True Lies: Life is Short (Poem)

 

See the series here

 

 Lies need some grains of Truth to be believed.

Here’s why to lies that life is short, folks cleave:

They fail to ask, ‘Short relative to what??’

Thus, to Bible Truths, their eyes are …wide shut!

 

These folks erroneously correlate,

The start of life with a person’s birthdate,

And mark the date of a person’s death,

As when that person took their last breath. 

 

They define life between these two ‘book-ends’.

And then they hang out with like-minded friends.

A derivative of this point of view:

‘Grab all you can before …bidding adieu!’

 

Truth be told, to life, there’re other domains, ¹

Only one of which does this life explain,

As we see signs of life in our mom’s womb.

What if they knew, all life, death cannot doom??

 

What if they could perceive graves as …another womb,

From which bodies, fully ALIVE, will …one day zoom,

To reunite with their twins, their …immortal essence,

Their soul and spirit, ending their …transient absence?? ²

 

The Creator designed our lives, integrally,

To conclude with immortal physicality!

To demonstrate this point, very emphatically,

He was raised from death, not alone, but with company!! ³

 

Long before, and long since then, devils have been busy,

Convincing folks, Life is short, only what you can see!’

I am convinced they very well KNOW otherwise,

And are very pleased how folks …still believe their lies!!!

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¹ Domain - A specified sphere of activity or knowledge.

² See: Life Tripartite (Poem), 

³ See: Your Heaven IQ (Series).

The Bride of Christ (Poem, Part 1)

[Whether this artistic interpretation of John's description

of The New Jerusalemis correct is highly debatable,

as it misses a number of features described in Revelation 21.

I hope address this in a future post.]

~~~~~

See the Bride of Christ series here

Prepare to have your traditional understanding challenged.

In this 3^rd age of history,

The Lord birthed and nurtured His church,

A relational mystery,

Folks whose sins, by His death, were purged.

His love for ‘her’ is like a man’s love for his bride, his wife.

Paul used this analogy, husbandly love to urge. ¹

Now, folks think the church will be His bride, in the afterlife!!!

Ummm. On this presumption, let’s do some Bible research.

Across the pages and ages of The Lord’s Holy Book,

There’s a pattern that, to attentive readers, is revealed.

By some readers, it’ll be dismissed, but by most, overlooked.

It’s about how knowledge and wisdom, to us, are unsealed.

Confirmed in two verses in Isaiah 28,

The Lord gives us this, His operational pattern:

‘Precept upon precept, line upon line (cumulate),

Here a little, there a little’, that’s how it has been. ²

That’s how we’ve accumulated, since The Garden of Eden,

The totality of our wisdom and knowledge, from The Lord,

‘In Whom ALL the treasures of knowledge and wisdom, are hidden.’

I don’t know about you, but by that insight, I’m truly awed!!! ³

History uncloaks this pattern, physically.

From when we lived in caves, to the modern era.

And The Bible reveals it, spiritually,

Since The Lord inspired Moses, to write The Torah.

Accordingly, insights revealed to latter O.T. prophets,

Were fuller and more detailed than those revealed much earlier.

In His life on Earth, Jesus was a prophet immaculate,

Sharing incredible insights, directly from His Father!

Later, Paul and John received Truths more detailed and profound,

Than all prophets since Moses!!!

Moreover, The Lord had promised many more Truths would abound,

As this current age closes! ⁴

Given this pattern, how should we understand the notion,

That folks call, ‘The Bride of Christ’?

Paul gave us his analogy, under The Spirit’s unction,

But John was much more precise!!!

At the end of his vision on the Island of Patmos,

John ‘saw’ The New Jerusalem, descending from Heaven.

Like a bride, dressed for her husband, GLOWING to the utmost!

‘Come, I’ll show you the bride, The Lamb’s wife’, an angel mentioned. ⁵

Say what?!?! 

Yep, that’s the ONLY mention of The Bride of Christ you will find,

Anywhere in The Bible!!!

And it’s in the penultimate chapter, so keep that in mind.

Recall, ‘Here, there a little’??

It’s clear the angel’s remark, post-dates Paul’s analogy.

Thus, THIS is The Bible’s final insight on the matter. ⁶

The phrase, final insight, should spark your curiosity,

Since the word, ‘final’, infers the last one …of some others.

In a parable of virgins, preparing for a wedding,

Jesus allegorizes 10 virgins, with His church, beloved,

Of these bridegroom friends, set to bring their lamps to His wedding,

Only 5 had enough oil in their lamps, thus they were begrudged. ⁷

Conclusion

From The Lord’s allegory, and then Paul’s analogy,

And from the angel’s remark, we must derive:

1. Into The New Jerusalem, saints will bring our GLORY.

2. The Lord’s church is His friends! It is not His bride. ⁸

NB: 

An analogy is a simple relationship between one thing and another.

An allegory is a narrative story with actors, actions, and events.

It's highly erroneous to assume an analogy IS the thing to which it's ...simply likened.

Not convinced due to errant traditional teachings???

Part 2 will help.

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¹ See: Ephesians 5:25-33.
² See: Isaiah 28: 10 & 13.
³ See: Romans 11:33 and Colossians 2:1-3.
⁴ See: Joel 2:28-32 and Acts 2:17. The core reason Jewish leaders had Jesus crucified was (get this…) He did not limit His teachings to (……drum roll……)  WHAT MOSES WROTE!!!!!!
⁵ See: Revelation 21.
 ⁶ John’s vision was circa AD 95, about 30 years after Paul had been beheaded for his ardent faith.
⁷ See: Matthew 25:1-13. 
⁸ See: Revelation 21:24-26. For more on the new, eternal Jerusalem, see: Consider The New Jerusalem, in What If? (Subsequent Creations).

NB: ‘Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.’ (Revelation 1:3) In Revelation 22:18-19, The Lord personally added His exceptionally strong copyright on every aspect of the vision He gave to John, including what the angel said about His bride, His wife! Therefore, Bible teachers who erroneously teach only the church in the 3rd age of history is, or will be The Lord’s bride and wife, are essentially …infringing His copyright! Moreover, these teachers generally EXCLUDE all saints from the 1st, 2nd and 4th ages of history from being part of The Bride of Christ! Imagine that...

Why and How to Always Pray (Poem)

See the Prayer and Praying Series here

Friends,

Do not think for one fleeting minute,

That your thoughts are entirely private.

Perhaps to other people, they are,

But not to Him Who is close, yet far.

 

He desires our seat of preeminence, ¹

And our thoughts of Him, in preponderance.

Could that be why He said we should always pray,

Knowing to Him, all our thoughts are on display? ²

 

It’s not that He’s some egotistical God.

It‘s His GREAT LOVE for mankind, because we're flawed.

He desires to lead us away from temptations’ strong pull,

And of His Amazing Grace, to ensure we remain FULL.

 

Are you willing to turn your …thoughts into prayers?

What better way to avoid devils …‘prayerless snares’,

For every Christ-follower, shouldn’t that be our goal??

And to regard praying as …‘the breath of our soul’??? ³

 

Decide to let your heart’s meditations patrol,

The thoughts of your soul that, before The Lord, unfold.

To you and to Him, they are, for now, private,

But one day, good or bad, He’ll make them …public. ⁴

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¹ See: Colossians 1:18.

² ‘...for The Lord searches all hearts, and understands all the intent of the thoughts.’ (Chronicles 28:9, King David’s dying instructions to his son, Solomon)

³ See: Album 1: Breath of My Soul (Lyrics & Video).

⁴ See: 1 Corinthians 4:5.

Why So Much Focus on the Future? (Q&A)

Q: Why do you expend such effort focusing on, and writing about what The Lord is reportedly showing you about the future? Could it be a symptom of personal pride? 

A. First, only a portion of my 900+ blog posts, over the past 12+ years, focuses on the future. In September 2011, I began writing  about a wide range of Christian topics. Only in the latter years has my focus shifted to 'things eschatological'. That is in response to reading and hearing a myriad of contradictory views on such issues, views that are, figuratively, 'all over the map!'. So The Lord led me to shift part of my emphasis to learning for myself, what His multi-millennial, strategic plan for us entails, from now-to-eternity. I still write about a variety of general Christian topics.

Consider this: Romans 11:33 speaks of the unlimited knowledge and wisdom of God. Colossians 2:2-3 reveal all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Father God and Jesus, The Lord God. Isaiah 28:10 and 13 indicate how The Lord reveals/communicates  knowledge to humans. In light of these verses, I conclude, since Adam was created, all human knowledge and wisdom humanity has accumulated, must have come from them, in Whom ALL knowledge and wisdom was hidden. This includes spiritual Truths they desire us to understand. 

The layout of The Bible confirms this conclusion, as across its pages, Truths and prophecies were sequentially revealed over vast periods of time and cultures. Moreover, while the essence of these revelations has generally remained the same, with an abiding righteousness emphasis, their specific contents have substantially changed. Early Old Testament prophets received very limited revelations, compared to latter Old Testament prophets. New Testament apostles received MUCH MORE, MUCH DEEPER, and FAR SHARPER insights, culminating in John’s vision on Patmos! Recall, Paul was prohibited from sharing much of what he ‘saw’ in his visionary visit to Heaven. On the contrary, John was not prohibited from sharing his complete vision, on which The Lord put His strong copyright! (Revelation 22:18-19)

This ‘drip, drip’, protracted, sequential process, was a key factor The Lord allowed to trigger His crucifixion. Jewish legal scholars at that time, relied heavily and myopically, on Truths that had been revealed much earlier. Thus, they could not tolerate what Jesus was revealing, or what they likely regarded as His BLASPHEMOUS PRIDE, claiming to be The Son of God, Whom they ‘numerically limited’ to ‘1’!!! (NB: There are many definitions of 'one'.) This uncloaked their, ‘If it ain’t written, it must be heresy’ attitudes. 

Brace yourself, because a WHOPPING 7 times (considered as the number of spiritual completeness and perfection), The Lord has promised, especially in the latter days of this current (3rd) age, to pour out of His Spirit much more insightful, unwritten, knowledge and spiritual Truths! (Proverbs 1:23,  Ezekiel 39:29, Joel 2:28-29, and Acts 2:17-18)

Imagine the likely reactions from the few remaining (post-apostasy) believers at that time, who will challenge ANYTHING that goes against their old, stale, traditional beliefs that are inextricably tied to what’s written between the covers of The Bible! Chaos!

These promises should serve as a BIG signal for us today to be anticipating their fulfillment, not to shun them! The Lord may have structured things this way to keep us proactively looking for, studying, and expecting fresh, deeper insights, as we all wait to be glorified in the rapture. I suspect these fresh Truths may only be released to true, committed seekers, per the promises in Deuteronomy 4:29, Proverbs 8:17, Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 7:7-8, and Luke 11:9-10.

Are you such a seeker?? Are you positioning yourself and your faith to be one upon whom The Lord will pour?? These are now my highest objectives. And if to you and others, that may look like pride, then check out my absolute favorite passage of Scripture, about which I have written extensively. It summarizes ‘The Lord’s multi-millennial, strategic plan for humanity, The Bible’. It also serves as my personal reminder to guard against pride, the mother, and taproot of every and ALL sin. 

Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise glory in [be prideful or proud about] his wisdom, let not the mighty glory in his might, nor let the rich glory in his riches; but let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I AM The Lord, exercising lovingkindness [Grace], judgment [for My justice], and [leading to] righteousness in the Earth. For in these, I delight,’ says the Lord. (See: What's Really Going On (...Inside))

We humans are naturally prideful, largely in ourselves, our children, our accomplishments, etc. In this passage, The Lord defines the only acceptable object of our pridefulness, He, Himself, and what He’s doing here on Earth! That’s Godly pride. This is what He displayed as a man. And it attracted stern criticisms, to the point of His death on the cross, the horrible act Father God had pre-determined would be the basis for His plan of salvation.

The Lord inspired me to use my retirement years, to apply my professional skills (as an international economic development strategic planner, US diplomat) to re-reading The Bible. As I began, I realized the need to un-learn much of the erroneous teachings I had accumulated over several decades. Later, He instructed me to ‘share freely what I was learning’. As a relatively private person, and not a preacher like my parents were, I resisted for 2 years, wondering what,  how, to whom, where, etc. During that time, in many unique ways through strangers, He patiently reiterated that instruction. When I ‘finally caved in’ and concurred, many doors suddenly opened, and I found the faith and courage to walk through them. Since then, the public and private results …speak volumes in many areas of my life. 

FYI, here’s a poem that captures my lifestyle since then: Two Prayer Challenges (Poem).

Friend, I intend to continue obeying His instruction until His deep well of fresh insights for me, regarding His unfolding strategy for humanity, …dries up! 

Please see: Historical Countdown - 7 Biblical Ages of Human History (w/Video).

Oh, the rich blessings of obedience! 

Oh, the criticisms and doubts such a lifestyle attracts.