The Judgment of Jonah

The Judgment of Jonah

11/1/18

All of us have disobeyed a person in authority over us at one time in our lives for whatever reason we have dreamed up of such action.  Obedience is essential for our livelihood and even though we know what the consequences may be if we do not follow this practice human curiosity and stubbornness many times overrides this conviction.  Embarrassingly truthful would be the result if we commented on how many times we have disobeyed God and the things that He has instructed us to do.  While we do not always immediately feel the effects of such sin God’s Word tells us that each one of us must face consequences to such actions even after we turn our hearts back to God.  As we will see, God has a plan for our lives for a specific purpose and if we do not obey His Ways then we will be subject to devastating consequences.  There is a way that we can avoid such catastrophes and it is a plan that is easy to follow we only have to commit our hearts back to God and drop the selfish and worldly ideas.

After a short break from the life of Jonah, we will be returning to his dilemma for it is time to understand exactly what God had in store for him due to his disobedience and arrogance.  Most of know what occurred to Jonah after he was tossed overboard when a large fish was divinely in the area and swallowed him up for a while.  Jonah knew exactly what God had told him to do, with the when and where details given to him as well.  Yet, Jonah decided to make the decision to run in the opposite direction and thus setting up this scenario that we are about to read.  But do we know that God’s preparation of the fish that happened to be in the area actually served as a purpose?  It seems a bit far-fetched but we have to agree that while God had given instructions to Jonah and then Jonah ran, Jonah could not have believed that God did not know where he was at and that at some point He would find him in His own specific manner.

When we look at the process in which Jonah became closely knowledgeable with this fish of God’s, Jonah must have come to the conclusion that God meant business and that He would not take no for an answer.  But until that point of Jonah’s surroundings hit home he had to sit in the belly of the fish and contemplate his situation.  If one wants they can compare Jonah’s current living conditions to that of the Prodigal son for one really cannot find themselves in any more filthy conditions than these two.  Both went their own ways trying to fend off the responsibilities given to them and as long as they were content in living against the will of God their lives continued a downward spiral until the rock bottom was reached.  While the storms in each passage of the Bible were different they both served as a warning for the people to change their hearts before God had to allow His judgment to unfold, both decided to stick it out and reach the point where God took over and gave them what their choices commanded.

God knew exactly how to grab Jonah’s attention through the supernatural realm, for it is not a common ordeal to be swallowed by a large enough fish that one can survive the process of its digestion.  This seems almost impossible to believe but we must keep in mind that when God ordains a person to complete a task and that person does not follow through with what God has said to do, all boundaries are off and God will take the necessary steps in order to fulfill His commands.  God has a purpose and a directive for everything He does, for that is His definition and when He deems it necessary to tell His children what to do we have the obligation in return to go into that mission field as work that field.  It does not matter if we walk next door or travel to a far away land, all aspects of God’s Will must be accomplished when we are commissioned to do such.  The will of the human to submit to God and to change their heart is also hard to comprehend but it is a process in which when completed gives God the authority to radically demonstrate His eternal love for His children, and even though Jonah was sitting inside a whale God heard his cry for repentance and thus God delivered him out of the fish.

When we study the judgment of Jonah we will find many aspects of the human and of God all being portrayed while Jonah is being sloshed around in the belly of the fish.  While it may be easy to pass this portion of Jonah’s life off as a quick event and one that is hard to believe, it cannot be forgotten for it did occur and the events that God created for this period of time in Jonah’s life serve or should serve as a reminder that one day our lives could face a severe enough setting that rivals such a story.  As it has been stated previously, the story of Jonah can hit home to many people who have received the call of God on their lives or have been given a specific mission from God to complete but have for some reason delayed such commissions.  If you are one of those people who fall into this category please understand that God knows exactly where you are and that He loves you very much but even though you are in disobedience He wants you to know that His plan that He gave you needs to be fulfilled for His Kingdom, not yours.  So, unless you wish to see a similar act of judgment on your life I would suggest you come back to God and allow Him to restore you and your mission before He has to really grab your attention.

In Jonah 1:17 we find that God had already set into motion the plan that He had for Jonah concerning the judgment over his life.  This verse is a sobering one because it means that God had already put His plan into action and this verse also confirms that God was in full control of the storm that had ravaged the boat and men earlier in the chapter.  Now, Jonah was also being tossed in the ways for a while before they stopped but there was no way that he was going to be allowed back in that boat for the men of that boat did their best to get back to shore as quickly as possible.  So, this verse states that while the storm had passed God had prepared a fish for Jonah and it was this fish that was going to change his life and set his heart back in the place that it needed to be.  There can be no question that Jonah had experienced some rough times over the last few hours but I can guarantee he had no idea of what was about to occur for it is not every day we hear about humans being swallowed by a large fish.  The end of this verse gives us the amount of time that Jonah was to be in that belly as well, God even had this detail lined out as well another sign of His authority and Divine presence; for it places God there with Jonah and it also tells that Jonah was going to be okay afterward.

One cannot help but believe that when Jonah figured out what was going on that he began to think that his life was over and that he had blown his chance to do what God had chosen him to complete.  But those thoughts are quickly erased with the first words of Jonah 2:1 when Jonah prayed to God while he was in the belly of the fish.  Jonah knew what his surroundings were and he also had the cognitive to understand that he did not like what was going on around him either.  We cannot help but know that Jonah remembered what God told him to do and why God had said to tell Nineveh about their sins.  Jonah then figured out that what he was going through was a reminder that Nineveh was not off the hook and that if he had the opportunity to tell that city what God said that he would do it without hesitation.  For if this type of condition that Jonah was facing was going to be anything that Nineveh was going to face he had to warn them to change their hearts before it was too late.  But first, Jonah had to allow God to fix his own heart and so that he could honestly tell his mission about their sins and why they were so grievous to God’s heart.

In verse 2 of chapter 2, we find that Jonah speaks about why he was in the state of living conditions that he was in and he hit the nail on the head for he addresses the issue with God right off the bat.  This means that he knew why he was in that fish and that his heart was ready to change.  Jonah realized that what God had told him to do was for a specific purpose so that the people of Nineveh would not have to go through the supernatural course that God had prepared for them if they reached the exact same point in their hearts that Jonah had reached; a place of complete and unabated rebellion.  Now, I have looked in many bellies of fish as I have prepared them for eating and while the majority of the fish in this category have been small I have found some interesting things in them.  Most fish have nothing present inside them but every once-in-a-while you will find a few items trash, hooks, fishing lines, etc. and all of these things must have been present floating around Jonah and washing up against his body providing the usage of the word Sheol from Jonah.

The word Sheol is the Hebrew word that means “hell” and is defined like this: underworld, grave, the Old Testament abode of the dead, place of no return, without praise of God, wicked sent there for punishment, of the place of exile, of extreme degradation of sin.  From the usage of this word by Jonah, we can ascertain that this means that he understood what it was and that it was a true state of separation from God and the end of the road for his life.  This word and its definition also give us a glimpse of what it shall be like when those who do not choose God and His Providence and salvation shall face when their lives have been ended according to the curse of sin over our lives.  However, unlike the end and permanent condition of this potential separation from God, it was already clear that Jonah was in the act of repentance before he had to face this fixed opposition to God.  When this word is used there is never anything happy about the condition that the people are being exposed to at that time, it is a hideous explanative word that described nothing good at all and represents the worst fears that the human mind can imagine, a word that we would want to avoid its presence at all costs.

Jonah 2:3 tells us that Jonah knew exactly who had allowed such turmoil to be presented in his life and that he had no reservations as to why he was now facing such calamities.  This gives us a picture of how our lives should respond if we ever reach this type of situation in our lives.  Now, God is not talking about the small issues that we face every day but He is referring to His prepared judgment that will arrive on the shores of this nation unless we turn our hearts back to Him.  Jonah had plenty of opportunities to change his heart and mind before God began the storm and the proceeding activities that followed, but Jonah had to learn for himself what it meant to go through the angst of being separated from God by his own accord.  Jonah now tells us that he understands why the waves and winds were so violently distraught for their stability was disabled due to his disobedience to God and that for this natural upheaval was strictly caused by his doings.  So, if this is the case and it is, why would we ever tempt God into repeating the same course of instability today?  We see from this passage that Jonah had the opportunity to truly repent his heart to God in time of need, but can we count on us having the same amount of opportunity when our judgment starts?

Verse 5 of this chapter give us a pretty good idea of the physical conditions of being inside a belly of a large fish and from the short description, it seems like it was not a pretty sight.  While Jonah only gives us a description of what was around him the smell of such objects must have been horrendous and must have brought nauseous contentions to his body.  Now, some people actually like to be around seaweed and while it is edible and actually serves the body well with a nutritional satisfaction it would never be any part of my diet especially when it was already present inside a fish, not that being inside a belly of a fish would be considered normal or natural either.  But the slime and muck of what the fish had eaten and was trying to digest are unimaginable yet while in these conditions Jonah continued his repentance to God and sought God for restoration.  How many of us would do this?  Or would it be more accurate to say that we would be cursing God and asking Him why we were stuck in this position or what did we do to deserve such an ending?

Verses 6 & 7 give us an idea about how far Jonah had fallen from the mercy and grace of God and it shows us that as we continue to rely on our selfish mannerisms and forsake God we automatically distance ourselves from God in such a subtle manner that we are not aware of our proceedings.  This is exactly what our enemy wants us to do and it is the perfect tactic that he uses in order to drag us away from our Creator in order to ruin our lives and separate us from God.  Jonah now realizes just how far he has fallen from God and he knows just how high God is and that he should have been striving for this place on the mountain instead of running away toward the sea.  Jonah then prays that he sees and returns to God’s holy temple, a place of reverence, peace, and tranquility of an eternal nature that even though he was far away from God Jonah knew that his words and prayers would be heard by God in His holy place of residence.  So far, these verse about the judgment of Jonah have given us a great deal of insight about how much Jonah knew about God and how much God loved Him, it also allows us to know the depths that we go in order to fall away from God as well, and graciously it also gives us the assuredness that God’s standard never changes and that He is always willing to forgive and to restore if we come to Him with a willing heart.

In verse 8 it is clear that Jonah is not only thinking about himself but while he previously states about his condition he places himself into the same category as others who have fallen into the same category that he is in currently.  This verse is very short but it states so much about how humans, communities, cities, and nations view themselves and how they groom themselves to be presented to their subjects.  The King James Version of the God’s Word uses the words “lying vanities” and the real vagrancy here is placed on the people who according to the Hebrew words “saw hable” which mean worthless idols.  Now, that places things into another level of disobedience doesn’t it and it should set off bells and whistles in our heads for it is exactly the lifestyle that western societies have embraced as their foundation of their appearances and success.  I find it amazing that the word for lying means worthless because it truly defines what it means to lie to another and it also gives rise to just how this action not only creates vanities in our lives but it takes away the mercies of God at the same time.  I cannot help but mourn for my family, my community, and my nation because of these two words alone for we do not understand what our vanity has produced and what it is doing to our relationship with God.

Verse 9 gives us the example of how we should be in front of God at all times so that we do not have to go through such travesties.  Yet, as we all know many or most of us have to take the hard road in order to find the truth about our lives, but God has given us the means to skip this process of pain and agony if we only listen and obey in the first place.  Jonah now worships God through his pain and offers his heart up with thanksgiving and sacrifice.  A couple of years ago there was a popular Christian song that said “I will praise you in this storm” and while the song was not meant solely that judgment would be the reason for the storm it serves as a reminder that no matter what occurs in our life we need to praise God at all times.  When our hearts are in this place, we will be adept to obey God and not to run away when things are given to us that we do not agree with or like.  This means that when we are proceeding through these storms that we are willing to trust God for His protection and to seek His Truth for answers as we pass through the storm.  In other words, if our hearts are not in tune with God at all times, we shall have the opportunity to follow the course of Jonah and that is really not the desired path God wants for His children.

While we do not see verse 10 of this passage as a part of the judgment of Jonah per se, we need to understand that after things are completed we shall be in another state of existence.  When God’s judgment is over and we emerge from our troubles we cannot believe that our lives will be in the same state as they were before our trials began.  Spending three days inside the belly of a fish changes not only the physical appearance of the body it definitely changes the appearance of the human spirit.  This is evident through the words of Jonah while he was in the fish and when one is vomited up onto the shoreline one cannot look too presentable to the public either.  It is at this point that our enemy shall approach us to try and get us to return to our previous state of beliefs for it is his job to ensure that we do not do anything to advance God’s Kingdom.  We do not have to clean ourselves up first we can immediately begin to fulfill what God commanded us to do and to complete the work that He wanted to be done from the start.  God does not want vanity He needs people to complete the purposes that He has for their lives.  God just wants us to do what He says in order for His protection to be continued for His children.

What say you about this story, Church?  How are we responding to such an example?  Are we adhering to the command that Jesus gave us when He said to go and preach the gospel to the world or are we doing things on our own and thumbing our noses and hearts at the Word of God and its eternal Truth by running to catch the next boat out of Dodge?  What is so pathetic about our placement and existence is that we have no idea why we are being readied to be in the belly of the fish, we are too busy pointing fingers at those who are supposed to be performing the same mission as us to recognize that we are headed in such a horrific direction.  We are supposed to be the example of Christ that saves people not obliges their sins in order to gain notoriety or status within a community.  For a minister to stand out in her neighborhood and scream to another person that they are not welcome there is NOT being a true witness for Christ but only demonstrating the lying vanities that Jonah talks about in verse 8 of Jonah chapter 2.

There was a reason that God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh and to tell them about the issues God had with them.  It was these issues that were vulgar enough to the eyes, nose, and ears of God that He was about to wipe them from the earth but He wanted to give them one more opportunity to repent before this occurred.  God sent a messenger to inform them of this grievance that He had against them but the messenger did not do what he was supposed to do, instead he fled the mission and went his own way.  One cannot ignore the fact that some people died while Jonah was delaying his travels to that city and one cannot hide the fact that some of these people did not know God and are not with Him now.  Yes, Jonah went to Nineveh and they repented but we cannot forget or ignore what could have been done if he had obeyed God right from the beginning.  We can skip this judgment process but this process is strictly our decision to make, God will either grab our attention now or later.

It may not seem such an important detail to us today, but if Jonah figured out that it was his own vanity that caused him to run away from God and to delay the message He had for that city, what cost are our vanities having on our lives?  We cannot afford not to ask this question about ourselves for as the Church and the ones who have been called to be a witness to others it is obvious that our physical and spiritual vanities have far stretched themselves over our entire body enough that we can no longer represent God and the mission His Son commanded us to complete.  We are running, no sprinting, in the opposite direction and we are costing millions of lives each day that we do not stand up for God.  It is time we end this run and turn around and allow God to change our hearts BEFORE He sets into motion the peeling of our nation (onion).  It is up to us Church to send the message to the world, not to enable their sins.  Let us allow God to change our hearts now so that we do not lose every gift that He has given us.

DLB

The Path Of A Child

The Path of a Child

10/30/18

It is the dream of the parent to ensure that their children all grow up to be more successful than they are but we are increasingly witnessing that this wish is not being fulfilled, or is it.  The paths that children take are usually a direct reflection of what their eyes and ears heard while following behind their parents’ footsteps.  It does not matter what path the parents took either, for it is what occurs in the everyday life of the family that is cast in the heart of a child.  I would love to state that the children of those parents who went to church every week would be the ones setting the stage for the future of this nation but I cannot honestly say that this setting is of a wholesome picture either.  We are reaping this product of our lives today and it is clear that we are nowhere near God or His Ways and that it is time we turn from the world and begin to train up our children to make a stand for God and not the world.

Being a pastor’s kid I had the opportunity to travel a bit around the country and see many different types of ethnic cultures during this time in my life.  When I was a young adult I had the opportunity to trade the minister’s son’s life for a life of the military personnel and when I signed up I had hoped that I would have the opportunity to go around the world, instead, I received Texas and Utah two very familiar family places.  Even with these stateside stations, I continued to have the convenience of witnessing further cultural habitats within my assignments.  Then after my military tenure was over I planted myself in a small community in western Colorado and have remained in this wonderful spot ever since, but even in this small community where a good majority of the population has been around here for generations it proves to be just as culturally diverse as all of my previous experiences combined.  A fascinating detail that when I think about it and I cannot help but shake my head at these wonderful people and wonder just how we all get along so well, that is up until now I should say.

As I span over my career here I cannot help but notice a few instances where cultural differences have come together and produced some pretty organized gatherings but on the other hand, I have also been witness to some of these cultural institutions clashing and producing an ugliness that is almost unmentionable.  I remember one of my employees a while back openly and proudly talking about how she spent her weekends and who she was with while those weekends unfolded.  The majority of the weekend was spent inside a bar drinking and carousing around with whoever she wished and would come and go with those people as she pleased.  I was never involved in this type of scene when I was younger and while it was not too hard to imagine living such a setting I still had to wonder why anyone would do such a thing.  I could not help but wonder where her parents were while this underaged teenager was allowed to peruse bar after bar with a seemingly limitless curfew and it is at this point where one simple question of mine set into motion in my head of a destructive pattern that today God will be using in order for us to understand the importance that we follow His Ways at ALL times and not haphazardly or at whims call.

As this young lady was explaining to her coworkers about a weekend that she had in the bar and just how terrible she felt that morning because of her weekend status, I could not help but become engrossed with the conversation.  Not to condemn her at all or to start any talk about how she was wrong and that she should spend her time off doing constructive items but just to listen to see how her mindset was and to wonder if she really enjoyed her activities.  At some point, I interjected and asked her where her mother was during this weekend bash at the bar and without any hesitation or embarrassment she answered quickly and said that her mother was right next to her at the barstool beside her.  It kind of stunned me for a second when she said this but what she said next stunned me even more for she stated that her mother would be right next to her at all times unless she went off with a guy, then it might not be until the next morning that they would meet up again.  Her words were not surprising to me about the things she did but what she said about her mother placed an entirely new light on how I understood the generations that were coming up and how they would perceive authority and governance within their own lives, a frightening sight that we are now seeing unfold before our eyes.

While my parents did not share too much information about the problems and issues of the church family, I could tell that not many after duty, evening or late night calls dad would receive were of any good nature.  Most of the time I could figure out that someone was sick or had passed away but occasionally my ears would hear that this common calling out was not the case.  I really was too young to understand most of what transpired but I knew that something was not right and that the call was not of a good nature.  As my years increased and my understanding of how the world infiltrates a person I figured out that some of these calls dad had to attend were of a domestic nature and I can only imagine some of the sights and sounds he had to endure while attending such messes.  When my medical field career began I quickly became indoctrinated with such sights and what I believed I knew as an older teenager was just the tip of the iceberg to what I was witness to in my early twenties and onward.  Also, as I stated before I wish that my eyes would have been witness to those instances in which I did not know the individuals involved in such ugliness, but I cannot for even church members presented themselves to the emergency department with injuries that could only be acquired from physical altercations.

How could this type of behavior be right I would ponder to myself?  I asked one of my coworkers this question because he was a state trooper for many years before he retired from that position.  He stated that he and his troops would dread Sundays that Denver would play because if they lost they all knew that they would receive at least one call of domestic abuse, and he said it never failed not to occur.  If this type of activity is triggered by a football game and its result how much more damage could be attributed to people when times are really bad and just what lengths would they take in order to gain what they would be “needing”?  This question and many more still run through my mind today because I see the same type of activity being displayed over social media and on news sites on a daily basis.  So my question still remains and rings true, what path are we training our children to walk and how will we handle things when we are questioned in the future about such activity from them?

Proverbs 22:6 addresses this issue and it provides a great deal of wisdom but in order for it to be applied the ones setting the example must understand the truth about life and what it means to train according to what is right.  The verse goes as such: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  I have heard this verse taught to many people in various settings and capacities and it is a wonderful verse of promise when it is referring to the person who trains their children in the Light of God and in the Truth that God’s Word gives but we must be honest with ourselves and know that this verse is not always referring to a sacred art of raising children and that it could also be in reference to a warning to those who do not care about the real truth and live according to the world.  The example I gave about my employee is a tone for such statement and example and we cannot afford to dismiss this aspect of the verse for it should serve as a testament to witness to such people and it also gives us a detailed access to how society is operating and what kind of status and influence the Church has on society as well.  We cannot forget that if someone brings into an account of things that do not line up with God’s Word completely, then it shall be a poison to the Word of God and thus cause someone to fall sick.

The Book of Proverbs is packed with verse after verse of wisdom that we should take into consideration every day of our lives, yet in many cases and times, we tend to see these wise acts after we have faced trials and tribulations.  The hindsight concept comes into play here on a routine basis bust as we kick ourselves for not getting things correct the first time around we must take into consideration of what we have portrayed to our children in the first place, for it is their eyes and ears that see how to act.  It would be a normal placement to see children of Christians be on good behavior and of upright standards as they grow up and after they grow up but to be honest some of the most hate-filled people walking on this earth are preacher’s kids or those who have been associated with the church all their lives.  At the same time, we see people who have no connection to the church portray similar attitudes and actions towards others, a most unlikely network that can be confusing to many and it is this reason why many people who have read this passage or those who truly love God have trouble with this verse.  And it this detail of how we are ourselves that God wants us to understand about Himself, His Word and our hearts for two of these three can never change no matter what we wish to conceive about them.  I have heard many a parent quote this verse in hopes that it would apply to their lives but cannot understand why their child has strayed so far away from God.  It is the choices of the heart that brings forth the path of the child and if our form is not completely directed by the Word of God Satan will use this door to subvert our children right in front of our eyes.

First off we must understand that this verse is NOT only referring to God and the ways that Christians raise their children.  In this verse, there is no mention of God or His Ways only the fact that when a person raises their child in such a specific manner that they will remember such a manner when they are older.  Now, all parents who are of sound mind and state do their best to raise their children in a good manner but the influence that they give their children makes the difference in how those children respond in the future.  It is true that if they are not continually influenced by God and His Word that they shall have no reason to live according to God’s Ways but this verse does not solely address God and His Ways for it also addresses the state of society as well.  It is this aspect of the verse that we need to understand and then do our best to correct before the world infiltrates our children and we fall behind on what David really meant when he wrote these words.  If we train our children to accept the world and its principles we should not be surprised when they come home acting like the world.  It is this point that we cannot scream or preach the Bible to them but to teach them what the Word of God says and show them how important it is to remember that the world only offers decay, destruction, and death to those who follow its lead.  When a parent or even society is under the wrong influence the children of these entities shall show what they have learned and it does not take too many generations later to witness a complete change in attitude and lifestyle.

Look at the many options that the world offers that are accepted as normal today, everything from same-sex marriages to multiple divorces to drug-induced births crosses our eyes every day which the world demands that we blindly accept as nothing new.  While this aspect of the world should not come as any surprise to us it is concerning because the Church is not making headlines in voicing their opposition to what is being labeled as normal and a “right” to everyone.  Instead, the Church is lining up with these lies that the world is teaching and promoting them from the pulpits and pews.  If the Church parents are accepting this worldly practice into their lives then how can we expect any true and godly opposition to the world to follow in our children?  It is not okay for these deadly values to be promoted and then followed for if we allow them to continue the complete authority that God gave parents in Genesis 2:22-24 will totally be replaced by the perverted version of Proverbs 22:6.

Proverbs 22:6 is a wonderful verse with a vast spiritual and eternal promise but if the Church does not stand up for her Creator and do what is correct in His sight.  The beauty in this verse is proclaimed when parents wholeheartedly teach their children the truth about right and wrong staring with what occurred in the Garden of Eden then explain to them exactly why it is important that we do things correctly at all times instead of experimenting with the world as the alternative.  It is this path of what the world considers to be “right and correct” that serves us with a devastatingly deadly dose of lies that makes us feel good at the present moment.  God is the only being that can understand what the consequences of our present can procure which is why He wants us to fully understand this verse in Proverbs.  It is not just a one-sided verse but represents the entire picture of what the possibilities are or could represent in our lives. 

It is for this reason that we need to take a closer look at our own hearts and allow God to see what really resides within them.  Even though we may call ourselves Christians and represent publicly as one who walks upright before God, how is it then that the Church is in such disarray with God when we are the ones who make up the Church?  Something is not right here for there cannot be any question that the Church is the sole representative of the message and mission that Jesus gave to do when He was on the earth.  It is evident that what the children are being taught and trained today is not what lines up with the Word of God.  We can easily expect that from our schools and public facilities but if contrary measures are not adequately taken at home where intimate relationships are built or should be built then our hopes of any decency in knowing when to stop these ridiculous activities that we are blindly participating in will not stop but continue to increase without bounds.

It is frightfully sad to see such wicked activity being displayed from a nation that was founded on God and the principle of freedom of worship.  But when you take into consideration what our children are being taught both in the public and at home it should come as no surprise when horrifying statistics cross our screens concerning our children.  The examples that this nation alone exhibits is flat disgusting and will not change but increase unless we turn our blackened hearts back to God.  Our actions stem from what comes from our hearts and it does not matter what state of mind one wishes to procure their identity either.  The choices are simple in that if we continue to push God out of our hearts our hearts shall continue to darken and will reflect such darkness in our present and future actions with our inherited past serving as the foundation of what is to come.  Or, we can choose God and allow His Ways to influence our hearts and provide the truth about what Proverbs 22:6 really means and if we turn our hearts back to God our society will be healed according to God’s promises.  When we completely turn our lives over to God and teach our children to do the same it will become more likely that this verse will be like most of us proclaim a verse that promotes God and His Ways.  Many parents’ hearts have been broken by the actions of their children godly parents are included in this statement as well.  That is why we must allow God to search our hearts on a continual basis so that He may weed out the world and replace it with His Ways so that we may give our children a fighting chance for their future.

DLB

How Far Hath The Heart Fallen

How Far Hath The Heart Fallen

10/29/18

Can anyone actually determine how far a person falls away from true authority?  I know many of us would like to ignore such a thought but it is possible for God gives us illustrations of what the human heart can do when it has made up its “mind” to stray away from truth.  Sadly, it is usually after the fact that we recognize the effects of such a disastrous turning even though the signs of blessings have come and gone with no holdings possible within our hearts.  God still calls us to live in His Light and shall continue this beckoning until we draw our last breath.  The patterns that we set into motion must contain God at the helm because if He is not then we are subject to the plan of the world which has no good outcome for us physically, spiritually, and most importantly eternally.

For some people in this world, they do not have to contend with the fact their children will not continue to live for God after they walk out of the house into adulthood.  However, any God-fearing parent will always wonder and pray for their child’s spiritual condition and that they will always draw closer to God all of their days.  Then there are those young people who as soon as they step foot out the front door lose all contact with God and have nothing to do with God on any level which brings into question the Scripture passage that states to train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it, a seemingly controversial verse in which the truth was not manifest in someone’s life.  There is only one answer for this question and that is the child still and continues to look in the wrong direction for guidance, so there is still hope that God will grab hold of them before it is too late; more on this at a later date.  It is this falling away that we must understand and when we understand it we will know how to pray against it and help God come into contact with whoever is the subject of the question.

The condition of the spiritual heart is the one area that is most vital to our eternal future and is what God looks upon when He sees how we live.  This definition of His on-looking can seem to be complicated to someone who has been born into sin but not ever witnessed the supernatural patterns of God the Father and Creator, in fact, one may totally dismiss this truth due to the lies that this world presents to us each day.  It is not our place to condemn such beliefs but to do our best to show these wonderful people that our spiritual hearts do exist and that they need to be in contact with their Creator for that is what they were originally designed to do.  Because we are now physically subject to sin and have no option of physical eternity in our present state, it is easy for our enemy to grab hold enough that it makes witnessing to those who need God much more difficult but this state of physicality should not be a hindrance at all, just a guide of how important it is that we understand exactly what the Bible says and how it serves as our lifeline against our enemy.

A few weeks ago, I was rushed to our local medical center for an operation on my heart.  While I was not expecting such a surgery to come as quickly as five years after my previous heart procedure, I was told by my physicians in 2012 that the next time they saw me I probably would have my chest cracked and once again modern medicine and its personnel were correct.  The personnel at my hospital’s emergency room believed that I should go to that place by helicopter in order to expedite my arrival and travel time and by the time I knew that my transportation had already been established meant my arguments against the flight were mute.  So, off in the air I went and as we left my small town I was able to see my house from above for we flew right over it, this pattern was not new to me because I had watched the helicopter go over our house many times before but this time was so different than any other setting.

As I was lying there on the stretcher in the helicopter I was able to see out the front window and watch the scenery as we passed by it.  Of course, at some point in early in the flight I thought to myself that it would be a shame if this thing would go down and I would never be able to have any corrective surgery because I would have been dead, it was a ridiculous idea but one that my mind entertained for a few moments.  That all changed shortly afterward because God began speaking to me and He showed me a picture of an onion.  I related to this because it is time for harvest and we usually get a large bag of onions to last us for most of the winter but this single onion was unique in many ways.

To the outside view, it was the perfect onion in color, shape, and size and it looked ready for anyone to slice it and use it according to their wishes.  As it was before my eyes, I really did not understand how or why it was before me until God asked me a simple question and when I gave Him the answer He began to show me why He had an onion in front of me.  I do not know how long this vision was before me but it could not have been but a few minutes but the information that God showed me concerning this onion was vast and yet specific at the same time.  As soon as God began showing me the onion He two things not at once but separately the first thing He did was somehow perfectly and precisely slice the onion into two pieces from top to bottom, effectively cutting the onion in half.  But this beautiful onion that was white as I have ever seen had a black spot in the center of it, where the root or heart of the onion would be located.  And as God brought it closer to me He said that the black spot of that onion was the heart of the onion for it was the place where the onion would receive its nourishment and would be the origin of its growth as well.  This I knew for we had planted such “seeds” in our garden for a while now so this was not too much of a surprise.

However, it was the explanation that God then gave me that set me back for even though I had understood this concept about an onion before and had actually been around the process of onions going bad from the inside out I did not know that this is how God sees our hearts.  When this image was placed in front of my eyes, God spoke to me and said that this is how He views our hearts and immediately was reminded of Psalms 51 where God states that we are all born into sin even at the moment of our conception and that through this inherited condition God cannot help but see such deformities and wickedness even though our surroundings look perfect.  It is this detail about having a black heart that God wanted me to understand that is how my heart looked to Him for a long time but now all He sees is a red line above my heart.  While this picture stood out in my mind quite vividly, God was not through with what He had to say to me for this vision was about to become much deeper not only about my life but for the existence of this nation and future world conditions.  First off, God reminded me that this black heart condition was not the way that He designed our heart’s to be and to function that His creative abilities were perfect in every way in our beginnings.  It was our choice to allow sin to be introduced into our lives that established this blackness and decaying state of our hearts and that even though our physical hearts will one day stop that it is still possible to have eternal life, but only as His Word defines it and not through our own devices or methods.  This picture of a perfect onion with a black dot in its middle hit home to me because it also symbolized my physical heart due to the condition that my genetics has placed me in, but at the same time I had a renewed sense of hope because God told me that I would be fine but I needed to trust Him in all things concerning this process.

Secondly, God asked me a question and that question dealt with my old school days when I was in Biology class and we dissected an onion.  I quickly but no out loud said yes to this question and I replayed the dissection process in my mind which included taking the onion and slicing it in half and then using one side of the onion for the procedure.  I then brought it close to my eyes and went for one layer of the onion and slowly yet methodically peeled that single layer from the onion and it was this single layer that I was going to put under the microscope and look at the different levels of mitosis that the onion skin presented.  An onion is the best organism that we have to look at the different stages of mitosis for the cells of an onion are nicely placed in an orderly fashion and while all lined up in rows still represent individuality due to the fact that each cell operated at a different time which gives us the perfect examples of mitosis.  But as soon as I completed this thought in my head God spoke again and said that it was not the mitoses that He wanted me to understand but the peeling away process was His target.

For quite a while now God has told us that He is a complete God and that everything He does He does for a reason and on a total level.  Hopefully, we know this truth about God well enough to understand the process by which God is going to expose this nation, including the Church, to get to our hearts so He can show us about the need for Him in our lives.  Since God is a complete God He cannot and shall not just slice our physical attributes that we have surrounded our hearts and go straight to the heart and repair it; that would not be in accordance to His process of completeness.  Instead, God showed me that He is going to be using the Biology class process of peeling layer by layer off of our lives until He reaches our heart.  This seems like a cruel process but when you hear the next portion of why God must perform changes in this manner you should understand.  What God has shown me corresponds with the fact that God does not sit on His throne with a huge pencil and eraser then erases names out of the book of life when we do wrong, nor does He have a gavel in His hand ready to end our lives and angrily judge us; however, it does project His character as one that wishes to give His children time to realize their sins before He must remove all of our existence in order to get across to us that we need Him.

The layers that God created in our physical beings are not the same today as they were in the Garden of Eden.  Yes, our bodies are the same but how they functioned before sin entered into our lives was totally different but because God designed them in a specific order and manner our existence was not immediately sealed or destroyed.  Through the process of sin, our hearts have become blackened and thus affect the condition of what our physical lives represent around us.  From the time Genesis 3:7 transpired we have been in the business of physically trying to cover our sinful hearts with physical identities.  While the ability to reason and to have knowledge was present in Adam and Eve’s lives the only thing that they could think about was to cover them to hide their heart.  But God already knew what had transpired because He witnessed the color change of their heart and it is this color change that we try and cover up today as well.  These covering opportunities have become our definition and what we would consider to be our hiding process in order to look presentable before others.  It is evident that Adam and Eve had fallen away from God enough that their first response was to cover themselves instead of going to God first which is exactly what we do today as well.

If an onion is left alone for long enough the heart of that onion becomes rotten and through this process of becoming rotten the inner layers of the onion begin to take on the characteristics of the heart.  The onion continues to try and grow and produce more layers around it and it will even begin its new process of restoring itself for the next cycle but at some point, the onion’s heart shall decay enough that all processes of growth stop and the onion begins to dry.  When one cuts into this type of onion they can see that the center of the onion cannot be used because of the state that it has become and more importantly the layers around the heart cannot be used either for they have taken on the condition of the heart.  If the onion is placed back into a favorable environment it will continue this decaying process it shall not recover its full and proper heart condition again but will decay further and destroy more layers surrounding it.

At this point, the onion becomes mush from the center outward and for the most part cannot be used at all.  It begins to stink and its smell is distinctive and pungent all the time.  But this point in the life of the onion did not occur overnight but took an amount of time to complete and it is this point of our lives that God does not want us to arrive.  In fact, God cannot allow our lives to reach this point of decay because it would go against His Covenant with us and also allow Satan to grab the upper hand due to our present condition of harboring sin.  Even though our hearts are blackened with sin God cannot allow us to increase in the probability of death without doing whatever He can to make us aware of what is going on inside our lives.  Therefore, in order for God to complete this task of making us aware of our need for Him He shall peel away each layer of the world that we have built around our hearts so that we can see just how sin eats away at our lives and that only His Son’s blood can truly cover our blackened hearts.

Is it possible for us to know exactly where our hearts stand in accordance with this potentially mush condition or have we covered ourselves with layer upon layer of worldly exposés that we can no longer able to see what our hearts really contain?  Look at our lives and the manner in which we conduct ourselves, are a Christian nation or are we remnants of the Wild West reincarnated as the eternal definition of The Badlands?  When our conduct has become adversarial to the point where we do not look at others as friends it represents the growth of the decaying parts of our inner beings and if not stopped will continue to outgrow what we try and replace it with, for it is just like an inner infection that quickly develops into a cellulitis and if not treated properly shall continue its invasion and eventually the entire body (onion) becomes infected.  It is this process that while we may ignore or deceive ourselves about God sees His prized creations becoming a state of death and He just cannot sit back and not do anything concerning this matter.  See, even before man was created God was busy advancing His Kingdom through the goodness of His presence through the provisions of work as it is stated in Genesis 2:5 which means that if God was busy advancing before mankind was around His statute of work for the Kingdom continues after mankind was present as well, Genesis 2:15.  God’s agenda is to weed out any part of sin that dwells in our presence or that exists around us, and these two verses of Scripture prove that sin was present before mankind was created and after mankind was on the earth.

In order for God to complete this process, He first allows us to give ourselves completely to Him so that He can accomplish this cleansing on a voluntary basis.  Yes, the process will not be a pretty picture but when we allow our hearts to and inner spirits to be cleaned in this manner God is able to keep our lives intact instead of having them ripped apart in an involuntary state.  The definition of Covenant is to be separated from the world and since this can only be performed by God not only is it His definition but it defines how His methods of living need to be and it is our hearts that provide this “target” and He needs to clean every layer leading up to that target.  Sin is an invading entity and if not treated properly it shall only grow as the invasive bacteria do in the cellulitis example above.  But the question continues to remain within our realm of how long are we going to allow sin to invade our lives or are we going to ignore it and try to build superficial layers around it in order to hide it?  I am reminded of an incident back in 1986 when the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl exploded and the Russian’s solution to getting the radiation to stop leaking in the air was to pour an almost immeasurable amount of concrete onto the burning reactor.  It solidified and did its job temporarily for the radiation began seeping through the concrete and returned to its poisonous levels.  This is what unabated sin will do to our lives if it is not dealt with on God’s level.

In our Biology class experiments with the individual layers of the onion, we found out that it was not very easy to peel just one layer off the onion at a time.  Many times it would take a while to complete this action for we would get two or three layers at one pull which would not be adequate to see the individual onion cells lined up in mitotic formation.  Each layer of the onion represented a specific process of growth and while all of the layers contributed to the overall growth and stabilization of the onion, each layer had an independent process that required its own amount of energy from the heart of the onion and when put together with the other layers formed a magnificent machine that one could spend hours upon hours looking at the mechanisms at work.  It is this individual layered process that God has to take into consideration when He is dealing with cleaning our hearts for if He does not properly and adequately reach our hearts layer by layer and then removes these layers one by one then the restoration process through spiritual definition cannot be properly completed.  In other words, all layers must be removed one at a time in order by which they appear and if they do not those contents of the layers skipped or missed have the spiritual authority to come back and infiltrate your heart again, Jesus addressed this principle in Matthew 12:44.

It feels kind of weird to be compared to an onion and the layers of such an organism but on the other hand, it serves as the perfect example of how sin enters into our lives and then through our natural processes grows layer by layer around our sinful heart.  The last portion of this article deals with God and how He is going to deal with this nation.  God dealt with this subject on a personal level and then on a national level and while the methods of His dealings were different they have significant meanings of how His peeling shall occur.  God understands the function of my heart and He showed me this example so that I will understand how He sees my heart and how it is covered by His Son’s blood, but when it came to the nation’s “onion” He mannerisms were different for He did not slice the onion at all but simply began peeling layer by layer off of the onion.  Through this process, each layer fell away from the onion and as each layer left its place the onion became smaller in size.  When God is allowed to take control of our lives He shall show us the filth that He is taking away and the goodness that He is replacing it with, this is all part of the measures of witnessing that we can demonstrate to others who truly want to change.

As the size of the onion shrunk, so did the effectiveness of the onion and how it could provide nourishment to its intended subjects.  See, each layer that was taken off was not done in a hasty manner but a methodical one that took a specific amount of time, but what was so amazing was that it was precisely one layer at a time which also had a specific purpose as well.  As each layer came off I could see that it represented a certain portion of our existence in the world that we had allowed being built around us, none of the layers had anything to do with God or His promises or Covenant.  Every detail about our societies was being taken off our existence and as each layer came off it was visibly evident that as the closer He got to the heart of that onion the darker the layers of that onion were.  I do not know how to explain it adequately enough as of yet but it was like each layer pulled off was dead or diseased in some manner and while it functioned to a certain degree it’s construction could not satisfy the need in which it was intended initially.  I could see and feel the fear coming from the onion itself, a weird event that sticks out in my mind.

Finally and most importantly, I saw the onion and what God was doing with its presence but there was a detail that says it all about this nation and how God holds its value for His Kingdom.  As each layer disappeared from the onion, it sat there and did not move one bit from its original position and as my eyes “pulled away” from the closeness to the onion I could see a hand holding the onion in place as if it was keeping the onion in close proximity for some type of protective status.  When you peel an onion or slice it up to use it in food one cannot hear the onion if it makes any noise at all, a silly concept but one that holds truth and value for this article.  I could see another hand peeling away each layer and discarding it in one motion, there were no human mechanical devices to help this process it was just two hands present completing the necessary movements.  As this process continued, I could hear a loud commotion but could not see what was actually going on so as I kept my eyes on the peeling process I had to try and concentrate on the other noises as well.  The noises were not of any organized rhythm either but all jammed into one loud bunch of noises.  Then I heard God say that this is the process that I will do to this nation in order to reach their heart so that I may reach what I have Created.  I suspect that since this peeling process was not completed in a very fast manner that the restoration process, if any will take a considerable amount of time as well, for look how long it took Israel to be restored after its fall to the Assyrians and Babylonians.

Now, when looks at this picture on an individual level it may not be as “scary” as one may believe, but we must consider the personal implications that occur when we allow God to peel away those decayed layers that hinder our service to God and life under Covenant.  Yes, the loss of those layers will be painful as they leave our lives but we must remember that in order to be made clean and holy again we must be completely removed from sin that we have allowed to infiltrate our existence.  Many people shall not understand what we are going through but will recognize that we are battling something inside.  This process is an ugly one but one that is necessary in order for us to live in eternal freedom from this world, another aspect in which friends and family members may not understand.  When God removes sin it comes with a reminder of exactly how sin digs its claws into our lives and to be honest this lineage and root system runs deep for it is established at our birth and grows constantly if not recognized.  God shall replace these dead layers with ones that will glorify Him and shine to others as a testament of His Covenant and Grace, a change in stature that cannot be hidden.

In concerns with the national level, we must also take into consideration the entire spectrum of what will be taking place as God delivers His reckoning.  We cannot forget that this process was shown in a manner in which the nation was not willing to have such peels and layers taken off, but that it was God who held the onion and began peeling, in other words, God was in complete control of the situation and it was His doing that was being manifest, not this nation’s, a huge difference in the two portions of the vision.  While the first portion deals with the individual and how the internal spirit of the individual is restored, those layers are kept in place but transformed into the vision of God for His child.  Yes, they will be different but restored by God’s process and not the world’s.  The difference here is that when God deals with this nation He peels the layers of the onion away and they are gone!  This setting represents the change in heart according to how the nation responds and has responded to the warnings that God has provided over the past.  When God is “not allowed” to have control then He being holy and sovereign over all things takes matters into His own hands and deals with the problem in another fashion.  Do not believe me?  Ask Israel, ask Rome, and Greece, ask Egypt, ask Assyria, ask any other group or nation what occurs to their existence when they refuse to allow God to be in control of their lives, their existence becomes just a memory until they return to God.

We cannot forget that without any question, and I do not care what elected officials say contrary to, this nation is the greatest nation to ever be established in history and there is a reason for this abundance of blessings and that source is God.  When our beliefs and trusts leave God and are placed on the human scale of self-reliance nothing good can be of long-term security.  Humans have tried to understand each other and live with each other on an equal basis for centuries even millennia and have not figured out the key as of this day and the single reason is that in every case they have left out God to run things on their own.  This is a heart issue and until we understand that in order for true equality to reign we must have God first in every aspect of our personal existence and national heart.  We are no closer to this truth any longer than what the past societies were including Israel when she decided that her heart would be better off aligned with worldly leaders instead of her Creator.  God allows this to be attended but as some point, He knows that unless that nation’s heart returns to Him He will have to peel their worldly layers off of their presence at some point in time in their future.

Even though this article may spell some doom and gloom there is some good news that if we adhere to can delay this ugliness and world-changing truth that is coming our way.  God has shown us two distinct levels of this onion and if we as individuals truly and honestly turn our hearts and lives over to God He is faithful to heal us from the sin that we have voluntarily harbored within our lives.  And if enough of us completely repent and turn back to God it shall change this nation’s heart and delay what God has to do if we do not turn back to Him.  Our existence is held in His hand and no matter what we think or believe about this painted picture it is the truth and if we do not change His other hand shall begin to move.  The Church is the entity that must take the lead when it comes to repentance and she needs to turn back to God and allow Him to correct our hearts and our layers so that we show nothing but true restoration to the dying world.  No, the world shall not like it because it will contrast to what it pushes as truth, but we shall stand out as a pure onion does and will be able to change the entire status of the world.

A detail about this peeling that we must remember for we shall encounter it and have to endure it when it comes.  As each peel is strategically pulled off, not only shall this nation endure the loss but so shall the world as well for even though some may discount the true nature and status of this nation our presence in the world is for a reason and through this status we have provided such stability on ALL levels of modern societal standards that when God decides to claim His Created heart for His Kingdom again, it shall affect all societies around the world.  Remember, when God takes a layer of that onion off the entire onion shrinks in size which means its capacity to survive according to what that layer was will be fundamentally gone.  As of now, we have been witnessing small warning signs that have been present in our news for some time, we have done nothing but ignore the heart’s cry and play the superficial finger pointing game towards those who disagree with a certain stance.  God does not play the finger pointing game, He takes complete action to expose the issues so that we have the choice to wake up and change our hearts before He has to begin the layer peeling process.

One of the more important layers that God will peel away is the Church and through this peeling, we shall finally understand just how she has manipulated so many lives over the centuries and refused to complete the work that Jesus commanded us to do.  It would be in our best interest that we figure this issue out and deal with all the other issues that are participating in the hardening and blackening our hearts before God has to intervene.  It does not matter what you believe when it comes to denominational dogmatic statements, lose them!  It is time that we drop all relationships with the world and its divisive nature and focus our hearts on winning the lost.  What is so frightening about how the Church operates today is that they have deemed themselves to be “religious” but have a relationship with the world.  Think about that statement for a while and let it burn into your spirit because that is exactly what we have allowed ourselves to believe and to live under and it is one of the most hideous sins states that we can live in.  I see this type of “Christian” lifestyle being demonstrated each day and if it sickens my stomach I cannot imagine what it does to the stomach and heart of God.  This is not only a personal statement but a national one as well and as God reveals deeper idolatry lionizations it shall become clear that all aspects of our societies shall be affected.

Jesus gave one command to the people that followed Him while He was still present on earth and that was to go and preach the gospel to the ends of the world.  He gave that one command to one people not denominations or groups of people.  The people might have lived in this world but Jesus saw their hearts and He understood that unity was the necessary key in order for this command to be completely and properly fulfilled.  Our enemy jumped on this statement quickly a long time ago when Adam and Eve were walking in the Garden of Eden and we have allowed him to manipulate our lives and presence ever since.  We have to separate ourselves from the world in order for God to restore our layers that lead to our heart.  Sadly, when I hear people today sing or play worship songs I cannot help but wonder what is exactly in their hearts when those words and chords are played.  WHY???  Why should I even have this thought run through my heart?  The condition of the Church is hanging in the balance and she is so anemic that she is rapidly becoming an invalid and nonexistent which means that her status is also being readily deemed as a nuisance to the societies of the world.  It is also evident that many people who sit in services are listening to what the ministers are saying to them, for our weakness to the world is shining brightly than ever before.  Yes, you read that correctly, the ministers are NOT doing what they are supposed to be doing which is teaching us the TRUTH about God and how we should live separated lives from the world.  Manse pansy and watered down sermons grace the pulpits of many of the church buildings today and for this reason alone God must peel away the established Church as she sits in existence today.

I could go on and on about what other layers God shall be peeling away for we cannot forget that when God does something He is always complete about His Ways.  This means that every aspect that modern societies deem as successful and necessary shall fall when God shrinks our circumference of existence.  So as this article draws to a close the question remains if we are going to allow God to break us down and then restore us on a voluntary level or if we will continue to snub our noses in His face and force Him to measures into His hands and reduce us layer by layer.  We still have this choice right at this moment and as each day passes we come closer and closer to one of these two options as answers.  There can be no question from anyone that claims that God does not love us for if He truly did not He would not give us further warnings about what will occur in our lives and at the same time give us the answer as to how to fix the issues before something happens.  Church, let us now repent and be the example that Jesus wants us to be to the dying world before God has to change tactics and begin His peeling.  It is time we retake up our responsibility as the ones who shine the Light to the world and once again act like redeemed of Christ, for Christ promotes growth and God promotes growth so why are we still on a deliberate track of reduction?

DLB

After the "T" Has Been Decided

After the “T” Has Been Decided

10/23/18

It is not uncommon that people ignore warning signs and have to face certain consequences of their ignorance sometime in their future.  It is also understood that hindsight is extraordinarily clear when it comes to such decisions, but the main questions afterward are how much is left of our lives and what can be salvaged if anything.  We take for granted the issue of choices and have rallied to the point where only a certain path is acceptable in the name of choices, a condition that has grave consequences not only for the individual but for a nation as well.  God still wants us to choose Him and His Ways for it this path that is the only one that can lead to peace, happiness, and restoration.  God calls us to repentance and it is His desire not for us to be witnesses to certain devastation both physically and spiritually.  We can avoid such calamity if we only return to God and act like we trust only Him and not the world.

There comes a time in every person’s life when the manifestations of their choices come to fruition and present themselves in a very specific manner.  When this time arrives, it becomes very visible to others through the words and actions that the demonstrating people conduct.  For the most part, their actions speak volumes for what they have accepted as the truth, so much so that they become advocates of such decisions and stick by those choices whenever challenged.  What the concerning issue is that when the world is chosen it gives the ones who have chosen this way of life a distinct advantage and for those who reject such teachings must understand how to spiritually combat such dealings for the division between the two eternal kingdoms is being displayed and will continue the fight for one’s eternal possession.  A worldly choice and the one, who accepts it cannot live with those who choose God and His Kingdom, look around you today and this type of setting is very apparent.  Sadly, unless we effectively witness to these beautiful people and through the power of God they change their lives, our world shall continue to sink in its own muck and mire and drag those who truly believe in God and wish to advance His Kingdom down with it.

It has always amazed me that many people who work in the medical profession practice terrible health habits while congruently providing tests on other people who face horrific possibilities of having serious issues in the near future.  One of the most intriguing settings concerning this is the respiratory techs who smoke.  Over the decades that I have worked in this profession, I have noticed that many of these techs smoke and have smoked for a very long time.  One would think that it would be this section of the medical profession that would be the staunchest advocates of clean breathing with absolutely no mention of smoking in their lives.  But as time has passed, I have not witnessed any type of decline in the percentages of respiratory techs that smoke only a head-shaking increase in that number.  Why would anyone who has watched people suffocate at a later portion of their life or witnessed them drown in their own bodily fluids all due to the history of smoking?  Yet, many hospital personnel do choose to smoke and do so with no conviction at all.  I am not just picking on this department, for many hospital personnel practice this nasty habit and fall into the same category as their patients.  Smoking is not the only ill practice of self-indulgence that will lead to major problems in people’s lives either.  There are countless other factors that we voluntarily bring into our lives that darken our physical hearts enough to warrant such activities, a process that is a direct reflection of how our spiritual lives are being led as well.

I must include myself in this category because for a long period of time in my life I knew that my genetic makeup was not of good stock and that I needed to keep in shape in order to maintain a healthy heart.  I studied these disease processes for decades even when I was a young boy growing up my nose was always in some type of medical textbook.  So, when the time came for my heart to say enough and to tell me that something was wrong, I knew that it was all my personal fault but still considered myself, on a certain level, exempt of such healthy teachings even though I was given another chance to change my life before it was over.  Over the next fifteen years my heart continued its genetic charge towards clogging up and this early fall it came to a head when I found myself in a hospital with a nice little scar on my chest with tubes running out of my body.  Yes, I had made the choice to change my eating and exercise patterns and to be honest did a fairly decent job, but it was the initial damage so long ago that sealed my fate a few weeks ago.  I knew what was eventually coming to my life but I was not completely dedicated to completely follow through with the changes that needed to be made.  It was these relaxed choices of mine that produced the consequences which now keeps me from the work that I so adamantly love.

Every time I read the passage that God wants us to hear again I cannot help but to think just how parallel our nation is compared to the people of the passage and I also cannot help but to read further and to see the consequences of such tragic choices that Israel made because when you put the two nation’s hearts next to each other, one cannot deny the fact that both look identical.  We will return to 1 Samuel 8 and once again take a deeper look at what occurs when choices to accept the world enter our lives and what effects it has on our lives when we make such a choice.  The processing of knowing both sides of the kingdom realm does not make things any easier; in fact, it makes all issues increasingly difficult to walk through because we will continually have a spiritual battle inside while we destructively walk through standards that we know we could be avoiding.   

Our official text is 1 Samuel 8:1-7 and we see that the children of Israel have made a fateful choice in who they want to rule over them even though they know their past and who Created them as a nation.  It is this detail of knowledge that might seem a bit frustrating to us and cause us to ask why they would do such an act but when we apply the first few paragraphs of this article to our own lives it becomes clear as to why such decisions were made.  It is of the most important of items for us to remember that the children of Israel were humans, just like us and since this is a fact we can and probably will be subject to the same choice decisions that they faced.  What is frightening about this passage is that we have reached the same position that Israel did and we have made the exact same choice as they did.

In verse 3 we see that the sons of Samuel were made judges over Israel and that they had not followed in the ways of God as Samuel had shown them.  This is not an uncommon pattern when the hearts of a nation have become weary with what they believe God should be doing in their lives and in their nation for they did not understand that while they made this choice officially they had already come to this conclusion privately earlier.  There was no question that the sons of Samuel did not know God and the teachings of His Ways but on the other hand, they chose not to follow such ways and instead took from the people in such a manner in which the world can only teach.  In what ways do we read here that is not different from the way that our government leaders act and draw from today?  When a mediocre salary produces such lavish bank accounts over time that one cannot deny that some type of corruption has been issued during their tenure, and how many deals are struck while laws are being made in order to get fellow colleagues to vote for such outrageous and meaningless legislatures that will advance personal gain instead of national interests?  How many of these so-called godly leaders have achieved their statuses through shady bargaining or through stepping on others and using others to achieve this level of leadership?  More importantly, why are we as a nation falling for such ridiculous ideas we pursue as being hidden yet are blinded by the light of what direction we are heading, and why are we not asking God for help to correct such heart rendering decisions?

In verse 4 we find that the elders of Israel came together and made a consensus decision to go and talk to Samuel about such wicked dealings that his sons were handing down including direct perversions of judgments that everyone had to deal with and could not ignore.  Notice that these accusations against the sons of Samuel were not rebuked by the leaders of the people which mean that they themselves knew what was occurring yet did not wish to change judges and keep the ways of God this type of action can only come from the heart folks.  This meeting of elders gives us the consensus of how the people felt and how they were fed up with the leadership that was placed before them but instead of changing leaders and ensuring that God continues to rule their lives they take a different path and it is this path that they took that is evident in our society today.  As we see our nation’s congressional, business, entertainment, and countless other leaders fall for scandalous accusation and call out everyone else but themselves, one cannot help but worry for the status of this nation especially since we continually look at humans for encouragement and guidance.  We have become so obsessed with becoming like other nations that we fail to see that we are living out this passage of Scripture, and most troubling is that our nation shall walk in the same results as she did.  Are we really that stupid and dumb to believe that “our” way is any different than Israel’s?

It is this setting and words from the elders in verse 5 that verbally admit what was already in their hearts as a nation.  Now, I cannot believe that every single person within the nation of Israel wanted this choice to be their ruling but the majority of the people, due to the agreement of the elders, was in order to separate themselves from their Creator and join the world’s gathering.  So, one can ask these questions: where was God in their lives and how come they had fallen so far away that they no longer wanted to have anything to do with God?  To some it may be a baffling set of questions but to others they may be ones that are easily identified and answered but for whatever the detailed history of such unruly behavior and corruption that had been presented it was present long enough by those who were supposed to be led of God that the majority of the people did not want anything to do with God.  They had been blinded enough with their hearts that they could no longer know and feel the need for God in their lives, in other words, they rose above the truth about their Creation and establishment by God enough that they fully denied His existence in their lives.  It was this choice and change within their hearts that eventually led to the reasoning that they should look toward other nations for their improvements rather than God.

When I was a younger lad, I found it funny that people would place so much trust in a system instead of God but as I grew in age that “funniness” waned and I understood why people chose this path of self-governance for a good portion of me accepted such reliance.  Israel wanted this self-reliance as well for their eyes had been witness of the differences that other nations had and it must have been frustrating to not be able to participate in the same activities as they, for I know that some of the choices that my wife and I made for our girls went contrary to what the world preached and I know at some point they had to wonder why we were different.  The people that defined Israel wanted to control what they did or did not do and through this self-nation building conceptual belief they grew in separation from God until their identity was stolen from them right before their eyes.

Verse 6 tells us that Samuel was very upset with what Israel had decided to ask for and since the elders were the ones that brought this proposal to Samuel it had already been decided by the people to leave the confines of God and His Creative Covenant.  Now, Samuel took this proclamation personally and was very displeased with what his ears had heard.  Samuel prayed to God for guidance and to basically tell on the children of Israel a typical reaction when something goes wrong and the human takes the next step.  It is interesting to me that Samuel did not address the fact that his sons were part of the reason that Israel was not happy with God and that it was their actions that played a major role in the tribes wishing for secular peace instead of eternal protection from God.

Verse 7 gives us the condition of Israel’s heart and just how far down the road they had gone from God.  God tells Samuel that it is not because of the actions or Samuel that Israel had turned but because their hearts had turned from Him.  This is a process and a desire that people must choose to take and not one that comes overnight.  When eyes and hearts are focused on the human aspect of life alone they cannot understand the difference between righteousness and sin for sin becomes the norm and God is looked upon as the outsider.  Verses 6-8 reiterate the fact that Israel had no intentions of replacing the corrupted officials and keep their ways with God, but that they wanted to go their own way and do their own way instead.  In other words, they had accepted the fact that what the judges were doing was wrong but at the same time accepted the fact that they could follow in their footsteps and grab a piece of the pie as well which could prove to be more lucrative than what their present situation was.  Does this way of thinking sound familiar to anyone?  It should for it is exactly what this nation, western societies, and the Church all believe and function within today.

The lingering question was if Israel understood what their actions were doing to them and if they knew that they were legally violating the eternal Covenant that God established their nation under.  Had they grown so far away from God that they flat refused to recognize their history and the reason why they were created in the first place?  It seems like this is the case for God speaks directly about this setting in verse 8 when He makes the statement that they have rejected Him and not Samuel.  God did not forget the origins of His Covenant and still stayed in faithfulness to Israel even after this passage took hold in their land.  This is also a pattern of God that we need to remember that He shall never violate His Covenant for Covenant is His definition; therefore, it is us that can only violate this Covenant setting which legally places us in a very dangerous breach of Covenant and thus subject to countless attacks from the enemy.  Israel had made up their minds about the direction they wanted to live and to whom they wanted to serve and even though God did not like this decision of theirs He allowed it which is another detail about Covenant that we need to remember, God shall allow us to leave but if we do He cannot protect us as if we were under Covenant.  The heart of Israel had become so darkened that it had infiltrated the interior layers of their spirit enough that they willingly chose the world as a solution to their anger, spiritual torture, and pain.

While this passage is one of human’s own admission it is one that proclaims what the heart sees as just and truth.  In this case and many like it, the heart has made the decision that it can survive quite nicely without its Creator’s guidance or any influence from Him on any and all levels.  It breaks God’s heart to hear such words flow from our mouths but He allows such words to protrude and thus commend our actions to our own will.  Even though God allows us to go at things on our own it does not mean that He gives up on us returning to Him.  God understands what shall occur to our lives when we make such a worldly acceptance for just as God cannot change the world cannot change either and when we choose the world we accept what it has to offer us with open arms and doors.  This is not the Covenant that God wants us to live under for when we do He cannot protect us according to His Definition and since we are born into this world and born into sin it is an eternal fight for us every day.  How can we not compare ourselves today with the attitude in which Israel demonstrated to God in this passage?  It is impossible for one to draw any other conclusion that by our own admissions we are following in the exact same path as Israel did so long ago, another example of how we as humans fail to recognize our own history.

I can imagine some of you do not want to believe in this article’s content, and there are a few out there that may not even understand that the direction that this nation is heading in a bad direction.  I must ask you to examine this passage closely and to think about the words and actions that are presented here and then compare these words and actions in this passage to the words and actions that we hear on a daily basis today.  Are they different at all?  The only difference is that many more people see what is transpiring in our nation because there are many more of us than those that lived in Israel so long ago.  Both sets of hearts have changed and are making their contents known without holding back, see when the heart has changed its course or has accepted a directional path it becomes compliant with that direction’s beliefs then you throw the spiritual additions into play and you have an eternal battle that spills over into both realms and is characteristically demonstrated without any hindrance to the darkening process of our hearts.

When we accept the world we cannot help but to further darken our hearts which means that when this color begins to grow it has only one direction to flow and that is around to the surrounding tissues.  The other day I watched a mob surround a supporter of President Trump.  They backed her up against a glass door and began to hit her with eggs and other debris it became so bad that the owners of the store opened the door of their store and pulled her inside.  As if this was not bad enough, as the scenario unfolded one could see about ten people filming the altercation on their phones and the evil looks (grins) that they had on their faces while doing the filming was strictly out of a horror film.  They were enjoying what they were doing and what they were seeing transpire to someone that had different opinions than they did.  It is this type of action that we need to understand comes straight from Satan himself for it is exactly how he feels about God and you.  Let that statement sink into your head real deep for it is this process in which Satan uses in order to gain control of those who accept the world.

Even worse, Satan has convinced the Church to operate in the exact same manner and thus has had a great deal of influx into the downfall of the Church.  Through this obvious fallout, one cannot deny that she is only being rewarded with what she has allowed into her heart.  The Church is supposed to stand opposite of the world and to be representative of God’s holy Covenant to those who wish to escape from the world’s vulgar presence, not to accept that vile vulgarity into the walls of her sacred chambers (heart).  I am not saying that we should stand on the corner of streets and scream at those walking by and shunning them as those who do not know God, but in order for us to bring in those that are lost we must be willing to have conversations with them long enough to build a trust that might open the doors of their hearts to God.  In no way do we have to compromise our godly standards when we are performing this mission of ours for it is necessary for us to stay holy throughout this process for if we do not then we have personally succumbed to the world as well and have defeated what Jesus wants us to complete.

The days of the world shall not become any easier, for the ruler of the world understands that his physical time is running out, and in order for him to keep as many people away from God as possible he must inject further and deeper conflict between humans.  Its bad enough to be at odds with the world but to add the Church into the mess only deepen the wounds that Satan can inflict and then pour worldly salt into.  We can no longer afford to take worldly responsibility for our actions but we must take on the full armor of God in order to shed the world and to fight it on all sides.  God is searching our hearts for a way for Him to get it through our heads and then into our hearts that this is serious business, an eternal business that shall end ugly for countless amounts of people if they do not turn and return to God.  This includes the Church for she has fallen asleep to God and has allowed the world to sit right next to her and distract her as the Word of God is taught.  How many of us did not pay attention to what the preacher or Sunday School teacher taught us when we were younger, or do we still do that today as well?

We have no clearer example of what occurs to a nation when they reject God and turn to the world than the passage that God has once again given us to understand.  When the hearts of people totally lose faith in God and place that faith in the world, that brand of equality is a deadly sort because we are doomed to die and the world cannot offer anything but death because it is from the same lot.  So, why do we choose the world again?  It is time for repentance Church.  It is time that we place our hearts back into the Word of God and allow God to cover our hearts with His eternal Covenant and to give Jesus’ blood an opportunity to stop our darkened hearts from corrupting the remainder of our spirits and our bodies. 

Why do we have to face adversity for us to become “reacquainted” with God?  And do we not understand that when we live in this type of belief in God that it means we have no clue about who He is or what He has done for us all of these years?  Why do we look at the breach that is over us and pick up rocks to see if we can throw them through the breach or worse look up at this breach and consider it a part of the normal sky?  A few years ago God showed us and gave us an article that stated that we were approaching the “T” and that a decision had to be made and that decision would affect our nation from then onward.  Israel faced that “T” and they made their choice and passed that “T” with their decision and from what I can tell, this nation along with its relational Church status with God has also made that choice and has moved onward without God as well.

The blessings of Israel were countless when God created her and His promises concerning His blessings on those who blessed her and vice versa concerning the cursing against her all added up to God’s perfect plan for His chosen nation.  There has been only one nation that ever existed since that early biblical nation of Israel that has been utterly blessed in such manner, and that nation is the United States of America.  There is no question that the way this country was founded that it was founded on the principles that God desired for true freedom, especially in worship to Him.  Yes, we have stepped in it many times over our history but up until a short time ago we have kept and dressed the commands of God in this nation.  But now we have short-sided God and His ways and wish nothing further to do with Him so in turn, we have the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in our mouths and are turning to give it to others.  This path can only lead to one result and that is the same result as any other example we can find in God’s Word.  But as of this moment, we have the opportunity to repent and to turn back to God and allow Him to cover our hearts with His Son’s blood before it is too late.  God urges us to come back to Him for times are going to become tough real soon and this nation shall endure some major notices that will sting tremendously and if our hearts are not under the blood Covenant of God we shall turn against each other during this calamity and will never be able to recover.

DLB