn away from our wicked ways and continue the currents paths that we are taking the only thing that we will ever be equal with each other is the fact that we are all equally sinners.

DLB

The Yoke is Easy

The Yoke is Easy

3/31/15

The phrase that introduces this letter is one of the more popular verses within the unlimited truths of the Bible.  It represents everything that Jesus stood for when concerning the Kingdom of God and it also accurately describes His mission as to why He was sent to God’s people.  This simple phrase also explains to us exactly what types of battles are ongoing for our lives and how important it is for us to understand this unseen turmoil.  Jesus’ life on earth was no game and it was no picnic yet for some reason the Church has turned it into one.  The Church cannot afford to project a half truths about Jesus, and in order to fully complete this presentation of the Kingdom, its principles must be known through this extraordinary phrase that Jesus used.

Most of us know that the phrase that I am referring to is from Matthew 11:30.  All of us look to this passage and phrase as one of truth and one that gives us hope, and rightly so.  This passage is one of the more powerful statements that Christ made while He was on the earth and we need to ensure that we understand its complete meaning.  Does everyone know that this statement actually makes the statement that Jesus is of a divine bloodline and human at the same time?  For a person to make this kind of statement they either are truly nuts or they must be created from another source other than the human bloodline.  Then the question that is raised is if we believe that Jesus is a divine being or is He in fact insane.  See, no human person can guarantee anything except one, death.  Even our own country’s Constitution states ‘the pursuit of happiness” it does not guarantee it.  The only thing that human can guarantee is death, for not one of us shall escape this finality.

One of the more difficult truths about Jesus is that He is fully God and fully human.  It is hard for our minds to fathom this type of concept sine all we know is how to be human.  With Jesus being in this form it defines the relationship between God and man and how close mankind was to God during their tenure in the Garden of Eden.  And it is through this beginning that we must understand of how much damage we did when we chose to break away from this unity.  Jesus lived a pure and holy life while He was on this earth and it was not His mission to marry, or to “preserve” His bloodline nor was there any part of Him that desired to be political.  His mission on this planet was to provide humanity the only way that we can have a restored relationship with God and in order for Him to achieve this fact He had to live the life of a sacrifice.  It is through this act of life that brings into play the reason as to why His yoke is easy and His burden is light, for He was in total freedom from the world’s oppression.

When placing oneself into this position they must have specific knowledge of their surroundings and know exactly what is occurring within their surroundings as well as to the specific reason that they are present.  They must know that their presence is different and set apart from all others in order to set an example for everyone to choose their place with this person.  We have witnessed many humans try and make some sort of similar claim as this before and have failed miserably.  Anytime a human / human existence tries to make such a high standing claim they seem to fall under the pressures of the world.  Their intentions may have been excellent, but their humanly and flawed follow through is doomed to succumb under the world’s weight.  It is through this pressure of the world (its yoke) that Jesus uses to inform us that things are different in Him and it is ok to be separated from the world through Him.

Jesus’ claim concerning His yoke is another bold move coming from a human being.  However, Jesus’ creation and birth into this world is quite different from you and I in that His father is a divine one and not of human blood, which means that Jesus stands far above any other created being that has walked on this planet.  And it is through this holy and divine status that allows Him to make this claim about His yoke being easy.  I wish everyone would believe in this miracle of creation and it is the mission of the Church to proclaim this truth to as many people around the world as possible.  The Church has had mixed reviews concerning her history and follow through concerning her mission and now with more groups watering down Jesus’ life and meaning for being on this earth, it seems like the present and future reviews may be worse than ever.  That is why the Church needs to stop and realize her position in Christ and take a hard look at what His true meaning is and what He actually represents to her and to the world.

A yoke is an instrument that ties things together and allows the things that are tied together to move in a single direction.  My one and only time to have looked at a yoke was very memorable to me.  Being a young squirt I thought that I was the strongest young man alive and the owner of that yoke asked me and another boy to carry it over to the corral I boldly said that I could do it alone.  After he finished laughing at me he pointed to where the yoke was at and said good luck.  I went over to the yoke and realized, without picking it up, that it was very large and would be heavy since there were metal rings and frame around the wood.  Did I ever feel stupid, and when I turned around to ask for help the owner was still grinning about the situation.

It took two of us to carry that thing from point A to point B which was about 40 yards and it was solid wood with old heavy, solid metal in bedded into the wood as well.  The two of us carried the yoke on our shoulders and carefully and slowly made our way to the corral.  I remember the solid weight that it placed on my shoulder as we were moving it to its temporary resting place.  The owner brought two cows to the corral while we were fumbling around with the yoke.  As we reached the corral, we dropped the yoke on the ground and then shut the gate after the cows arrived.  It did not take too long for the owner to get the cows in place which by then I was in learning mode and stood there watching.

The owner then picked up the yoke by himself and placed it on the necks around the cows.  The cows did not move much but one could tell that they knew that their conditions had changed with the looks in their eyes and their body movements.  It did not take him long to hook them up to the yoke and soon it was time for them to go to work in the “small garden” as the man put it.  I remember that all it took was just a tug on the reins and the cows began to move simultaneously and steadily together in the direction to which the owner wanted them.  I felt kind of stupid at that moment because I had proven myself to be inadequate about how the yoke worked, how heavy it was and the true meaning of what the yoke did to the animals that it was placed around.  The owner of the farm did not scold me or belittle me at all but he did take the opportunity to teach me a few things about the yoke and its designed function. 

It was the owner of the yoke that knew what he was doing when it came to having someone, or in this case more than one person, carry the yoke to another spot.  He evidently had watched our previous movements while we were doing the other chores that day and had drawn a pretty accurate conclusion of how many of the three of us it would take to carry the thing. Being the citified boy that I was I had no clue about my abilities on a farm so of course my pride rebuffed him; with that two of us carried the load across the path.  Which as I look back at that time and remember how heavy that thing was it kind of baffles me as to why Jesus said this about His yoke, but as my memory continues I remember the owner of the farm just easily picking it up and placing it where it needed to go.

In short I did not trust the owner to guide me correctly when it came to the yoke.  I thought that my strength alone could handle the situation and that I could prove him wrong.  It did not take me long to realize that I was the one who did not know what he was talking about and that the owner of the yoke did.  How many times have we stated the exact same thing about God when it comes to His ways and the ways of our Savior?  I know that I have doubted countless times throughout my life and have even cast doubts into other people’s walks at times in my past.  If we are honest with ourselves we must contend that we all have played out to be terrible examples of Christ at times in our lives, but it is through those times that Christ’s yoke and the meaning of His yoke comes into light.  And if we do not understand its full Kingdom meaning, we will totally miss what Jesus was referring to when He used this phrase.

If Jesus represented the world it would be easier, on human terms, to understand what He was meaning.  But Jesus does not represent the world He only represents the way of restoration between God and mankind.  Even though Jesus was human He was also divine and it is here that His yoke is defined.  God understood what it meant to be bound up by the world and what sin did to our lives, does to our lives and how it spiritually separates to us from God.  We were created to walk and talk freely with God without any divisions and since our fall we have not been at this level.  God had to establish a plan of restoration in order for us to understand our need for Him.  In Old Testament Scriptures this process was through the blood sacrifice of animals and in the New Testament Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for everyone who chooses to accept Him.  This sacrifice of purity and divinity represents His yoke and it binds us to God through Christ, and totally separates us from the world through His blood.

The yoke that Jesus was referring to was Him and what was in store for His life and what His creation, life, death and resurrection means for our eternal existence.  Jesus can claim to have a yoke that is easy, unlike that physical yoke that the owner placed upon the cows for Jesus’ yoke represents a unity with Him separate from the world.  The world cannot offer anything else but death and that is a heavy price to have placed on anyone’s life.  But Jesus offers eternal life and a true freedom from death that takes all of the weight of the world (sin) away from us and moves us in one direction towards the Father.

When the cows were placed in the yoke they had no option but to go where the person driving the team wanted them to go.  Of course they could fight and resist if they wanted, but nothing would get done and eventually they would hurt themselves.  They had no choice but to do what the owner wanted, so their lives were in his hands totally.  To some this seems so cruel and is a punishment for being a cow but if we stop and think about things for a moment we can see how it also fits into our lives as well. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans proudly displayed heir deities every day of their lives and some of these cultures even did their best to try and say that they themselves were deities, representing both the gods and man through their human features; all were proven incorrect thus defining their worldly yokes instead.

The world also has a yoke and it is automatically placed around our necks as soon as we are conceived.  The question that we must ask ourselves is this: do we actually know that the world presents this type of yoke?  If we do not recognize this then we have not been told about God and His love for us or we have totally and willingly blinded ourselves from this truth.  In this frame of mind one would not really understand the difference between Jesus’ yoke and the yoke of the world and thus would deem both as equal.  It is the job or our enemy to make sure that we do not understand the true meaning of Jesus’ yoke and what it gives us.  It is also our enemy’s job for us not to accept Jesus’ yoke for when we do it unites God and mankind once again so that we can forward God’s Kingdom through the blood of Christ.

Another question to ask ourselves: why would Jesus deem His yoke to be easy?  Others have placed this claim into existence and why would He claim to be someone different and have “better” answers than all of the rest?  It is here where the modern day Church is beginning to gray a bit and it is filtering within her walls and it will prove to be a huge stumbling block for the Church.  It is at this point when we must recognize the Bible as the true and authentic Word of God or do we not recognize this and say that it is serious words to live by but not mandatory.  If you do not place the Bible as the authentic Word of God then you justify that Jesus was just a common man who did good yet was unjustly murdered for nothing.  It would also place the words in this passage into the same category as Confucius, Buddha, Mohammad, and any other person that tried to establish her or himself above the human / human conception level; therefore, placing Jesus as a liar and a thief of person’s time, all the while teaching others how to change their world.  It also can be placed into the category of not understanding the true meaning of the phrase and at the same time not knowing who Jesus is.

If one recognizes the Bible as the authentic and true Word of God, then they must consider every object within the context of those words as truth and that there is both a spiritual and physical meaning to everything that is represented.  God has created us both in spirit and in the flesh so that means everything that we know has a spiritual aspect as well.  It is common knowledge that while Jesus was on the earth He was in physical form.  Jesus also used terminology, parables and other types of examples to explain things to the people around Him.  Jesus understood that the world revolves around the flesh and that His Father revolves through the Spirit and by using these types of known terms and phrases the people had a better chance of comprehending that there was a far more important aspect of life than the physical.

If one places this knowledge into place with the Spirit, then they will have a concept of why Jesus used this phrase and had the complete authority to do so.  He knew that His mission on earth was not to be just a physical one that it had just as much a spiritual aspect as well.  The phrase itself deems Him as divine and spiritual because Jesus uses the word “my” in the phrase. “My” is a very specific word and it is of singular and possessive content.  Through the authenticity of God’s Word this sheds a great deal of light on Jesus and further proves that He is the only way to God and that He is the only way to have restoration with God.  All other ways taught by mankind are false and will cause a great deal of disappointment to those who follow them. Jesus is the only way to free ourselves from this world and its death yoke that burdens us.  Jesus’ yoke is of divine nature and pure and refreshing, one to savor in peace and tranquility all coming from the origins of life, God.

It is such a relief to know that God has everything under His eyes and that if we dive deep into His Word He will give us the knowledge and the insight that every human is looking for.  The only thing we need to give up is our selfishness and allow God to take over once again.  Church, we have long been overdue for this type of action within our hearts.  Our focus has been on the world and not on God and if we do not change we shall not be recognizable to God but only to the world.  It is through God’s Son that He provides us with the connection between the spirit and the physical and it is through the example of the yoke that Jesus declares His divinity and way to the Father.  Thank the Lord that there is only One way for restoration.  Jesus paid it all for us and even though I let Him down many times, I am so thankful that He loves me enough to continue His restoration process within my life.  I cannot believe that Jesus would have ever made this concept known to mankind unless He had a passion that is a fire and that He wishes nothing but complete purity from His Bride.

DLB

Underestimation

Underestimation

3/28/15

In any aspect of war it is essential that all commanders never underestimate the enemy that they are about to face or are currently facing.  If such commanders do not recognize the full potential of their enemy it is a guarantee that a great number of their forces or maybe even all of their forces will be destroyed.  It is the same when we are addressing our spiritual enemy as well and it is eternally important that we follow the same habits as military commanders in obtaining as much information about our enemy as possible.  If we ignore the enemy and refuse to study their activities and ways there is no way that we can effectively defend ourselves when time to defend our existence.  This applies to both the physical military aspects of our defensive systems and to our spiritual defenses as well.

Many of you know that I am an avid military history buff and I have had the great privilege to read many books, watch some military reels of film and poured over many military documents over the past few decades.  While I am not a military historian by any means I have been educated enough to understand a few things about combat tactics and the use of the defensive system in order to strengthen the offensive capabilities of the military at the same time.  None of this learning process has been easy for me and it takes many hours at a time in order to provide a logical and explainable reference so that it can be relayed to the appropriate leaders for implementation.  It does not matter what the studies will be used for and some of them may not be used for the particular mission at hand but having the knowledge concerning the mission and the enemy, a military tactician can be one of the most powerful advisors that any military unit has within their ranks.

Each day that we wake up it seems like there is a new conflict that has risen during the night.  Many of these small conflicts do not make the big time news channels for they are deemed not important enough to mention.  I understand this thought process for if we did continue to address these individual conflicts there would not be any time to discuss anything else that occurred around the world.  But someone setting behind a desk somewhere in that studio must know more information about that small conflict and what it could mean to other conflicts around it or if it could eventually explode into a large scale war.  In either way it is important not to forget or to seep under the rug this small conflict because of the potential it may have for the future of that country, region or nation.

I am currently reading a book about the conflict in Rwanda and how a long term ethnic challenge turned into a huge genocide of a rival.  It also deals with how ineffective the overall personnel that were in charge of orders for the mission did not understand or flat ignored the potential of escalation of the conflict even though the boots on the ground were begging for changes.  The commanders on the field were both enraged and heartbroken with the channels and the responses that they had to endure in order to receive the words “no” and “do nothing” time and time again.  It was this lack of action and distance knowledge that portrayed ineffective leadership to both the soldiers on the ground and to the participants of the actual fighting.  When the dust finally cleared there were soldiers that were killed along with approximately 800,000 people slaughtered, not to mention a nation forever torn apart with the accolades of death as its legacy.

I understand that this process was not a new procedure in Rwanda and that the country’s history had been tumultuous for a continuous period of time.  Some even argue that the genocide was inevitable and that it was just a matter of time before the cork blew from the bottle.  In any case, we have had countless examples throughout history that should have guided us a bit further in how humans react to tense situations especially when ethnic cultures are involved.  Even the earliest secular histories paint tragic pictures of peoples trying their best to annihilate or to enslave other races for just as many useless reasons as examples.  Haven’t we been around on this planet long enough that we can figure things out a little bit more before severe and brutal tactics are needed or used?  

It is evident that our schools are not teaching history as they should nor are they placing emphasis enough on history classes and what we learn from our own pasts.  I have stated many times that history was not my most favorite subject during high school and in the beginning years of my college days, I had no interest in the subject either.  But as I have embraced this subject I have realized that history has enabled me to understand how important life is and how further we can deal with hard topics if we know how others reacted to similar situations earlier on the timeline.  No, one has to contend that the situations are not identical but the identical part of that past situation is the human and humans are very predictable, unless you have no clue about how, where and when they came from.  And when we do not understand them in this manner, it is then that our underestimation of others, and potential enemies, arises.

I usually do not get physically political in the articles and the reason is that God is not physically political, He wishes for the individual heart and if we fully give our heart to Him, then there is no reason to be physically political.  Anyway, a few years back now our current national executive person made a statement concerning a rising opponent in the Middle East.  The statement was in reference to a group of people that had ideas of taking over a large chunk of land and creating another Islamic Caliphate, or essentially a new Islamic State.  The personal subject of this paragraph made a statement that basically said that this group was of no concern and that it was a junior team and really should not be of any concern to the world.  How wrong those words have become and while many regions are now engaged in fighting this group their recruits and advancements might have slowed but are still presenting a viable force to opposing armies.

The statement made by this person has many meanings but there are two that really stand above the others.  First of all the statement means that this person did not fully understand the capability, resources, organization and foundational drive that these people had in order to draw attention of world leaders.  It does not matter how small of a group of people are for when they come together with a common goal their potential is enormous and could eventually control a huge nation or belief that engulfs the entire land.  It is at this time that the gates have been opened and it is imperative that they be controlled and then shut as quickly as possible, this has not occurred from this person nor from other similar people in that particular region. So, the fight rages on and we play catch-up to a recognizable force that has the world stopped for an unknown amount of time.  I know that it is impossible to fully know about every little detail about every group in existence, but cross the lines and reach out to those who know a bit more than you instead of assuming you have everything under control and hidden from others.

Secondly, it brings up an argument about the religious aspect of the factions involved.  Many years ago the person who made this statement was in a country making a speech that was broadcast around the world.  It was in this statement that he made comments in reference that Christians did not know their Bible.  After much anger and harsh words from many, the events died down and for the most part have been ignored but we must remember them for what this person said was and still is correct.  Many Christians do not know the Bible and what God’s Word really means to our lives and to the lives of everyone that walk this planet.  What this person does not realize is that he also does not understand what Islam represents either and the potential that both religions have in the world.  Is he a Muslim or not, is irrelevant for it is his lack of understanding on all aspects that should be concerning, including the authority to lead during these times of command.

Christians, do not believe that you are off the hook here!  We are just as guilty as this person is in not knowing and understanding what our historical reference means.  Many of us state that we take the word of god literally, and we should.  But evidently we have not believed this statement because there are now denominations that admit they do not believe the Bible literally but just take it seriously.  This is where we do not grasp the fact that the Bible is about humans and how their lives are represented by the relationship they have with God, or lack thereof.  Yes the Word of God has laws and directives that we should know and understand but it is through the relationship that those people had with God that put those laws and directives into place, not a dictatorial God who wishes to control our lives.  It is through this biblical and historical point that we have the opportunity to end life as we know it or to live in unimaginable bounty through the blessings of God.

As a society we have now begun to remove God from our personal and societal lives.  This aggressive approach to self reliance is all in the name of progression of humanity all the while advancing this agenda through the gifts that God has provided.  We fail to see that everything that we have God has created, whether it has been through a physical creation or through our individual ideas for life.  From how we raise cattle to the surgical instruments that we use for removing cancer and everything else in-between, God has given us those items; strictly for our benefit.

So, now the craze is to delete God from our lives and to rely upon our own faults as our foundation.  We are once again purposefully ignoring our own history and refuse to go to our history classes on the belief that we know everything we need to know about our enemies.  As long as we continue to develop this idea and concepts and continue to cultivate this selfish desire for life, we will increasingly render ourselves defenseless against our enemies, both physically and spiritually.  Am I saying that everyone should become a “history nerd”, not at all but at least grasp the ideas that humans have a past and that everyone uses their pasts to direct their present and future.  We can only change the course of our failures by reading our pasts and this truth cannot be emphasized enough when it comes to the Bible.

When we reject the truth about the Bible we place ourselves in a vulnerable position.  I have been in a minister’s family for 47 years now and I must admit that God has showed me more things about His Word, our creation and humanity in the past 2 ½ years than all of readings of the Bible combined.  I finally submitted myself to understanding what the Bible meant for my life and in turn God opened my spirit up to another realm that He is using for the advancement His Kingdom.  I admit that as long as I continued to read the Bible with a closed mind about humanity, I had no real opportunity to understand what really occurred during the lives of everyone that is mentioned within the pages of God’s Word.  But when I allowed God to infiltrate my life the words jumped out off the pages and their meanings became so clear to me.  That life is what God desires to place into each one of our hearts so that He may effectively communicate with His greatest treasures.

But as long as we continue to purposefully blind ourselves through blind and limited biblical reading and understanding we shall continue to underestimate not only our lives and the potential that we have but our enemy, both physical and spiritual, as well.  One of the common excuses we have today is that we only use portions of the Bible to make a point or to use as an advantage during an argument with others.  This too is a correct statement and to do this is a very dangerous and debilitating process.  Then why don’t we use the entire Bible as a foundational history lesson in which to guide us through our daily steps?  What are we afraid of? If we are to do this then we must dive deep into every aspect of God’s Word, and not just what we want to hear.

God’s love…..God’s love….OHHHHH God’s love.  This is a huge item right at the moment with those who disagree with one another.  Their argument is that we should always love each other no matter what the other person’s circumstances are.  This is a correct statement and every Christian should practice this act.  However, and this is a large HOWEVER, that both sides tend to ignore, and that is in order to receive the benefits of God’s love we must keep and obey His laws AS they were written and not humanly jaded or humanly altered to suit our own pleasures.  It is this type of act that facilitates our ignorance of God’s Word and how to fend off our enemy.  It is also a means as to how our enemy drives larger wedges between God’s children in order to keep them from realizing their true capacity for life; all the while our enemy laughs at us and skips away with a huge smile on his face.  Our eternal enemy is unseen to our physical eyes but his presence surrounds us with every physical step we take.  If one does not understand the true Word of God, Satan’s presence blends into our everyday settings and thus our eternal enemy has graduated into an underestimation which shall prove eternally deadly at some point in our lives.

What is the bottom line to this topic?  In order to completely understand our lives we must place our hearts into the entire Word of God.  Not for a few moments but for a second by second filling so that not only will we know how to live in true freedom but also complete the work that the Church needs to do.  Also, by placing our hearts into the Bible, and we lose our selfish fetishes and wants, God will transform our hearts into a wealth of godly knowledge that will help someone that you encounter.  If we allow this second by second living within the Word of God we shall never be in a position that underestimates our enemy and we will know what to expect from him at all times.  Underestimating ANY enemy is deadly and in our eternal status underestimating our eternal enemy just one millimeter can cost us a great deal, not just for a few months but for eternity.  It is time we turn our hearts back to God and restore ourselves in His ways through His holy and LITERAL Word.  God loves each and one of us but for us to know what true freedom in life is we must return back to God and refresh His ways in our hearts.

DLB

Dwelling Place

Dwelling Place

3/25/15

We can always refer to this title as the place where our hearts are at or the place where we live and make our home.  All of these short definitions would be accurate in describing this term and the importance of having such a place to return to for sanctuary. It saddens me to believe that many homes are subject to violence, hatred, turmoil and strife while just next door the perfect reign protrudes from every inch.  God has a dwelling place as well and while mankind has done its best to push God from this dwelling place, He continues to try and find ways back into this place, because He understands what eternal separation means.

Over the almost five decades of my life I have had the privilege to live in many parts of this country.  My parents were full time ministers and ones that heard the call of God every day.  This meant that sometimes we would stay put for a few years and other times it means a short stay and then off somewhere else.  I can understand how many people would not adapt to that type of living too well but I really did not have too much concern about it, I always trusted my parents and had the security and belief in that they knew what they were doing.  Little did I know that it was God directing our lives and not so much my parents which when I look back on it now I have so much more pride and security about their ministry and the protections of God over our lives and the lives that my parents ministered to.

With all of these moves to different locations one can imagine that I lived in many houses and that assumption would be very accurate.  Some of the houses were parsonages, some rentals and others my parents bought and then sold.  Off the top of my head I cannot remember too many houses that I did not like; I cannot say that about some of the places that we lived in (Hobbs, NM) but I knew that we were there for a reason and I happily accepted that and went on my way.  Not at one time did I ever not feel safe when I walked through the doors of the houses that we dwelled in, nor did I ever feel strife that I felt as I walked some of the streets of those cities.  My house was just that, my house and it was a place that served as my foundation, my beginnings to the day and my endings of the night.  I received every type of instruction, guidance and living standards that I ever could imagine and needed.  Was it always simple and easy?  No, as the parent / child scenario played out there was some times of question, but nothing ever to the point where destruction of the household was considered.

I look back on the times when I lived at home while I was growing up and I have nothing but positive and fond memories and those memories are still present each time I walk into my parents’ home today.  The houses and dwelling places that I knew as a child still follow me today and I try my best to keep those same standards in my current dwelling place as well.  I guess the secret to those memories is that mom and dad always kept God first in their lives, both in their duties concerning the church and their duties at home.  Most of us do not think about God and His dwelling place, for we automatically think about heaven and how He is supposed to be there at all times, but in all honesty heaven is not where God desires to be.  Yes, God is happy in heave and He lives there in all of His glory, truth and splendor but that is not where His heart is at and where His heart desires to live and to dwell.  Many denominations place the important dwelling place of God within the confines of heaven, but this is not the case, God desires to dwell with His people and within their hearts because that living space defines His purpose for our creation and represents His perfect ambitions for His life and for ours.

What is one of the first questions that “pops” into a person’s head giving the previous statement?  How can I say that and does the Bible say anything about it?  I can make a statement like that because God said it to me and that He showed me what to say about that statement and yes, the Bible does say something about it and fitting enough it is right at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis.  All through chapters 2 & 3 God continually is referred to being with mankind in the Garden of Eden.

First, God establishes the relationship He will have with mankind by creating man in a specific manner and a unique order that will give mankind an opportunity to be restored if they ever go astray and try to do things on their own; which we all know what occurred a short time down the road.  Secondly, God made mankind in a way that would allow Him to be with His creation and for His creation to have the ability to understand what God desired from mankind.  Thirdly, God instilled with us a desire to have a relationship with God on a personal and individual level at all times and on a direct or eye-to-eye level, not from a distance.  Fourthly, God understood that there was an enemy present about that would seek to end this direct conflict due to the hatred of God through his (Satan’s) own personal choices.  All of which God tried to show mankind of these facts and mankind chose to believe and enact his own ways instead.

Our enemy knows about this relationship status and the potential that it has for our lives.  Our enemy’s life is already played out and his fate is sealed but our lives have the opportunity to repent and to restore that first and true relationship with God, on that eye-to-eye and direct level and it is this type of relationship that our enemy seeks to permanently cut forever.  How eager is our enemy to separate us from God?  Satan still has access to our lives but he can only act upon this access through a chain yet the potential is still there.  He succeeded in breaching this hedge in the Garden of Eden and death soon followed.

After Adam and Eve ate of the fruit God had no choice but to conduct certain disciplinary actions against all parties involved. Human changes were extraordinary for up until that point mankind knew no pain, agony, disappointment, etc, etc.  For Satan it really did not matter much because his fate was already sealed yet even the serpent that he inhabited for the occasion faced great changes as well.  Everyone and everything involved changed that day including the ground and how it produced its life.  God is an all encompassing God, so when He must deal with things, everything involved must be dealt with accordingly, nothing left out.

Adam and Eve were immediately cast from the Garden of Eden and told to make refuge elsewhere.  Can you imagine what was going through their minds during this time, especially when they took that first step outside of the confines of the Garden and turned to see and feel the flaming sword behind them?  This was unprecedented in human history and this action was all due to the fact of a certain choice that had been made a short time previous.  The eternal gravity of the situation must have been enormous, for God during all of His talks with Adam and Eve must have shared about the enemy and what he stood for and how he was after them.  Even Job stated that God would not strike humanity for an unknown sin; boy does this belief ring true in today’s society!

Time continued to play out in Adam and Eve’s life and they made a life for themselves and fulfilled God’s command of reproducing the earth.  Many things must have been learned at that time by Adam and Eve but the result of their sin continued to follow them and the development of that sin eventually took its toll on one of their sons.  As brothers go, we all know that some type of rivalry must have been staked between them, it is a given.  It sets forth the first example of what would later become the division between Isaac and Ishmael and the continued embattlement between those two brothers today.  Arguments eventually led to further aggravation and when the time came for sacrifice the heat was turned up and blood was shed, but not for the true sacrifice but out of anger; this was point “B” in the relationship between Cain and Abel, one that our society is about to reach as well. 

How better of an example to be presented when at one time there was a perfect relationship between Creator and creation and then after tragic events the result of an imperfect human relationship led up to an end point in human existence.  No death was understood when God was in complete control in their lives and when they decided to give that up for selfish desires, the end point would be reached in the youngest son being murdered by his brother.  This is the reason why separation from God is so dangerous for mankind because if it happens once, the door is open for it to occur over and over again, especially when you deal in spiritual numbers.

It is the state of separation from God that our enemy knows and continually wishes for.  He knows that if he can get under our skin enough that he can weave his “magic” into our lives.  It was not an immediate event with Eve for it took time for her curiosity to be manifested outwardly enough for the serpent (Satan) to strike.  God understands how important the relationship between Him and mankind needs to be.  This is true since He knows the spiritual heart and motives of His enemy and God also knows that His enemy / our enemy shall never change his motives either, which serves as the perfect reason as to why God shall NEVER change His ways; ever.

From the moment God created mankind He has placed within us the ability to reverse the process of separation that is between God and us.  The process of restoration is presented all throughout the Bible and has deep roots within our personal lives as well.  It is well known that when physical relationships “go south” tremendous hurt and pain run rampant through every aspect of our existence, lasting for generations or even longer.  The thoughts and actions that we tend to pursue against the other party can be upright vicious and turn people against future relationships by these attacks.  The same vengeful tactics are used in the spiritual realm against our lives as well.

It is evident that our enemy hates us enough to completely end our relationship with God.  His choices created his finality and it is now his “job” to create the exact same eternal separation that he created.  I find it so ironic that Lucifer was so bent upon creating things that through his actions the only thing he created was his own eternal separation; is that the epitome of the definition of choice or what?  Now, if our lives just included the physical side of things Satan would not have any motive to separate us from God’s true dwelling place.  It is the eternal spirit that God placed within in us that Satan desires to separate from God.  Our spirit is what connects us to God and it is what He desires to have between His creation, this is His dwelling place, the temple, us.

When God is allowed to dwell in His “natural environment” He is the happiest and the most content for He knows that He is in direct communication with His prized creation.  On the other hand when God is pushed away from this environment, His heart aches for His creation to return and automatically begins trying to reestablish the connection.  God represents the stability within the eternal connection through His inability to change; it is our responsibility to correct measures when the eternal connection is in trouble.

It is this gap created by our own choices and it is through this gap that Satan uses in order to further our separation from God. God has established way in order for us to restore this gap and thus His dwelling place within our lives and this restoration option is also our choice to obtain.  In Old Testament Scriptures the way that God required was to have humans sacrifice an animal by shedding of the blood and then offering up the blood as a symbol of our need for restoration.  In the New Testament Scriptures God miraculously and eternally supplied the last sacrifice so that this process would be available for everyone who wished to restore themselves with their Creator.  The blood and the shedding of blood represent our eternal status and through the simple acceptance of Christ into our lives provide us not only with a covering in the eyes of God but also restores His dwelling place within our lives.

There is nothing God desires more than to be in the same dwelling place as His children.  In order for this to occur we must forsake all of the worldly standards and return to the Creator’s ways.  First of all it is imperative that we understand that God cannot change His ways.  Secondly, we must concede that as long as we continue to place the world in front of God we are at high risk for the gap between God and mankind to increase.  Our enemy shall always do his “job” by furthering and widening this gap and to confirm that we never spiritually connect with God again.  Satan was displaced from his dwelling place with God, so why should this method come as a surprise to anyone.  God dwelling place is within our lives and that is where He wishes to be.  If we choose the world we will continually find ourselves wanting knowledge and finding emptiness but if we choose God and His ways our lives will come alive in an individual manner that will shine throughout the world as a beacon of hope and trust.

DLB

Ashes

Ashes

3/24/15

Anyone who has ever witnessed a fire until its completion will testify of how intense the heat and flames are of that fire.  The end results of such fires bring a permanent substance that is messy and useless but still signifies of the previous event in a way that brings finality at the same time.  Ashes do not render much service for the future on a constructional basis but they do serve as a continual reminder of something that stands in the history of our minds and experiences.  Many times we look at ashes and remember the tragedy that struck such emotional responses at the time of the fire, but should be the entire memories that reconcile our thoughts and beliefs of godly, personal and societal living.

Not too many people like to recount their personal memories of fire, nor would the majority of people enjoy spending time watching their lives literally go up in smoke while standing and watching a fire destroy a close personal item.  After the fire has been extinguished and safe to enter the burned area, walking through the ashes is many times more painful than watching those memories being actively destroyed.  The finality of ash sends a permanent shockwave through our internal lives and realization that complete and final loss has occurred.

When a fire begins the heat is weak and slow to develop, as is the flames of said fire.  As any person that operates a grill or stove and they will tell you that when you turn on the instrument it takes time for all of the settings to reach temperature.  The same goes for a fire in that when it is young its potential energy is gaining and the fire itself is at its peak for extinguishing but when a non controlled fire has started, it is already at its peak potential before help arrives.  It is at this point when the fire is the most destructive for it has used up its ignition points and is now readily consuming the organic materials within the burning substance to reach this peak.  It is also at this point when the organic fuel is consumed a lasting residue appears in the form of what we call ash.

Ashes are the result of a fire when it is done with using up all of the energy and fuel of the substance that it was burning.  There is not much use for ashes for there are no usable contents that remain after the fire has left that area for another place to continue.  It does not matter if a fire remains small and contained within a boundary, after the fire has used up all of its sources the ashes that remain can serve no organic purpose any longer.  Even if there are numerous materials and fuel sources within the burning structure, the fire will burn use all possible sources before it dies out, unless help gets there before total damage results.

Anyone remember back in the early 1980s when a relatively unknown and previously dormant volcano erupted in the state of Washington?  This mountain was and still is named as Mount St Helens and it is still producing earthquakes and soft rumblings decades after it erupted.  Up until the day of its eruption there had been significant warnings of an eruption but hardly anyone took them seriously and on that eventful day the skies turned black and the earth shook violently and the top of the mountain exploded thousands of feet into the air and to one side and the result of that explosion created an ash cloud and molten rock cloud that traveled thousands of miles in many directions.

After Mount St Helens calmed down the results of the explosion became known and while only a few people lost their lives that day many other life forms were completely destroyed.  Literally, millions of trees and miles of landscape were totally burned to the ground, with many rivers being contaminated with poison molten rock and sulfur gases streaming down from the mountain site.  Log jams in the rivers created havoc for people trying to reach where known human activity was before the eruption.  Most living creatures could not breathe the air because of the chemicals, smoke and ash still falling from the atmosphere and resulted in countless numbers of animals to lose their lives.

It was a result of this huge explosion and fire that caused the damage in and around the western region of the nation.  It affected the area for years and in some areas destroyed back then, teams of researchers are still gathering information about that site today and piecing together that puzzle.  If one goes to this national park and forest they can still see some of the permanent scars that the volcano created and if one uses modern equipment they can see the slow rising bulge within the crater of this mountain, another sign that one day this volcano can repeat its actions and bring more havoc to the area.

There is not much that humanity can do to prevent this type of activity from occurring.  However, we can understand the warning signs enough to change our habits concerning this volcano and try our best to limit our permanent inhabitance of the area.  Yes the setting is scenic and beautiful to walk and hike through.  Yes it an area that is quite peaceful and tranquil even though it has a graphic history.  It is important that we take all of these historical features and put them into perspective and choose wisely and accordingly.  While physical fires could be the result of what is predicted for this society and other world societies may not be accurate, but some type of fire shall occur that will produce just as much ash as a real fire would produce.  Real fire may accompany this other type of fire but I do know that whichever fire comes about, ash will be produced and shall dictate our destruction, recovery and restoration.

Again during this time frame in the early 1980s my family and I were living in a small town north of Houston, Texas when another small yet graphic tragedy occurred.  While this incident never made national news and it never even reached regional news but the news of this tragedy did reach one family and our community and it made its mark as the ashes came into being.  The accident occurred late one night to a friend of mine was supposed to be in bed asleep but had left her house and went out with some acquaintances.  Little did she know that this would be the last time she left her house and that she would be in a terrible accident and burned alive.  The news struck the family hard, as it would any family, but even though this particular family knew of God they literally fell apart and sunk deeper into their troubles and is still feeling the effects of that single tragedy long ago.

God recently shared with us an article concerning the devastating times of Job and how his world came crashing to the ground in a series of terrible events.  One of the more fascinating passages of this story is when Job looked at all of his personal destruction and walked into the burned ashes and sat down in the middle of them.  With his wife begging him to curse God and die, Job instead lifted up his eyes unto God and gave thanks for everything that God had given him and that he understood that if God could give things to people that He could take them away as well.  This man had literally lost everything with the exception of his wife.  He even had nasty health problems that caused him great pain yet he worshiped God and did not curse God for any bit of these allowances.  This is the last of the three good examples that this article gives about how fire destroyed certain structures and left ashes in its place.  It does not matter what the structure is, the structure is the subject of the burning and what remains afterwards.

The question remains is how would you react in times such as these.  How would our town act if a tornado ripped through its downtown as it did in Joplin, Missouri a few years ago?  How would our nation regroup and truly figure out as to why things of this type of “fire” occurred?  Would we even understand exactly what transpired or would we write it off and dismiss it on a human level?  The personal aspect of the fire would be just that, individual.  I have been witness to a couple of hurricanes and have felt the ground shake under my feet when earthquakes occurred.  The current town that I live in has been spared from any major disasters so far, but the day is not over and anything could occur before I leave this building.

That leads me to our nation and to the society that we currently observe.  I do not believe it would be too hard to arrive at the answer to the question I posed in the paragraph above when it comes to our nation and western society.  What amazes me is that when these terrible events occur, we stand in shock and in total disbelief because of what happened, as if to say “how dare they attack us in this manner”.  It is at this point that we can be assured that society and its living conditions have no clue about why things of this sort occur, and to what the origins of those acts really come.

Our society has become so anti God that we are continually pushing Him out of our existence and it is through this process that a great catastrophe will occur.  When humans voluntarily tell God that “they can handle things” God allows them to do so. However, what humanity forgets is that God has placed protective coverings around all of His people and if we voluntarily remove them, our enemy will have no restraints when he decides to attack.  It is through these attacks and lack of protection that will define our fire and measure our ashes afterwards. 

We have deleted God from our daily lives so much that we do not feel the need to fear Him.  We refuse to listen to His warnings and to adhere to His ways, making up our own selfish laws that give up “more control” over God and the lands that He has given us.  But this time the focus is on the remnants of our societies after the damage has been done and how we will react towards the ashes.  As it stands now and with our reactions towards the past problems, I do not feel like we will truly understand what the ashes mean and the reasons as to why they were created.

Will it take us centuries to understand what has occurred or will we get our hearts back into line with God’s laws and allow our restoration to be easier than harder?  When we make choices it then becomes our responsibility to live up to those choices and suffer the consequences or to imbibe in the blessings that each choice brings.  When we separate ourselves from God we take His presence and knowledge out of the picture and then replace it with human understanding.  This selfish setting places us at a disadvantage because we leave out the eternal and accept only the physical.  If allowed long enough this thinking will eventually phase out the enemy and therefore justify everything natural as being true and factual; just as Eve did when she made the choice to falsify God’s Law and then eat of the fruit.

Eve probably had no idea of the physical and eternal consequences of her and Adam’s actions that day.  And as a society we have no idea what our consequences (ashes) shall be either.  God has given us some great examples of how humans handle disastrous situations in this article.  I wish that I could say that we would take the road that Job did and have the heart that understands why things occurred, but from what description the Bible gives about humanity when things fall apart, I do not believe too many people will take His warnings factually.

This article is not all bad news there is some excellent news to be shared.  The ashes that we will be witnessing can be avoided!!  All we have to do is to turn our hearts back to God and allow Him to again be the center of our lives.  Everyone in the world wants peace, happiness and prosperity but all of those experiences come from God and if we tune Him out of our lives, so will those blessings.  It is a simple choice that we have and we still have a few moments to change our status but unless we make this change, we will begin to see the ashes fall from the sky in quick manner. 

God loves His children in ways and manners that our human minds and hearts cannot fathom.  His love for us is overwhelming if we study its presence.  But in order for us to receive and to know His love we must, we must obey His laws and His Word. We cannot continue to indulge ourselves in worldly practices and believe that all will remain a box of chocolates.  Our lives shall change according to our choices and the ashes may rain down upon our societies for months, years, decades or even centuries.  But it will all be due to the choices that we have made and how long it takes us to figure out that God is the Creator of everything and not humans.

Restoration comes with pain of its own but this pain comes through a purifying fire and not a destructive fire.  God’s fire comes from His heart and will seek out every impurity that we harbor in order to bring us closer to His will.  The destructive fires have no respecter of structures and will seek out fuel in order to consume as much as possible to stay “alive”, leaving nothing but ashes in its path.  I have no idea what structures our enemy will choose to burn in our society, they may be physical in stature or they may be economic in structure or financial through losses, or a combination of all, but I do know that whatever the fire maybe we can skip this portion and remove ourselves from becoming ash.  Two kingdoms and two fires, which one will we choose?

DLB