Racism, Really?

Racism, Really?

5/28/17

Well, this topic should be one of interest to many for it is one that “graces” our lives each day without warning and many times accompanied with disbelief.  One cannot dismiss such antics that are presented before our eyes on a continual basis and what frightening is that in many cases the Church has bought into this lie from Satan.  I am not saying that racism does not exist, for it was originated from Satan himself and thus grown into a viable weapon in order to silence and whelp many people into submission before a conversations begin.  We must remember that when a relative subject is brought into the forefront that causes division you can be sure that there is some biblical principle that God has already addressed in His Word and we must be careful not to distort the truth in order to be popular.

When I was a kid growing up I lived in many places around this country which meant I had plenty of opportunities to make friends.  In these travels, I also had the privilege to meet and to associate with many different cultures, backgrounds, ethnic groups, and any other “category” one wishes to proclaim.  My parents always taught me to be fair and to accept the people as human beings and no matter what their skin color, creed, or nationality may be, do your best to be kind and to show them, Jesus. While this stance gained me plenty of friends and persons that I hung around with it also was a setback on some occasions because I did hang around “those” people.  No matter, I was a happy kid who always had others to play with and still hold fond memories from those days of my life.

I know that if I would have said and acted as some of the young people do today I probably would not be in the physical condition I am today.  While I have a few health problems in my body I can sit down without hurting for my parents taught me well to respect others even when they are not your friends culturally.  This truth that they instilled into my life I have tried my best to keep but I have to admit that there was a time in my life where I struggled with this truth and almost threw it out, horribly while I was on a trip overseas.  I still reflect back to that trip often and marvel at my idiotic thinking and then silently suffer from my breaching of when my mother helped Memphis break the segregation barrier many decades ago.  I do have a saving grace in that I have learned from the best physical couple in this area and have the perfect example from my Savior Jesus to keep in my heart and to share with others when the setting comes into motion.

How is it possible to sustain and then maintain a society where blood is sought as a first responder to any situation that arises?  In every society, issues have come to a head and then vanquished over time but on the other hand, each society has endured social issues that have actually threatened the land or have taken it down.  To accuse someone of being a racist initially sets a person back for the term or phrase is used as a catch phrase and one that strikes at the core of a setting in order to grab the upper hand in a discussion.  The usage of such a phrase also places the conversation into a decline for everyone changes their positioning when the idea is thrown out, a sad yet fluid piece that defines the direction of the division.

There is no question that there is a large amount of civil unrest in this country and it seems like every day the boiling point of emotions rise another degree or two.  It is not uncommon to hear of angry people venting their frustrations out on the opposing political side and blaming that other side for the issues that are at hand.  While this method is a viable proposition it serves nothing but to divide as mentioned in the above paragraphs.  I also find fault in people carrying protest signs mentioning God and Jesus trying to politicize their positions in name of a human ill. 

I have heard these types of groups say God would never allow such hate to exist, saw WWJD signs, and other signs that had written Scripture on them pass by the cameras for all to see.  God has also shown us over the past that He, and later Jesus, do not have political agendas and we should understand that by using this platform to get our point of view across is a grievous sin and that we should be held accountable for such divisive tactics against God and His Kingdom.  It breaks God’s heart when He witnesses such portrayals of His name benefiting Satan and his world; God created our lives to be an example of separation from the world and not a means to divide the people believing in the world further.

A few months ago God shared with us a beautiful series from the New Testament where Jesus was talking with the woman at the well.  Many different truths were shared with us in that series and it made many of us think about how we view others and who we need to witness to on a daily basis.  The story is a magnificent portrayal of Jesus’ ministry and one that is often referred to when trying to make a personal point concerning a current or past issue.  I must admit that it pains me to see people use God’s Word for political maneuvering or gain for it falsifies God’s true intention for our lives and it sells out Jesus’ ministry for a personal vendetta against those who believe that others are wrong.  I cannot say that this shall be the last article that God will share with us dealing with this specific passage of Scripture, for as I study His Word deeper He reveals so much more of what He wants us to know about Him and our lives.

In John Chapter 4 we once again return to Jesus, the disciples and a Samaritan woman.  Many of us know the story by heart and it is a great example of how Jesus looked past certain issues of the physical and went directly to the true reason of why He walked this earth.  Many times we get caught up in the physicality of Jesus and ignore the true meaning of His presence, the eternal.  This setting is not the only time Jesus demonstrated that His purpose on this earth was not political but eternal and that was when He said His famous words in Matthew 22:21 that we should give to Caesar what is his and give God what is His.  First off we must mention that when Jesus met the woman at the well the disciples were not with him at that very moment, they were in town fulfilling a request from Jesus and it is this act that sets into motion of how we need to be when we encounter people who believe differently than we do AND what difference is really important between us.

Typical race relations are presented here for when Jesus walks up to the well and asks the woman for a drink she cannot believe that He is even talking to her.  This means that race relations between ethnic groups were strained even back during Jesus’ times and if studied were present long before Jesus walked the earth a problem that we still have not conquered today.  The woman recognizes that Jesus is a Jewish man and since she understands her ethnic origins has encountered some type of divisional racial tension in her past between her and other Jews.  The Samaritans were considered mixed breeds; they were Jewish but mixed with Babylonian blood as a result of the captivity of the children of Israel centuries earlier.  Yet, Jesus did not address her ethnic status but went straight for her spiritual condition, a situation that we harbor in our own culture today.

Jesus does not condemn her or shun her because of her ethnicity or her spiritual condition but He talks to her and tells her about her life through her own words of admission.  Now, we must admit that Jesus had a bit more discernment for the situation than what we normally do, but in our case, we can still have such authority in the spirit if we have placed God’s Kingdom first in our lives and operate through such livelihood.  After a few minutes of discussion, not yelling, Jesus tells the woman to go and sin no more thus defeating any suggestion that His motives were racially biased or placed on the physical aspect of her life, only the eternal was discussed thus revealing to her and to us that Jesus had only one goal and that was the spiritual and eternal. Remember, Jesus was the true Son of God which meant that He had to be consistent in ALL things or He would have given Satan legal grounds for reclaiming his position in heaven.

The conversation between the woman and Jesus did not start out on the same level and this is evident from what the woman led with and what Jesus led with.  We cannot deny that Jesus had Jewish blood running through His physical veins and that everything He represented was as a Jew, this is a truth that we cannot ignore or dismiss.  Often we tend to forget about this detail about Jesus but we cannot if we are willing to understand His presence on earth and why He could not live and function just in the physical aspects of life.  The other physical aspect of this setting comes into play with the disciples and it is their actions and words that display the racial incident and could have caused a rift in what Jesus had begun on that day.

When the disciples returned and saw Jesus talking with the woman, they immediately recognized her ethnic background and were not happy about what Jesus was doing.  It was a huge no-no for anyone to publicly converse with a Samaritan and to top things off it was a Samaritan woman that He was conversing.  The disciples were quick to point out that she was a Samaritan and how wrong it was for Him to be seen with such a low-life and one that could not be like them.  The difference here is that Jesus understood the Samaritan culture yet did not hold it against the woman while the disciples held her culture against her even though they were not directly involved in the conversation.  The disciples held on to their beliefs in the physical and totally ignored what Jesus was doing in the spiritual.  In other words, the disciples were more concerned with their physical appearances and who they were associated with at the time while Jesus was concerned with the woman’s eternal positioning with God.

The woman approached her duties with no malice a forefront.  The disciples had their agenda already agreed upon just by where they were at geographically, which fueled their physical desires of Jewish beliefs and then were ruffled when their side of the block was supposedly challenged.  While the woman did not verbally assault Jesus she did use words that would have threatened the situation but she did indicate that she understood the racial divide existed, a mild form of racism if you place it in the purest form.  The disciples, on the other hand, dealt with the situation with a bit more harshness about the setting and demonstrated a common reaction that many of us would have if we saw such a setting which represents a higher form of racism and one that is noticeable today.  In either case, Jesus stayed out of the physical, directed the conversation to the eternal, and stayed the weekend for a revival in the hated lands.  Which places the questions into play that God wants to ask us: who is acting like a racist in this story and who are we actually portraying?

There is no possible way that anyone can not acknowledge that many of the protests that we see crossing our screens and eyes do not have almost identical characteristics as John Chapter 4.  The timeframe is definitely off and the issues are somewhat different but the divisive nature of the words used and the attitudes displayed conjure up identical reactions on all sides involved.  If Jesus would have demonstrated these same characteristic attitudes towards the woman at the well, or agitate the setting by displaying His Jewish side of His life, He kept it on a spiritual level only which is exactly what we should be doing when an obvious “racial” moment arises.

Now God asks us this question, are we responding to others on a physical nature well enough to commit spiritual racism against God and our eternal existence?  Wait a minute here, what is this spiritual racism thingy?  Well, if Jesus dealt with the spiritual in the two settings above why don’t we deal with the same level now?  It is the level that we are dealing with, right?  While God understands and recognizes our ethnic differences those differences are not the overall ones He is concerned about.  For each ethnic representative present on this earth has a spirit within them that comes directly from God and it is that aspect of our lives that shall live forever and thus most concerning to God our Father.  See, it is our hearts that God sees and hears and if we have purposefully divided others from God then we have done nothing more than to separate them from God which in turn represents anger towards a brother or spiritual racism.  So, God asks the question again, are you practicing spiritual racism against Him and His child?  How will we answer this question?  It is a very important one since it will determine both your eternal placement and those who you come in contact with as well.

And then God wishes to address His second question that refers to who are we portraying when we are walking around in our “Jesus clothes” and holding the godly signs with Scriptures written all over them?  Are we concerned about being a witness for God and caring about one's eternal placement or are we trying to use God’s Word to promote our own human definition of eternal misunderstanding?  Physical racism is a bad enough tool that our enemy invented and now continually uses in order to divide our lives even further so why are we executing the same level of division by completing his work on the eternal as well?  Our job is to go into the world and to preach and teach the Gospel according to Jesus Christ, period!  If we place our activities to convert the world to Christ solely on our personal beliefs we have failed at His command, especially the beliefs that do not correspond with His Father's Word.  If one holds up a sign that says John 3:16 you best be demonstrating exactly what that verse states or you are a liar and one that is advancing Satan’s kingdom instead of God’s Kingdom.

The time for playing around is over and it is time to choose which side you want to live on.  There is no fence sitting and no having one foot in Colorado and one foot in Utah, it is either or and not both.  We have done our best to divide God’s Kingdom long enough and by the looks of it, we have done an excellent job in allowing millions to die and go to hell in their sins each day. We must stop the spiritual racism that we are performing and when we stop this action of ours, guess what, the physical racism and all of its ugliness shall disappear as well.  But this shall never occur until we turn our lives back to God and place Him first in our lives.  He is the eternal and everlasting God and the One who created us to advance His Kingdom and to represent Him at all times.  He loves us so very much and it is through obedience to His Ways that we show that we know His Love and accept it into our lives.  Repent Church, and allow God to restore our lives so that we can effectively reach the lost with the true eternal life that is offered.  Spiritual racism, really?  Oh, yes.  Tough subject but one that is showing it colors unabated and one that needs to be dealt with immediately.

DLB

The More They Multiplied

The More They Multiplied

5/26/17

This truth is a biblical concept that originated from God and therefore continues today for what God establishes cannot be broken or stopped.  While we generally contend that this principle refers to sex it also means growth in numbers through sheer popular belief as well, but in truth, all represent God’s advancement.  However, if we do not live according to God’s Laws the opposite is true and the world shall grow instead.  When God’s people are doing what they are supposed to be doing then a miraculous growth occurs that is almost unexplainable.  It is this growth that defines God and thus defines our lives as well and it is God’s desire that all grow in Him and not in the world.  Church, we need to catch this holy growth once again starting with our hearts and when we do we shall see the true change that this world needs.

I wish that I could write words of redemption, salvation, happiness, peace, and tranquility when it comes to this subject but when one studies history and sees what horrific conditions one can place upon another, the truth is revealed in a fantastic manner.  Since the records of mankind have been read, spoken and written we have done our best to divide our species and place another contingency above another.  There is a reason that we try to equilibrate our existence with others but up until this very moment, we have failed every time simply because we cut out the One that we need to survive and accept the different lies that our world hands out.  I must admire the efforts of humanity trying its best to find a way to end all of the animosity that surrounds each society both past and present, but also have to shake my head at the misfortunes we acquire when we search in the wrong directions for such a desired commodity.

From biblical history we learn that mankind easily tries to look at gods and personal idols and place them ahead of the One who wrote the Bible, Ancient history provides us with identical lessons from which similar disasters can easily be studied.  The time period in which BCE and CE collide we see no change in human behavior towards their historical identities and are forced to live and relive the consequences of their forefathers and foremothers.  With this amount of time already in the books it would seem that humans would figure things out and really change the course, yet with every age and generation that passes God and His Word continues to shine as the only source of true freedom, peace, and happiness. 

The search for peace, tranquility, and equality continued throughout the Dark Ages, Early Church days, Medieval Times, and now this same quest is still being sought after today.  I cannot help but watch identical procession after procession tries to declare that they have the answer for the world’s issues and within a short period of time watch as each one of their claims, declarations, and kingdoms come crashing down.  As with every other try, the societies of the world are doing their best to accomplish this feat by pushing God out of their way and proclaim that they know what is best.  What we forget about history is that no matter what time period one wishes to study, their efforts fail and when their worlds come crashing down they are so stunned and shocked and cannot figure out why.  This continued presence also reveals a certain yet important detail about God that each time He is left out or kicked out His presence always increases, and with each attempt to push God out or to suppress His presence, comes each fall and then only God remains standing tall; an increase.

In Exodus Chapter 1 we have a perfect example of this truth about when God is suppressed and mankind tries its best to keep control of their lives.  Exodus 1:7-14 give us a great example of what God has shared with us so far in this article, that no matter how hard humanity tries to do things on their own and for their own glory, their stance and kingdom shall fall, even when their initial growth comes from God alone.  When the book of Exodus opens it gives a quick genealogy of Joseph’s family which brings into remembrance the tribes of Israel which serve as the foundations of Israel.  In earlier verses of Chapter 1, we find that a new regime in Egypt has taken over and that after a while the deeds of Joseph have been forgotten.  This forgetfulness is a process we find so common when dealing with humans for we tend to keep things close to the present so that if maneuvering needs to be done it can be done so without interruption, no matter how that movement may be focused.  The same is true in this portion of Scripture, for when verse 7 of this chapter is written we find that the Egyptian authorities have become concerned about the size of the Israelites and how much of a potential threat they can become; not as of yet, but what they might become in the future.

Exodus 1:9-10 states the following: “And he said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.”  An interesting passage that proclaims a lot about what is in the heart of the leaders of Egypt and how they look on the nation of Israel.

Pharaoh recognizes that the number of Israelites is large in size and that their presence within Egyptian territory is well known. The number of Israelites is large enough that Pharaoh has to make up an active plan in order to keep the numbers from growing further and becoming a potential enemy.  It is this statement that I find interesting because of the way that it is stated, for only one side of the potential issue is stated from Pharaoh.  A people that have been in your land for quite some time should not firstly be considered a potential enemy unless the people in charge do not wish to have them part of the overall plan of the country.  In this age, we have witnessed such uprisings against fellow countrymen even though their ethnic backgrounds and spiritual beliefs differ from the “ruling” party.

There may have been some sort of token handouts of peace coming from Pharaoh to the children of Israel but I highly doubt it since the previous verses declare that this leader and his entourage had no idea who Joseph was which means that they had forgotten or did not care about their history.  The plan to limit the number of Israelites was a one-sided plan that offered nothing but hardships for the children of Israel and this plan had only one goal and that was to kill off – through labor means – as many as possible so that the leaders of Egypt would stay firmly in control if some outside force arose against them.  The plan was drawn up with precision and then set into motion that deemed it necessary for Pharaoh to personally oversee the progress of the work that was entailed in this plan.  The plan had two purposes one of selfish means which was represented by the fact that the Israelites would be forced to build elaborate cities for Pharaoh and the second part of the plan involved the potential annihilation of Israel through the process of such progression and growth, a gruesome task with defined results, one that was not thought about from all sides and one that clearly did not believe in the Word of God.

As time passed, the Egyptian rulers found out that as their evil plan to disrupt the livelihood of the Israelites they became stronger in unity and while the natural course of the life cycle took hold, their numbers did not decrease so additional measures had to be redefined and itself made stronger.  Verse 12 of this chapter states that: “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.  And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.”  A profound verse that should have ended these hideous operations against God’s people and should have forewarned Pharaoh and his taskmasters to stop fighting them and to accept their lives as a part of their own and change policies towards such environment.

But as we see in verse 13, the Egyptian geniuses did not figure this process out and instead pushed harder to complete their plan against God and His children, an early mistake that invokes more anger from the humans.  The Egyptians turn towards a harder labor process and the taskmasters were now allowed to turn their frustrations out on the children of Israel beating them and referring to them as slaves and treating them as such.  The days of a “9-5 work day” were now over and the masters could work them as long as they wished in the name of the Egyptian laws.

Exodus 1:14 gives us a harsh reality picture of just how hard Pharaoh had made it for the children of Israel, for every aspect of building was now under their job description along with all of the other services that the Israelites needed in order to survive as well were included.  Provisions from the Egyptians were cut off and Israel had to now provide their own supplies, continue to build the demanded amount for the day and then go to their quarters and provide for their families.  Now, given these living conditions and working environments one would easily have a case of misrepresentation and could demand a review of how the “bosses” were handling issues but it was not like that during these times and when a Pharaoh spoke his words were treated as law and not questioned.  There were no laws in place to override what the Pharaoh commanded, thus no one to speak for the workers and the conditions that they were expected to complete each day.

The Egyptians act so much like disbelieving “humans” in this setting for they actually believe that their ideas of punishment, isolation, workings, bondage, and slave-like conditions would be effective against those who God watches over.  But one cannot help but think about how normal this position would be given the fact that the Egyptians did not wish to have the Israelites as their allies but considered them a big enough threat that they would turn against them if another enemy had asked them to fight. This type of manipulation was also witnessed in every era of human history when it came to those choosing to go against the people of God.  It does not matter who or which group we wish to refer, the goal is always the same to divide and to conquer those who wish to separate themselves from the world and live differently than the “normal and common” people. 

Throughout time, humans have chosen to believe the god of this world and to accept his ways of living.  Humanity could have settled the issues that plague us today millennia ago if we would have looked at ancient history, changed our hearts and followed God instead of listening to lies.  But, since we have refused to take a simple way out we must continue to prove the Bible correct and suffer incredible deviances by our own accord.  Today we are reliving another segregation concerning truth where we are actively and harshly pursuing to throw God out of our lives in turn for trying the same sugar coated lifestyle of the world. The godless ones have taken a hold of our hearts and are now allowed to produce their agendas onto and into our ways of society.  Without question, we are living in the same type of setting as the children of Israel did when they went from heroes to slaves in a matter of some period of time.  God cannot decrease by any means possible, yet He allows our minds to choose to live under this truth or to live in slavery according to the ruler of the world. 

However, we must take into consideration a huge detail about God, a detail that the Egyptians forgot about and a detail that so many governments have discredited for centuries and that is God is a consistent God and He shall always override ANY government or individual that takes His children into captivity.  The hilarious result of such grave worldly in an increase in God both on the physical aspect of humanity and in the personal inner lives of His children as well.  It does not matter how hard humanity tries to displace God and His Ways, God always increases which means life increases and since life is the eternal definition of God that means He advances in all aspects of our existence too.  I hope and pray that we wake up and realize this truth about God before He has to once again remind us of who He exactly is.  Not even the deaths of first born children completely broke Pharaoh’s heart and it took him and his army drowning in the Red Sea in order for Egypt to fully surrender the notion of captivity for the children of Israel.  God asks us, does He have to demonstrate this watery grave again or any other disaster to grab our attention completely?

I cannot stress enough the importance of the truth about increasing no matter how hard the enemy tries to suppress, all throughout God’s Word, He has made it clear that His love can only be understood if obeyed and followed on His pure and holy level, not on one that is flawed and sinfully selfish.  The sole direction of God is to go forward and to increase, it is His Divine nature and definition He can do nothing but increase.  Even when we try to increase our own status before Him He automatically increases, for God and His definition does not know what the meaning of decrease is.  It is this truth alone that eternally states that if anyone goes against God’s Ways they are in serious trouble for when we elevate our thinking – or believe we have done such a thing – we are in direct conflict and in complete violation of the Covenant God has with His children.  It is this basic principle of Kingdom that we need to understand if we are to grasp the importance of our existence and the reason why God loves us in the manner that He does.

It is this principle that one can witness to the dying world as well, for God is an active and alive God and one who defines Himself through increase then that is what His existence shall produce which means that His Kingdom shall advance through our lives and existence as a reciprocal to the kingdom we represent.  A hard statement but when one says that God is love, love, love yet does not witness and convert people for God’s Kingdom, they are telling a lie!  See, if Satan believes that you have the potential to share the true meaning of the Gospel of Christ to someone, he will not be too concerned if you do just that through false beliefs that he has indoctrinated into your life.  But if you really mean that God is Love and are willing to share this truth with others, it is a guarantee that you will have an ugly fight on your hands and heart.  Just a quick question, all of these rallies, protests, and other organized meetings how many converts to Christ has there been?  Is Christ even represented even though “God is Love” “Love Trumps Hate” signs dominate such activities?  I honestly and truly would like to know if anyone came to Christ during these events, or were they just another imitation rally and “service” as many of our churches offer today. There is no increase here!

Church, we have fallen into this same trap that the world has so willingly provided and it is imperative that we understand how our acceptance of such sin shall lead us down a pathway of destruction, a permanent loss that we shall never recover from again.  It is not God’s desire to wake us up according to Biblical measures but He is a consistent God and shall do what He must in order to save His prized creations from an eternal damnation.  The world seeks to end the truth about God and His Ways, but as we have heard what God has said to us in this article, His providences shall never go away and will continue to grow even if mankind deems Him irrelevant.  No matter what the world and its ruler may convince us to do against God, He shall always have the final say with the advancement of His Kingdom.  In each timeline, God has proven Himself to be eternal and His Ways are the only ones that have been proven over the tests of these timelines.  There is only one way that we can be sure of or eternal existence and that is to understand fully God’s Ways and to guide our lives by these ways at all times.  Even in times of persecution and devastation God’s Word shall always prevail, serve as the beacon to which all mankind is saved, and increase in majesty no matter what lies are told.

DLB

I Would Rather Serve My Slave Master

I Would Rather Serve My Slave Master

5/19/17

The title of this article seems absurd to many but in truth that is exactly what we want to do as humans.  It has been said that we do not understand who controls us but in many cases, we do know who or what controls us but we choose to stay in captivity rather than living in freedom.  We cry to God for help but quit seeking Him when times seem better thus proving that we want our captivity instead of the freedom He only can bring.  All of us fall into this category but for those of us who rely on God completely and trust His Ways, are the ones who overcome the eternal slave master and live in pure freedom from the world.

Most of us are familiar with the Normandy invasion and how it turned the tide in the war known as World War II.  The goal of the allied advance was to get off the shores of Normand as quickly as possible for they understood that if they did not advance inland at a steady pace they would be repelled back into the sea.  The German occupation leadership also understood this concept and their defenses were projected as such of a definition.  While the defenses proved to be a tough obstacle they were not complete and therefore gave an opening to the advancing the German High Command was depending on the fact that the sea would provide the ultimate restriction and death trap for the advancement into Europe.  A formidable defense plan, but one that did not materialize and ended up providing the foundation for the overthrow of the empire that served only itself.

How many times have we lived in a world of hopeful defensive mechanisms that we have planted in order to rely upon invading systems?  Once those humanly defensive measures have proven ineffective who do we turn to afterward?  These questions have popped into my mind and heart many times over the years and for a long time served as the basis of my advancement in life.  At the same time through this earthly ignorance of mine, I have found out that there is only one source of true protection and that it comes only from God.  And while I cried for His help many times and He has given me direction, I did not respond accordingly because my heart continued its disbelief in Him and relied on my defenses all along.  I was a slave to those defenses and thus a slave to the world and the conditions that I had allowed to be developed, a condition that we see over and over in many people today; and have excellent examples of this in the Bible as well.

One would think that after one is freed from prison that they would be like a bird out of a cage and on many levels this is true and it shows.  But in often cases we have a different example of how humans operate and respond to such freedom for we often read that people who have been freed commit certain crimes that serve proof that our hearts would rather return to our captors.  I have to admit that I have read stories of this content many times in my life, that up until a few years ago I failed to see the truth in such activity.  It grieves my heart to think that people actually want to live in slavery and in pain than to have complete freedom flowing out of them.  This type of lifestyle does not just include the prison time in jail but also serves as any other form of personal prison that we wish to confine us in and when one brings these options into play they can mount quickly as a mountain would look like before us. 

I am not excluding myself from these mountains either, none of us are exempt but on the other hand, all of us have the option to choose freedom and stay within that freedom that God gives.  There have been countless times that I made the choice to ignore God’s freedom and choose the ways of the world.  At the time it was the popular thing to do and to accept but after all, things were said and done I realized that each choice of the world I chose hurt me deeply and placed a mark on my heart that God had to repair.  Needless to say, He is still repairing those scars and holes for even my life has been brutally marked up due to my sinful ways.  It is not an easy process because the world grabs a hold of our lives through these holes and scars and sinks its claws into us by this manner, but there is a better plan and option, I took this better plan and I can feel the effects of this choice every day.  In no way does this make perfect in any way, but when God looks on my open heart to His Ways He loves repairing those hurts so that I can be a complete and total witness of His Love and Truth.  There are two stories in Scriptures that are very familiar to those who have read or studied them.  The stories come from Genesis and Exodus and deal with seemingly two different settings but when looked at closer share a common thread, holding on to slavery.

The story in Genesis 19:1-26 mainly deals with homosexuality and the outcome of both the ones who participate in such activity and those who believe in God’s Ways and leave that setting.  Lot’s wife is the prime example of who chose to keep her faith in the world and her city instead of listening to the commands of God and completely leave the situation and not look back.  The example of Lot’s wife is a perfect example of what not to do when God gives a command because this lady’s actions demonstrates to God that while we say we are repentant we actually have no intentions of doing such an act.  Lot’s wife knew God and all of the blessings and protections that He gave them, in other words, she was raised knowing God and His Ways and provisions.  Yet, her grounding was not in God’s Ways but had been planted in the ways of the world and more specifically in those cities.  As God shared with us a few paragraphs above, she had laid plans of her defense on her sea instead of God and it cost her, her life.  We either choose to obey God’s commands or we ignore them, there cannot be any middle of the road or “common ground” on each side.

Lot’s wife had her reasons of justification for what her heart refused to let go and what it did not.  Those choices are still in focus today and if we take a serious look at how today’s societies are living we can see that we are playing the same game as Lot’s wife did as she walked away from her cities.  Her decision was not an immediate one, startled by the devastating noise of God’s wrath but one of the calculated choices that her heart was making for her heart was still present with the people who continued their wickedness before God.  The moment that she turned her head back to the city she made the choice to return to her slavery and to forget God’s command.  Her memories of a safe and nice life were reinforced in this decision she was comfortable and would have rather lived in those chains rather than understanding and living in God’s freedom, another trait that we are relishing in today.  It is this trait that if continued will not understand why devastation has occurred and want to correct what is in our hearts before our entire downfall.

The second example we see concerning a desire to return to our slave master occurs in Exodus 14:10-12 and this story is so famous and familiar that Hollywood even made a blockbuster film about back in the 1950s called “The Ten Commandments”.  I have watched this movie many times and have been fascinated with every part of the film and even though some of the acting and portrayals are not accurate they deliver a concise presentation of what occurred.  We cannot deny that this episode of Israel’s history is not one of grandeur, hope, and provision but we also must remember that we are dealing with humans and when humanity is involved some problems shall always arise.  It is also common knowledge that not everyone that left Egypt on that trip was happy about it and this is where we pick up the next example, the Israelites have been told to make camp at the edge of the Red Sea.  God has told Moses where to encamp and he has moved the people to the very location.

Exodus 14:10-12 states the following: “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.  And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?  Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”

Well, there it is the connection that God wants us to understand between Lot’s wife and the children of Israel in the desert.  God had promised in both examples to free the people from what they had been captive in and God delivered on both of His promises.  All throughout the first portions of Exodus, this current passage and through the remaining portions of Exodus we see nothing but God delivering on His Word and as a result the people that He loves and gave so much to do nothing but complain about what conditions they were in.  We now see that the children of Israel are camped at the Red Sea and taking a rest before the next portion of their journey begins, not realizing that God has them camped there for a specific reason.  They had a few moments to stop and reflect on where they had been delivered from and how God was trying to make them understand that they needed to get their hearts away from Egypt completely; in other words, allow God to heal those holes and scars.

At some point in their stay at the banks of the Red Sea, the scouts saw the Egyptian army coming towards them.  Quick realization of their position became very short-sighted and fear entered into their hearts again, fueling their smoldering ambitious disregards of God’s commands of departure.  Their memories of the days in Egypt soon reappeared and were vocalized which draws a clear picture that they really never left Egypt and really did not let their captivity go, a perfect example as to why God had them in the wilderness for forty years.  Their lots were cast on earthly conditions and even though had witnessed miracle after miracle so far, their attention was fixated on the physical and not the eternal.  This is the place where the two examples meet together because in both settings the people involved made it known their intentions that their lives in captivity were better served in those conditions instead of leaving their ways behind and following God and completely relying on His Ways and provisions.

The Red Sea served as their forwarding advancement which to the human and unbelieving heart seemed like a dead end and one that meant certain death.  While certain death would soon follow, it was not their death that they would know but of their captors and the pursuits that they wished to conquer.  The demonstrations of Pharaoh’s army gives us a clear and detailed commitment of how the ruler of the world can sink his claws into our hearts for the realization of slavery that is not taken away will one day return with friends to reclaim its property; Matthew 12:43-45 declares this truth.  God had allowed the children of Israel’s hearts to be cleaned but they refused to allow God to restore what they had been enslaved with, see the world cannot give you freedom but only desires of slavery for it shall take them away when it deems time and take them back with the same authority given.  Moses knew exactly what God had told him to do and he did such but the people did not want to allow their slavery to end and declared this fact through their words in verses 11-12 when they were proud of the fact that they did not suffer as they were then while in Egypt.  I find it intriguing that in the beginning of Exodus, God’s Word states that He could not help but hear the continuous cries of His people while they were in Egypt which served as the foundation for God to act on their behalf and that in Exodus 14:10 the people cried to God as well.

Israel failed to recognize that the land that they had been given in Egypt had become a place of slavery and their “better” living and working conditions were all provided by a slave master instead of the freedom that they originated from.  Their efforts in religious practices continued but at the same time lost all life and relationship status with God.  Their lack of faith became the battle cry for their fight for slavery and not one that was against it. In the eyes of the Israelites, this lifestyle of slavery was far better for them instead of believing that they were going to die in the wilderness.  Ironically, it would eventually their beliefs in slavery and disobedience that would lead them to their deaths before they reached the promised land for many of them pushed God too far until He had to make the choices to show them that He was God and not them.

We must look at what would have occurred if God allowed pharaoh to intercept the children of Israel and return them to captivity and it is also this point that ties the final knot into both examples used in this message from God.  It was not God’s choice for Lot’s wife to turn her head back towards the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but He did allow her to make that choice and it was through this choice of her heart that turned her into a pillar of salt.  God told Lot and his family to leave the city and when they had left not to look back, the process of destruction was not for them to witness but to flee from the consequences of sin.  When the children of Israel literally had their backs up against a wall, and if God had allowed them to return to Egypt again the same devastation and result as Lot’s wife would have be felled on them.  But just as God had provided an escape for Lot and his family, God did so once again for the children of Israel and when we continue to study the settings of both examples after these momentous days we see almost identical patterns emerging today and still a lack of knowledge and faith appear.

Even though Lot’s wife did not have a physical person or army pursuing her, her personal enemy had infiltrated her life enough to make sure she suffered the consequences of her disobedience.  The Egyptian pursuers encountered their fate as well when they obeyed their leader, who had understood the powers of God personally and had already felt the effects of His power.  Yet in both accounts, we see that people took matters into their own hands while trying to overrule God and even though none of the Israelites were destroyed in the Red Sea it was their lack of trust and faith in God that cost them their physical promises that God gave them.  It would have been so much easier for mankind to prosper if we had just stuck with God and obeyed His Ways.

Today, our societies are following the exact same patterns that Lot’s wife and the pursuing Egyptians did.  Plus, the people also have incorporated the same feelings and desires as the children of Israel had about returning to Egypt.  God never allowed them to return to Egypt but kept them wandering aimlessly in a desert for forty years while they got rid of their selfish and slave-like sheltering beliefs.  How much turmoil did both of these situations have to endure afterward and one cannot dismiss the fact of how many blessings did each participant miss out on because of their stubbornness.  God does not wish for anyone to go through such hardships as Lot’s family did or what the children of Israel endured for forty years.  But God is a complete God and one that wants purity at all times from His beloved.  Why don’t we take off the rose colored glasses and see for ourselves exactly what we have, or in truth what we don’t have and that is God.  When we beg to return into slavery from a freedom state there is something desperately wrong with our hearts.

Church, we are a living example of both Lot’s wife and the children of Israel wrapped up into one participant.  We are ignoring the exact life that God wants every child of His to have and while “proclaiming the worldly truth” completely destroy the Absolute Truth that God provides.  We do not even realize that both examples that God has given us in this article describe our daily activities to a “T”.  We are about to face a dire set of circumstances and if we do not figure out our lives in God now, we shall have the exact proclamations that Lot’s wife had and the revelations of hearts that the children of Israel had when looking at the tide of enemies approaching.  

These biblical events may be specific moments in time but we cannot forget that today, right now is also a moment in time and as of this moment we still can continue to flee the cities of destruction and NOT turn back, and we can have faith that when we approach the sea barriers that God shall open a way to be delivered instead of cowering and wanting to give up and return to our previous slave master.  The Israelites demonstrated that they knew about God but even after all of the miracles and teachings He had given them in the wilderness up until that moment, they still did not hold Him in their hearts and their words exemplified this truth, we cannot afford to repeat this gross mistake.  Let us fight for our true and eternal freedom in Christ and not for our worldly slavery, for if we do not then we shall soon find ourselves in the underground.

DLB

Both Testaments

Both Testaments

5/18/17

There is some controversy concerning the usage of the Old Testament and how much it really means to us since the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  The lack of our understanding of the Old Testament plays right into the hands of our enemy and thus into our lives as well.  We cannot afford to sit back and study the New Testament alone for if we do our definition as The Church cannot be understood and lived.  God wants ALL of His Word to be understood so that we may live in complete protection under His Son’s blood.  Sadly, we are not living in His Word and therefore subject to many deceptions from our enemy.  The only way to repair this damage is to allow God to restore our lives through his entire Word and not just parts of it.

I was raised in church and have listened to countless numbers of sermons from God’s Word.  Various degrees of depth my ears have heard with some squarely on target and some kind of hard to follow.  In my younger years I have to admit that not every sermon and teaching that I was present at took hold, and for some of these settings, my ears and eyes were focused on other things (girls) and practically did not hear a word that was spoken.  Now, I wish I had listened more to those sermons and messages that were given for maybe I could have avoided some of the misfortunes I had to trek through in order to arrive at this current stage in my life.  Then again, God knows exactly what He is doing and allowed me to encounter such rebellious tendencies in order for me to understand what to say to His Church today.

The sermons that I sat through during my time in church have many memories that still I reflect upon from time to time.  I love to mentally hear my father’s voice in some of those sermons, along with my uncle Jerry, Pastor Lee, and many other friends and family members that stood behind pulpits and on platforms.  I could not tell you exactly or even roughly how many sermons and teachings that I have heard that came from the Old Testament or the New Testament, but what I can tell you is that both testaments were used in the sermons that I did hear.  Up until a few years ago, I did not understand that both testaments were needed in order for me to understand my life, my spiritual life, my growth, and most importantly my definition and origin.  Once I grasped the truth that both testaments of the Bible were written specifically for me and you it brought into spectrum just how much my life (and yours) means to God.  As my wise and wonderful mother says sometimes “oh, to go back and relive the past so that we can make things right the first time”, she is absolutely correct when she says that “hindsight is 20/20”.

God did not give us the Old Testament alone and nor did He give the New Testament afterward, only to be read by itself.  We must understand that we need both testaments in order to understand our definition, for our growth and our maturing that only comes from our eternal Father.  If we leave out any part of God’s Word we are saying that we know it all or have no desire to know where we came from or what our lives mean.  Sadly, many Christians play this partiality when it comes to the inclusion of the Old Testament into their lives and thus have the lack of knowledge to defend their “Church” status when challenged. This is why it is imperative that we study both testaments of the Bible, for ultimately our eternal life depends on it.

God has shared with us over the past few months about His completeness and how through this completeness He transforms our lives into the creations that He first placed into existence.  God could make this pure, holy, no rival, and complete status if He would have only given us a partial truth about our existence.  Yet, in providing this valuable information He has left out details that could have swayed our unique creative status, thus verifying that our choice to believe in Him and choosing His Ways in our lives is just that, a choice.  If He had detailed all of the information about everything, then we would have the argument that He forced us to live under His “rules” instead of claiming free will and choice in all things.  This truth about God proves a brilliant message that only a true and all-encompassing God and Creator would think about before He created one item.

This brings us to a point where some people may not agree with what is about to be shared, but these words are from God and He wants us to understand exactly what He is saying to His people, ALL of what He is saying and to ALL of His children.  We cannot survive our lives if we live without the Bible or if we try to live with only one Testament of God’s Word.  The presenters of print may have placed God’s Word into two sections but God wrote His Word for one purpose only, for us to be complete.  Therefore, if God wrote it in this manner of completeness His Word cannot be “divided” but must be taken as a whole to be understood completely.  If we do not study and live under each word of the Bible then we are guilty of not obeying what God’s Word actually states.  God did not stop with the Nation of Israel but extended His purity to everyone who wanted to live under God’s protection.

If God had stopped with Old Testament and the history of Israel then we would have been subject to a “lawful” God and one who would not be nor could be considered complete, for choice would have been eliminated.  When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, God’s protection covered both of them which means all were covered who wished to obey.  All throughout the Old Testament we see this pattern continue and while Israel defined themselves with laws and forgot God entirely, all who wished to live for God could do so, but not in good standing with others the Bible states.  If God had only given us the Old Testament, then the definition of “The Church” would have never been established, nor could she have either.  This would also mean that God would have thought of another way of salvation because the creation, life, death and resurrection of Christ would have not followed God’s words in the Garden of Eden concerning the punishment of Satan and nullify the plan of restoration for everyone who chooses God.  With this statement of truth, Satan would have the legitimate recourse of claiming that Jesus’ presence and Divinity on earth was a lie and deemed as heretic in existence.  I do not wish to take away from any person who may be reading this message from God, but does this paragraph remind you of a certain group of people when referencing Jesus and Christianity?

Turning to the New Testament, we see that this beautiful message from God contains the exact same situations that the Old Testament contains.  We have specifics about settings and then letters that were written to God’s people telling them to follow God and not the world.  If one wishes we can consider the physical authors of the New Testament as the prophets and wise men that wrote so vividly in the Old Testament.  The called of each Testament in the Bible may differ somewhat but the content that God shares with His people is the exact same, which means that God has to reinforce His Word in both Testaments.  The Old Testament is the definition of Israel and thus serves as the foundation of our existence as both in presence of life and as the children of God.  If the Old Testament is not taken into the New Testament as the truth about God and our lives, then we cannot have a true understanding of our lives.  We as the Church cannot survive in believing that the Old Testament ended when Jesus came and performed His Life on the earth.  If we believe this to be true, then we are no better than the beliefs of those who end their truth at Malachi 4:6 and thus believe in a half truth about ourselves and most vitally about God.

The idea of only living under one testament fails our lives from our foundation and therefore no truth of the Church exists.  We as the Church cannot have any definition without first accepting the Old Testament as our foundation and organization and thus a completion of god’s Laws as a protection and not as a limitation.  I have heard many times over my lifetime that the New Testament is the definition of the Church and it is but it does not stop there, for the New Testament is a history of Jesus for it was He who established the Church.  Jesus came first, not the Church and it is through this exact order which gives the authorization of our lives in the Old Testament because God has no origin and was present before His Word was given to us in the first place (Old Testament).  The pattern is the same and consistent with a consistent God, the one who is the author of all established life, our personal lives, and the Church.  It is through this truth that forges the truth that we cannot live in fullness without living inside Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21. 

If we do not believe that the Old Testament is relevant to our lives today then we cannot honestly say that the New Testament is relevant either.  In other words, if we do not believe one is as equal as the other then God’s Word is a lie and therefore our existence is a lie as well.  Israel does not need our existence to prove theirs correct, but we need Israel’s truth as a defining point as the Church for when we desecrate God’s existence and origin we automatically do the same with our lives and I believe we are seeing this belief coming true in our societies today.  I spoke to a friend the other day about how sad it is to see such a gifted world go down the toilet all the while refusing to accept the one Being who can turn our lives around and at the same time refuse to acknowledge our origins through Him as well; but it makes sense for if you do not believe completely in His Word, then it is easy to fall for such deception from our enemy.

Study God’s Word, all of it and you will find out that the timeframe is different but the people and their choices are the same.  Taking only one portion of God’s Testaments as truth is the same as taking a bit of a passage and using to gain an advantage in an argument for that type of usage is exactly how Satan deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; furthermore, if one uses Scripture in such a manner then they are reenacting the scene with them playing the part of the serpent.  Using only a portion of God’s Word is wrong and heretical and could easily cause some person to be hurt by the light of the world instead of understanding His presence in our lives.  We need to study God’s Word as a protection and as an eternal guide that focuses on restoration into God’s Covenant instead of personal (worldly) ideologies that try and justify self.

Church it is time that we wake up and see what we have allowed to occur on our watch.  If you turn on any newscast and not be convicted of the fruits of the world then we have been lulled asleep by our enemy.  What I mean by the scenes on the newscasts is that the spiritual condition of the world and more specifically of this nation is sickening to God and at some point in the very near future God shall have no choice (pure choice) to say “enough”.  I dread that day and we should be doing everything possible to delay this day from coming in our lifetimes.  Life itself has been shaken and destroyed to the core well enough that our enemy no longer has to do it for us, all he has to do is focus on his laughter as he stands and watches us continue the course.  We can stop this and be repaired back to our original health, but we can only achieve this truth if we turn back to God and accept Him and His Ways in our lives as number one again.

We cannot live as the New Testament Church if we do not live under the Covenant that God established in the Old Testament, for the New Covenant comes from the Old Covenant.  If we do not believe and understand this “Old Covenant” then we cannot understand the “New Covenant” either.  The entire Bible is the Word of God and its contents have stood the test of time for all time and this champion of life shall continue its undefeated rank for your entire lifetime if you only choose to allow its Author full reign over your heart.  It is this reason why God wants us to study and to understand His Word in its entirety, for when we study His Word with a pure and clean heart God’s truth shall flow from within our life and there can be no mistake that both testaments are alive inside your heart.  God's entire Word is infallible and we should be living in His Word fully at all times, for it is our desire to understand according to our creative hearts, so why not go to the entire source instead of a fallible rejection.

DLB

Our Definition

Our Definition

5/12/17

In a world where everyone tries their best to become equal, it is easy to become weary and leery about our foundings.  Some of us come from unknown bloodlines while others are the opposite have “royal” lines that stretch for millennia.  But if we limit ourselves to the physical we cannot understand exactly how we were created for our origins were not of this world but from a Being that is all powerful and all knowing, with perfection and eternity as His origin.  We do have a definitive origin and it is vital that we understand exactly who made us and for what reason He did so.  It is also part of our origin to ensure that His Will be done on the earth and that means to push back His enemy, and ours, as much as possible.

A little under eighteen years ago, my wife and I welcomed our youngest child Rebekkah into the world.  Rebekkah was the last of our children and while we would have loved to have had more certain physical conditions warranted otherwise.  When I was a young person I would sometimes catch my parents just staring at me and through my selfish windows I failed to recognize or even understand why they would just take the time to watch me a bit.  Today, I understand that feeling they had so many years ago because Bonnie and I are facing the same scenario, watching our children grow up and go about on their way making their own life without always being around the house.  It has especially hit both of us pretty hard since Rebekkah represents the last one of our kids to leave high school.

Do not get me wrong, some of these feelings of loss and ending were felt when our other daughters reached this point in their lives as well, but for those of us who have faced or are facing the last child leaving, it puts a different perspective on things. Honestly, I cannot believe that Rebekkah is graduating and even old enough to graduate because I can still see her as a little girl with curly hair running in and out of the back door with not a care in the world.  Rebekkah, your mother and I love you very much and are so proud of you and the accomplishments that you have achieved so far and will achieve in the coming years.

When I look over my four daughters’ lives I am taken back of just how time flies and in a blink of an eye they are off with their own families.  My remembrances of them being young do not fade and the pains they encountered that we all experienced way back when are laughable now, but one of the most joyous of times was when and still do have the opportunity to lay my eyes on their presence.  I know that there is no question that they are mine and that I created them, but I cannot help but to thank God every day for their presence in my house and to hear their footsteps pounding up and down the staircases.  While this physical creative status of theirs I am proud of, I am more proud that I know they have the opportunity to choose God and to stand on His side of existence as the ultimate and eternal Creator of their lives.  I would love to take total claim of all my daughters and on the physical aspects of their lives I can but their eternal existence which is far more important than our physical, God owns and through this truth Bonnie and I shall do our best to show them God and His Son’s love for them on a daily basis.  It is this point that God wants us to understand that while we are created in the flesh, it is His Spirit that dwells within us that matters to our eternal positioning. 

It is in this reality of parenting we find ourselves in the fight of our lives, for there is nothing that we would not do in order to protect our children from harm.  It is a parental instinct to protect our children as much as possible and even give them credit where credit may not be warranted.  This quality of our inner being can be fierce if triggered, yet remain calm in other circumstances where our children are concerned.  We were created to create others but as being a created being ourselves we must recognize and honor the One who began our existence in the first place.  Without this acknowledgment of our origin and definition we cannot fully comprehend life itself, but only exist as a figment of our true ability.  When a child is ripped from our presence before their true time, one cannot describe the adequate words that parents feel, another testimony to how children represent our lives both physically and spiritually for it was God who allowed Hs Son to leave Him to represent eternal life.

In Genesis 2:7 gives us the detailed information we need to understand the origins and definition of our life.  The word definition is defined as such: “the action or process of defining something”.  Genesis 2:7 states: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.”  I find it very interesting that no other details about Adam’s formation are given as in physical features; nose length, eye colors, ear size, etc.  This proclaims that to God our formation according to His standards is far more important than what our physical physique represents; a significant issue that one must take into account in order to continue to place God first in our lives according to our way of life.

It does not take us long to find out that many lives are divided, and through this division are physically defined people who have questions about their mode of creation.  It has become a norm of western society to have many parents, come from different backgrounds and be forced to cope with lingering questions concerning other family members myself must be included in this equation.  While my parents knew a story about my beginnings they did not know the entire story and even today after my biological family found me, that story is still filled with gaping holes.  When God created us from dust His intentions was for our lives to be simple without pain or suffering with no complications added.  God also understood that He could not create slaves either thus providing a secondary means of surviving if we chose to differ from His Ways.  God did not create a compromised product it was our choice to introduce sin into our lives that complicated our matters.

We as a society have done a fairly good job at trying to manage our lives alone without the help of God or anyone else who might suggest us trying to acquire God’s help.  Through this fairly good job of going about things on our own we have severely complicated numerous areas of our lives, including the origins, foundations and now we are morphing our definition of life as well.  The answer to the deepest questions that we have about ourselves does not lie in a multitude of answers or directions towards answers.  The world places these various categories of choices in our way so that we can hop through the doors whenever we feel like it and reverse course if we change our minds.  How can one even obtain stability with a pathological misdirection in front of us, much less senility?  We do not need to be redefined in order to make our lives more comfortable and accessible because when we live through this lie all we are doing is giving our enemy pathways of destruction that he shall capitalize on at some point in our lives.

Changing the pathway of our definition cannot allow us to start over and to begin again there is only One Being that can accomplish that feat and He is the original Creator of our lives.  When we understand that God Created us and then breathed His Spirit into our lives that mean we have His presence and everything that it represents in our lives as well.  When we understand that we are His Creations the question of who I become irrelevant and the only thing that becomes our necessity is to know our Creator more for when we do we will automatically understand our lives better as well.  This is the reason why there are so many people hurting these days when it seems like times are good all around, for we are so scattered internally we cannot even understand and comprehend our own names much less our family history or country’s history.  This type of life is NOT what God created us to do or to live by.  God gave us one law to obey in the beginning, plain and simple it was but we chose to complicate and compromise according to our own wills and judgments.  We did not have to do this act against God and we do not have to do it today either.

Most of you know that I love music and have placed music as a centerpiece in my life.  While Classical music holds my heart the dearest, Christian music ranks right up there in a close second.  I always love to hear new songs or even old ones that emphasize what God is saying to us in these articles and I have found a couple of them that specifically relate to our lives according to Genesis 2:7.  I have no idea why these artists wrote these songs but I do know that the words that they use in these songs will touch many lives that are questioning their existence and their definition.  These words also reinforce the truth that God created us in one way and provided a single way for us to be restored following His one plan.

The first song that brings this point of God’s into focus is from Kim Walker and her song “You Define Me”.  You cannot get more pointed and specific than the title of the song alone because it is God who defines us not the world, not our makeup, not our hair or accent but God and God alone.  It was Him who gave us life from nothing but a bunch of dirt particles and formed us into the second chances that we are today.  God is the perfect Creator for everything He creates is perfect in every way it is our choice to compromise our positions, not His.  One of the more exciting portions of this song states “The words You speak over me” mean so much to our lives for it declares that God is still alive by the usage of the verb “speak” through our creation by Him, He “You tell me who I am”.  There is our definition and it coincides with Genesis 2:7.  Since God is still alive this means that every time we fulfill God's command to replenish the earth and create a baby, His Word continues to be alive for this process of life-giving contains Him and Him alone.  There is so much more about this song that thrills me to hear and I urge you to listen to the song and allow God to warm your heart through the truth of this song.

The second song that speaks volumes to me about my definition is from Colton Dixon and his song “In My Veins”.  Most of you know that I work in a clinical laboratory and have done such for over thirty years now.  I fell in love with the lab field when I was in high school and have never left it ever since.  So when a song proclaims that God is in my definition as He courses through my veins I cannot ignore this truth.  One line particularly stands out here and it goes like this “When you wrote your name, in my veins”.  This means that God has an ever present presence in my life which includes every part of my life IF I choose to allow Him access.  His Spirit and creativity were present first before the world gained access, He has legal rights to His Creation and desires with every breath and heartbeat of His to return.

I cannot tell you exactly what is about to occur in this nation but what I do understand is that at some point God is going to allow a divine act to touch the shores of this nation.  As of this moment, our lives are wandering in so many directions that unless we stop and return to God now our lives shall be in complete shambles after the natural disaster has been completed.  It is vital that we understand that God cannot give any more than one direction, it is the work of our enemy that places confusing directions and choices in our paths.  We have done a superb job in trying our best to dethrone God from our hearts and to replace Him with the world.  Look around us and it is not hard to see that the path that we are taking will only lead us over a cliff.  God is not political by any means however, He is 100% eternal and it is the eternal portions of our lives that He wishes for us to straighten out.

God is not in the habit or position to scare anyone into accepting His Ways He did, however, provide us with the ability to make the true and pure choice of Him based on the Word that He has provided us.  It is through His Word that not only defines God, but it also defines us as well which means there is only One God and there is only one human and we are created in His image which means that each of the songs above proclaims the truth about our lives and definition.  The job of the ruler of the world is to confuse and to confound your heart which produces doubt, God is not about doubt but truth and purity.  It is this holiness, purity, and truth that is our definition and God has graciously provided the means in which to obtain this purity again.  Church turn your hearts back to God and once again be the witness that God desires from each one of us.  There is not much time, repent and allow God to restore what our enemy has stolen from us.

DLB

Be Not Of This World

Be Not of This World

5/7/17

To what degree did God say this statement to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and to His Church and how much did He mean it to those who followed His Ways throughout their lifetimes?  The same question can be asked of ourselves today and most of us would not really have an adequate answer for such a question.  We have successfully downgraded the setting of such a covenant that means the entire definition of God and His people through the proper coaching from our eternal enemy.  Covenant is the most important way and necessity that we need to understand and live by, for it provides the standards of why we need to be separated from the world and the commitment that God has to His people.  We also must understand that since God is eternal and has no rivals this means by no means can He break or violate such a Covenant, a detail most fine and pure that can only bring violations since the one originating such a contract is Himself everlasting.

I have always believed that God has created each person for a specific purpose and it is this belief that God resounds this truth through our lives.  While we are continually walking in disbelief and confusion, God still uses us to promote and advance His Kingdom and to most of us, this action comes as a distraction in itself because we are so self-centered and fail to understand why God has created us in the first place.  God gave us a command way back in the Garden of Eden and through this command He expected us to understand the importance of separation from the world and all of the grieving issues that its presence would bring.  We have lived under the concept that God created us for our own existence but in truth, we were created for His Kingdom and its advancement. 

There is no way possible that we can ever compare ourselves to God or try and place ourselves on His level.  The closet that humanity came to this fact was when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden and had no influence of sin IN their lives, it became obvious that sin was around them but up until they accepted sin into their lives they knew no issues of wrath against them.  They were separated from the world and this truth is explained to us in Genesis 2:15 when God’s Word says that He placed Adam into the Garden to keep it and to dress it.  The Garden of Eden was a perfect setting for Adam and eventually Eve and it was through this placement that defined God’s intention for mankind to be separate from the environment that had been established by the one who thought he was just as good as God.

The concepts of Covenant were established between God and mankind in the Garden of Eden and it was clearly shown to both Adam and Eve through the teachings of God as each morning came into life.  God provided daily talks with Adam and Eve and while His Word does not directly state what they conversed about, God cannot hide things from His people so the reasons why this separation was necessary had to be discussed.  We must remember that God is a consistent God and through this truth about Him and through the patterns that we study about all throughout the Bible, it is clear that He established this separation pattern in the Garden of Eden because it is the same message to all people, both in biblical times and today.  It is evident that Adam and Eve watered down God’s separation truth just as it is evident that we are doing the exact same thing today.  How many times have we lifted up our own lives and do things according to our flesh instead of knowing, understanding and following God’s Ways?

It is not easy for our finite minds to understand why God wants us to stay away from the world and all that it has to offer.  The world is in constant motion and brings forth things into its path even when we are snoozing in our beds.  I have found it so convenient to accept just a little portion of the world into my life and then unknowingly have it grow until it becomes an idol or part of me that I find difficult to let go.  The time frame from the introduction and until the true realization of what is inside my life varies but as I take a closer look at it I can see the growth pattern and how it has wrapped around my inside heart.  It is this part of influence that cost Adam and Eve their place of dominion and currently resides in billions of us around the globe.  We have fallen for the inclusion theory of our enemy and have not even questioned his presence around us; how comfortable we have become with this setting.

The entire truth about Covenant is about protection and separation based on a holy and pure origin and then given to those who wish to live under its covering.  Covenant cannot have an origin because it originates from God and since God does not have an origin His protective covering is eternal as well.  Thus stated, since God is eternal, consistent and had no rival this means that His Covenant is also eternal and pure and cannot be broken by Him.  Since the base and foundation of this Covenant cannot be broken and that it is eternal and pure this means that those who live under its protection and then choose to leave this standard can only violate its contents.  For if God cannot break its contents and He is pure, holy, consistent, and eternal this can only mean that the ones who He made the Covenant for cannot break it either, only violate it.

Protected from what or from who is the logical question here.  We must remember that God is the Father of ALL living things and of created items.  This means that all life as our minds and hearts can comprehend and even those that we cannot were made by God at some point in history.  As God has shown us many times in His articles and what He has provided us throughout His Word we know that there is an enemy that does not like our presence for it represents the advancement of God’s Kingdom.  Yes, we are the reason God’s Kingdom is either advanced or Satan’s is advanced and it is 100% through the choices that we make that either kingdom advances.  The Bible states this because it says that for every plan that God has Satan has a counter plan in order to advance his kingdom instead, a logical strategy if one understands the rules of engagement and war.

If God is all truthful, holy, consistent, pure, and cannot change that means the enemy of His is the complete opposite of these traits.  The Bible actually gives us an accurate description of Satan in John 8:44 when it states: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”  Wow! What a vivid description of the one that God is keeping us from and no wonder He wants us to stay away from such antics and heartbreak.  Through this verse alone, God’s description of His opposite means that everything that comes from Satan is a lie for he is the father of lies.  If God is Father of all things living and Satan is the father of all lies this means that life itself is a truth which means that our lives represent God’s Kingdom.  Therefore, everything that Satan represents is the opposite of life which is death and death is a lie to life, then death cannot inhabit life which means that God and Satan cannot coexist and neither can their kingdoms.

This verse also states that Satan is the father of lies which means he was the first one to use a lie.  To be a father of something is very specific and definitive, another reason why it is important to our enemy that he destroys the family in every way possible; he lies and everything that he tricks us into believing is also a lie.  We must understand that since he is considered the father of lies that this means every act he performs is a lie and nothing else but a lie.  This means that God has never lied nor can He lie so everything in His Word is the truth and cannot change, which is consistent with God Himself, another reason that God wants to protect His children.  This means the opposite of God from Satan is true if Satan cannot tell anything but lies then God cannot tell anything but the truth, which is the foundation of Covenant.

God did His best to convey this message to Adam and Eve before they chose to fall into sin, God continued this practice of Covenant ideology and truth before they left the Garden of Eden and continued such truth telling to Abraham, Moses, Jacob, David, and all of the prophets in the Old Testament.  God also gave us His Son so that His presence on earth could eternally solidify this eternal Covenant with us and once and for all expose our enemy for who he is, the manipulator and liar that God’s Word says he is.  It is our eternal enemy that God wishes for us to be separated from and if we do not understand that the world and all of its short-term glory is actually Satan’s kingdom, we are doomed.  That is why God wants us separated from the world and more specifically not even in the world’s company.  Israel gives us plenty of examples of what occurs when we place our security and trust in the world, we fall hard and many times fail to recover to our previous standards.  God gives us 100% of His time, love and purity and that is why He expects the same in return from us because He knows that if we do not then we shall be subject to our enemy’s control.

A sobering example still comes from the land of Israel and God’s chosen people the Jews.  I have a great friend who I call upon to ask questions concerning the Jewish ways and thinking.  I asked her one day about how important covenant was to the religious Jews and she replied that covenant with God is their definition of existence and nothing less.  She also added that a growing number of Jews were falling away from God yet they were still arriving in droves to Israel.  She elaborated on her last statement that it is the covenant that Jews have with God that separates them from all other religious practices, hence their definition in God.  I politely said thank you, said our courtesies and ended the conversation.  It pains me to realize that there are millions of people in the world that know about God but still continue to walk with the world and living from underneath His Covenant.  This means that the nation of Israel was solely dependent on God for everything since they were to be separate from the world, and since God is a consistent God He has offered this separation status to gentiles as well which means that Covenant is open for everyone, an important detail that Jesus took care of when He died on the cross and rose again from the grave.

Our enemy has done a wonderful job in scrambling our mission statement enough to mire our activities in junk instead of cleanliness of life.  Even the Early Church struggled with the same ideologies of selfish perfection of the flesh instead of living under the protective covering of an eternal God that understand that sinful flesh cannot change its spots, so there have been thousands of added years of misconceptions concerning who is holy and who needs eternal covering.  If one looks at this statement – which is a vital truth to our existence – we will notice that the same identities haunt us today that did when Abraham walked this earth, a disturbing detail that has Satan laughing at God’s children.  All Satan needs to do is to convince us that it is ok for us to use God’s eternal Covenant as an umbrella and that it is ok to go from underneath it when times are good, a clear sky is just as dangerous as a cloudy and dark one for every element is present in detailed circumstances.  Equality in the name of the world shall only bring further division between

Every day in today’s societies we are witness to governments, persons, groups, and ideas clash with those who believe that their answers and ways of thinking arise higher than those who differ from them.  These influential sidings are growing at an exponential pace and while doing so fail to understand what is really transpiring not only in their own hearts but in society as well, all as a result of such activity.  We would rather depend and call upon a flawed societal and plagiaristic lie than live under a guarded eternal presence that has no worldly differences taking stage.  Covenant is a huge issue in our stability and is vital that we understand that it is our choice to either live under this Covenant or violate it.  We also fail to understand that when we choose to live from under God’s Covenant that we automatically lower the percentages of our protection which mean less of a chance of an eternal survival with God.  God does not want a short or small percentage of your life, He wants it all and that means that it is either all or nothing; not just Sundays and Wednesday nights.

Do we honestly believe that Jesus had this “couple of days a week” attitude while He was walking on this earth?  From my observations concerning the Church, I can state with confidence that we actually believe can obtain a true relationship with God by adhering to the umbrella concept of Covenant.  Many people play out only parts of Jesus’ ministry, you know, the parts that are deemed good for societal and social settings which require the least amount of commitment yet leave the penetrating and eternal truths about His fulfillment of Covenant with His Father and to us to nothing more that honorable mentions which deem little attention.  It is these “honorable mentions” that brought Jesus to the earth in the first place for it is these acts of Jesus that provide us with the eternal sacrificial offering that only He could give.  Every act that Jesus did while He graced this rock with His presence exemplified Covenant and the living meaning of separation from the earth and it is our responsibility to demonstrate His walk each day of our lives.

A while back I was walking down the street in my small town and noticed a woman provocatively dressed coming towards us.  As we approached each other, I glanced at hr neckline and noticed a large cross necklace which was very visible and shiny.  I could do nothing but shake my head in disbelief after she passed by us because it was obvious which portion of her existence was more important, yet still trying to keep her recognition of God present for everyone to see at the same time.  In all honesty, her appearance defines the modern world and more specifically the modern Church.  The Church wishes to supply the world with a watered down presentation of the Bible yet at the same time fail to recognize that she is actually portraying the world’s standards instead of God’s standards.  If Jesus would have said “no” to the cross and had His angels minister to Him and fight off the spirits around Him His actions would be exactly like the lady who passed us by on the downtown sidewalk.  Jesus did not take the umbrella approach to His life and the meaning of His life was to be, He totally separated Himself from societal whims and disguises and chose His Father’s Ways.

The sole reason that we are in the destructive situations that we wake up and hear about each morning is simply because we have failed to understand and then live under God’s Covenant.  It is easy to criticize the bible as being an ancient text that is not relevant for today’s societies and should not be in consideration as a text that has the capability to teach.  At the same time, I find that belief hilariously sad and deafening because when anyone proclaims that statement as a truth they prove God’s Word true for they have provided the exact reasons, reactions, and results that people in the Bible went through those seemingly “ridiculous” storylines.  Why do we allow our enemy have so much control over our lives that we cannot see what he is doing to us?  How can we become so distracted that we believe the father of lies over the eternal Father of all living things? 

Do we understand that as long as we continue to live outside of God’s Covenant – His Life and Word – that we shall only continue to be in decline?  How can the Church, the one institution be so inclined to join the world’s death march instead of seeing then promoting the eternal salvation that God’s Word provides?  If we really study Scripture and dive into the portions of God’s Word that define Covenant, then live by that eternal blessing our lives would dramatically change within a few short moments.  If our hearts are turned towards God and we have no desire than to live for Him, we cannot be a part of the world, simply through the definition of separation that John 8:44 gives. 

Our debts and chains may be gone through God’s Covenant but that gives no authority to selfishly take advantage of this grace and ignore the truth as to how it was obtained.  Covenant is an all encompassing truth which takes the time to learn about but so freeing when realized how our survival depends upon it.  So, the Covenant learning begins for when we begin to understand about Covenant, we then begin to understand how important God needs to be in our lives, how we cannot go one second without His Word in our hearts, and exactly how vital it is to be able to pass under the Covered Bridge He has provided for all His children as the way to restoration in God.  Oh, how God wants us to know and to live by the fact that restoration means to be not a part of this world and only through this truth can be obtained.

DLB