Mis-passed the Baton, Generationally?

It is curious how, in The Bible, the children of Israel are collectively referred to as “they, you, and we”, but in fact, are multiple generations of successors over eons of time. Several hundreds of years after the fact, God still addresses them: ‘I brought YOU out of Egypt.’ The ‘i-Generation’ in which you and I live might well respond, 

Who, me?  'I' scarcely know where Egypt is and 'I' have never been there for 'Me' to be ‘brought out’!

When reading of their stories, we naturally wonder why "they" didn't get it and learn the lessons.  Though God seemingly expected each generation to teach its successive generation to learn His commands and ways, each generation necessarily had to experience God (mostly His judgments) for itself before it would learn well; and many still refused to learn.

Like me, do you see yourself in the mirror of their stories?  We are just like them.  Having a righteous set of parents will not guarantee righteous offspring, because of the inherent "go my own way" rebellious streak so well ingrained in human nature. 

For those of us inclined to believe in evolution, I ask, why has this rudimentary aspect of human nature been so overwhelmingly consistent and has not evolved away, or at least diminished?!

For those of us inclined to believe the devil’s lie that there is no hope regarding the mistakes we made in passing to our successor generation the baton of our faith in Christ, there is GOOD NEWS on at least two fronts:

     ·   The ink on Proverbs 22:6 dried eons ago, and this promise from God has never changed, nor will it.  “Train up a child in The Way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  As noted in other posts, there is no promise respecting those rebellious middle years!  I had mine, and you likely had yours, too, so chill out and trust God.

     ·   Prayers have no expiration date!  Hallelujah!  They may well be eternal. (Revelation 8:3-4). If you’re still breathing, you should be still praying.  God is faithful, and He still responds to faith... activated.  

i-Unqualified

The more I learn about the qualities of God through Jesus and through His Spirit’s work in the lives of many others, the more I see how totally UN-qualified I am to become even a fraction of what He instructs and expects me to be!  This crushes my ole buddy, Ego, but in doing so, it produces perfume and glory to God.  As I see and understand myself as unqualified to ‘sit on the throne of my life’, Grace qualifies me to step down and bow down to Christ who is divinely qualified to occupy that seat! 

The Bible is the Book of Self-dethroning, and Christ-enthroning.  Recognizing and accepting the extent of my un-qualification, I can now read this book (which is really 66 books with one Author) with a diminished sense of pressure on me to “do and be” all it prompts me to be.  Rather, I read it as God’s extended love letter and invitation to allow Him to 'be all that He already IS'...in and through me.  The pressure is much more on HIM and His Grace than on me to perform in my puny ability.  What a relief! What Grace! 

Embrace His Grace to change your case~

Embrace His invitation to change your situation!    

Es-Tu Aussi Charlie?

Are you also 'CHARLIE?'

Perhaps like never before, the democratic world is being pushed in a corner to define more precisely the limits of our so-called democratic freedoms. The latest international assaults have been on the freedom of speech, climaxing in the slaughter of many in Paris who defended to their deaths their right to free speech.  Other targets have included the freedom of same-sex marriage, freedom to own guns, including assault rifles, and even freedom of our current U.S. President to use executive authority to help catalyze solutions and eventual laws to intractable/escalating social problems for which congress has demonstrated an inability to address.

“Freedoms, unlimited, unrestricted and unrestrained” -- from where did this notion come?  Is it one person's ‘freedom’ to trample the expectations and rights of others to be respected in a civil manner?  Is it ‘freedom’ itself that threatens to dismantle the cordial boundaries and supposedly sure foundations of our so-called "civil society?"  To where has the ‘civil’ in our civil society fled?

From Day 1, mankind has relentlessly pursued ‘freedom from’, starting with God and everything God-related.  Over the ions of time, we have dressed up this pursuit to be ‘freedom to’ and ‘freedom of’, but don’t be fooled –

The root of our pursuit

And the fruit of this root

Shamefully remain the same

Alas, true freedom itself is not free, but disciplined.  Anything less is not freedom, but a devilish invitation and temptation to eventual anarchy.  And that is exactly what satan and his crew want, and exactly what sinfully-fallen mankind will get...anarchy.  This is the promise outlined in detail in The Book of Revelation.  The good news is that the upcoming upheaval in all world systems will both seed and usher in the birth of a new millennium of Christ’s iron-hand rule of planet earth and it’s persistently stubborn inhabitants, followed by an eternal age of peace.

Until then, the best advice I have found remains valid, even after a couple of thousand years:

If it is possible, as much as depends on you,

live peaceably with all men.

(Romans 12:18)

In light of this admonition, rather than being 'Char-lie', by faith and God’s Grace:

• Je suis Char-ity, which is Love (1 Corinthians 13)
• Je suis Char-acter, which is integrity demonstrated
• Je suis Char-med no more by, and un-chained from the shackles of unlimited, unrestricted and unrestrained freedoms

I invite you to decide who and what you are in this regard.  If you agree with me, with Godly wisdom and strength, we can fight to be free from being:

…‘Char-red’ in spirit on the hot coals of hate and intolerance
…‘Char-acterless’, devoid of the character traits of Father God
…‘Char-acterized’ as so freedom-loving that we care-less of others

Choose well...

            and carefully

The Weightier Choice

A friend’s avid reading habit has reportedly netted nearly 1,000 books – read!  wOw, what an incredible accomplishment, possibly one for the record books!  “Congratulations” was the only word that fell through my lips as words of his awesome accomplishment reverberated in my ears.

While reflecting on this news, I was struck by a persistent realization: 

The Bible is the world's only ‘living book’ -- 
the one in and through which God actually lives, breathes, and reaches out to mankind.

Sure, its stories are incredibly old, and the poetry a bit quirky by today's standards, nevertheless, they live and speak to our deepest part -- our spirit.  In fact, it is the primary, if not only healthy menu for feeding our spirit.

We tend to judge the impact of diseases by their death tolls and, in some cases, their socio-economic impacts.  Could the biggest, most impactful dis-ease known to man possibly be, not the black death (plague), small pox or such killer of the masses, but something as basic and simple as … a malnourished spirit? 

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” according to the iconic slogan of the United Negro College Fund.  This is true.  But a planet of well over 7 billion relatively malnourished spirits – who can imagine the impact of such?! 

Newsflash:  You don’t have to imagine; just open your eyes!

We were reportedly created body, soul and spirit – note the order.  The spirit is the essence of who we ‘are’, yet the world pushes us to have wildly obese souls (minds, wills, emotions, intellects and imaginations) and bodies, typically sidelining or ignoring our spirits for the most part.

God reportedly fashioned man’s body first, and only afterward breathed into him the ‘breath of life’.  Thus, God spirited man. (Yes, ‘to spirit’ is a verb.)  But, since it came from God, man’s spirit clearly pre-existed his body!  Ergo, when will we ever get the order right, namely we are first spirit, then soul, then body!  While his spirit may have been the last or final insertion into Adam’s lifeless body, it is that part of him that will last. 
It’s e-ter-nal…

…and it needs to be fed, properly.

Our Story

We have all heard the catchy phrase, "…the rest of the story", and many have shared “My Story” from their 2013 Facebook picture collection.    

Well, here’s the gist of OUR collective story:

~The guest of the story - YOU, God’s guest in the 'life' experience!
~The nest of the story - Our beautiful planet, Earth!
~The pest of the story - satan & co. pestering us with lies!
~The wrest of the story - Wrestling against Truth, God’s Word!
~The jest of the story - He who believes God and Jesus are dead!
~The test of the story - Whether you will likewise believe!
~The vest of the story - An opportunity to wear your good works! *
~The best of the story - Jesus' death sacrifice for you!

...All conspiring to get you to the "Yes" of the story,

YES to God's incredible, FREE offer of salvation through Christ.

----------

* See: Revelation 19:8

Gotta Believe Me (Poem)

There’s an old, familiar childhood song with a clear message:

Jesus loves me, this I know,

For The Bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak, but He is strong.

Though we are compelled to believe this true message, many don’t. To them say...

 

You've gotta believe me, hear what I say.

He really loves you, don't turn Him away.
 Please believe me, every word is true,

He loves you, He loves you, He loves you.

Yes, He so loves you.

Your friends may say, "To believe is uncool!"

Please believe me, don't join their ridicule. 
 You've gotta believe me, they don't have a clue,

They don't love you, don’t really love you, don’t love you.

No,they don’t really love you. 

You've gotta believe me, He's been waiting so long.

Please believe me, choose now, don't prolong. 
 Yes believe me, it's time to breakthrough,

‘Cause He loves you, He loves you, He loves you.

Yes, He really you. 

When you believe me, great Love you'll embrace.

You've gotta believe me, all you sin He'll erase.
  You'll be so glad your doubts you overthrew,

And learned He really does love you, 

Yes, He really LoVeS YOU!

Seeing the Unseen

Before the discovery and invention of modern investigative techniques, mankind had no idea of the physical causes of diseases. With insight, we now can peer into, understand and take ready precautions against viruses, bacteria, pathogens, etc., things that remain invisible to the so-called naked eye. Had we never discovered or invented means and protocols to "see" them, we would still be very much "in the dark".

While we have come a long way, in many respects, we remain in the dark ages of forces that "live and move on the earth". Battered and beaten by the consequences of unseen things, mankind has forged ahead in the fight to "see", understand and conquer the unseen and unknown. Unknowingly, this is in direct fulfillment of God's commission to the first man in Genesis 1:28 -- Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Bacteria, viruses and pathogens fit into the category of "living things in the earth".

On another plane, too many of us still remain largely ignorant and un-accepting of the unseen spiritual forces that 'move on the earth', and are mysteriously at the core of everything physical, much like a buried root of some kind is responsible for every fruit and vegetable we consume. With all our progress, we remain about as ignorant and un-insightful of these greatest "movers and shakers" on planet earth as our ancestors in Old Testament days! Consider the insight from this very simple data set, the number of times the following words appear in the Old vs. the New Testaments (OT, NT) of The Bible (NKJV):

Word          OT               NT

devil             0                 34

hades           0                 11

lucifer           1                   0

demon(s)     4                 78

satan          14                 40

hell              35                16

angel         105              175

heaven      405              287

Does this suggest to you that people in those days were pretty much clueless, just as many are today?

Beyond any other insightful discovery or invention of mankind, only The Bible may offer such a combination of a magnifying glass, microscope, binoculars, and telescope into this unseen, and generally un-denied world of forces that "live and move on the earth". Yet we writhe and wrestle with the consequences of their movements, much like a ship buffeted by unseen winds across the ocean!  

Because He is unseen, The Holy Spirit manifested as "a mighty roaring wind' when He re-filled earth's atmosphere on The Day of Pentecost.  His "filling presence" had been withdrawn from the earth when Adam and Eve sold themselves and the earth into satanic slavery. Jesus' death and resurrection was the price God paid to redeem (buy-back) His creation, and especially His beloved mankind, from satan's dominion and control. In this buy-back, God, in an extremely gracious move, decided to reinstate and retain man's "choice" of whether to follow and obey God, or not -- for man to 'choose his god', so to speak.  My, my, what a gamble! After Adam and Eve's flub-up, would you have taken this great risk?!

Like microscopic organisms, choice is often unseen, but it's consequences are lived and experienced.  This is the pinnacle of our problems on the earth -- people like you and me making the wrong choice, again, just like Adam and Eve, in favor of the wrong 'influencers'. The influencers are good and evil spirits, and the on-going battle they wage between each other, through us. What if we could "see" and understand these as well as mankind now sees and understands microscopic organisms?  How do you imagine such insight might impact the quality of life on earth?

Oh that we would more clearly
perceive and 'see' the unseen~  

Butt-kicking Faith

...she came trembling and fell down before Him

 [knowing she was publicly found out and was healed]

In the story of Jesus healing a woman who had been chronically hemorrhaging for many years (Mark 5:25 and Luke 8:43), we typically note her faith that caused her to reach out and touch.  Seldom do we recognize her fear, but there may be an important insight here.  Just as Peter, in faith, jumped out of the boat and took a few steps on the water toward Jesus, then experienced a ‘crisis of faith’ as he began to sink, this woman had a sudden plunge from ‘great faith’ to considerable fear.  I have pondered this point many times as I have fallen countless times in the exact same trap!  Here is some of what I am still learning.

Have you ever noticed that, in the English language, fear is both a verb and a noun, whereas faith is strictly a noun, with a corresponding verb – to believe?  So why do we speak of fear as if it is a monolith?  Since fear is a ‘necessary aspect’ of faith, it warrants a bit of unpacking to ensure we have and maintain the correct perspective.

Ok, does the title of this post stir your imagination and desire to achieve this kind of faith?  And does the notion of fear being 'a necessary aspect of faith' make you bristle, as it did with me?  If so, stay tuned!

In English, fear refers to both a verb (to be afraid) and to nouns.  In noun form, fear is an emotion, a spirit, and a spiritual energy or force.  The spirit of fear is satan's chief lieutenant who specializes in perverting the forces of love and faith to achieve satan's objectives.  The force or energy of fear is simply faith, corrupted or perverted.  Read that again.  The root of fear IS faith – faith that has been hijacked, twisted and inverted.

Consider the clear example of energy that derives from fuel ignited in your car’s engine.  Let’s call the fuel ‘love’.  When ignited, your car can be driven forward.  Let’s call that ‘faith’, moving toward or believing ‘unseen things hoped for’ (Hebrews 11:1).  But this same energy or force also enables your car to be driven in reverse.  Let’s call that ‘fear’, moving toward or believing ‘unseen things not hoped for’.  Satan has successfully perverted every good thing God created.  In this example, fear is faith going in the opposite, unintended, undesired direction.  It is the same creative force that becomes destructive when in reverse gear.  Faith and fear, therefore, coexist, just as the fuel in your tank offers the opportunity for your car to be driven forward or in reverse.

Consider the example of a balloon inflated.  Let’s call the air pressure inside ‘faith’, and the air pressure outside ‘fear’.  The external air pressure/fear is ever present in our world, yet the opportunity to overcome it must be developed, with effort.  When inflated, the air pressure inside the balloon is greater than the air pressure outside, yet equilibrium has been reached to enable the balloon to remain inflated. Immersing the balloon in water or releasing it to float upward into the atmosphere changes the external pressures impacting the balloon.

Finally, consider a typical arm wrestling match of fellows of roughly equal strength. Until one fellow fatigues or gets a burst of energy/enthusiasm, the match is stagnant (an equilibrium is maintained), with no winner/loser.

In all these examples, the desired objectives cannot be achieved without the presence or opportunity of the opposite.  A normal car cannot only drive forward without the option of going in reverse; a balloon cannot be inflated without the option of being deflated, and an arm wrestling match cannot be won without the option of being lost.  Similarly, fear and faith must and do co-exist in our current world. 

So what does it mean to ‘cast off fear’, per 1 John 4:18, which says "Perfect love casts off fear"?  There are many interpretations.  Here are mine.

·      Only God is love perfected, and He did cast out of His Heaven satan and his crew of evil/corrupted spirits, including the spirit of fear!

·      Similar to the examples above, we have the option and ability to apply faith to ‘drive forward’, ‘keep the balloon inflated’, and ‘win the arm wrestling match’, thus overcoming fear – the nouns (the emotion and the spiritual energy or force of fear), and fearing (the verb, being afraid).

·      We also have the ability to bind and resist the operations of the spirit of fear, recognizing the opportunity to fear is ever present in this life. 

The opportunity to fear is indeed ever present, just like the air pressure surrounding an inflated balloon.  In this life, we have the ever-present opportunity to believe unseen things -- either those we hope and believe for, or those we do not want and are afraid they will erupt.    

So what is butt-kicking faith?  This is simply the fruit of (mustard) seed faith -- developed.

The good news is we don't necessarily need "great faith" to conquer most, fear-laden tests of our adversary.  It only takes "more faith than fear” in order to resist and eventually overcome, just as with Peter walking on the water, the hemorrhaging woman who reached out and touched Christ, and the arm wrestling match.  How much more depends on the nature and extent of the outside pressure (as with the balloon example).  This is NoT to suggest we should be satisfied with little/seed faith.  God does all things (except miracles) via the seed, time and harvest law.  He stuffs purposeful DNA into all seed, including the seed faith you and I have been given.  Our seed faith has in it the DNA of our ability not only to receive eternal life, but also to live the abundant life Christ promises. Clearly, the potential and fruit of seed faith need to be developed.

The devil is evil, but not totally stupid.  Just like fear is not a monolith, neither is faith.  If your small, mustard seed faith has successfully repelled his initial attack, he can easily ‘recalculate and recalibrate’ to find an attack that is bigger than your current faith.  Or if you have well developed faith for A, B and C, he can easily attack where your faith is weakest, at points X, Y and Z.  Again, faith is not a monolith.  We can and must develop faith for literally every aspect of life.  This is why I dislike the concept of trying to 'move mountains' with only (mustard) seed-sized faith!  We too often misuse the Scripture verses on mustard seed faith.  Consider this: If Jesus intended us to move mountains with mustard seed-sized faith, He would not have wasted time distinguishing between 'great faith' and 'little faith'.  Makes sense?  Rather, be wiser and smarter than our common enemy, and recognize:

any unplanted, undeveloped seed

has never produced any fruit!

Remember, butt-kicking faith is the fruit of (mustard) seed faith developed. 

The next time we hear someone mention 'it only takes mustard seed faith', let’s remember to ask the person, “Has an unplanted, undeveloped mustard seed ever put mustard on your hot dog?”  Just as this is impossible, it is also impossible to have butt-kicking faith from intentionally undeveloped 'mustard seed' faith!  We might also ask the person, "Do you think Jesus is pleased with mustard seed faith remaining a seed?"

Here’s a hopefully helpful tip:  Air pressure pushes upward.  Just as an inflated balloon released into the atmosphere or immersed into water rises, we can allow the pressures and torments of fear (in any form, nouns or verb) to push us to look upward and rise in overcoming, butt-kicking faith!

Every Crack and Crevice

Here is a question worth pondering:  What do these things have in common, and what lessons might they provide us in our walk?

--Ticker tapes

--Internet pop-ups
--Ball game commentators
--TV broadcasts news 'crawlers'    (bottom of screen)

The world has gotten so tech smart in getting its messages over, across and through -- cramming and filling every crack and crevice of our minds, via every conceivable approach -- even urinals in men's toilets! 

We Christians need to 'fight fire with fire' in order to re-claim our ‘mental landscape’ back from this onslaught, and be effective in focusing on God's promises.  Here’s a great way to do this:

Use your imagination to create in your mind your own continuous

"ticker tape, pop-ups, news crawlers and game commentators"

based on God's promises!

wOw!  Imagine the incredible growth and spiritual impact you would experience if you would keep these turned on from sunup-to-sundown...daily.  In this manner, we can follow the ‘best practices' of:

David: “I have set The Lord always before me” (Psalm 16:8)

Joshua: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:8)
 

Paul: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Happy re-cramming and re-filling~

Live Your Life (Links to YouTube)

"Live Your Life"  

http://youtu.be/Qsq-FD5Wsrg

Here is a preview song from my fourth album -- Love, in the Key of "J!".

Thanks for your support and encouragement!

Blessings!

J!