An Earthly King

An Earthly King

3/11/17

Are there any advantages to having a king that has a physical connection with their subjects?  Are there a flawless representative and a perfect individual that can prove adequate for all the demands that humanity requires?  Why do we ignore the standout status and choose the standard model instead?  All of these questions are given to us in the Bible when Israel chose the earthly path instead of obeying and following God.  We must be careful to understand what is harmful even though it may look succulent to our eyes.  God’s one and only desire declares that His children understand that there is no other higher King than Him and when we choose (settle) for a lower standard, our lives can only be further complicated and not simplified.

All of us would like to believe that our best friend when growing up is the one that knows us the best.  Most of us have had friends that we said that we would never leave or never be away from yet in almost every contest in our existence we have for one reason or another left those surroundings to pursue other devices that we deem more important.  While the separation from these friendships hurt for a moment our long-term goals are back on track within a short amount of time and off into the distance we ride without those previous vows being fulfilled.

Being a preacher’s kid I have had the great opportunity to be around some great people who I considered to be my close friends.  I have always led with my heart and held nothing back when establishing this type of relationship.  It did not matter what period of my life I could refer to, this pattern of mine I take very serious and could not break or change if I wanted.  But instead of me developing those friendships to a godly level I made them so superficial that the moment I left the area those connections walked and ended just as far as I left in the opposite direction.  I regret not pursuing friendships better and when I stop and think about how I viewed God in my younger years I can see the reflection of how I held those friendships in my life as well, with a haunting similarity I must state.  Over the years I have learned through the difficulties of my own and in good times as well, that when God is not placed first in every aspect of my life and our lives also we can know no peace, tranquility, or holiness because when God is not first in every aspect of personal humanity the world rules and that truth can only bring chaos.

We must consider all of the aspects of a relationship and how all parties involved will be effected with the leadership package that comes into power.  There were many times over my youthful days that I would befriend a person but mom and dad would have a check about that person for a reason unknown to them.  But to my amazement, and my anger sometimes, those unfriendly type relationships would prove out to be bad on some level and those “friends” would prove that God was speaking to them so that my life would not be harmed.  How can this kind of safety net be intact when the king of an individual, a group, state or nation does not recognize an authority that cannot represent anything but holiness and perfection?  How many times have I heard about good families being destroyed for no what seems like good reason yet watch them fall apart because who they have in charge over their households; then when the truth comes out it is easy to understand why they were shredded to pieces.  It does not matter on what level one wishes to make this case and use as an example, if God is not the focus of the governance and countenance of that entity, it shall fail on all levels it is associated with from within.

I Samuel Chapter 8 gives us a great example of how things change which in this case is on a nation level but it can be provided on an individual level as well for nations are made up of many individuals.  I know that this chapter and the few previous ones before it have been used a couple of times recently but there is an entire concept here that God wants us to understand and to figure something out before it is too late for our nation.  What we must remember about God is that He will allow people to either choose Him or their own way, but when we choose our own way God will not just give up and be silent from that point onward, He will do anything possible to plead His case against a wayward choice.  Then and only then if we still wish to be away from His Light, then God will be silent in the despair and allow the choice to completely unfold.

I find it quite amazing that Israel had come to the conclusion to separate them from God instead of cleaning the house that they recognized to be corrupt.  It is obvious from previous passages in this specific book of I Samuel that not only were the judges of Israel corrupt but the High Priest Eli was just as bad for allowing the judges to still hold their positions.  Yet, the people chose to leave God and not clean up the house that could have continued to point them in the correct direction; this tells us that the people themselves while verbally complaining enjoyed their “freedom” with the concept of worldly living.  We see this pattern come alive in the end portions of this chapter and it is this displayed knowledge of God about His children that serve as the foundation for Israel’s destruction.

We are going to start out with verse 10 which states: “And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king.”  If we remember back a few chapters of this book we find a young Samuel being woken up in the middle of the night by the voice of God and eventually listening to God speak a prophecy concerning Eli and his house.  At this point, the prophecy has been fulfilled in its entirety and the Ark of the Covenant has been returned to the Israelites after a very long captivity yet the children of Israel, who have witnessed all of this come to pass, still want to separate themselves from God and join the rest of the world.  Samuel did not hold anything back because while he was upset that Israel wanted this change he still had the obligation and desire to obey God even when bad news was being presented.  All aspects of their future troubles God addressed to Samuel and thus Samuel to them, so they were warned and they knew what was going to occur, nothing was hidden.  God is a consistent God and if He does things once He shall do them the exact way in the future as well.

Verse 11 addresses the most feared aspect of life known to man and that is war.  Samuel states that an earthly king will drive their sons to the production of war, war itself and then suffer the consequences of such actions.  God even gives a description here that some of their sons will be horsemen and others run into the battle as foot soldiers, all of which are frontline personnel who will suffer greatly when combat arrives.  Verse 12 reiterates these scenes by informing them that many of their sons will be placed into positions of command where they will act as the ones who send troops into battle, then cry from the loss of loved ones through the setting and law of sowing and reaping all in the name of the earthly king.

Verse 13 states that the conscription of sons will not be the only problematic setting either for the daughters of Israel the ones who give life to that nation shall be used in multiple ways to supply such new demands that the king commands.  A total reversal from what God has ordained for Israel and one that Israel is willing to leave in order to furnish flesh for their worldly acceptance. What Samuel is portraying here is the heart of God stating that every aspect of their existence will be changed and the ways that Israel will behave and believe will change when they make the final choice for their king.  God is leaving nothing out and Israel will have no excuse when this day arrives.

Verses 14-15 states that personal fields of survival shall be taken and used for the king and his purposes instead of feeding the family and those who the keepers wish to provide.  It is difficult to produce such articles of food and drink just to have them confiscated for others’ usage without proper compensation in return.  It was common to have household servants to help with all the chores and workings of the land, but God states in verse 16 that the king will commandeer these workers for his own pleasure which will leave the average person and their house short of help and force them to work harder and longer for less.  Does this sound like a good deal to you?  It sounds like through the wanting and acceptance of other nations' settings it cost Israel dearly and after this realization, they continued their pursuit of others instead of God.  

Verse 17 is a powerful statement from God and sets the stage for verse 18 which sums up all of the issues that Israel want instead of God.  Verse 17 confirms that the king will even require the animals of their fields for his feedings and requirement of all other commitments of his government and house.  No area of their lives was not going to be touched for the last portion of verse 17 states that even those that are left and have not been taken away already shall become servants to the king.  This means that the king can order any person of Israel to go, do, or say anything that the king demands from them.  Their freedoms shall strictly lie in what the king decrees and if one decides not to obey they shall be punished according to the king’s laws and not God’s Ways.

The most telling portion of this act by Israel comes in verse 18 when Samuel states the following: “And ye shall cry out in that day because your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”  This verse serves two points here.  The first is that Israel has reached a point that they want nothing more to do with God and His Ways because they believe that the other nations have it better due to their own ways and kingships.  Secondly and most importantly, since Israel has made up its mind and God is going to grant them their wishes, God shall not hear them when all of the troubles hit their lands and homes.  It is this statement by Samuel from God that should have struck sense into their hearts for the God of all Creation will not hear them WHEN their troubles arrive.  This means that God is not going to intervene when Israel becomes entangled with their “friends” or their enemies, but allow them to play out their choices of worldly acceptance.  God is giving them one last opportunity to hear the voice of truth and purity before He grants them their wish but they continue on course and choose an earthly king.

With this statement to the people of Israel is God is formally declaring the acceptance of their choice of having an earthly king. God has done His holy work by warning Israel of what will occur when this process is put into motion.  It is clear that the collective heart of Israel does not care what God wishes for their lives and that they want what the world offers instead.  God agrees to allow this choice to occur and in Chapter 9 we see that Israel chooses her earthly king and the troubles of that nation soon begin on an upgraded scale as never witnessed before.

Now, God poses this same process and ideas to us today and since God has placed His Word into motion in this story that means His Word is still in motion today and IS relevant to our lives at this very moment.  God has placed this nation, the beacon of the world, in a position of decision.  It is clear that we have toyed with the concept of having no boundaries and to be accepted as one unified entity with the world and other nations.  Just as Israel was created to be separate from the world so was this nation. However, just as Israel chose to become like the world this nation is screaming for this same demand.  We are at the door of “worldly opportunity” according to the majority of this nation’s vote and are pushing against that door for allowance in.  This is the exact same position Israel was in when I Samuel 8 was demonstrated and God has given us a chance to step back from our non-boundary status and to reset boundaries for our own protection under God.

God is once again making His case clear that what we are salivating after is a total and deadly lie.  God recognizes that our eyes have been turned away from His Ways and that we are lusting after the beautiful fruit that the world provides.  God also understands that we were created with boundaries in place and we have had the taste of worldly goods when it comes to stepping over those boundaries.  Israel chose the world and paid a heavy price for that decision.  Here is what is at stake for this nation and for the world.  No one can or will deny that this nation is the sounding board for the world and that every other nation wishes to be close to our standards yet we are driving in the opposite direction all in the hopes of meeting those coveting nations somewhere in the middle.  Does this setting ring any bells in your mind?  It should for it was just described to us through I Samuel Chapter 8.

There is nothing godly about having our hearts governed by an earthly king.  Through this process of desiring an earthly king, Israel made God look small while elevating themselves to be an equal or better than God.  Uh, does this sound like anyone else that we have read about?  It is a direct action of Lucifer and when one looks at his end-state we can see what his beliefs got him.  Stop and think about this for a moment, if Lucifer fell from his eternal position in heaven for a similar act that Israel committed, the question can be asked if they got what they should have known was coming to them.  The answer is yes because God did not keep the story of Lucifer’s fall from Israel and He has not kept Lucifer’s story from us either.  If God allows the total destruction and then sequential captivity of His own people, why would we even think that this same pattern would not occur from a bunch of non-Jewish misfits?

It is time for us to repent Church and to turn our hearts back to God and listen to His voice only.  It is evident that our leaders are preparing this nation to completely separate ourselves from God and smile as they do it.  What they fail to understand, just as the leaders of Israel in I Samuel 1-8, is that when anyone chooses the world over God disaster can only follow.  It does not matter if you are the most powerful angel in heaven, God’s chosen people or just some ordinary man or woman walking the streets of a small community, the result shall always be the same, a disaster.  God loves us, that is a correct statement and God still loved the children of Israel after they choose the path that they did, but God also allowed them to walk in that chosen path and then go through the consequences of not choosing His Ways.  God’s Word says that we should choose this day who we will serve and that day is now!  We must remember that if we look at God from a distance heart He may look as an equal or small in stature but when we realize His true nature we will recognize that He is so far greater in size than we are, and only then can we come into contact with Him in truth.

DLB

Tomorrow

Tomorrow

3/9/17

A common trait that humans have is planning and how we want to know what tomorrow will have in store for our lives, this is called being prepared.  While preparation is not a bad thing there is a difference in this truth versus trying to understand what lies ahead for our lives.  It is this aspect that we cannot predict yet worry so much about and thus waste great effort and exhaust physical and spiritual resources for nothing.  God wants us to prepare of course but we need to trust and rely on Him for those issues of tomorrow and a great way to understand our lives for tomorrow is to live today and learn from our history.  Our history lies within God and everything that He has provided for our lives and if we solely rely on His Word and Ways there will be nothing that we cannot handle tomorrow.

Most of you know that I am a huge history nut and my concept is that the more history that I can understand the better off I can be for today.  Some of you know that I was adopted when I was a baby and that it took almost 44 years for a reunification of my biological family and myself.  While I did not actively seek out my biological family, my mother persisted on me trying to find out something about them even if it was just for the medical history side of things.  I had no real intentions in compiling any information on them since in my heart and eyes I had only one family that I knew and I was good with that.  But after the reunion occurred, I began to learn many things about my life that I had questioned in the years before and while my feelings for my family did not change one bit I was glad that I had some answers to fill in the blanks to these small questions of mine.

When I was 35 years old I had a heart attack, and for the most part should have died for the main vessel that leads and then feeds the heart was 99% blocked, they call this vessel the widow maker for usually when this artery is blocked the person is usually dead before they hit the ground.  Upon learning my biological family’s history I found out that I had a few uncles who dropped dead of such a heart attack, a pattern that I was following and a bit of history that I could use to prevent such an event occurring in my life today and tomorrow.  Modernity has its advantages in many areas of our lives but while these advances do wonders for the improvement of our living spaces they still cannot provide specific information concerning our future.  History serves as a learning curve and rightly should be studied for such events, but today is a gift that should be cherished based on our foundational past, one that is well described through God and His Word.

A wonderful passage in the Bible demonstrates this truth about our lives and it is one that has been used many times as well.  For the most part, this verse has been used in a context strictly referring to tomorrow and how not to worry about tomorrow for none of us are guaranteed that tomorrow will greet us with a friendly stance.  While this is true and is a wise statement we must also take into consideration that our history is what defines us and how through our history we can continue on the present course or understand the faults that we made and correct them before they become uncontrollable.  Proverbs 27:1 states: “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

When I was in high school and playing football, one of the more tedious things that our team did was to sit down and watch films about the opponent that we were to play next.  We would spend what would seem like an eternity going over and studying their plays and how they would execute them during their last few games.  All of this effort was completed so that we would understand how they ran plays and what we could expect from their playbook.  Now, we had no idea of what plays they would run a few days down the road but we could grasp a great deal of information about the players and coaches from this type of studying.  Sometimes it paid off well and other not so much but we had the opportunity to think about what was going to be done when the time came to react to the current situation.

It is this concept that Proverbs 27:1 is wanting us to achieve for God understands that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow but if we do wake up and witness another sunrise we should be totally prepared for what is about to occur.  None of us knew what the day’s events were going to be on September 11, 2001, but many of us were prepared for such a national insult that day.  In many ways, we did not learn from history about what humans were capable of doing towards others especially on our own soil and if we would have relied on history a bit more maybe some issues could have been different that day.  I still question the knowledge of what occurred on that day, not as a conspirator but as one who studies human behavior and realizes exactly what doors are open to our enemies through such actions.  Both physical and spiritual aspects of our lives are affected through such involvement and it should be noted, strongly, that if we would have understood the Bible and our human history together more, we would have noticed so many other issues coming before they arrived.

The huge mistake that many of us make is that we tend to ignore history on both a personal and national level and this is evident when an event takes place like 9/11 or the bombings in Aleppo, or the attacks in Paris because the reactions to such events are always depicted as one of shock and horror.  We should be leery of what the human mind can do for when we understand and deeply know that we are the only species that can kill from a distance, that truth alone should bolster our hearts to know just exactly what humans are capable of doing to each other and prepare for such disasters.  Natural disasters, on the other hand, are an anomaly that we cannot control but it is within our wisdom to be prepared for such states as well.  We have the ability to predict certain items of disaster and others we do not, but through our history, we can know with details of what can occur.

Being prepared does not just fall on the physical aspect of our existence but it also includes the spiritual as well.  The spiritual aspect of our lives falls into this tomorrow category as well for if we are not guaranteed a physical tomorrow the spiritual aspect of our lives will follow suit to the physical automatically.  While we are spending time studying how to survive physical disasters we need to spend even greater amounts of time understanding the spiritual tomorrow for our lives.  God’s Word provides us with a stable outlook of what our futures hold but none of us know when the physical shall end and the spiritual begins, and by this, I mean that the spiritual is eternal and when the physical dies the eternal begins and thus cannot be changed.

In many of the writings that God has given us, He has always included human history, in some sort of fashion, to use in order for our hearts to understand what He is saying.  The important thing to remember here is that when God sends us messengers for His instructions He uses both the physical and the spiritual sides of our lives to complete His message.  All of the writers of the Bible were divinely inspired by God to write what God wanted them to say, for what He wanted to say to His people.  These brave individuals used both the spiritual context of their surroundings and the physical conditions of their surroundings in order to convey God’s message to future generations.  It is through this truth alone that it is imperative that we understand both aspects of our past in order to live fluently and vibrantly today and at the same time be prepared for tomorrow as much as possible.

Time and time again it has been proven that if we do not understand and apply both of these aspects to our lives we shall fail miserably for we have left out the important step in our human equation.  God is the Creator of all things and that includes US.  It is no secret that we tend to ignore our history, we cannot even teach the subject in school in a way that makes it interesting enough to draw noticeable attention for the students, much less learn from it and then live by it.  So, if the physical aspect of history is ignored that means that the spiritual aspect of our lives will be ignored as well, which is far more important of information than the physical.

I cannot help but believe that when Proverbs 27:1 was written it was done so with the idea that both God and human history would be taken into consideration for our living for today and to be prepared for tomorrow.  In order for God to be complete in all His ways, He must include both the physical and the spiritual truths in His Word and when He explains the details of how to live it is our responsibility to study these truths and teach our children by example of how to live according to what God’s Word has to say.  It is evident that on both levels we have checked out of the true system of living and have done things our own way, so much so that our actions are reflected as we sit in church as well, a sign that we have fallen away from the true source of life and chosen to follow a failed path instead.

I love this simple, short and to the point verse in Proverbs because it says so much in just a few words.  It includes all of God’s eternal blessings mixed in with the truth about the physical aspects of our lives and when we understand that both portions of our lives depend on this verse, it becomes clear exactly how much we need God in our lives to survive such a wicked world.  God loves you and me more than we can comprehend and He has given us the perfect tool to understand how to live abundantly each day.  On the physical side of life, it is a true statement that we may not see tomorrow and what the world may bring but it is the eternal side of our lives that represents the long-term quality of life.  If we understand God’s Word without bias we can defend ourselves properly against what our enemy throws at us and if we do not then we will accept those lies as truths and embrace them instead. 

The effects of living through this verse prove that God’s Word supplies our needs for survival.  For when we apply both the spiritual and physical together it gives us a map and a guide about how to live and our actions will automatically reveal this belief to others.  Look at what our nation and the world offers today and it is evident that we do not and are not willing to live under these perfect and eternal guidelines of God and history.  There can be no evidence of truth when God is left out of the (our) equation, period.  Humanity is continually trying to find a constant so that we may ground ourselves into a belief that is reliable at all times, we have this source and if we only turn our lives over to God we shall find that He is faithful and just to provide such a foundation that we desperately need.  

God is the author of everything which means He has already foreseen the future and knows exactly what to say for us to avoid any major issues from our enemy.  But we cannot understand what to prepare for if we do not fully study His word and apply it to our lives each day.  It is through THIS truth that defines our today and the reason that God says one can only live for today.  Open your hearts to God and Church reopen your heart to God for He is the only One that can turn this ugly and ignorant machine into a wonderful musical instrument that plays only glorious music for all to hear.  Repent, Church and allow God to infiltrate our hearts again so that we may understand how to live in complete fullness of life, just as God created it from our beginning.  For if we live in this truth, what God is saying to us in this simple verse is true for we will have no reason to worry about tomorrow.

DLB

Daniel's Answer Today

Daniel’s Answer Today

3/8/17

All of us at one time or another has wondered if God was really listening to our hearts when we pray or ask Him questions.  We can study His Word and try our best to comprehend His presence but it still is a difficult task to keep Him in the forefront of our minds and heart at all times.  All of us forget that there are forces around us that block our communication with God which reemphasizes the importance of having a relationship with God instead of relying on the surrounding religious atmospheres.  We have a wonderful example of this truth in God’s Word and it provides us with the aspects of what really is going on around us and how we should recognize the warfare for our survival.  God wants us to hear His voice for it carries eternal life but in order for us to understand His words, we must first carry His Word in our heart so that our spiritual eyes and ears and know.

When the story of Daniel begins it is known that his life had been set apart from the vast majority of the people in Israel and that God had His eye on Daniel for a special purpose.  What is difficult to maintain is just how Israel’s condition would be when Daniel would receive the benefits of God’s eye, for Israel was taken into captivity by an enemy who was considered worse than what the heart of Israel was, a position that confounded many in Israel.  Furthermore, Daniel was taken from his environment and placed into a special court for the King of Babylon, a setting that would make anyone skeptical and nervous for their future.  We must also remember that Daniel was a young lad when all this first transpired, and who would have contemplated that Daniel’s entire life would be spent as a messenger for God in a captive state.

With the exception of a small contingency inside Israel, most of the population had no idea as to why they had been completely defeated and now taken into a strange land to be held in captivity.  They could not understand why God would allow such a humiliating defeat to be bestowed on their existence.  They were the children of God and His chosen people!  But as we see the book of Daniel unfold, we can easily determine that Israel did not understand exactly why God allowed this to occur and it was not a hidden secret by God but a choice that Israel made and then completely shoved God out of their lives instead.  What scares me the most about this setting is that in today’s society we are making the exact same deadly choices as Israel did so long ago and since we know that God is a consistent God on all levels, we have no excuses when He deems the word “enough” from His Holy lips.

Daniel Chapter 10 provides us with a unique picture of how a person with a relationship with God endures a dire situation.  The atrocities that Daniel heard about and personally witnessed is hard for one to imagine but while this vague idea of a life is difficult to contemplate, we must keep this Daniel’s placement in the forefront of our lives because God can and will change our course if we do not begin to adhere to His Word.  Daniel Chapter 9 paints this picture of Israel’s iniquities before God and how they did not even know that their actions were that “bad” for they had placed them into the acceptable category of worldly goods and it is this chapter that Daniel prays to God and asks for guidance and offers not only the repentance of Israel but for himself as well. 

Daniel 10:10-15 states the following and sets the tone for the topic of this message from God: “And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.  And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent.  And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.  Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.  Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.  And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.”

Now there are about 15 or so other messages that reside in this passage of Scripture alone but the one that God wishes for our hearts to hear here is one of a personal matter.  While this passage was written and took place a very long time ago, its meaning and truth continue to play out in our lives today.  As stated in the opening paragraph, humans have a great tendency of forgetting what is actually around them and tend to focus on the immediate circles around them without noticing the entire work of art surrounding them.  Daniel had prayed for repentance and for forgiveness in this passage and right from the beginning of this word, God makes sure that Daniel understands that God loves him and knows his faithfulness to Him.  Daniel’s reaction to this message from God is one of complete humility and fear of God, for at the end of the introduction of the angel’s words Daniel falls back to his face and knees.

All throughout the book of Daniel, it mentions Daniel’s conversations with God and at one point even quantifies his talks with God during a given day.  It is this example of how we need to be in communication with God for it is our eternal lifeline that we live in this manner.  Do you think that Daniel would have known exactly what to say to the king and the court sessions that he was thrust into if he had not been in constant contact with God?  Do you think that when he was chucked into the lion’s den that he would have had the faith and trust in God that he demonstrated?  Would Daniel had succumbed to the pressures of his environment and given up if he had no recollection of what God was performing in his life?  All of these questions drew conclusive answers in Daniel’s life as those moments passed, yet Daniel knew exactly what his situation was and he knew exactly the position that Israel was in, he knew why he and Israel were in those positions and most importantly Daniel knew and understood that God knew where he was and what was occurring around him.  It was this knowledge that kept Daniel from falling apart, for when the angel spoke to Daniel, he still fell to the ground dumb but through his faithfulness, God came with an answer.

We must remember that Daniel was a human being, alive and breathing person who actually existed.  This means that he experienced different qualities of life and even had his world turned upside down by a group of people that were not from his neighborhood.  His economic status changed, his living status changed, the people around him changed, and every inch of his life was altered with the exception one huge detail and that was that his faith in God never wavered one bit.  It was this small detail that did not change that set Daniel’s course before God and the world into motion and probably saved Israel fro further devastation.  Yet, while Daniel continued this communication and relationship status with God, his world still fell around him and his nation crumbled to a worldly authority, a lesson that could have been avoided and the specific target of what God wants us to understand today.

There was no question that when Daniel was a young boy that Israel was a blessed nation.  Every indication that we have during this time frame states that Israel was not in want and that they had great influence over the region.  With this status undoubtedly came enemies that wished to destroy them but Israel knew that they would be protected by God because of their “status” in Him. It was this belief that came to be their downfall, for their eyes became focused on their status and not the One who gave them that status.  As time went progressed their eyes became more engraved in the world than God and by the time God said “enough”, it was too late to save their nation.  Now, we know that not all of the people in Israel left God’s eyes but we do know that the majority of Israel did and it was this contention that led to their demise.

The nation of Israel was a defined nation during this time period.  The events of Israel’s demise are well documented in secular history as they are in the Bible and many details remain as to the suffering that this nation endured during this period of defeat. The reason that this example of Israel is important to our lives today is that this nation and the beacon that God gave her a long time ago is on the same path that Israel took when Daniel was alive.  It is frightening the similarities that our nation partakes into that of what Israel believed and lived.  The call of God still rings superficially from our mouths but stops there and that call has been beaten from our hearts by a lifestyle of selfish lusts from an enemy that we have embraced instead of kicked away.

There is good news to be given here!  And it the type of news that God desires for His children to have and this good news will immediately be recognized too, and even better is that the process to which this news would arrive relies on one thing only and that is the repentance of our sins before God.  Just the prophets of old proclaimed to Israel that they did not have to fall prey to their enemies, neither does this nation have to fall to the judgment of God either.  The modern day prophets have already spoken about what is to come to this nation and the effect of our demise that would have on the world.  The good news is that we do not have to follow the pattern of what God’s Word records we can delay this tragedy for an extended amount of time if we only turn our hearts back to God and live through the communion and relationship with God as Daniel portrayed.

It does not take a rocket scientist’s brain and knowledge to figure this equation out.  It is a simple process and belief that will correct all of the flaws, grief, and sin that we now condone.  It would be a miraculous change to witness a congressional passage of a law that actually helps promote God and the strength of His nation instead of one that divides and conquers through political lines; kind of sounds like denominational lines too.  Today we have built up the belief that we do not need God or His Word in our lives because of the status of living that we exist within.  As long as we adhere to this philosophy our lives are in grave danger of being overthrown by an enemy that will be used against us.  What unsettles me is that Israel knew about the presence of the Babylonians and how they operated during the time of Daniel, yet God used them to completely destroy what Israel believed that they obtained by themselves.

A great many times I have heard that when one speaks about God and His Word that it is always doom and gloom and there is nothing positive that can be said about God and His Ways.  I can understand this line of beliefs especially when one looks at God’s Ways through the selfish and worldly keyhole.  Study this passage in Daniel and include Chapter 9 as well and one cannot help but notice almost exact word for word ideologies and beliefs that the world holds true today, more troubling is that this nation and the other nations around us have willingly adopted these ideas as laws.   God understands that He has asked me to write about this setting a few times before, but as His Word is completed He wants us to understand that we have a choice and the choice is clear and easy.

Our lives are going to be filled with pain and agony as we progress through our days, this is a given and there is nothing that we can do about this.  However, we can have the opportunity for our nation and our existence as a whole not go through added doom and gloom if we make one simple choice to place and then keep God number one in our hearts.  Daniel gives us a perfect status of relationship with God and if we as a nation redevelop this type of relationship then we will be able to miss the added pain and suffering that will be allowed to fall on our lives.  Why should we have to endure such a sad ending that only provides an unspeakable agony that will last for an unforeseen amount of time?  The GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE DO NOT HAVE TO ENDURE THIS PROCESS!!! 

We do not have to follow the exact example of what Daniel had to go through and the nation of Israel had to face.  If we as a nation develop a relationship with God our troubles will be solved and our enemies will be scattered, God’s Word says this!  This is good news, people!!  And it is easily obtained if we only give up our lives to God and allow Him to rule instead of us.  The world does not want this for its message is one of selfishness that is based on an eternal death lie.  It is time for the Church to repent and to once again activate her mission of preaching and teaching the gospel to the dying world.  If we listen to this truth our nation and many others with us shall reap God’s benefits and protection.  We can have our boundaries eternally restored to the perfect conditions that are needed for our survival, it is an easy choice.

God gave us this example of Daniel for a reason so that His children today could avoid such disastrous occasions in the future. God is still alive and His Word still rings true today.  His love for our lives has not diminished in any capacity and it is always His desire to see His children live in peace, prosperity and under His protection.  Daniel’s answer from God was a direct Word that God recognized Daniel and the purity of his heart.  God recognizes our hearts too and it is His desire for our hearts to cry out for a relationship as Daniel did.  Daniel did not waiver while the destruction of Israel occurred, as of this moment we have the opportunity to restore our relationship with God and miss out on the utter destruction of our livelihood.  Let us be like Daniel and not like Israel.  Choose God and His Holy Ways over the death opportunities of the world.

DLB

False Sacrifices

False Sacrifices

3/6/17

For many, it is difficult to understand why people do certain customary benefits in front of on-looking eyes when it is obvious that their heart is not in the reason why that act is performed.  Going through the motions is a false sacrifice on both sided parties and for the most part, the physical aspect of this lie can be circumvented without grave consequences.  But when it comes to God these heart-lacking symbols and ceremonies tell of a heart that is not interested in the truth and when performed something or someone usually suffers major consequences.  We must ask ourselves how many times we have fit families into certain settings due to our lackluster beliefs about important functions and while we are digging into our hearts, we can ask the same question when it comes to God and His Word as well.

Personal agendas serve their own purposes which always end up serving no one else but self.  It is a common fact that humans absolutely love to use personal agendas to get their point across or to arrange a specific chord with others but in the end many of those involved in that process see what really occurred and then are left to make decisions concerning such actions later.  For those that are invited many will understand and agree with what transpires and thus fail to recognize the real meaning of both the ceremony and the true meaning of the heart performing, but not all shall be blind to this lie either.  What one man or woman deems issues to be worthy others deem them to be minor and not worth mentioning, so who wins or is there even a question to be asked?

There have been many times in my life that I have waited until the last minute to get a project, assignment, or job done.  Most of us can attest to this fact about ourselves, I do not know how many times I have procrastinated in completing my chores, my homework assignments or my papers simply because I would rather be doing other things.  When I was in high school, a senior to be more specific, I had all semester to research, compose, write and then type my senior research paper.  I find it kind of funny now – in some ways – because my paper had to be on a writer that was not from this country, so lucky me I chose a poet from England.  At first I thought that the assignment was going to be a snap and that I would not have to put forth too much effort in this project but honestly believed that I could “fake” it enough to still obtain a good grade.

Time passed and while my parents knew that I had this large project due, they allowed me time to complete things on my own, all the while chomping at the bit and dying to say something about the project before it was too late.  Days and then weeks passed and mom and dad began their assault on my timeframe and project.  “Assault” is what I deemed it way back then parenting is what I call it today.  In my mind, I had more important things to take care of while attending high school and as long as I had those in mind, my large project would remain a distant 145^th on my list to get done.  I remind you that while other seniors had underwater basket weaving I, II, and III as their core classes, mine schedule was pretty tough and included Trig, Calculus, Physics, Advanced Biology, and then two hours at the hospital every day yet I continued to ignore the English assignment.

Quickly, time began to run short and I found myself haphazardly putting footnotes together, learning how to spell my subject’s name, and compiling all of the information together as I was requested.  A beautiful disaster lay in front of my eyes and for some reason, I honestly believed that I had spent enough time on this project to receive a good grade.  The paper was due on Monday morning for I had English 2^nd hour and I remember my dad still typing this monstrosity of mine on Sunday afternoon when he should have been getting ready for the Sunday night service.  What a fool I was in believing that I deserved anything but an average to poor grade for the lack of commitment I had to that project. 

I had spent so much time running around not following what I was supposed to be doing trying to sham my way through the paper that I had totally lost all honesty about what I was supposed to be learning how to do.  While I received the grade that I deserved for the garbage that I turned in, I could not fault my parents one bit for, in the end, it was their true dedication that saved the work that I turned into the teacher.  I did not like to read or write at this point in my life but for some reason I liked school, I know, it makes no sense but at that time I had the desire to finish and I wanted to do this yet did not want to spend the time and the effort to do such things.  What I did not understand at that moment was that my efforts were strictly directed as a false sacrifice to the ultimate authority which controlled whether I passed or not and when my grade returned I then realized just how much my mindless efforts cost me.  I did pass of course, but I knew that my heart was not in what I was asked to do and therefore, the results of my quest were not up to the high standard that was placed before me. 

We have a few wonderful examples in God’s Word that deal with such false sacrifices, ones that come across as failed excuses for the truth yet bring forth the truth of what lies inside them at the same time.  All four of the examples that I am going to use come from the book of Genesis, with three of them being not good ones and one being the true and perfect example of an honest and pure heart.  Each example is widely recognized and has been read many times by many pulpits and teachers but God wants to make sure that we understand exactly why we are in the predicament that we are today and if we turn our lives around and return back to Him and follow His ways with our entire hearts we can be safe in His arms for eternity.  Through these examples, we will be able to understand that while the processes may differ a bit it is the will of the heart that matters when it comes to obedience and the true meaning of sacrifice.

One thing we must acknowledge about this subject is that Adam, Eve, and God had to have conversations about covering and what it meant to be separated from the outside through this covering.  For when these examples are given it should click in our hearts that many detailed conversations must have taken place between the individuals in order for the reactions to take place.  As time progresses, again with the reactions of the participants we must accept that what they do in response states that they knew about covering and what it meant to their lives.  I continue to be amazed at all of the details that I have missed when studying and listening to God’s voice concerning this beginning book of His Word.  That statement in itself serves as a false sacrifice for I have had His Word in front of me all my life yet shoved it aside waiting until a future date to understand it and not just have read it.

The first example that will be given occurs in the Garden of Eden immediately after Adam and Eve have allowed sin to enter into their lives.  Genesis 3:6-7 it states the following: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”  It is this act of Adam and Eve that identifies what was in their hearts at that moment.  There is no way possible to justify that God was first in their lives when they took a bite from that tree because the Bible says that it was an immediate effect of what they did, a false sacrifice that they believed would keep them safe was exposed.  It was their heart’s condition that made all the difference when that day arrived.

The second example that we can draw from comes to us from Genesis 4:3-8 focusing on verses 3-5 and once again it comes from a direct descendant of Adam and Eve.  By this time, Adam and Eve were no longer in the perfect surroundings of the Garden of Eden and were living out beyond those confines.  They had two boys that were named Cain and Abel with Cain being a worker of the ground and Abel tending sheep.  The process of sacrifice was evident and the meaning of such ceremony had been taught to them by their parents but we see that one of the boys fully follows the example of previous teachings and the other does not and does it his own way, a scene that must have brought flashbacks to Adam and Eve’s minds when noticed.  And it places into perspective that a similar pattern was followed here when Cain decided to make his own sacrifice according to his ways instead of what had been shown to him before.

We must keep in mind here that through all of the escapades that Adam and Eve had done and all the resulting consequences of those actions, that not all of their children had properly comprehended how important it was to keep God’s Order intact.  In verses 3-5 of this chapter, we find out that Cain’s sacrifice is not accepted by God just as we saw that Adam and Eve’s sacrifice in the Garden of Eden was not accepted before.  We next see that Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God and then resulted in one of the most brutal results known in human history but as we will see here in a few moments it was not the only time a sacrifice was performed that was based on a lying heart.

The third example of a false sacrifice comes from the book of Genesis Chapter 38:29-38 which many of us will instantly recognize as the story of Joseph and his brothers.  Now we all have siblings that get on our nerves at times and at some time during our growing up years we plot against them to ensure that they understand their place and that they are just being one big nuisance for everyone else.  For the most part, we never act on these thoughts and plots but here in this example, Joseph had become such a bother that the brothers were serious and ended up selling him into slavery.  While this part of the story is bad enough, they compound the situation by killing a goat, ripping the blood from the animal, dipping the coat of Joseph in the blood and then to make things worse, took the coat to their father and lied about what had occurred to Joseph.  While some of Joseph’s brothers may not have been too keen on this plan and follow through, they all participated in the act and prepared and presented a false sacrifice in order to accomplish their belief.

Do you see a pattern here?  In all three examples, people had chosen their own sacrificial patterns in order to accomplish their own personal wills instead of following and listening to what God was trying to tell them.  It was through this gift of free will that all of these stories took place and in each example given a false sacrifice, one that came from an ungodly heart and selfish heart that proved to be nothing but a superficial and self-serving lie both according to physical standards and God’s divine law.  Some may say, so what an animal’s life was taken or it was just a bunch of veggies that were burned but it was the thought that counts, right?  On the surface, these acts may seem to be sufficient to some people, but to God, the true meaning of covering and protection was gravely violated when the people involved did their best to do things their way.

We now come to the fourth example of sacrificial practice but this one is completely different from the three previous ones presented.  It too comes from the book of Genesis and provides us a standard that once given never changed and through every conversation before it was directly spoken about to all parties involved.  This sacrifice occurred when God slew an animal or animals in Genesis 3:21 and provided skins for Adam and Eve’s bodies before they were cast out of the Garden.  God understood what Adam and Eve had done and what the consequences of their actions were going to produce, but at the same time He never gave up on them and gave them another token of His Grace by providing another true sacrificial covering through the shedding of blood.  It is the shedding of pure blood that defines God’s covering, defines Covenant, provides the lambs for the Israelites, and eventually God’s own Son’s blood.  But all throughout this journey of human history, we have continued to dig out our own leanings for our selfish ways and have snubbed the real truth about God and our existence.

Ironically we are trying our best to prove God’s holy and pure sacrifice is a false one because each and every day that we walk on this ground we push God aside and tell Him that we have things under control and that He is a fool for believing otherwise.  The Bible has many more examples of false sacrifices and each one of these examples scream out the fact that humans believe they have all the answers and that God’s Ways is of no importance.  This is not an Old Testament example nor is it just a New Testament example either this type of belief is present from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 and every letter, word, and phrase in between.  How many times have we placed our results on the table based on a ½ witted heart?  What is it going to take for the Church to realize that their patterns today are following exactly what the first three examples did?  Do you still not see the pattern being followed here?  If you do, which pattern do you recognize?  Do you recognize both of them or just one of them?

In truth, there are two patterns here and we are doing our best to ignore both from their origins.  First of all, we must realize and then accept that we need God to cover our every moment and in order for us to do this we must lay down our self-sacrificing practices and come under the true sacrifice of God’s Son.  Secondly, we need to allow God to infiltrate our lives completely so that we may be separate from the world so that we can do what we have been commanded to do.  Our command is not to “go” and while we must go in order for us to complete our command, our command is to teach the gospel to the dying world.  We cannot do this while we are falsely sacrificing for show; we need to be under the Sacrifice’s protection in order to complete our mission.  It is the sacrifice of our hearts to God that makes all the difference for when we sacrifice in the correct manner all worldly settings become nonexistent.

Church, repent and turn your hearts back to God and let us stop performing false sacrifices for our own purposes.  All of us have wished we had done things differently but we cannot turn back the hands of time but we can change our hearts and focus them on God today.  The only way that we are going to see a change in our world is if we turn back to God, there is no other way.  God loves us from our Creation to our end and He will stop at nothing for us to understand the true meaning of sacrifice and what it means to our eternal lives.  Let us live under the fourth sacrificial example and forsake the first three examples; it will do our lives an eternal deed if we do.

DLB

Giving Life

Giving Life

3/4/17

God is the only being that can begin life as we know it and also the only one who allows death to occur through personal choices.  God never intended for any created being to lose their existence in any capacity because all God has ever stood for is eternal life itself.  The creation of mankind was produced s a final testimony to any challenger that only God can eternally create and through choice can live in this eternal peace and holiness, and if any questions ever arise of such a state just study the method of our creation and one shall see just how perfectly and wonderfully made our lives are.  However, this society and others in our human historical pasts have perverted this truth and have caused such vile renditions of our lives that we as humans no longer have value.  Until we further study God’s Word without hesitation or biased our descent into eternal poverty shall continue and the fruits thereof only produce a rotten death far subject from our original creative status.

We often wonder how come God allows such troubles, sicknesses, and even death to hover over our lives and it is through this same line of questioning that we are quick to forget that it was our choice way back when that these infirmaries inhabit our vocabularies and lives today.  God is a perfect, holy and righteous being on every level which means that He can only create what is in His like manner.  This truth is summed up in Genesis Chapters 1-3 accumulating with the creation of mankind according to God’s perfect pattern and order.  These three chapters are full of examples of how God creates and the extent of His creations after their presence is recorded.  These three chapters also give rise to what occurs when we choose to disobey God and how even the animals now suffer because of the loss of direction concerning our dominion.

Genesis 1:3-5 gives us an account of the creative abilities of God and with the creation of light which completed the first day of creation.  Genesis 1:6-1:31 gives us a detailed picture of every creative item that God made and through each act of creation God approved of His work by seeing that His work was good.  The word used in these passages is from the Hebrew “towb” which means beautiful.  It is this word that defines our creation and how God creates and since God is perfect this word can be used as being perfect as well.  Don’t you think that is exactly what God is meaning when He actually utters this word as a description of His work?  Anything less would be a lie.

We must also consider that God had a specific agenda in His creative process and since God has a specific order in all things we can see this pattern occur here as well.  First and foremost as we learned a few weeks ago, the first thing God did was to create light to prove an eternal point to His arch enemy and ours that God has no rivals and that only He can authorize and give life from nothing.  With each creation day that passes, we see another brick in the creative mind and order of God being fulfilled and it is through this order that God waits until all other acts of creation are completed before He creates mankind. 

For if God would have created mankind first then His eternal and holy order would be out of place and subject to ridicule by Satan, for it is the first command that God gives that tells us of our dominion, and if we would have been created first God could not have said those words to Adam and thus invalidate the one rule that God gave concerning the tree of good and evil.  When this bit of information clicks into our hearts, it brings into light the beauty of God’s creative wisdom and just how orderly He is in all details of our lives.  It also demands that we understand and follow the fact that God’s Word is the absolute truth and that He cannot violate this truth (His Word) in any way possible.

So why is the order of our creation so specific?  It is because God followed a certain pattern and thus created our lives and our future in accordance with a specific pattern as well.  All of us know that God created Adam first and then created Eve from a rib of Adam.  Once again, we see a pattern that God established and one that even today cannot be denied.  There is no way possible that a woman can bear a child without the presence of a male.  While there are several techniques that can artificially fertilize a female the male genome must be present in order for an offspring to be conceived.  Modern medicine has developed many different ways for couples to have children now and I believe these methods are a fantastic means of following the desires of covenant relationship between a man and a woman.  It is also directed through this pattern of reproduction that any other type of belief of order, other than what God has ordained, is a gross lie and product of our enemy; plain and simple with no exceptions.  If God cannot waiver on any level, He must keep this aspect of His Order intact as well, no matter what the world might project.

There is no way possible that mankind can honestly say that we have no connection with God, for it was God who created us and through His breath alone gave us His Spirit inside us.  This means that we have a direct communication line with God already built in the moment we are conceived in our mother.  This also means, and this is a very important detail, that since God breathed His Spirit into Adam, then God made Eve from Adam that means that every life that we create automatically has the lifeline with God inside as soon as we are conceived.  God established this pattern when He created man and woman and it is still intact today when man and woman are joined together as one.  When the man and woman become one it is only then that a baby can be formed.  The same pattern occurs when the male’s sperm leaves his body and enters into the female.  It is then that the sperm and egg join and conception occurs completing the law of reproduction that God gave to us in the Garden of Eden.  It is this joining together that produces life and until we understand that our spirits must be centered on God first our eternal life will be in jeopardy and searched out for abortion.

If life is the representative of God’s Kingdom then we must contend that if things are not given properly that perversions can arise from such a perfect setting and deemed as “normal” by someone who does not wish for us to be truly living.  It is evident that God is the author of everything which means at one point in time everything that our eyes can see, ears can hear and spirits communicate with was indeed perfect, a total painted picture of God’s Kingdom being advanced on a continual palate.  If you want to understand the true meaning of what Jesus meant when He was telling the people how to pray, this is the example He was referring to when He said, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  In other words, God equals life and life equals the Kingdom of God and this principle also demonstrates why adoption is a perfect celebration of life.

Any process in which this perfect intimacy is not granted can only result in a perversion of the advancement of God’s Kingdom.  It is important that we know the truth concerning this gift that we have been given for it alone represents how we have only one way to restore our intimacy with God as well.  The world shall claim that it is ok to not live in commitment with each other and shall promote homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle as a sign of acceptance and normalcy.  What would one expect from a place which is ruled by a defeated liar who believed he could outweigh God in creativity and supremacy?  Intimacy and oneness is a Kingdom principle that God wants every person to understand and He wants us to know that if we choose to have an intimate relationship with Him or physical relationships will be holy and perfect as well.  A couple cannot be truly intimate with each other unless they approach the relationship on equal terms, on ALL levels.  These levels include both physical and spiritual for if one side or even both sides come to the relationship not being able to offer their complete lives, how can they begin as equals to start?

So why are we still in the condition that we are today?  It is because we as the Church have allowed our enemy to infiltrate our beliefs and rearrange this holy truth into a worldly degradation of lies that serve ourselves instead of God.  We have allowed this set of lies to go so far as to claim and for us to accept that it is ok to try to become equals with each other without understanding that this process cannot even come close to being completed without having God as the center of all the lives involved first.  The cry of equality that is ongoing today is a noble gesture but as we are witnessing is only producing further discourse and division.  There is a reason for this and until we recognize the true source of equality, which God created in the Garden of Eden and defined “we” then return to this state through His restoration process, only animosity and ugliness will strengthen.  Why do you think that all of the information concerning the end times take place?  It is because we as societies and the Church have got it all wrong!!  The answers lie within the heart of God and until we really and truly search His heart for those answers we are doomed.  In other words, we will be proving the Bible and God’s Word 100% correct.

The only way that we can have this equality once again is for us to empty ourselves before God and allow Him to fill our emptiness with His Kingdom.  We have become so obsessed with our selfish gains that we have ignorantly shoved God aside and replaced His presence with the world.  Our enemy has subtly obtained access to our lives and has effectively advanced his kingdom agenda through our ideas and wants.  If one allows our minds and hearts to study Adam and Eve and the actions that they took in the Garden of Eden we will understand that it is this same pattern of beliefs that initiated and then took place in their downfall.  Adam and Eve were humans created in the same manner that we are which means they had the same choices as we do each day.  This aspect of our lives has not changed and the one person who wants us destroyed and eternally separated from our Creator has not changed either.  He uses self-worth as a means to gain a foothold in our lives, this truth is evident in Adam and Eve for they had everything and lived in perfect conditions and they lost their way.  God is constant and never changes and He has provided us a way, only ONE way for our lives to be restored once again.

From the moment sin entered into our lives we see the world’s state oozing from our pores, both spiritual and physical.  Adam and Eve demonstrated this when they hid themselves from God right after they had sinned.  What a complete and total example of abruption of life we have here right at the beginning of God’s Word to His children.  Look at what occurred in Adam and Eve’s lives after they had made this grave choice of theirs and cannot we see and figure out that when he choose to not live under God’s protection from the world that our lives can have no other result than disaster?  True life contains no disasters for it was perfectly ordained and created by God.  Am I saying that if we live for God and in His Ways that all of our days will be filled with happiness and peace?  No, they will not but when we understand our surroundings and what is going on around us it is easy for us to recognize this attack and combat it with the wisdom of God through His Word.  When we know and understand our enemy life will be so much easier and much easier to explain to those who are still living in the dark.

Church, we have allowed Satan to enter into our doors both on the individual level and as the entire Church herself.  I am not talking denominations here, but if one wishes to place it into denominational terms God includes them as well, from each of their foundations until present day.  When Adam and Eve were walking around in the garden it became apparent that their acceptance to the dominion that God gave them grew to become more important than them keeping it up to God’s standards and that is exactly what the Church is doing today.  It is time for us to return to the altars and fall on our faces before God and to repent for all sins that we have allowed to protrude from our hearts.  Time is short and we must come to the understanding that a great debacle is headed our way on the magnitude of Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden due to their sins.  God’s order of life is designed for pure and total intimacy with Him first and when we allow this intimacy to exist our reality around us shall purge all evil from our lives for God is life and He represents pure life on all levels.  But we shall never be able to represent this life and live in this life until we first repent of our sins and return to God’s Ways and to submit our hearts to His Divine authority.

There is so much more about our lives and life than we know and God is waiting for us to choose Him so that He can show us this truth not only about our existence but more importantly about Him.  There is so much more about the process of our intimacy with God that we need to understand and when we allow this to occur our intimacy with each other as one will once again shine as the bright light to the dark world.  God never intended for us to be separate from Him and His Ways but He sure did provide a wonderful process for us to return to this perfect state through His restoration process.  God wants us to understand this truth about our lives and He makes every effort for us to realize this, either through the easy way or the hard way.  Why must we always choose the hard way?  Holy intimacy is the greatest example of restoration and if we restore ourselves with God on this level our intimacy with others has no other choice but to follow in the same manner.

One of the key elements about God’s Word is that every letter in this wonderful book relates to the truth about how much God loves us through the participation of restoration.  God’s word is about boundaries and restoration from the world that has only one job and that is to convince you that you do not need God in your life and then completely annihilate you from God’s presence for eternity.  But one detail we need to continually remember is this, God wins in the end for He has no rivals and cannot be defeated.  So the question is still the same as it was in the Garden of Eden, who will you choose to serve?  The world cannot offer you eternal life, only God can and in order for this eternal life to be obtained we must accept His Son as our Savior and to come under His blood Covenant at all times.  What a perfect place for giving life, don’t you think?

DLB

Which is Worse?

Which is Worse?

3/1/17

This topic poses a question that has already been answered for we know that if boundaries are put into place then crossed and at some point tried to be reset, times could become interesting.  But what occurs when those reset boundaries are allowed to be crossed again; a phenomenon that many of us face each day but fail to understand the deep implications that these examples provide.  What starts out as a basic process becomes an internal combustion process that will explode into a powerful energy source for future gains.  God is in the restoration business a process of resetting boundaries for our won protection yet our eyes are so focused on worldly freedoms we ignore His warnings and proceed with the combustion process.

All of us who are parents have allowed some type of leniency to our children when they do things wrong.  This line of acceptance can be a fine one and one that needs to be managed properly or the control of the child will become a prominent issue.  I remember when I was a kid that some of the things that I did wrong I would receive a deserved punishment and as I grew in age those punishment standards stayed and were appropriate of good parenting.  These types of situations were strictly voluntary on my part for I was a willing participant in each of those wrongdoings.  I was never beaten or severely punished for anything but when I deserved punishment for crossing the boundaries of the rules of the house, I could count on finding out and learning about those crossings within a short period of time.

It did not take me long to figure out another setting that I wanted to avoid as well and that was one that occurred when I crossed over a boundary that I had already been in trouble for at some point in time earlier.  I must admit that there were a few times in my younger years that I did re-cross boundaries that I had penetrated earlier and once again my parents were quick to remind me of such previous and present crossings.  No, they did not beat me or inflict gross negligence on my person but they were a tad sterner in their advisements and restrictions due to this blatant disregard for their rules.  What my parents understood but I did not is that when a boundary is crossed and nothing is done about it, this action only fuels my curiosity of how much more I can get away with.  Added to this equation would be when I crossed a known boundary again and did not receive any correction for my actions, a process that would further install a rebellious pattern that could prove deadly if continued.

Why is this topic such a dangerous prospect in today’s world?  It is because the basic societal family unit has been shredded into an unidentifiable component that is now the definition of how society functions.  The vast majority of children who are present in today’s society have been subject to breakup families who do not have the example of a complete upbringing.  It is tough to hide behind such a setting for only division can rule if unity is not understood amongst all parties involved.  Boundaries in schools have been breached through the blatant disregard for teachers which represent an authority figure of said children.  When the child or student reaches the point that he/she does not have to listen to the teacher, their home examples shine brightly and thus conclude the normal pattern of what is appropriate today. 

So far God has only touched on a few examples of how boundaries are crossed and why their presence is important to understand but what occurs when boundaries are reset and then allowed to be re-crossed through the blessing of authorities?  While the procedures of crossing boundaries are dangerous in themselves we find that if one continues to define boundaries, reset them and then cross them voluntarily again provides the most dangerous of episodes that a person or nation can encounter.  As mentioned above even the Bible gives us examples of how this principle works and when one fully understands this truth they will come to recognize that the process of boundaries is a Kingdom principle and one that can provide eternity for those involved.

The passage of scripture that God is going to use here is a fascinating one and it too falls into the category of boundaries that I had never thought about before.  But when one looks at this passage it is clear that Jesus recognized boundaries and did His best to teach His followers of this principle through this example.  The passage that is being used here is Matthew 12: 43-45 which states as follows: “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.”

I have heard this passage used many times in my life from many different pulpits and Sunday School rooms and I must admit that each time I have heard this passage used it has dealt concerning the issue of the spirits alone, with the exception of my father who also dealt with the place of the house as a part as well.  While both issues being taught here are correct there is another part of this passage that we need to understand and it is the definition of a boundary and Jesus states very clear here about this boundary and it is in the form of the house of the man.  And it is through this passage that Jesus gives us a clear indication that Kingdom has lines and that we are a direct measurement of Kingdom.

The first portion of verse 43 of this chapter states that an unclean spirit is forced to leave a man.  This means that a power that is greater than the spirit has come into contact with such spirit and demanded through its authority for that spirit to leave its dwelling place.  This means that an evil spirit was thrown out of a defined place because a man is representative of a place and in this case, the man represents a boundary.  This boundary has been defined and it carried with it an unclean being which was allowed to exist, a part of that boundary definition but the spirit was at some point thrown out or one can refer to this action as a resetting of that boundary.  But this spirit is not dead and it even seems like it is not injured for the Bible says that it begins to wander around searching for another place to inhabit but comes up empty.  It is this point that we must understand that even spirits cannot enter where doors that they recognize do not exist, this means that an inhabitable spirit can only enter into a place where it is welcome but at the same time is subject to an authority that can tell it to leave.

After the spirit leaves the man it continues its journey looking for another place to dwell but according to God’s Word, it does not find any rest or place of refuge.  Now, when someone is not satisfied with their current position it is easy to spot because they are usually nervous, uptight and constantly looking for answers and fixes to the immediate situation, they are never settled and eventually they will try returning to their ways, whether it is with the old person and situation or with something similar in content.  It is this picture that Jesus is painting about what the spirit kingdom does and how it has its own boundaries that it functions within and when it finds a receptive place it will stay as long as it is welcome.  It will not leave voluntarily for if it did then Matthew Chapter 12:25-26 would be considered a lie.

Right at this juncture in Scripture presents a HUGE issue that we must consider the focal point of this passage and the point where we today are following the exact same pattern to which Jesus was referring.  The next portion of this passage refers to the spirit returning to its house and the actual word used in verse 44 is “my” house.  This means that the spirit had legal rights to that place of inhabitance which entitles it to be there, or it serves as a boundary.  The spirit finds that the house is empty, swept and garnished according to the words of Jesus.  The original Greek words here refer to a relaxed and arranged to a selfish order which is truly indicative of our societal requirements today.  This characteristic of the house accurately describes the characteristic of the spirit that was allowed to inhabit the house in the previous verse which once again provides us with a complete picture of what lies in our societal hearts today.

Verse 45 of Matthew Chapter 12 finishes the setting with what occurs when we allow that same spirit to return and if we do not replace our emptiness with God and it gives us the true account of what occurs when we allow reset boundaries to be crossed.  Verse 45 begins with the phrase that says the spirit goes back into the house with seven of its buddies along with him.  It is a human trait to make sure that we upscale everything as time goes along and the spirit realm operates in the same manner.  Jesus is very specific here when He states that the spirit will bring in with it seven others with it.  What is more intriguing is that with this specific number there is a specific boundary set as well for the spirits that the original one brings in are more wicked than the original, another pattern (boundary) that is followed.

What makes this more dangerous is that the buddies that the original spirit will bring in do not have to be welcomed into the house, by legal rights through the original owner, they will be allowed to dwell in that house and in this case Jesus is speaking about a person.  There is a reason why God sets boundaries for His children and it is through this passage of Scripture that gives us a detailed example as to why He sets boundaries and the importance of boundaries.  The last portion of the passage states the final condition of the man when it says that the man is now worse off than he was before because he now has more spirits that inhabit his life which have legal rights to be there.  If not taken care of properly, these invitees and their original door of opportunity shall consider this place of residence as a permanent fixture and until the ultimate authority arrives, shall not have any intentions of leaving.

What does this setting have to do with our society and the world today?  Everything!  It is defining the exact setting of 1 Samuel Chapter 8, 1 Kings Chapter 16 and Matthew Chapter 12 and it puts into motion exactly where we are at, the only exception is that we have not directly capitulated to the setting in Matthew as of this moment but we are proclaiming its setting before it arrives.  Whether one likes it or not the President of the United States is who he is and nothing can change this physical election.  But what we do not understand is which election has actually occurred and because of the results of this other election, we have no idea of what we are fighting either.  The president is doing what he said he was going to do and reset boundaries that have been obliterated by past presidencies.  This is a given and it will b done no matter how many people disagree with it.  But this is NOT the concerning point here it is the origin of the source that is concerning.

In the passage of Scripture used here God wants us to understand that there is an underlying spirit that harbors our house and while Jesus is speaking about an individual this concept is applied to a nation because a nation is made up of individuals.  It is good to have boundaries and it is good to test those boundaries by measuring them on occasion, but to cross them, reset them and cross them again provides nothing but disaster on all levels.  Jesus tells us that if we allow evil or unclean spirits into our lives and then brush them out yet allow them back into our lives again our situation will not be the same or better but worse than previously.  One of our major problems is that we have allowed our enemy to shun the truth about what is correct from our hearts and we now have trouble even identifying what is good and what is bad.

It is through the last sentence of the previous paragraph that God bases His analysis concerning our nation.  In other words, we have become so lax in our identification processes of what is good and what is bad that we have stopped asking or looking at what is coming into our lives and are assuming that everything is ok.  What makes this setting so dangerous is that one day those inclusions shall demand their residence be accounted for and take their toll on our lives.  We must remember that if a spirit that resides within our hearts is not happy we cannot be happy physically either.  We need to understand that God placed this president in our lives for a reason and that through this reason we need to settle down and understand exactly what is going on.  A famous (infamous) cry is that progress never goes backward, that is a lie from the pit of hell!  It is necessary for our lives to hit a reset button now and then for safety and quality issues, both physically and spiritually.

It is the fool who says that progress never stops or goes backward and failing to understand that taking a look around and understanding that the fast paced lives can produce holes and gaps that could allow the enemy into our lands, both physically and spiritually.  If a person, group, or nation does not believe that a competitor or enemy will not take advantage of these types of gaps they should not be in a place of leadership, for a competitor or enemy would not be doing their job if they did not seize this opportunity.

To our dismay, the Church has also complied with this boundary resetting and then re-crossing as well scenario and because of this action, it has placed her in a very precarious position.  She has become so lukewarm and indifferent to the truth of God’s Word that she will now defend her worldly position rather than what separation God desires of her heart from the world.  This is due to the fact that she has failed to recognize and understand the spiritual truth of Matthew Chapter 12 and to realize that this scene plays out every day not only on an individual level but national and spiritual levels as well.  This passage describes exactly what occurs when we set boundaries then do not fill the clean spaces with God and His Kingdom for the enemy shall return to claim what is his and at the same time fortify his holdings with his eviler buddies.  Place this spirit into what is ongoing now and it becomes evidently clear and imperative that we do not allow the evil spirits to infiltrate and cross over the rest boundaries again because if and when we do our lives as a nation shall be changed forever.  It is time for this nation to recognize our sins against our Creator and Establisher, repent, then turn back to God we shall soon see the evidence of our grave mistake from the inside out.

DLB