In vs. Of - A Prepositional Detour

So Jesus answered and said to them, ’Have faith in God’.

(Mark 11:22)

On the surface, this reads like a fairly simple, straight-forward piece of advice, no? However, it is most certainly not simple, nor straight-forward. To understand why, let’s take a peek at the familiar context. 

En route to Jerusalem to face the greatest test of the ages, Jesus, with His usual entourage, became hungry, saw a fig tree and approached to see if there might be fruit to satisfy His hunger. There were only leaves on the tree – no fruit as it was not the fig-bearing season. So what did Jesus do?

Jesus did what he customarily did. He did exactly what He ‘saw’ within His spirit that God ‘was doing’. Basis? 

Then Jesus answered and said to them, ’Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner’. (John 5:19)

And what was the Father doing? He was seizing a perfect opportunity to teach yet another pivotal lesson to Jesus’ disciples – one they really needed to learn well (through meditation and practice) for the serious trials ahead. You see, all along, Jesus had chided His disciples about their lack of faith, prompted them to have more faith, and even compared their ‘little faith’ to the GREAT faith two Gentiles! Still, the disciples had apparently not gotten the message. Neither had they absorbed several messages Jesus had shared with them on the details of His pending arrest, trial, death and resurrection.

Slow? Thick-headed? Don’t be too quick to judge that of which we, today, are still guilty!

So as this happened so close to the time of Jesus’ death, God seemingly needed a much more dramatic way to convey and drive-the-point-home about the disciples’ need to develop the spiritual muscle of their faith. Thus, in accordance with John 5:19, He likely painted in Jesus’ imagination a picture of cursing a fruit tree to the point of its death. Jesus immediately acted on this picture! 

Dramatic? Indeed! Did it drive-the-point-home?

When Peter exclaimed the cursed fig tree had withered, Jesus seized this teachable moment to drive the point home. Ignoring any direct reference to the tree, He quickly:

·    a. Identified the real issue at hand, namely, ‘Have faith in God!’

·    b. Explained how to accomplish this command, namely:

1.    Say something! – trusting/believing it will manifest

2.    Pray for something! – trusting/believing God will answer

3.    Forgive! – trusting/believing forgiveness unblocks Heaven’s com-links and supply lines

But what’s the real link or connection here between ‘having faith in God’ and having the manifestation of what you say or pray for? In our day, ‘having faith in God’ has been watered down considerably to mean ‘believe God exists, is good, is faithful to His Word promises’, etc. Was Jesus referring to this, or possibly to much more? The answer is ‘…to much, so MUCH MORE!’ Here’s how.

Modern linguistics sciences are revealing many significant insights and issues related to how the base English text of the Bible (King James Version) was translated over 400 years ago. One (among many) of such insights narrows the focus of the above text to one small word, namely, the preposition, ‘in’, as in ‘Have faith in God.’  Recent, more accurate translations reveal the correct preposition is ‘of’, as in ’Have the faith of God!’  This may accurately be understood as saying, ‘Have the God-kind of faith!’ or ‘Use/apply faith just like God does, in Whose image we are created.’ (See: Ye Are gods (Series))

Here are four recent Bible translations that more accurately convey how Jesus drove His point home in Mark 11:22:

1.    Young’s literal Translation 

And Jesus answering saith to them, ‘Have faith of God’

2.    Complete Jewish Bible

He responded, ‘Have the kind of trust that comes from God!’

3.    Donau-Rheims 1899 American Edition

And Jesus answering, saith to them: ‘Have the faith of God.’

4.    The Message

Jesus was matter-of-fact: ‘Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it.’

This small prepositional detour makes a big difference, both in terms of meaning, perception, and how one might approach the steps above.

Similarly, note the apparent conflict between Psalm 82:6 and John 10:34 (‘…I said, ‘You are gods…’), on one hand, and Psalm 8:5 (‘…You made him [man] a little lower than the angels…’). A more accurate translation of Psalm 8:5 is ‘…For You have made him but a little lower than God.’ (See: Amplified Bible, Voice, Young Literal Translation, and others) The most logical conclusion is that God made man in His personal image, in His class – the God-class, if you will), not below angels or the angel-class; and He expects/commands us to think, speak, and act just like Him.

Ok, so how exactly does God act? What are the most evident characteristics of His actions?

1.    Loving – which signifies grace, kindness, compassion, mercy and forgiveness)

2.    Speaking – into physical existence the things He desires, i.e., speaking of things that do not yet physically exist, as though they do exist, and thus they be-come

Completing the circle back to Mark 11:22 above, THIS is the apparent message Jesus was seeking to drive home from the lesson of the fig tree:

Love and speak like God, because you are gods on Earth!

We were created to be Earth-gods, mirroring Father God-in-Heaven. You know the story – sin got in the way and satan temporarily became the god of this world. (2 Corinthians 4:4) But hallelujah, take courage, his lease on planet Earth is about to …EXPIRE! 

Jesus has re-claimed the title deed to planet Earth!

This title deed is ‘The Scroll’ referred to in Revelation 5:9

Suffer Little Children to Come to Me?

As if to triply underscore the message (confirming it in the mouths of three witnesses!), three of the Gospels record Jesus as saying (variations of):

Suffer little children to come to Me, and forbid them not!

When I came across this passage in one of the Gospels, Jesus’ admonition suddenly leapt out in a new, sobering light:

Heaven is full of all aborted children -– the-world-over,
....irrespective of the religious faith of their parents!

Then it dawned on me, rather than ‘suffering little children to come to Jesus’, we inhabitants of planet Earth are:

Driving little children to Jesus –-

suffering unimaginable pangs of abortion as they go!

Somehow, we seem to have gotten wrong what He meant by ‘to suffer’ (to let or allow). Even so, God’s un-measurable GRACE is here …ever ready to receive the millions of defenseless newcomers into His Heaven -- and to extend, just for asking, forgiveness to the parents and others involved in their send-off/  Did I say ‘millions’? Check out this unique website: Abortion Counters. Remember, aborting a baby also ‘aborts’ every offspring that might have been born from that baby. This number is incalculable by us humans.

And if you can bear it, take a quick peek at the face of abortion in the website below, and see the kinds of send-offs we do down here: Looking Abortion in the Eye

Lover of My Soul (Poem)

No matter where I go, or what I do,

Through storms and rain, even the deepest of pains,

He’s always directing my path, carefully guiding me with His eye,

Teaching me to laugh, when life says, “Cry!”

Showing me there’s no way His Love can be earned,

Or for my sin I could ever pay; there’s one thing I’ve learned:

He’s been “The Lover of My Soul!”

All the world needs to know why He came.

Father said, “Go!  Remove sin’s guilt and shame!”

I’m wondering if this you know; tell me if you’ve heard.

The GREATEST story ever written is in His Word!

Are you lost in life’s wilderness; lost your grip that once was firm?

Overwhelmed with loneliness?  This one thing I AFFIRM:

He wants to be “The Lover of Your Soul!”.

And when life’s last breath I will have taken,

My world will not be rocked, nor will it be shaken.

I’ll encounter His angels, dispatched as my escort

From the grip of earth’s cares, to Heaven’s inner court.

There, before Him my knees I’ll bow that day,

But He’ll lift me, hug me, and joyfully say:

Now I’ll forever be “The Lover of Your Soul!”

So, who is He, this very GREAT Lover of whom I speak?

He’s Alpha and Omega; let’s end the mystique!

He is Jesus Christ,  First Son of God, Ancient of Days.

Rose of Sharon, Bright Morning Star, creation’s highest praise.

Come closer, I’ll introduce you to Him who “knew you, before you”.

He’ll forgive your sins, and into His clan He’ll even adopt you!

Then, He’ll forever be …. “The Lover of YOUR Soul!”.

Let the REAL Rainbow Nation Stand Up

In the run-up to his country’s dramatic transition to democracy, Bishop Tutu popularized the notion of South Africa as a ‘rainbow nation’. This notion was captured in President Mandela’s inaugural address, and influenced the design of the country’s new flag. But does this make South Africa the real ‘rainbow nation’?

Historically, closeted gay people used bright colors to signal their homosexuality to each other and to the world at large. This culminated in use of the rainbow in the 1970s to reference the worldwide gay community, and the advent/adoption of a rainbow flag in the late 1970s, perhaps to signify and represent a ‘gay nation’. But does this make gays across the world the real ‘rainbow nation’??

What is a rainbow physically, and what might it signify spiritually?

From our perspective on Earth, a rainbow is Light refracted or bent into a multicolored arch that perfectly segregates pure white Light into its component colors, each with its own frequency (or speed of travel) as it passes through an atmosphere. Like a prism, raindrops can refract and disperse light, and when conditions are just right, the refraction forms a rainbow, with visible colors of the light spectrum.

Insight:  God is represented by spiritual and physical ‘Light’. Spiritually, this signifies pure holiness and wisdom. Physically, this signifies the purest, whitest Light that we humans are incapable of even imagining – whiter, purer and hotter than that light created by a nuclear explosion. He intends His spiritual Light to be caught and refracted in and through us. As this happens, His spiritual attributes, as it were, are revealed in and through us to a needy world in waiting - Love, Joy, Peace, Forgiveness, Compassion, Mercy, Grace, Abundance, Long-suffering, etc., all that is spiritually GOOD.

But how does this relate to the rainbow? Glad you asked!

The concept of ‘rainbow’ is introduced to the world in Genesis 9:13 – 17, where God told Noah:

‘I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the Earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the Earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the Earth.’ And God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the Earth.’ 

Physically, the rainbow is a symbol of this covenant. Rainbows ‘will be seen, God will look, God will remember’. They serve as a ‘bridge to remembrance’ between all flesh (all living things) and God, that He will never destroy all flesh on Earth by floods of water. They act as a bridge between man and God, with both sides beholding, symbolically, the promise of the covenant.

Spiritually, however, the plot thickens considerably. Hang on, in our search for the true rainbow nation!

There are three other insightful references to ‘rainbow’ in God’s Word, The Bible:

1.    Ezekiel 1:28: Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. 

2.    Revelation 4:3: And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.

3.    Revelation 10:1: I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 

From these verses, we see the rainbow represents the glory of God that fully encircles His Holy Throne, and actually travels with Him on His portable Throne, so to speak. In my mind, I imagine a rainbow as God’s personal, most intimate necklace that reflects His glory. Could this be why God told Noah, ‘…My rainbow’, e.g., something representative of His person, or of Him personally? Selah, worth pondering.

With this insight, is it any wonder why and how God’s enemy, satan and his crew, would do their level best to degenerate the very symbol of God’s glory? In his pride to overthrow God, satan wanted that necklace for himself! Since he cannot get his hands on it, he sets his mind on insulting and smearing this symbol with anything and everything that is opposite to glorifying God. The height of his insults is to directly associate God’s symbol of His personal glory to something God calls an abomination (defined as something abominable, greatly disliked, abhorred, vile, shameful, detestable), namely, homosexuality. Mind you, such an association is far worse than burning a country’s flag, throwing a shoe at a president, or any other gross insults we humans are famous for. This is ‘up close, and very personal!’  I wonder whether the worldwide gay community realizes just how they have ‘been played’ in this matter, and what the eventual, resulting consequences may be.

God has resolutely established the real ‘rainbow nation-of-nations’ on planet Earth – a nation that is created and designed to receive, refract and reflect the Light of His glory in the Earth. Through this nation, He has established, and is rapidly expanding His Kingdom of Good on Earth. This nation is the true worldwide Church - the true, collective body of baptized, orally-professing believers, dead and alive, from every from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9) Moreover, in these last days of this current phase/age of human life on Earth, God is standing up his army nation as the battle of Good versus evil approaches its predicted climax.

The Head of this ‘rainbow nations-of-nations is Jesus Christ who, Himself, receives, refracts and reflects the rainbow-like glory of God for/to mankind. He, in pre-incarnate form, is vividly described in visions of Daniel, Ezekiel and John, each of whom spoke of seeing a Man, parts of whose body resembled burnished or polished bronze or brass. If you have ever inspected polished bronze, you will recall the rainbow-like (prism bronze) effect good light has on it. Spiritually, bronze signifies the place where our sacrifices meet and are consumed by the fire of God’s judgment against sin.

Jesus is this place. At the end of this age, this same polished bronze-like figure, enveloped in the fiery Light of God’s glory, will manifest Himself in the sight of the whole, tribulation-surviving world – possibly sporting the biggest, widest, brightest, emerald rainbow imaginable surrounding His Throne! I wonder who then will dare disparage and spit on God’s glorious necklace?!

Don’t be deceived. Take heed

…when referring to God’s rainbow necklace!

See: wOw! Earth Filled! (Poem)

Living Wirelessly - The Internet of ALL ___?

Our society is becoming so increasingly wireless, it takes little imagination to figure out what’s left that could possibly become wireless. With a burgeoning ‘Internet of Things or Everything’, we may now control the devices in our home from anywhere on the globe that has a connection. With the slogan, ‘Connecting the Un-connected’, it won’t be long before just about everything technological can be connected, can communicate with each other, and also …can be hacked!

The concept of this level of connectivity isn’t a new idea, nor did it come from any man. It came from God.

Surprised? Don’t be. All ideas we humans conceive have spiritual foundations, some of which are clear and others obscure. When it’s time for a technology to be ‘born’ (i.e., ushered from the spiritual into the physical realm), it will arrive - on time, unstoppably.

While the world rushes forward on the connectivity highway, not so long ago I found myself struggling with old wireless issues, like getting my computer and tablet to connect with my printer! Sounds familiar? I’ve had the hardware, had downloaded the latest software (including related drivers), had checked and double-checked the connections, and had tinkered with the settings – on both ends! Still, often the connections were not made, I would get frustrated, and end up reaching for my wire connector so I could print the document, and get off the dime! Again, sounds familiar? It’s funny that, once I install the connector wire, the wireless function suddenly came alive! Imagine that:  it took a wired connection to trigger a wire-less connection to start working!   

Ok, since connectivity is God’s idea, how did He intend connections to work, and what might be the equivalent of His Internet of Everything?

God created humans to be eternally and intimately ‘connected’ to Himself, and through Him, to be appropriately and well connected to each other. You know the story. Sin got in the picture, frustrated this plan and, as in my example above, Love, information and critical spiritual insights ceased to flow from Him to us, and through us to each other. So, like me, God reached for His ‘Connector’ to jump start the works, print (as it were) the initial documents, and re-set the wireless connection so it could work smoothly thereafter.

Not convinced? Here’s the detail.

Jesus is God’s Connector who was sent to reset our relationship with God. His sacrificial death and miraculous resurrection from the grave were the two ends of His connection, just as a wired connection has two ends. The initial documents His connection prompts us to print are our confession of guilt of sin against God, our request for Him to forgive us our sin, and our confession of faith in/acceptance of forgiveness via His Connector, Jesus Christ, as our Savior, Redeemer and Lord. Note well, each of these are oral in nature, using our tongue to speak words from (representative of) our spirit. Since words are spirit indeed (John 6:63), speaking words are equivalent to document printing -- spiritually! Re-read that again. Got it?

Ok, once we are wired to God via His Connector, Jesus, our wire-less connection kicks in to function as originally designed. Through active study of God’s Word, The Bible, Heaven is then, and only then, able to issue to us Print commands to change and inform our word choices, realigning our thoughts and words so as to conform to God’s loving design for our abundant life. Think of it as a wireless 3D printer that is connected to Heaven. As print orders are issued, in humble obedience, the printer of our lives slowly and methodically starts to churn out ‘living copies’ of the pictures God has in mind for our individual life. The print medium (material) isn’t ink on paper or, however. It is the influence and marks we make on the collective circumstances of our lives! While we cannot always see clearly what we print, Heaven does see, and is carefully recording and filing away what we spiritually print. For example, The Bible admonishes we will all be judged for every idle word spoken. (Matthew 12:36) wOw!, should that ever give us a big pause for reflection!

God’s equivalent of ‘The Internet of Things’ is the worldwide Church – the spiritual Body of Christ, comprised of all Christian believers living (printing) our lives by God’s design revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. As we do this through the power of The Holy Spirit, love and prayer connect us, heart-to-heart, and hearts-to-Him, across the globe. Via these connections, the Kingdom of God is realized more-and-more in our world, and the kingdom of darkness suffers increasing losses as more people see our Love and are attracted to our Connector. God would love His equivalent of ‘The Internet of Things’ to become an equivalent ‘Internet of ALL Things’, namely all people. His heart’s desire is that no one should die without embracing His Connector as his or her Christ/Savior. This includes you. You can help, or you can prevent achievement of His broader objective. (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9, Ezekiel 18:23, Matthew 23:37)

C’mon. Get connected!

Earth's pH Rating

I understand on the pH scale, a living organism (like you) that experiences high, sustained levels of acidity (e.g., from stress, pollution, worry, poor and high protein diets, acidic beverages, caffeine, and inadequate sleep), is prone to become cancerous. Alkalinity is considered the best, long-term weapon against cancers.

Earth is becoming increasingly acidic (e.g., from pollution, wickedness, chemicals, over stressed resource extraction and use, and global climate change). God, who has a covenant with Earth, warned in The Bible that Earth would eventually 'vomit out' those who commit wickedness. 

If it doesn’t, will it become 'cancerous'?

Has it thus become??

Worth pondering...

Twice Commissioned Officer

I am a twice-commissioned ‘foreign serving officer’.

First, I was commissioned as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer (FSO) by a U.S. president to serve in the diplomatic corps in several foreign nations.

Second, I have been re-born into the Kingdom of God, commissioned by Jesus Christ, TheLord God, and delegated authority and power to operate in His victory and Name, in and over the foreign territory of the kingdom of darkness here on Earth!

Yep, twice commissioned~

Taking Turns

God: Jesus, I love humankind so much...too much to allow them to perish, away from Me forever in hell with satan and his rebellious, coup-attempting, one-third of My angels. Go down, take on a human body, pay the awful price for their redemption...for them to have ONE MORE choice whether to side with that deceiving devil and his crew, or see the light and accept Your sacrifice. If they do, I will accept them as forever righteous in You. If not, I will regrettably respect their eternal choice.

Jesus: YES, Sir! For the JOY of realizing what You imagine, I WILL. Count it as DONE. (...and so it is)

Reader: Your turn:

"Regarding His sacrifice, I Accept___ Reject___ Jesus Christ's sacrifice for my sins." 

(SMILE, Jesus is reading your heart's decision now)

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This post is my summary paraphase of the core message of Bible, not a formal quotation of Scripture.

Just Follow the Script

We are all actors, or are supposed to be. We all like movies, but have you ever considered yourself an actor? God asks and expects you and me to ‘act’ on His Word, His actors’ Script, if you will. Just as with professional actors, He wrote a manuscript, choc full of incredible and powerful promises, then either deliberately creates or gracefully allows circumstances (scenes) to evolve in our lives, calling for us to ‘just follow the Script – His promises Script!’

The Script calls for us to ‘love’ in all circumstances, but this may take on a variety of ‘acts and lines to speak’ in different scenes. (As in Jesus’ life, love does not always look like what we think it should.) Just like professional actors, our ‘actor’s lines’ may appear to be untrue to who/what we actually are, but they are meant to be, and to demonstrate steps of faith in the creator/writer/director/producer of all life, Jesus Christ. Carefully and consistently aligning our words and action to the Script (what God’s Bible promises to us, and tells us to say in various scenes) is the best and only way to produce an A-rated experience.

Problem:  I/we want an A-rated life experience, but I/we refuse to study, speak and act out our assigned lines. I am guilty as charged! Any wonder the collective movie of our world experience is so crappy?!

Let’s commit to perform our roles, to study our lines, learn them well, and then …just follow the Script, His Script.

Dirty Math

Here is God's recipe for a diamond:

   Dirt (e.g., you and me)
+ Pressure (e.g., trials of life)
+ Time (e.g., in the Word of God, The Bible) 
= DIAMOND (as in Glory to God!)

Perceiving, Piercing Faith

It takes a well developed 'eye of faith' in Christ to SEE God is good at all times, even and especially when things don't LOOK good on the surface. The middle (median) of all Bible verses is Psalms 118:8 ...Trust in God. 

Just keep trusting until your faith pierces and eventually disperses the dark clouds.  Then you will see clearly "Who" and what your eye and heart of faith perceived and convinced you...

... were there all the while.

Weak Peg > Stronghold

We are all familiar with what happens when putting a square peg in a round hole. God prefers to:

--Put a "weak peg" (the redeemed through whom His power is strong in our weakness) 

--Into a "stronghold" (places where enemy activity is raging)

A weak peg in a stronghold. Let's remember this next time we are in a spiritual battle.

NEWS FLASH: A Cubed Satellite is Coming

Take a few moments and imagine this:

1.    Earth with no mountains, hills, valleys or bodies of water, perfectly smooth and flat! (A 400% increase usable land mass!)

2.    No more universe as we know it!

3.    No day or night! (makes you sleepy?)

4.    One city as the capital and center of this new Earth!

5.    A huge, perfectly cubed ‘city satellite’, about 1,500+ miles on all sides, possibly fixated permanently over the capital city!

6.    Angel-like humans in flesh ‘n bone bods, but with ‘no blood’, perfectly capable of trans/tele-porting between Earth and its cubed city satellite, at will! wOw!

7.    One Sovereign over the entire Earth!!!

Sounds incredibly unimaginable? This is the vision Jesus and His Angel gave to His closest and likely youngest disciple, John, described in The Book of Revelation.

Get this: I, J!, will be personally participating in #6 above!

Now imagine this: There is still time for you to make your personal reservation to participate!

He (Jesus) came unto His own (Jews), and His own received Him not. But as many as (whoever) received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

My Friend, if you believe the Great Flood actually happened (there are some who still dis-believe it did, despite a great body of proof), then you really should also believe John’s documented vision, excerpted above. Here’s why: advance warnings about the Great Flood and the coming new Earth are from…

…The Same Source!

Transformative Power of Prayer

The real beauty and power of prayer, for the Christian, is its awesome ability to trigger transformative perspective shifts.  As we pray, especially earnestly praying in the Spirit (Jude 20), we are gradually transformed from seeing problems from our mere human perspective, to envisioning them from the Glorious Throne of our Almighty, All-Loving God with whom we have an intimate, promise-filled and eternal Covenant!  This shift triggers amazing changes in our spiritual pH level, from the high toxicity triggered by worry, anxiety and fear, to a 'spiritually alkalic balance' that produces faith, peace and love.  Essentially, as we behold (look at) God while praying in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Mediator, we are spiritually transformed into the image of Him whom we behold!

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image -- from glory-to-glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

NOW!!!   Problems, what's that you were gonna say and do to me?!"   Hahahahah!