i-Solomon

If not in intensity, splendor or wealth, certainly in the broad stroke patterns, my life somewhat parallels that of King Solomon.

Got your attention? Let’s see if yours does also, in many respects, especially if you, like me, we’re blessed to learn significantly of spiritual matters as a child from God-fearing and respecting parents.

Solomon was born under rather questionable circumstances. His immediately predecessor sibling had been conceived, born and allowed by God to die on the heels of the most gross sin King David had ever reportedly committed. You know well the story, so the details will not be reiterated here. (2 Samuel 11) Solomon was thus born to repenting parents who, as a result of their ordeal, had a keen understanding of the power and pangs of sin, of God’s forgiveness, and of their need to walk much more circumspectly before Him. You can bet all of this had major influences on Solomon as a lad, especially since he had been designated by God as David’s successor on the throne.

No, I was not born in royalty, nor out of wedlock or other sinful circumstances. Through salvation prior to my birth, my parents had recently developed a keen awareness of the power, presence and will of God in their lives and the world, and would diligently school their children in what they were learning. Praise God they did!

So Solomon and I both grew up gaining this foundational insight onto a multi-generational God who has intimate plans for each person. We both grew into favored son status in our homes, him because of his well-known designation as the next King, making his pack of half brothers ravenously jealous. Unlike him, I occupied the status of ‘only son’, but was not in any apparent jealous sibling rivalry. The point is, we both occupied relatively unique positions in our homes. This likely had subtle (and for him, not so subtle) influences on how we were both raised, instructed in godliness from our birth, and grew into young adults.

Fast forward 2 Chronicles chapters 6-7 and we see the pinnacle of Solomon’s walk with God as a young king – dedicating the first, ever temple constructed on earth for God. Fast forward again to Ecclesiastes final chapters, likely at the peak of his senior adult years, Solomon advises young people, ‘Remember your Creator in the days of your youth’. Good advice for us in my age cohort to share with youth of today. But to help ensure they will listen, we need to check ourselves to see whether and how we are demonstrably remembering our Creator in the final chapter of this phase of life, because this will very likely be the convincing evidence the youth will consult to determine how well they will hear us. Solomon continues by prompting the youth to remember God before A, B, C ...X, Y and Z happen in life with age, and before it is too late. Sage advice.

God used Solomon to pen a key insight that is particularly applicable to my life, and possibly to yours, namely, ‘Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ (Proverbs 22:6). Notice how cleverly this bit of wisdom omits any reference to the critical middle years. While wondering about this, I realized this scenario accurately portrays the pattern of Solomon’s life, of mine, and possibly of yours, too. In this statement, Solomon was testifying of his own experience. How, you ask? Examining his life between the two peaks noted above reveals he followed the well-worn, ‘reverse bell-shaped path’ of a prodigal son. As a youth, I was in the chorus who critiqued the pattern his life took. Now, as a senior citizen who followed this exact same life pattern, I compliment him on apparently finishing well his course! Yes, perspectives do shift with age and experience, and yes, humility does also come with both.

Though he, and apparently people of his day, lacked appreciable spiritual insight into life beyond the grave, Solomon did well to apply his largely ‘earthy’ (carnal?) wisdom to mentoring those of us who would follow him in understanding the deeper riddles of life, and in applying this understanding to godly living. He was totally clueless how The Lord would use his life, wisdom and proverbs to inform and instruct so many people across the generations of time in some of the basics of godly living. He wrote as The Holy Spirit unknowingly moved him.

While lacking the depth of earthy/earthly wisdom of Solomon, in Christ, we are blessed with spiritual wisdom that far exceeds Solomon’s reach. And though we stumble along the way, we can grow in wisdom daily as we progress in our walk with Christ.

Like Solomon, and on a significantly smaller scale, The Lord prompted me to be less of a ‘spiritual sponge’ and to be deliberate in sharing some of the spiritual insights I was learning. After all, sharing reinforces critical lessons we learn. As a result, this book represents a small voice and flag waving in the winds of life signaling:

• God is real, alive, has a Son named Jesus, who is the only Way to the only God Almighty, and
• There is not one aspect of life on earth that is not well and adequately covered in iterative ways by His Word, The Bible, read and mused in the power and insight of The Holy Spirit. 

Admittedly, looking at the surface of our culture, it appears that Solomon’s writings in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (and the entire Bible for that matter) do not compare in ‘drawing power’ to typical posts on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or other social media, but here’s the test: How much of the typical posts on these media will help when difficult times come -- and come they will, or when disaster suddenly strikes? Interestingly and conveniently, the Bible and church attendance became quite popular post-9/11.

Yep, in several respects, i-Solomon. Are you, too, in your own way?
Do you know of any Christ follower who is not ... or perhaps not yet?

Making Decisions Right

The Lord recently gave me this interpretation of a popular Bible verse:

“If you make ‘decisions right’

(i.e., in righteousness, by faith - the right way),

I am able to, and will make them to be

the ‘right decisions’

(the correct moves to make in evolving situations),

irrespective of how onlookers or you may judge them to be.”

(Romans 8:28, paraphrased)

 ~o~

So how would you put this verse in your own words, 

making it real to you?

Connecting the ...

Sow the wind
Reap the WHIRLWIND!!!

No, this is not a political statement.

No, this is not a sermonette via poster because a Scripture verse is quoted.

No, this is not to say weapons, whether used defensively or offensively, 

are at the root of ALL social ills.

It is simply to prompt consideration of a nugget of sage advice,

and a plea for some common sense dot-connecting.

With our smart devices, quad-core computers,

driverless cars and deep space rockets,

have we become too smart not to figure this out? 

~o~

All things lawful are not necessarily expedient

(1 Corinthians 10:23)

"All who draw (accomplish objectives by) the sword will die by the sword." 

(Matthew 26:52)

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Pics: http://www.vectorsland.com/popular-vectors/  and  http://res.freestockphotos.biz/pictures/0/331-tornado-and-lightning-pv.jpg

 

God's Always Reaching

God's always reaching...

and my faith reciprocates,
like a child reaching for a parent.

Remember, the two sides did not 'connect' until the
birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world.

Cycles and Wheels of Life

Like me, have you struggled to learn and apply the key lessons of the two major cycles or wheels of life?

 

The Cycle of Carnality, Cupidity and Culpability

(The Wheel of Waywardness, Willfulness, and Wrath)

 versus

The Cycle of Conscience, Cleansing and Compassion

 (The Wheel of Wisdom, Welfare and Wealth)

 

I mean, the widely known and recognized benefits clearly speak for themselves!  So what gives?

By the way, ‘carnality’ is NOT what we typically consider it to be~ 

(Romans 8:6); neither is ‘wealth’. (Matthew 6:19 – 21)

Get a Life

Do you ever wonder why are do many sermons seem to fall into the category I call “God’s Gonna Do It” sermons?  These sermons are designed to build faith and hope, especially among those who lack any or adequate hope and who may be dispossessed by our world’s socio-economic systems.  Of course, we all need hope.  As I understand it, hope is the empty cup or vessel that molds and shapes our desires and needs; faith is the spiritual substance (stand-in) that temporarily fills that cup; and the physical evidence of that hope and faith is the thing we are really after.  So yes, we all need to have and to exercise both hope and faith. 

Imagine for a moment that seemingly sharp, black and white, day and night divide between our physical world and the spiritual world.  God calls a steady mental focus on the former (i.e., carnal mindedness) ‘death’, and he calls a focus on the latter (i.e., spiritual mindedness) ‘life’. (Romans 8:6)  This is far, far different from what we call death and life, isn’t it?  I guess this makes us to be ‘the living dead’, because from the crib-to-the-grave, we are well schooled in that which God calls death.  This reminds me of just how erroneous our thinking is when we say, Get a life!  It also signifies a need to change our personal definitions of these terms.  Life and death are much more than the presence or absence of breath, a heartbeat, a good social life and enough money to fund it!

But what about us Christians who have new, eternal life in Christ, and how does this relate to all those “God’s gonna do it” sermons?  From my experience, such sermons may tend to throw a religious cloak on carnal mindedness.  How?  Glad you asked!

The Bible says “…My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6).  This is typically interpreted as lack of adequate knowledge of the Scriptures.  In response, we are prompted to study and even memorize scriptures; and some become so well versed in our favorite scriptures that we can quote them at a moment’s notice.  Not bad.  But this does not necessarily signify wisdom in applying the knowledge of God, or of the many laws and principles that govern His Kingdom and the spiritual world.  These are the deeper things God refers to as revealed in the context of the above Scripture.  Knowledge of The Word does not necessarily equate to wise application of it to our lives, neither does it throw off the religious covering that cloaks carnal mindedness. 

For example, back to that sharp divide mentioned above, if our mental focus remains tightly on the ‘day’ or physical side of this divide, we remain in death – carnally peering and waiting for something to ‘cross the dividing line’ and impact our lives.  Please realize whatever crosses this line is essentially the ‘after-birth’ of that which has already been born in the world of spirit – an important point echoed often in this blog.  Whatever crosses this line is already history on the other side – i.e.,  yesterdays’ or yesteryear’s news flash, so to speak!  This is not to diminish our joy for the arrival of physical manifestations of our hope and faith.  Rather, it should help strengthen and increase our faith in the faithfulness of God who answers prayers in accordance with His will.  Moreover, it should hopefully prompt us to seek fresh, breaking news from the other side!  How?  Again, glad you asked!

God told the ancient prophet, Amos, to write this: “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7)  A prophet is anyone who speaks forth the Word of Truth as the Spirit of God leads him/her.  This qualifies you to be a prophet if/as you invest your life to be so led.  It also opens the windows and doors for you to ‘see’ and perceive into that which is unseen by carnally minded residents of planet earth. This, my friends, would make you 

“More than a Mere Man/Woman”

(as suggested by 1 Corinthians 3:3).

Wisdom in applying the knowledge of God, the many laws and principles that govern His Kingdom and the spiritual world means dramatically shifting our mental focus to ‘the other side’ of existence, i.e., to what God calls ‘life’ and away from what He calls ‘death’.

The Scripture we ‘know’, arms us to understand and to apply wisdom to these laws and principles in order to perceive: 
  1. Areas in which we, ourselves, may be in violation; amends we need to make; and  steps to help ensure and not block God’s unfolding plan for our lives
  2.  Critical insights into current, real-time workings of spiritual forces in our world, more broadly; and how to respond in wisdom, accordingly.  

So c'mon.  Get equipped, armed and catalyzed to spend more time peering into the other side of life, and to apply operational wisdom to your knowledge of Scripture as your life unfolds.  The rewards and benefits are beyond your imagination!

On ‘Retirity’ and ‘Eterniment’ (poem)

Hey, how quickly did you pick up on my play on words?

As I prepare for and approach both retirement and eternity, I am struck at the extent of such an inverse planning mentality there is in America, especially among the so-called middle class, on these stages of life. We plan for retirement as if it is eternal, and consider eternity as if it’s practically nothing, or worse yet, like it is non-existent. Oh that we would all get our perspectives right on this issue! And in case you missed it above, yes, eternity is very much indeed a stage of life. ¹

Retirement is something most people look forward to. Even the increasingly techno savvy criminal elements of our society and world, at large, look forward to your retirement. They do this first, in terms of finding creative ways to hack into and steal your retirement funds, and second, in terms of screwing you with fraudulent deals on whatever they can entice you to jump at during your vulnerable years.

Some preachers say The Bible is silent on the concept of retirement. But I recall the parable Jesus told of a rich farmer who experienced a series of bumper crops. He was selfishly motivated to tear down his barns and build bigger ones, all in preparation for …retirement. In the story, he did not know his selfishly myopic soul (or is it myopically selfish soul, or perhaps both??) would soon be ‘required of him’. (Luke 12:16 – 21) Talk about eternity beckoning!

The Bible does, however, have a tremendous amount to say about eternity.

Believe it or not,

the certainty of eternity

is the only thing that is dead ahead.

(pun intended)

Some believe we will be physically dead forever, thus escaping any perceived experience of eternity. We won’t. It is an experience to which each of us will have an up-close and personal, front row seat, so to speak.

So as you check your monthly statements and balances on your Social Security payout, your IRA (be it traditional, simple or SEP, Roth or otherwise), or your 401(k), 403(b), 409(a), 557, SARSEP, payroll deduction, profit-sharing, defined benefit and money purchase plans (whew, what a list!), please consider this little rhyme:

 ‘Retirity’ surely isn’t all it’s jacked up to be,

So open wide your eyes, so you can clearly see.

‘Eterniment’ is as immanent as it’s imminent,

Something of which you needn’t be so woefully ignorant.

 

There you’ll neither be dead nor gleefully absent,

But eternally alive and absolutely cognizant!

So while preparing good investments for your retirement,

Prepare some good vestments for your eternal lodgment. ² 

 

The souls of many will be ‘required of them’...before reading such a message.

Thank God, dear reader, you’re not among them, and will hopefully heed my presage.

If you do, The Holy Trinity and Church will be your ‘fraternity for eternity’.

And faith in Jesus as Christ alone will be the ‘fidelity of your eternity’.

 

‘Lucidity on eternity’ is a ‘requirement for retirement’.

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¹ The Lord’s multi-millennial strategy for humanity comprises 7 ages: (1) pre-flood, (2) post-flood/pre-cross, (3) post-cross (Church Age), (4) tribulation/great tribulation, (5) Millennial Reign, (6) post-Millennial Reign, and (7) eternity.

² And to her [The Church] it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.  (Revelation 19:8)

Lost: Control of the Ball

Everything God does is:

--Motivated by Love, since He IS Love

--Denominated by purpose, since He is purposeful

Everything man should be about is:

--Repentance, since we are prone to sin

--Praise, since we are created to praise and worship, and we have a choice of whom we will praise and worship - self, evil or good

Consider this.  In any ball game, your objective is to keep the ball under your team's control and to score.  In the ball game of life, which is quintessentially spiritual, your opponent's objective is to get your ball, condemn you to yourself and others; and run to God with it in order to accuse you.  

Sin is like losing control of your ball.  It literally puts the "ball of your life" in the opponent's play.  If you are like me, your typical reaction to this is to waste time and energy running after your opponent, dealing with the circumstances he manipulates and triggers, trying to recapture control of your ball.  This strategy not only wastes time and energy.  It wastes faith and increases fear, which is exactly your opponent's objective.  Your opponent knows this: fear acted upon produces results, not those hoped for, but the exact opposite.  Have you learned this truth yet? 

Now imagine this better strategy.  Repentance dissolves your ball in your opponent's hands!  This leaves him relatively nothing with which to condemn you to yourself and others, and absolutely nothing with which to accuse you before God. Why relatively and absolutely?  In the face of sincere repentance (godly sorrow leads to reversal -- repentance), God is sworn to forgive and may well relent in allowing the earned consequential punishment for sin.  Once forgiven, He considers the sin as no longer existent -- an absolute fact your accusatory opponent hates and cannot change!  However, even with your repentance and God's forgiveness, you and other people don't operate at such a level of absoluteness.  We all "remember when...."  Like you, I am guilty as charged.  And with our remembrance, we (in)conveniently dredge up someone's sins and use them to accuse and condemn even the forgiven sinner.  This we do both openly and mentally.  Thus, your ability to envision and act on God's forgiveness is directly relative to the extent to which you envision, dwell on and act upon people's believed or outward accusation and condemnation of you for past, repented sin.  Read that again.

Faith in your repentance and God's forgiveness produces continuous praise and worship to God, which is His highest purpose.  This places the 'ball of your life' back in your hands.  It also energizes and motivates your winning team, which includes holy angels…

…to run with you and to score!

Sleeping Giant on the Earth?

Could the Church possibly be the biggest sleeping giant the world has ever ‘not known’? As the representative of Almighty God on Earth, does it appear to us and to the un-churched that we are fully awake and up to or capable of significantly impacting for good the rampant challenges, moral decay and disillusionment facing mankind? Could the steady deterioration in moral and civil life on Earth simply be preparatory to world events foretold in the Book of Revelation -- the unstoppable winding down of this age, in preparation for the next millennium? Or might it be more related to our collective need to accomplish what God outlined to King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14, ‘..if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.’  Lord knows our land -- the whole planet, needs healing!

Perhaps such questions have been posed ever since Christ ascended to Heaven. Either way, it is beneficial to review the four pivotal personal and corporate disciplines that will ensure we are playing our God-intended roles in the Earth. Though they are all familiar, they warrant a succinct review.

Repentance and Forgiveness. These two Christian disciplines are fundamental and should be practiced daily or even more often, as needed. Have you ever noticed the so-called Lord’s Prayer is perfectly balanced on the two center petitions:

‘Give us this day …and forgive us …as we forgive.’

(Matthew 6:11 – 12)

The perceptive reader will see and understand how closely Jesus associated the practice of forgiveness to the frequency of our eating. Repentance signals our recognition that, though beneficiaries of salvation, our life in the flesh remains prone to sin and falling short of God’s requirements. It ensures the continued flow of God’s Grace of forgiveness to us, and it demands our onward forgiveness of those who offend and sin against us. ‘Grace received’ thus becomes ‘Grace extended’.

Thanksgiving. Regularly practicing this discipline radically shifts our magnifying focus away from our problems, to a laser-like focus on our Problem Solver. The highest expression of thanksgiving and love is giving – giving of our substance and ourselves to God and others. Only as we ‘see’ (perceive) our problems safely in the hands of our Chief Problem Solver, are we able to give ourselves more to God, and to help meet somebody else’s needs. In seeing our own problems like the faint mirror reflection of somebody else’s more intense, more immediate problems, we are enabled to respond selflessly.

Obedience. This is likely the most challenging and comprehensive of all Christian disciplines. It is the quintessential test of denial of self, faith-led trust in God, and Christ-motivated love for others. Much of what to obey is very clearly specified in The Bible for the ‘black and white’ areas of our walk. This is not so clear in the gray areas of life, where The Bible provides no clear, black and white guidance or instructions. Only by daily feeding (not just nibbling) on The Word, and being continually filled with The Spirit can we accumulate an adequate ‘stock’ of knowledge, understanding and wisdom of Kingdom laws and principles to cultivate the skill of hearing God’s still quiet voice saying, ‘This is the way. Walk in it.’  This is like being on the edge of a still, quiet and deep lake, where the whisper of someone on one side is easily echoed and heard by someone on the other side of the lake. Like me, have you learned how impossible it is to hear this voice clearly in the din of life’s challenges? These challenges are magnified by innumerable ungodly cultural choices that consume our time and energy, and that saturate our gluttonous, fleshy (carnal) desires. We can hear more easily in quiet, meditative solitude where we can muse the daily Word content downloaded into our spirit, and perceive the messages, guidance and instructions cloaked therein. 

Jesus did this regularly. In John 5:19, He gave us insight into the results He received. As He practiced this discipline, He ‘saw and heard’, in the imaginations of His heart, exactly what The Father was doing en avance, in the world of spirit, which things would soon manifest physically as Jesus spoke and acted on what He saw and heard. Read that again. This is because everything that happens physically is but the manifestation or after-birth of that which has already occurred (been born) spiritually. (For example, Ezekiel 9 occurred prior to 2 Chronicles 36:15-21! Check it out.) With this insight, it was easy for Him simply to step into the pictures (or videos) He saw, and to do what He saw/heard The Father doing.

Then Jesus 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)

May this review be helpful in checking yourself against these pivotal disciplines, and in playing your personal role in awakening the corporate Church. Without a doubt, the world needs us to play our God-assigned role in this day and age. What awaits the many of us who will refuse to ‘step-up’, is very likely the same, exact fate of the Church at Laodicea, that The Lord promised in Revelation 3:14-22. (See: Laodicean Lackadaisicalness (Series) and Audacious Christians (Series))

Do You See Splendor?

"The splendor of old men is 

...(drumroll)...their gray head."  

(Proverbs 20:29)

Ponder this: That which the world shuns, tries to hide, covers up and discriminates against, God calls SPLENDOR.  Then again, considering our track record, why should I be surprised?  

By the way, my splendor is slowly being enhanced!  ;o)     And not only enhanced, it is also a "Crown of Glory (magnificent brilliance) if/as it is found in the way of righteousness." (Proverbs 16:31)

Well praise God for my increasing splendor and magnificent brilliance!

What about yours?

PS, this is not a pic of me. ;o)