Happy New Ears - Take 2

What does the above picture initially look like to you? Does it resemble a piece of jewelry, or maybe a free hand drawing of some exotic design?

Here’s another question:  What is the ‘heart of hearts’? You’ve no doubt heard this expression, e.g., being not sure of something in your ‘heart of hearts.’ It typically refers to the seat of a person’s feelings’ or depths of conscience or emotions’.

Ok, enough questions. Please share your view. Here’s my take:

The HEART of HEART is … your EAR

Here’s why. First, the English word, ear, is in the middle of the English word heart. Simple, right? ;o)

The second reason is more profound, interesting, and Biblically-based. God is profoundly concerned with our hearing – our spiritual hearing or hearing within our heart. By my count, there are no less than 23 Scripture verses that reference some version of the expression, ‘ears to hear or do not/cannot hear’. A similar, oft used expression is, ‘eyes to see or do not/cannot see’. So it is clear we have at least two sets of ‘spiritual organs’ – eyes and ears of our heart.

Knowing how profoundly He is concerned with our spiritual hearing, and knowing we humans would adopt the shape of a heart to indicate/refer to our spirit, in His wisdom, God gave us a pair of ears that curiously, when viewed side-by-side, resemble the shape of a heart! Imagine that. Moreover, with a bit of imagination, you might even perceive the rough outline of a face in the above picture.

My earlier New Year’s greeting to you was “Happy New ears”. (Not a typo, as it may seem.)  Happy New ears! As I pondered this concept during the year, it became clearer why such an emphasis is placed on our spiritual ears. This is, by far, the primary faculty by which Jesus communicates with His born again believers, and He expects us to develop a keen ability to ‘hear’ His voice at this level. Of course, He uses a variety of ‘means’ to communicate, namely His Word (The Bible), exposition, teachings, visions, etc., but all of His communication ‘means’ must boil down to, and depend upon what/how we ‘hear’ spiritually.

Moreover, He backs-up His expectation by applying the principles of faith to our ability to hear. For example, check out in John 10 the number of times Jesus released faith-filled words that express His inner vision for all future born again believers: “My sheep know, hear and follow My voice.” He knew our ability to obey is inextricably connected to our ability, first, to hear; hence the iterated focus across the pages of The Bible on spiritual hearing.

Consider this: The psalmists expressed an inordinate concern about their voices (prayers, cries, distress calls, etc.) being heard on High. Check out the number of times they referred to various versions of ‘my voice’. Jesus seems to turn the tables on such a focus, rather accentuating, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me” (John 11:41), and, “My sheep know, hear and follow My voice.” (John 10:2, 4, 14, 16, 27; and 18:37) wOw, what a change in perspective!

Hopefully, you joined me previously in asking for new ears, as encouraged in the above post. Now, my prayer and wish for you is to grow and proactively develop your spiritual ears. Let’s start by AGREEING and ALIGNING our faith with His faith-filled words in John 10. After all, as disciples, His Word is to be the final authority in our lives, irrespective of our circumstances or emotions/feelings, right?! Otherwise we are not His disciples.

Prayer:

Father God, by faith, I agree with My High Priest, 
Jesus Christ,

in saying, I know, I hear and, by Your merciful Grace,

 I follow/obey Your voice.

Reiterate this prayer or a similar confession, out loud as often as necessary, until, in your ‘heart of hearts’, you know-that-you-know-that-you-know... Why out loud? It’s simple: A spoken word trumps a thought -- any day of the week! Developing and activating your faith in this manner will revitalize your relationship with Christ, and revolutionize your life!

NB: Hebrews 3 and 4 thrice iterate the strong, direct connection between our spiritual ears and the condition of our heart, saying, “Today, if you will (wish to) hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”

~Rich Blessings for a Great New Year~

The Messenger and The Message (Poem)

"Why spend time on a God who needs so much praise?

I have much better things to do with my days!"

Even some Christians fall in this trap,

Refusing their hands to raise or to clap.

Leaning more on some outward reason to praise,

Than on promises in His Word God has made.

God's not an insatiable ‘praise sponge’ up beyond the sky,

Or someone we won't meet until the good ole bye 'n bye.

He's not idling His time lusting for your praise,

Nor aching for you to read what His Word says.

One day, God sent His Son to us; we call it 'Christmas',

Destined some 33 years later to die for us.

His Message to us was clear and upending:

The Father's great love for us is unending.

 You have an unseen enemy whose name is satan,

 He who by mere human means can never be beaten.

My sacrificial death for you is freely offered.

Your praise to God opens up Heaven's power coffers!

My blood sacrifice is sin's power quencher.

Your praise sacrifice defeats your avenger. *

And though I died, yet now I live to serve you eternally,

 As you die to your will, we serve Father God fraternally.

Receive Me and embrace My Message, you embrace life ...eternal.

Reject Me and ignore My Message, you embrace life...infernal.

Still think it's worth less to praise Father God?

If so, here's something I think is quite odd:

How come every year it's at Christmastime,

In joy, we hail The Messenger's arrival,

Yet all year long His Message we don't mime,

Living our lives as in it's full denial?

This year, as you prepare His arrival to celebrate,

Stop, think, and take time this conundrum to ponder:

While The Messenger’s arrival was incredibly great,

His Message is an awesome, "on-going" wonder!

God’s Message is The Bible -- on paper, ink ‘n print.

God’s Messenger was/is Jesus -- in flesh, blood ‘n bone.

Don’t just celebrate Him at Christmas and then at Lent,

Forbidding His Message in your heart to find its home.

For more on Christmas, please see:
Christmas Reflections

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* Psalm 8:2

Lost Angels Not for Like-Angels

There are many reports of high-level entrepreneurs and executives creating businesses that grow rapidly and thrive, only to be caught in political maneuverings that oust these creators and executives. That's business politricks in this dog-eat-dog world of ours!  

Difficult to imagine, but this is essentially a low level playing out of exactly what Lucifer tried to do in God's Heaven -- a not-so-heavenly coup d’état. His infectious, prideful desire to replace God spread across one-third (1/3) of all the angels until there was no remedy than to strip them of their glory and excommunicate them from Heaven. So out they went! Good riddance? Not quite.

Since angels are created as eternal beings, they cannot be de-created. This is apparently one of those other things God, who can do 'all things', cannot or elects not to do, like lying, refusing to Honor His Word, etc. The fall of Lucifer, who became satan, and his gang (Revelation 12) stained all of creation, both below Heaven and, as suggested in Hebrews 9:21, possibly even in Heaven. These fallen angels, now demons and devils, took up residence on planet Earth, which, as a result, became the 'theatre' for God's next act of creation (or possibly re-creation, per the Gap Theory). He had already created angels in various 'classes' to perform a variety of duties and functions. The Bible gives limited insights into this, etc. seraphim, cherubim, archangel, ranks and files, all with different capabilities and roles. Imagine such a perfect organizational structure, intended to last forever, suddenly decimated! Of course, this came as no surprise to God. It was simply the unfolding of His mysterious plan for all eternity.

Part of His plan called for creation of another, final class of eternal beings whom Jesus interestingly referred to as being 'like angels' or angel-like. (This is accentuated and confirmed in three witnesses: Mark 12:25, Matthew 22:30, Luke 20:36.) This, my Friend, is the group of all born again human believers who are redeemed from the curse of sin triggered by satan's fall and Adam's disobedience. We are a class of eternal beings that had not yet existed before the new birth became available to humans!

Genesis 6:1-3, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6, then Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25.)

While I had long suspected The Lord’s intent in creating humans might have been part of His mysterious plan to replace the 1/3 of His angels, now demons, lost in their fall from Grace, I now conclude this is NOT the case. The reason is because He created us, NoT a little lower than angels, but a little lower than HIMSELF! He created angels to serve Him and humans. He created humans to fellowship with Him in ways He does not fellowship with angels. Moreover, He created us to be righteous enough to SIT WITH HIM ON FATHER GOD’S THRONE! wOw!!! 

This confirms Psalm 82:6, part of which Jesus emphatically and truthfully quoted in John 10:34,  during reproaches from some of His critics. HEADS-UP: This should be a MAJOR perspective shift in how we think and live our earthly lives, and about what we look forward to in Glory. ¹ (See: Why The Millennial Reign Age? (Series), especially Part 1) 

God initiated the creation of this final class of eternal beings, us, in the very presence of demons (as in ‘right under yo’ noses, in yo’ face!’). Rather than creating these beings directly, as He had done with angels, He determined we would be derived and drawn from a much bigger group of humans (from all of humanity) via a series of heart and mind tests to identify, prove and prepare us for His eternal service and love. (Jeremiah 17:10) Such testing would diminish and eventually work out of us devilish traits and influences from our 'Earth lords', the demons, and develop within us His nature and character.

Imagine this grand scheme unfolding in fast forward speed across the millennia of human existence, and in incredible Technicolor, surround sound, on an IMAX movie screen! Well, God surpassed that imagination by allowing it all to unfold in living color, at the speed of life, right under our noses!

We don't know the number of angels who became demons. If some type of replacement process is indeed underway, it is worth noting that just a sub-set of all redeemed humans, namely those who will have been redeemed during the Great Tribulation, is cited as being “a great multitude which no one could number.” (Revelation 7:9) If this sub-set is innumerable, imagine the size of the total number of the redeemed! (See: Missed Insights from Revelation 20) The most sad part of this picture, however, is that this humongous group is but a tiny fraction of all humans who will have been born and given the opportunity and potential to be included in this group. The rest will be lost as a result of devilish deceptions to reject Jesus Christ as their Savior. ²

Nevertheless, it seems God may still have on His mind the tremendous loss of 1/3 of His angels. He intends a set of final strike-backs at satan's kingdom on Earth, perhaps as symbolic reminders of this loss. Consider the mention of “a third” 13 times in Revelation 8 and 9, in reference to God’s punishments on satan’s earthly kingdom: ³

• And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. (Revelation 8:7)
• And a third of the sea became blood. (Revelation 8:8)
• And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (Revelation 8:9)
• And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. (Revelation 8:10)
• The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. (8:11)
• And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. (8:12)
• So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. (9:15)
• By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. (9:18) 

Do you think satan and his cohorts will even get the message?!

So in what ways will and won't we be 'like angels?' Here are some suggestions. I welcome yours. 

Unlike angels:

--We will have a (new, immortal) physical body. I see no Bible hints that holy angels will become physical beings. Let me know if you do. Genesis 6 infers a subset of demons became human, married women, and thus corrupted the pre-flood human race. Peter and Jude attest The Lord took these offending devils out of commission, locking the. Away pending the final judgment of all evil. The Bible never says whether they return to their spiritual form, or remain in human form. I suspect the latter. To understand why, see, Hell: Is This the Man? (Poem)

--We are created in the God-class, in The Lord God's personal, intimate image, a 'little lower than The Lord God, Jesus Christ, Himself', not lower than angels!!! (Psalm 8:6, AMP and YLT versions. The KJV and NKJV got it wrong!)

--We will have successfully concluded a tripartite salvation experience: spirit, soul (i.e., mind, will, emotions, intellect and imagination), and body.

--We will have a role in judging angels, though it is unclear how and which group(s), but I suspect it will be all demons, and especially those who corrupted human DNA pre-flood, per Genesis 6:5. See: Humans' DNA Hacked (Poem.

--We are spiritually baptized into Christ, and can approach God boldly.

--God loves us just as much as He loves Jesus, our Savior and fellow 'Brother'. Recall, Jesus is The Son of Father God, Whi is Spirit, and He sacrificed Himself to offer to us His Father’s sonship.

--We are currently being served by angels (Hebrews 1:4), and may be continually served by them in the future, as Jesus' future kings and priests with assignments all over the world during The Millennial Reign age. (Search this blog for Millennial Job Description) 

--His plan is to spend eternity showing to us ‘the immeasurable riches of His Grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus’. (Ephesians 2:7) 

--We will be able to sing and worship Father God and Jesus, The Lord God, with a unique set of songs angels cannot sing! 

Like angels:

--We are created eternal beings, in our own unique class. While our spirit and soul are already immortal, our current body is a draft copy. It will be exchanged for an immortal body. This applies to EVERY human whom God breathed ‘spirit’. ALL humans who will have ever been conceived and/or lived, will become an 'eternal/immortal trinity' -- spirit, soul and body, spending our eternity in one of two places on a brand new Earth. (See: Earth’s Next Versions (Series))

--We will be asexual beings, not marrying or having offspring.

--We are created to worship and serve God in a variety of unique functions, based in some ways upon our proven performances during our earthly testing season. But in the Millennial Reign, angels may likely replace the rank of demons currently assigned over geographic areas in the first heaven, while we, God’s redeemed saints from the first 4 ages of history, in physical bodies, will replace every rank of governing authorities across Earth's post-tribulation population, and these folks’ offspring born during the Millennial Reign age. (See: Earth’s Cloaked Satellites (Poem))

--As holy angels are facilitating saints’ current reign in life on Earth, we will, in uniquely assigned ways, facilitate Jesus' Millennial Reign on Earth, ruling over mortals who will survive the Great Tribulation, and their offspring (1 Corinthians 6:2, 2 Timothy 2:12, Zechariah 14:5, 2, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, Thessalonians 1:10, and Jude 1:14, et al) See: Worst of the Worst (Poem).

Sounds exciting?  Hallelujah!

If not, please check your salvation credentials…

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¹ The Bible reveals mankind was created 'in the god class', not/NOT a little below angels. The Lord created angels in a unique class of immortal beings. Please see: Ye Are gods (Series). The Bible includes clear indications He never intended angels to become humans, or vice versa. (See: Genesis 6:1-3, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6, then Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25.) 

² And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:19)

³ It’s informative to consider the various views on the Biblical significance of the number, 13.

Milk Toasted and Roasted (Poem)

Marinated...in the milk of this ole world,

Unable to feed on meat of The Word.

Blaming Jesus for devils’ darts at you hurled.

Negligent with the Word of Truth to gird.

Laughing stock of all satan’s demoniacs.

To them, you’re just one sorry, lame pushover!

Even Jesus doesn’t cut you any slack,

Spewing out lukewarmers; then who’ll takeover?

If this rhyme causes you, in your heart to fidget,

And say, ‘No one is perfect, and that includes me!’

Don’t despair. No pity party. Don’t pitch a fit.

I’m just checking to see who’s in ‘my company’.

You see, before the clear mirror of God’s Word I would bleat,

Seeing me clearly, milk toasted as milk toast could get!

My jaws would ache, just thinking of tough spiritual meat!

But there I sat and fed; and there I would even sweat.

Reading, I learned more about who this Jesus is.

Feeding, I grew a strong spiritual backbone!

Bleating, I humbled myself to be truly His.

Speaking, He said it's His Grace in me He would hone.

Now, no longer marinated in this world’s milk,

I am no longer satan’s milk toast or his roast.

While all my pathways are not yet as smooth as silk,

I know I am loved by Jesus, to the utmost!

Had enough of living life as a lukewarm Christian?

Trust me, there is no good to come from playing that game!

So seek God for clarity of your life’s true mission.

While seeking, ask Him to rekindle your first love flame.

Sirens Screaming (Poem)

Deep into the night…

~o~

Sirens screaming, one right after the other,

Fire engine, police, and then the ambulance,

Screaming until they fade into the distance.

Unless the problem’s nearby, their screams don’t bother.

Much like this are the cares of this ole world,

Rushing in with their loud screeches and screams,

Threatening to dash your hopes and your dreams,

Threatening your peaceful life to unfurl.

Until, one by one, you dismiss them all in fervent prayer.

Then, into the distance, away they fade, out of earshot.

You suspect they're still there, then an angel whispers,

 “They're not.

Beware the cares! Enjoy Peace~ Fervent prayer’s  

intense warfare!”

7 Fitness Tests Areas and Lessons

If your Christian walk seems to be one test after another, check out what I perceive may be 7 key fitness tests areas and their related lessons we need to learn. There is indeed a ‘method to the seeming madness’ of all these tests. God gracefully allow tests in these areas, and lessons that should drawn from them as part of His readying process for increasing our usefulness in His Kingdom:  
 
1. Pride. Selfish pride is the mother/root of all sin. This is the sin that got satan and his gang into inescapable trouble. ¹ Pride may well be a permanent fixture in human hearts. If so, the object may not be to exorcise pride, but to replace pride in selfish accomplishments with pride only in God's Grace accomplishments through us. Jeremiah 9:23-24 carefully outline what humans should and should not be proud (boast) about. Hence, I am retraining myself to avoid the phrase, ‘I am proud of _____.’ Imagine what that phrase must sound like to God, who hates selfish pride. Rather, I prefer to say, ‘I am pleased and grateful for ______’. Don't ever think you will be useful in the Kingdom of Christ with active selfish pride in your life. 

Here’s a great tip to apply whenever the spirit of pride raises its ugly head in your affairs. Be on the look-out for opportunities to apply it: Turn the tables on pride by shifting the focus away from ‘me, myself, my, mine’ to the other person(s) – the listeners, readers or otherwise ‘would have been recipients’ of your own pride. It is truly interesting and humbling to converse with another person who has learned well and knows tactfully how to apply this tip!

     
2. Spirit-led. We are all raised, trained and educated to be so carnally minded to the point that it is largely impossible to be led by The Spirit of God as He moves within our spirit. As a result, we have 'eyes that can't see, ears that can't hear, and a heart that is dull and not oriented to God.² To increase your usefulness in God's Kingdom, be on the look-out for tests and lessons that teach you how to have a heart that is submissive and open to God, as the condition of your heart determines the openness of your spiritual eyes and ears to be led by Him, rather than by your flesh and carnal things of the world. 

3. Results/Feedback. We are instinctively trained to be 'customer service oriented', relying heavily, if not primarily on notable results and feedback. This is being led by external factors rather than by the internal, promised Peace of God. Be on the look-out for tests and lessons that teach you how to be internally led, seeing/hearing, but largely ignoring external results and feedback that conflict with what you have heard from God inside your spirit. All externalities are easily manipulated by the enemy of your soul.  

4. Renewal. When tired and exhausted, we instinctively want to 'veg out' and not be mentally taxed. Whew! We are typically drawn to so-called mindless activity, such as TV ('the boob tube', a 1960s expression for stupid TV programming), movies, games, social palaver, gossip,  etc. A tired mind and body are wide open doors that leave us exposed to subtle and not so subtle attacks, manipulations and seed planting by the enemy of our soul (i.e., our mind, imagination, intellect, will and emotions).  A day or so after such exposure, my faith is often weaker, leaving me to wonder, ‘What happened?!’ Be on the look-out for tests and lessons that teach more wholesome ways to relax and renew depleted mental and physical resources.  

5. Joy. Joy to our spirit is like good quality fuel to a vehicle. It generates spiritual strength, ensuring our ability to attract, recognize and utilize God's Grace to us. Joy has a symbiotic relationship with gratitude/gratefulness and praise, as it both feeds and is fed by gratitude and praise. Joy also is a great antidote for temptations to enter into offense and strife, which work together to open the door to 'every possible evil'. ³ These are satan’s favorite bait. Consider the Spirit of Joy and the Spirit of Gratitude as ‘spiritual cousins, much like the Spirits of Grace and Peace. Be on the look-out for tests and lessons that teach you how to keep your joy leveled, rather than tightly attached to the roller coaster of emotions and externalities, both of which are easily manipulated by the enemy of your soul.   

6. Relationships. Generally, we are instinctively social. Since the majority of us are raised, trained and educated to be carnally-minded (minding more the things of our carnal world, un-tuned with the spiritual nature of life), most of our relationships are with people whom The Bible calls spiritually dead to God, and possibly a very few people who are spiritually alive (i.e., born again) to God, yet who may have chosen to remain what The Bible cites as 'spiritual babes' in Christ. Be on the look-out for tests and lessons that teach you how to recognize and to be timely in assessing, and if necessary, severing ineffectual relationships with people in both groups.  

7. Worship. This is an area worth considerable pondering. Worship typically has little or nothing to do with our so-called church worship services. Look for tests and lessons that teach how worship as a lifestyle, is a powerful spiritual weapon. A worship lifestyle is the best antidote to carnal-mindedness, as it permanently places the presence of Jesus in the center of our mental landscape. Worship has a symbiotic relationship with praise and patience. 

The thread that knits these 7 fitness test areas together is Love, fueled by the forgiveness we receive from Christ when we don't deserve it, and in obedience, pass along to others when they may not deserve it. Some follow-up actions you may be prompted to take from lessons drawn from tests in these areas may ‘not look like love’ to onlookers. In such cases, revisit area #3 above, and continue to follow the inner Peace of God.

I suspect the lessons from tests in these areas are best drawn out and revealed in the so-called 'wilderness experiences' of our lives.  These are times when The Lord pulls us aside, away from the hustle and bustle of our carnal lives (to quiet unfruitful voices), and prompts us to tune into His still, quiet, inner peace.  Lessons are rarely drawn out in the midst of trying tests, right? 

As you continue your Bible reading, study and meditation, I invite and encourage you to:

(a) Reflect on where and how these lessons are reiterated in the lives of the good, bad and ugly characters of Bible stories. You will see this clearly if you look for it. Consider the opposite results people received who learned these lessons, compared to those who refused to learn and be instructed by their tests. 

Have you noticed that every written promise from The Lord, is backed-up with very teachable 'good and bad' examples in which those promises were embraced by faith, versus shunned by disbelief or fear? Look for it, and you will learn to correlate The Lord's promises, with these good and bad teachable examples! Insightful??

(b) No matter where you may be in learning these life lessons, SHARE them with somebody often in your own words. The ‘art’ of sharing in this manner not only triggers you to regurgitate, review, reorganize and rehearse these lessons, but it also helps you to keep them close to the center of your own mental landscape, and to be attentive to God’s tests set-ups to facilitate these lessons.

(c) Check yourself, as I do, to see if, how, where some of these test areas have been highlighted in your life, too. Then honestly assess your responses and results to see how fit you are becoming in your walk, and in your own usefulness to The Kingdom of God on earth.

I think you already may know…

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¹ Isaiah 14:13-14, Lucifer’s 5 great “I will” professions.

² Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah 6:10, 32:3, 44:18; Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2; Matthew 13:15-16; Mark 8:18; Acts 28:27; and Romans 11:8. NB: Whenever The Lord wants to accentuate a key topic, He allows it to be established iteratively, ‘in the mouths of two or three witnesses’. Count the number of references to unseeing spiritual eyes and unhearing spiritual ears!

³ For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. (James 3:16)