Rotten to the Core? (Poem)

You shall never find a bundle of afflictions

which has not bound up in its midst sufficient Grace.

H.C. Spurgeon

Ponder this:

‘Rotten to the core’ might not include the core,

as may be supposed.

Ponder this before rotten seeded fruit you

decide to dispose.

As decay touches the seeds at the core,

The prospect of new life is at the door.

This fact of life we may easily omit,

When we encounter seeded fruit that’s unfit.

Though unfit to eat, the seeds can be planted,

And in time, much fresh fruits can be harvested.

May this simple reminder be influential,

As the world searches for God’s Grace-touched potential,

At the core of the Covid-19 pandemic,

Seeds to turn the table on life now chaotic.

It takes special hearts and minds to help

those who are trapped,

Unable to perceive in rottenness Grace untapped.

It is only by strong faith in all of God’s promises,

Can we cut through decay, to newness that astonishes.

Just like seed-bearing fruits, many of life’s situations,

Are both the fruits of past seeds sown, plus an invitation.

While at the rottenness of life, we all tend to rant,

God calls upon us to uncover the core, then plant.

That’s exactly what He promised and intends to do,

As to Godly righteousness the whole world bids …adieu!

We saints of Christ are the seeds that He will then plant,

Seed-life now, but soon, rottenness we will supplant.

Grace for Me, Justice for Thee (Poem)

See the Grace series here

Grace for me, justice for thee!, that’s the world’s plea.

God, give me mercy, but judge my enemy!

To you, is this a familiar sentiment,

One that, in your troubles, seems so persistent?

‘In all the Earth’, God says, ‘Here I AM still,

My modus operandi to fulfill,

To give to each one fruits of his doing,

Fruits from seeds in his heart he’s been brewing.’

To each and all, it is Grace that He’ll first extend,

Time allowed for us our sinful ways to amend.

In failing His Grace to heed, by Judgment we’ll be shocked,

Ensuring His justice will never, by us, be mocked!

From Judgment, Righteousness flows, at least for a while,

As the on-looking remnant amends their lifestyle.

But down the road, even this remnant tends to forget,

As their appetites for sin, devils once again whet.

In this vignette I hope you will very clearly see,

Futility in …Grace for me, not my enemy!

Better to perceive and act on Grace to you extended,

Than to worry about what, for enemies, God’s intended.

But if my advice you elect not to heed,

Consider likely fruits of your planted seed.

Enemies may repent, but even if they don’t,

You may be the one drinking from their judgment fount!

Might this notion also apply to nations?

----------
God is in the Earth exercising loving-kindness (Grace), then justice (when Grace runs out), then right-ness (setting things right from His perspective). (Jeremiah 9:23-24, His self-proclaimed job description)

Turn Them Over to satan?

Let’s admit it. Some people are just strife-prone!

God says the entrance of His Word brings Light (spiritual insight/enlightenment). But what if that Light is rejected in favor of stressful strife? What happens when the Spirits of Grace, Peace and Harmony are resolutely dismissed, and the dark spirits of offense and strife are continually invited in? It doesn’t take a sharp mind (spiritual or carnal) to recognize strife. It does, however, take a spiritually perceptive mind, ear and eye to recognize the spirit of strife. 

God asks, Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?  (Amos 3:3) This does not necessarily mean agreement on every point, but it does suggest maintaining a spirit of mutual respect and peaceful harmony even on points of disagreement. Repeated, escalating bouts of disharmony, rejecting The Light of The Word of God, calls for tactics that, on the surface, may not appear to be love, per 1 Corinthians 13, The Bible’s ‘Love’ chapter, but are love indeed.

In a couple of extreme situations, Paul admonished believers to ‘…turn someone over to satan’. (1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20) wOw, this sounds and is quite heavy! God says He turns persistently rebellious people over to their reprobate (depraved, incorrigible) minds and wills, influenced by satan. (Romans 1:28) While the contextual details of these references may be significantly different, the underlying concept remains. Since The Bible is iteratively consistent in its urgings for us to avoid devilish strife, as it opens spiritual doors to everything evil (James 3:16), does this tactic apply in persistently strifeful situations??

Admittedly, ‘turning someone over to satan’ is tough to do in The Spirit of Love. It requires much prayer, pulling back to carefully examine strife-ridden situations to ascertain our own contributions, and repentance where/when indicated; and searching The Word of God for clarity, instruction, direction, and Grace to apply (follow through on) what you ‘hear’ from God. After doing this iteratively, however, without the restoration of peaceful harmony, I believe it’s time to ‘exit right’ -- leave, eject yourself from the opportunity of deepening strife. Treat strife like the mean devil that it is; like a big, poisonous snake striking from a tightly curled up position. Both for self-preservation and for love of the person who repeatedly opens the door to strife, prayerfully find effective ways to absent yourself from strife-ridden people and environments. This is clearly Biblical. To remain only invites more strife, and the risk that you, too, may become spiritually blinded and ensnared by ‘what’s really going on’, spiritually.

People are not our enemy, though they clearly appear to be because our real, common enemies -- demonic, oppressing spirits, to whom people yield themselves, are invisible. As carnally minded people, we either do not receive, or staunchly refuse spiritual insight. Thus we are iteratively ensnared by satan’s traps.

Interestingly, The Bible indicates pride is present wherever there is strife. (Proverbs 13:10) Could pride possibly even be the root of the fruit of strife?  ‘I” is the middle letter of the word, pride, intimating a clear focus on a person’s own positions, ideas and will, even to the total disrespect of others’ and even God’s.

It takes the Spirits of Grace and Humility to recognize and avoid strife, even if it means turning strife-prone people over to their chosen destructive ways, and minimizing or even avoiding contact. A strife-prone person will likely view this as yet an opportunity for deepening strife, rather than as an act of Grace.  

Consider how easier it is to avoid fire than strife. While fire requires three elements (fuel, oxygen and heat), strife requires four things, two of which are spiritual/unseen, yet have clear physical footprints:

1. The hidden/concealed ‘root of pride’
2. The hidden/concealed, oppressive ‘heat’ of satan and his minions
3. A prideful, spiritually-blinded/deaf person to initiate disharmony
4. Another prideful, spiritually-blinded/deaf person to become offended, respond inappropriately, and thereby escalate the situation

If disagreeing inharmoniously escalates strife, would simply agreeing de-escalate it? After all, the same Bible that says avoid strife also says agree quickly with your adversary. (Matthew 5:25) Is such to be honest or feigned agreement just for the sake of promoting harmony? Of course not, since feigned agreement would only trigger internal disharmony (strife) between your mind and spirit, i.e., a divided heart. Agreeing/settling with your adversary must be within the framework of a higher law, namely the respect of God’s will, and your need for inner peace.

Avoiding strife, easier said...than done?

Laugh in ADVANCE (Poem)

Christian,

Are you tightly holding on to a promise,

Found in the Bible, from God who is boundless?

If so, LAUGH aloud to affirm you’ve got it!

By faith, it’s downloaded into your spirit.

One of His promises made both Sarah and Abraham laugh,

But their laughter was out of doubt,

merely an unbelief gaffe!

But guess what?! God had the last laugh,

and Sarah surely joined in,

After Isaac was born. Can you perceive the lesson herein? ¹

It takes faith, not doubt and unbelief, to please God.

So go ahead, laugh in faith, though that may sound odd.

But if you really want to demonstrate your faith is GREAT,

Laugh in ADVANCE, ‘til what you believe

…comes through your life’s gate!

Keep on laughing in ADVANCE of physically receiving,

Whatever Godly promise in His Word you are believing.

As you allow Him to direct your

thoughts, words, steps and spirit,

In His due time, just like Sarah did,

you will come to ‘hold it’.

As you laugh by faith, your health will surely benefit, ²

And all your fears back to hell you will surely remit.

It has been often said, ‘He who laughs last, laughs best.’

I say, ‘He who laughs in advance by faith, is blessed!’ ³

That which God, through Christ, provides by His GRACE,

Must be possessed by unwavering FAITH.

For it’s only your faith, unwavering,

That in His heart, He will be favoring.

----------

¹ See: Genesis 17:17, 18: 12, and 21:6

²  A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)

³ Delight yourself also in The Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

How to be Spirit-led

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,

these are sons of God.

(Romans 8:14)

Like me, by now, after all of your stumbling and bumbling in life, have you determined 

to be led by God's Spirit? Imagine the head-and-heartaches we could have avoided along the way, and the quality of life we could have enjoyed, if only this we had prioritized.

For anyone who may still be struggling with this critical concept and wondering just how to actually do it, here are a few tips I have learned, and endeavor to practice regularly. Though I’m still learning, thus far, these have made important differences in my life. May you be richly blessed and encouraged as you ponder them. 

1. Regularly fill your twins heart and soul on The Bible, The Word of The Lord God. By this, you will learn to distinguish, hear, and purposely listen for and to The Lord’s distinct voice within your heart and soul.

2. Continually perceive the Heart of Father God and Jesus Christ concerning:

    a. Sin, especially the mother sin of pride and also unforgiveness. An increasing awareness of what They deem to be sin is your best guard against slipping into, and staying in it. This awareness will also quickly facilitate your escape route out of it, as you sincerely repent.

    b. Israel in this current age, in the tribulation period, and in The Millennial Reign respectively, the 3rd, 4th and 5th ages of history. Remnants of this nation are destined to serve as King Jesus’ as priests, in His Millennial Reign, and then forever (Exodus 19:6). By no means does keeping Israel in mind signify supporting everything the nation or its people groups do. As carnal, sinful people, The Lord ‘dismissed’ their ancestors from the promised land, and now, their descendants have returned with the same or similar sinful attitudes. This is poised to change with the remnant group that will survive the great tribulation, and transition into the 5th age of history, The Lord’s Millennial Reign, when they, with great tears and repentance, will embrace Him as their Messiah, per Bible prophecies.

    c. The Church, the body of true born-again believers in this current 3rd age, in the tribulation period, and in The Millennial Reign. Be aware of the unfolding, ‘great falling away’ from the faith that Paul predicted at the end of this current (3rd) age, per 2 Thessalonians 2, so you won’t be among this group. (See: Audacious Christians (Series))

    d. The unsaved world in this current age, in the tribulation period, then in The Millennial Reign age. As this 3rd age closes, there will likely be fewer and fewer souls who will be saved, as sinful darkness grows across the world, and The Church increasingly loses more of its preserving spiritual saltiness before it is raptured out of the world so the anti-Christ can be revealed, per 2 Thessalonians 2.  But know that this situation will flip in the pending great tribulation as the anti-Christ persecutes both Jews and Gentiles who embrace Jesus as Lord.

    e. satan and his forces, in this current age, during the tribulation period, then during and following the promised Millennial Reign. They well know their time to deceive humans is running out; that they will ALL be locked away in a bottomless pit during the 5th age; and that they will only have a little time to deceive the nations during the 6th age, the short post-Millennial Reign age. After that, they, along with all sinful people who will have ever lived, will appear before Jesus to be judged, and then cast into the lake of fire, in sentient, immortal bodies on the new, eternal Earth The Lord promised to create.

    f. The Holy Spirit and His angels. Learn to perceive their presence, patterns and tactics in your life, and learn to ‘go with their flow’. This takes diligent practice, so don’t quickly give up and give in.

    g. God’s Word promises to those He calls ‘righteous and faithful in Christ’. Study and rehearse them. Memorize your top favorites. Practice expecting fruits of these promises to manifest in your life in various ways. Recognize and fervently resist the spirit of discouragement when the fruits do not appear as or when you want them. Recognize and fervently resist the spirit of pride when they do appear.

3. Continually recognize all your thoughts are before and, therefore, are ‘unto Him’ (Colossians 3:23) This is the only way to fulfill Scripture that says, ‘Men/women should ALWAYS pray’.

4. Continually practice perceiving His voice, knowing He uses your inner voice to convey His messages across the volume or body of Word built-up in your twins heart and soul. (John 10)

5. Practice obeying what you perceive, and assess the results, then adjust as you learn.

6. Quickly repent when you sin and miss the mark. In this life, we all miss The Lord’s mark often. He expects us to mature and gradually …miss it less and less.

7. Practice patience, meekness, generosity, forgiveness, and recognizing/resisting pride, the mother of all sinfulness. 

Sharing these tips can help
anchor these tips in your soul.

We tend to ‘keep’ (learn deeper)

that which we give away~

----------

See: Walk With Me and Hand In Hand

Lake of Fire: Why? (Poem)

See the series here

NB: The Book of Revelation refers

to the eternal lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

Into this lake, hell will be cast!

Hey, have you noticed…

Across such a wide strata of humanity,

About hell, many folks are keenly aware,

Even some folks with no ‘spirituality’,

Who compel all their enemies …to go there!

 

About hell, there may be a pervading notion,

That it will/must always be …for somebody else!

Even some folks who don’t believe in Heaven,

Might think a harsh sentence there, they’ll never be dealt.

The Bible speaks separately of hell and the lake of fire,

And promises the former will be cast into the latter,

Somewhere on The Lord's promised new Earth, to which we saints aspire.

So about many notions of hell, this insight will shatter!

Have you wondered why these two feature,

So prominently in The Lord’s grand strategy?

Why might He have a need to torture,

His enemies like this  …for eternity??

 

Why not destroy them all in one final blow,

And be done with the whole lot of devils and sinners?

Why does The Lord promise to ‘put them on show’,

For His angels and saints to behold His transgressors? ¹

 

For a few ‘why’ questions about the lake and hell,

There are answers for pensive minds.

Let’s try some of many confusions to dispel,

And lift the heavy fog that blinds.

 

Since the creation of man, The Lord has given us,

Long-term Grace, short-term Judgments in

His search for Righteousness.

And to His Grace, we have been exceedingly callous,

And refused to be corrected, given our stubbornness. ²

 

Yet He’s persistent in this, His long-term strategy,

To attract folks from every walk of this life,

To whom He’ll show loving Grace for all eternity,

But eternal Judgment is for folks …‘not right.’

 

Loving Gracefulness runs deep within The Lord’s character,

But as The Ultimate Judge Potentate, so does Justice!

So logically, the counterpart to Grace forever,

Must be Judgment forever. To Him, that’s not malpractice!

 

But there is another, more pertinent reason,

For Him to not destroy devils and sinners who rebelled.

It relates to His creational decision,

Which in Heaven and the universe, is un-paralleled!

 

You see, The Lord God made everything, except angels and man,

To be temporary, which is so very unlike Himself.

Angels and man were created, all eternity to span!

Plus, man was created a bit lower than The Lord, Himself! ³

 

Heavenly bodies across the second heaven now strewn,

Will fall like leaves, and dissolve as He rolls up that expanse.

He has created a permanent, new Earth and new moon!!

For us who are righteous, this notion is one …that enchants!! ⁴

 

And onto this brand new Earth, The Lord will assign,

Every resurrected being who as a human He classed.

With Him, the righteous will forever be aligned.

Devils and humans they deceived, into the lake will be cast. ⁵

 

Created to become eternal beings, corporeal,

We all must spend eternity somewhere …with gravity!

With only His two options that will then be ‘universal’,

The Lord says the new Earth, with no sun or moon, will be it!

 

Hey, I get it if this seems totally un-believable!!!

Nevertheless, this promise is repeated and echoes,

Across several prophetic books of The Holy Bible. ⁶

As you ponder it, please consider what history shows. 

 

A declining proportion of Bible prophecies,

Remain yet-to-be-fulfilled in our days.

In His Grace, The Lord fingers folks who are just like me,

To warn us of what He said, paraphrased. ⁷

---------- 

¹ See: Isaiah 66:22-24 and also Earth 5.0, The Final Version (Poem)

² See: What’s Really Going On (…Inside)

³ Angels and humans are created as immortal beings. Sin made our bodies subject to a temporary FIRST death. Eternity in immortal bodies in the lake of fire is the promised SECOND death for unrepentant humans! See: Psalm 8:5. It is unfortunate that most versions of The Bible apparently misinterpret Psalm 8:6 to position mankind ‘a little lower than angels’, rather than ‘a little lower than The God-Elohim, Himself’. To confirm, compare the Amplified, Orthodox Jewish, and Young’s Literal Bible versions of this verse with several other versions. Man was created in The Lord God’s (Jesus’) image. Ponder this: How would an accurate understanding of this pivotal verse likely impact your Christian faith and walk??

⁴ See: Isaiah 34:4. This particular aspect, buried within a broader prophecy, has yet to be fulfilled. See also: Hebrews 1:10-12

⁵ See: The Goshen Effect, Grand Finale (Poem, Part 5)

⁶ See: Isaiah 65:17-18, 66: 22-24, 2 Peter 3:10-13, and Revelation 21:1-5

⁷ See: Prophecy, Seeds of History (Poem)