THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS MINE

A frightening thought for me is that the same thing that makes me up is the same thing that makes up people who can go into a Baptist Church on Sunday with a rifle and randomly kill 26 people and wound 20+ others, or shoot and kill people while hiding in the trunk of a car, or shoot and kill people from a hotel window, or blast a bomb and kill people at a Marathon.  The same stuff that cause some people to have no respect for life and kills innocent people from babies to elders without any reason at all.  It's the same stuff that disregards morals, disobeys God's rules, and totally lives for oneself and dismisses the feelings and beliefs of others.  It's the "I Can Do Whatever I Want" Syndrome and it is spreading like wildfire these days and everyone is at risk of catching it because the seed is within all human beings.

The only difference in me is that I made an intentional decision to have a "Yes I Can/No I Can't switch
installed in me that is plugged into the Conscience Button that God originally installed in me.  When those feelings that I can do whatever I want come, and they do come, I switch from Yes I can to No I can't, because God said so. The commands are His, but  the choice is always mine.

Most of the time being a follower of Jesus and one who walks with God is a most wonderful thing for me.  Surrounded by His Presence and enjoying all of the fruit of the Spirit...there is nothing sweeter or more delightful.  But there are times when it is the most difficult thing to do.  Those times are when I can't do the bad things I want to do, things that go against what God would have me do and has told me not to.

The ICDWIWTD Syndrome is a  conflict of wills and it is always mine that must be surrendered.  That isn't easy to do.  Knowing that I have control of the "Yes I Can/No I Can't switch makes it even harder.  The choice is mine and so are the consequences.

This week it wasn't the normal wanting to do 'bad things', like steal something.  It was harboring a vicious, revengeful feeling against someone who senselessly killed people and got away with it by killing himself.  People who cause that much havoc and suffering in the lives of innocent people deserve The Smite Button, in my opinion, and I want to push that Smite Button and do unto him as he did unto others, in spite of what I know to be true about God and the teachings of Jesus.  I just wanted to turn in my "Christian Card" for awhile and imagine all the ways I could make this guy suffer and feel the pain he inflicted in others.  That is what was going through my head for awhile until I came to my senses.

All that imagination really showed me is that this senseless killer and I are made up of the same stuff.  The only difference is that I eventually pushed the "No you can't" on the switch inside me and then settled down and tightened the Yoke that I freely and willingly wear as I walk along side of Jesus.
I realized that this is the area I most need His help in and He is there to give it, because He grieves right along side of me.

All killing affects me deeply but the killing of innocent people affects me most of all.  Abortion and terrorist acts are so common today, and it all pains me deeply.  The thing that helps the most is that God, very clearly one day, told me He truly understands the pain of violence forced on innocent people.  He watched His innocent Son suffer a senseless death at the hands of human beings, so He gets it.

I eventually find my way back to where I should be and want to be, in my heart and in my head.  Back to that place of compassion and knowing God is ultimately in control of how things work out in the end.  My soul finds that place of silence and trust in the situation.  But it is never easy.  The temporal present clouds over the everlasting eternal where all things are consummated, and made right.
I believe God created us with a conscience.  But a conscience can be influenced by outside forces.  The  Yes/No switch is totally in my control. God told Cain, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?"  It is my my choice, and I choose to do well, using the Yes I can/No I can't button responsibly and pleasingly to God.

YOU WERE SERIOUS ABOUT THAT?

When I was the Director of Transportation at Camp I handed out the Routes to the Bus Drivers on Saturday and told them they had to be worked on and handed back to me ASAP, the following Friday at the latest, since Camp started that Monday.  Everyday I received routes and kept reminding the ones not handing them in of the dead line.  On that Friday I went to the one driver who had not turned in his route and asked him for it.  He looked me in the eyes and said, "Oh, you were serious about that?"  I
responded with three words...."Yes.  You're Fired" and walked away.  Any other response would have been wrong and would have created consequences for me and the Camp in the future.

A lot of the preaching in many churches these days is that God is Love, and a God who is Love cannot be angry, will not punish people, and is not who the Old Testament says He is.  It's all about Jesus and so the Law of the Old Testament can be  reinterpreted and put aside.  To me this sounds like distorted truth.  I agree people should not be scared into a relationship with God by the threat of going to hell.  But I don't agree that we should neuter God and soft soap His message or His warnings in order to "get people" into the church either.

It's all too easy to "sell Jesus" to people because nothing is expected of people; there is no way of accountability to trusting and obeying Jesus.  He is just "cool" to hang out with cause He loves people. I believe Jesus is "cool to hang out with", but I also am very aware that He is God...Yes, a God of steadfast love, but also a God to be feared , revered, and obeyed.  There will be a time of judgement.  We are all held accountable for our relationship with Him as well as our words and deeds.

Much of the teaching and preaching today shows the ease of the Christian Life.  It is all about good times and peace.  Surely life with God is one big come as you are party...But is it?  When I read Jeremiah and Malachi I know they are talking to the Israelites in the past, but it sure sounds similar to todays world.

"Everyone is given to covetousness, to greed for unjust gain; from the prophet to the priest every one deals falsely.  They have healed also a wound of the daughter of My people lightly and neglectfully, saying Peace, peace, when there is no peace.  They are not ashamed of the abominations they committed." Jeremiah 6:13-19
'The Lord is wearied by our actions, by when it is said 'Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them." Malachi 2:17

God is clear.  "I am the Lord, I do not change."  Malachi 3:6

It has been said by many of the church's leaders today that everything must change...God must be relevant to Today, and so they are busy changing what God has said and done recorded in the Bible.  The things written and spoken of by the Holy Spirit are meant to change US, not the other way around so people can live how they want to live.

Very early in His ministry Jesus made one thing very clear.  "Do not think that I have come to do away or undo the Law and the prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo, but to complete and fulfil them."(Matthew 5:17,1).  At the end of His ministry He spent time with with His disciples.  "Beginning with Moses and throughout the prophets, He went on explaining and interpreting to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning and referring to Himself." Luke 24:27,45

God is Love; in Jesus we have reconciliation and forgiveness, if we receive it and believe it.  Following Jesus is enriching and exciting; He is truly a "cool" friend to be yoked to.  But to walk with Him is not easy because it means dying to self, to my way and taking up my cross and living His Way.  The Old Testament shows the consequences of not living His Way and they are there to warn us, not simply explained away. Final Judgement will come in the end.  If our response is, "Oh, You were serious about that?" His answer will be "Yes".

In the end the Preacher of old speaks Truth.  "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion to the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13.

FOUNDATION OF FAITH

Labels help to identify things but they can also restrict things.  The label of Christian identifies one with Christianity, and somehow that becomes labeled Church.  Christians are taught that Church began at Pentecost in the first century, or with Constintine in the forth century.  That is similar to the teaching that this nation (America) began when Columbus landed and the pilgrims arrived on the new found shores.  This continient (nation) was not new.  The Indians were well settled and living here when the colonists came and took control.

One of the last things Jesus did before He returned to the heavens was to throughly open the minds of His disciples to understand the Scriptures and His place in them, all the way back to the Law of Moses and the prophets.  These Scriptures are what we know as the Old Testament.  Jesus did not come to start something new.  He came to fulfill all that was done by God since the beginning, when man's relationship was broken with God by Adam and Eve.

The Bible as one book reveals God's Way from beginning to end.  The Bible reveals the consequence of human beings doing things our way from the beginning of time to the end.  Knowing the Story of God from beginning to end provides the Fountain of Faith required for God's people in order to live well, do well, and be accepted.  It also reveals how to master sin that so readily surrounds us and keeps us from living well. (Genesis 4:7)

As a whole the Bible is truly good news, "profitable for instruction, for reproof, and conviction of sin, for correction of error, for discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness."  It causes God's people to be proficient, well equipped for every good work God would give us to do.

The Bible yokes me to Jesus so that I may be in conformity to God's will, in thought, purpose, and action.  Jesus ALONE is my Foundation of Faith.

GOD SEEKERS

I have always sought after God Seekers, those Godly men and women who diligently seek after God, inquire of and for God, who require God as their greatest need, and sought after His Presence as their home, their dwelling place.  There used to be many I could look to for guidance and companionship, but now it feels like there are fewer and fewer of them. There are many good people who do many good things for others; many good church people who are faithful to their congregations.  But I find a decline in the number of people who live their whole life as God seekers.  I come across them in books that find their way into my hands, but it's been awhile since I was face to face with one.

I find these folks to be very simple in their faith and in their way of life.  They are truly and clearly focused on God.  That is difficult to do these days with so many things to do and so much information readily available at the touch of a button.  Seeking takes time and commitment and a desire that just can't be met with second hand knowledge and experience.  Seeking requires working at things for oneself not just being given everything.  It takes creating the questions and then exploring and finding the answer.  Then it takes time to work the answers out in one's life.

The world today comes pre-packaged, prepared, instant, and quick.  There is a laziness in all that constant convenience.  Starting from scratch and working it all through gives more than just the answer; it gives one a sense of quest, participation, investment, and a satisfaction that pushing a button can't give.  It's more than reaching the destination, it's getting life and enjoyment in the journey itself.

Convenience and instant gratification brings with it a sense of emptiness, meaninglessness, and boredom.  There is ease and more time available but no purpose or sense of fulfillment.  A quest for seeking God brings joy, fulfillment, and meaning to life, at least it has and still has to mine.

WILL WE EVER LEARN TO HEED WARNINGS?

This world is in crisis.  The sad truth is that we are reaping what we have sown, so the blame lies on our shoulders.  Each individual natural crisis that has hit very hard this year is the result of not heeding warnings given years ago.
  
When people are hurt it is not proper to say 'I told you so'.  But when can that conversation be had?

In Huston and Santa Rosa the destruction was horrific to communities of people, by water and by fire.  But those communities would not have been built if warnings had been heeded years before they were built.  The greedy developers who disregarded the warnings suffered no loss or punishment for their greed and prospered financially.  Their innocent victims lost everything.  WILL WE EVER LEARN?

The same is true in the Global Warming/Climate Change argument.  I remember hearing the warning for what is now happening back in the 1970's.  Very little was done to change the practices that would bring this crisis on.  A lot of talk and a lot of arguing back and forth.  WILL WE EVER LEARN?

I believe that God created this world and built in laws and principles to maintain and sustain all the He created.  Human beings need to take heed that we cannot go against God's laws and principles in nature. Nature will always win!  WILL WE EVER LEARN?

THE LAW OF THE LORD

"The law of the Lord is perfect"

Psalm 19

Law is the order of God, how He works, and how all His creation works.  I can know that order by observing nature, its rhythms, its seasons, its giving of life.  I can know it by reading the Bible and observing how God has related with people throughout history.  I can know it by observing Jesus and His interaction with individuals.

God put His law within His people, imprinted on their minds and engraved on their hearts.  He did this for one purpose; that His people would KNOW Him.  That they would recognize, understand, and be acquainted with Him as their God.

God is a God of perfect order and perfect harmony.  Everything and everyone, from least to greatest, has a purpose in the grand scheme of things.  When I am aligned with that scheme I will do well.

My whole person will be restored, I will be wise in my simplicity, my heart will rejoice, my eyes will be enlightened, I will be clean, righteous, and true to who I am and who God made me to be.

PRIVILEGE-ENTITLED-SELFISH

When one does not know sacrifice; when one does not know the seriousness of sin; then one does not know God...who He is or what He does.  What is not known or understood is challenged and too often changed to meet the changer's need.  What is needed is to trust and obey.

My thoughts are not your thoughts,

My ways are not your ways.

The heavens are high above the earth,

As My ways are above your ways

My thoughts above your thoughts,

Isaiah 55:8,9

God's words and ways cannot be deconstructed and reconstructed by humans.  

Only God can do that...Hebrews 8:13.

Only Jesus can do that..."But I say to you..."  Matthew 5

The Bible must stand as is, because the change of one thing will affect others and cause damage to all.  Eventually the Bible will fade away and not be necessary, just as the temple, sun, and moon will.  But until then it must remain in tact and continue it's duty.  Humans must not play God in any manner, with the Bible, with nature, or with one another.  God is above and we are below and we do not have the whole picture in view.

"To sum up the whole matter:

Fear God, and keep His commandments,

Since this is the whole duty of man.

For God will call all hidden deeds,

Good or bad to judgement.

Eccl 12:13,14

Humans cannot know enough to judge matters that could have eternal consequences.

WHERE WE WENT WRONG

There are more guru followers
Than God fearers
More satisfaction with second hand knowledge
Than seeking the Source
More fun facts
Than foundational Truths
More dining on leftovers
Than feasting on the pure Bread of Life
More hand-me-down rags
Than new cloaks of Righteousness
More group think
Than personal searching the Scriptures.

IN A WORLD GONE MAD

In a world gone mad
Keep me centered in You
In Your love
In Your compassion
In Your peace
In Your wisdom

Put a guard over my mind
Put a muzzle over my mouth

Open my eyes to see Your light
Open my heart to give your love

Give me wisdom to see Your Way
Give me a tongue to speak Your Truth
Give me the heart to share Your Life

Erase the lines drawn in the sand
Eradicate the beliefs that create sides

Give us eyes to see our oneness
Give us ears to hear each other
Give us hearts that love one another

THE WHOLE BIBLE IS THE WHOLE TRUTH

As I am reading The Biblical Jubilee and the Struggle for Life, I feel supported in by belief that a lack of knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament and so much emphasis on the New Testament is the root source of most, if not all, of the problems in our world today.  It is hindering us from knowing and understanding all of God’s Ways for His people.  It is hindering us from fully knowing and understanding Jesus’ mission and message and fully knowing and understanding God’s Word accurately.

It reinforces my beliefs that the church that human hands built are not the same as the Church that Jesus Christ built, the one that the forces of hell cannot destroy.  It reinforces my beliefs that the church built and established by human hands is a “golden calf”, which would explain the gradual decline and failing of that church as we know it. 

God’s original mission and message was exploited for personal gain by the Religious System in Jesus’ days.  Jesus’ mission and message was exploited by those who didn’t fully know or understand His mission and message.  Constantine exploited  Christianity for personal gain only to be followed by the church built and established by human hands for centuries.  That lack of knowledge and understanding is still exploited right up to today as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being watered down, cheapened, and even done away with.

This is yet another reason I believe the Bible, The Story of God, is to be read as one entire narrative, from beginning to end, Genesis thru Revelation, known and understood in its whole context.  If we start doing that and teaching others to do that, we will clearly see that God has had solutions to most, if not all of our problems if we will simply humble ourselves, seek His face and ask Him, and then follow what He commands us to do.  It is to our peril to do anything else.

LIVING A SABBATH LIFE

God created the world in six days and then He rested on the seventh.  Week two we find Him walking around in His creation, hanging out with Adam and Eve, thinking about how He was going to take care of and tend to His creation.  Adam and Eve would live in a committed relationship with one another, have children, and tend to their home that God had provided.  They would enjoy their surroundings, tend to and care for them and each other.  They would also enjoy a personal and intimate relationship with God.  Sounds like heaven to me.

God made all things good and able to reproduce themselves.  There was no need to keep improving on what was made, simply take care and tend to it.  Perhaps His blessing on the Sabbath wasn’t just for a one day event.  Perhaps it was meant to be a way of Life; a Sabbath Life.

That all changed after Adam and Eve abused their freedom and did not do the one thing that God had told them to do…stay away from that one tree.

God had freely given them all the other trees but they were enticed to go after that one tree that God told them no to.  That faulty decision and action of not listening to God, of thinking they knew better than God, had consequences that would last throughout all time and history of mankind.  The work God had given them to do to fulfill a sense of purpose and would be pleasing and fulfilling now became filled with toil and effort.  Now the ground was cursed.  Thorns and thistles would have to be cleared causing man to sweat and labor of ridding the waste.  Adam and Eve were expelled from God’s place of provision and rest and would now have to provide in their own effort.  God was still there but He had given them over to themselves and their unsatisfying efforts.  They continued to work and toil but never reached that place of contentment or satisfaction.  Now the cry became “bigger and better.”  “Let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make a name for ourselves.” (Genesis 10:4)

Human beings continue in the pattern set by our forefather; disobeying and rejecting God Himself and His tending over them.  God who made everything good and provided everything man could ever need or want to live life as it was designed to be lived was continually forsaken and His ways abandoned; and for what?  So human beings can proudly sing, “I did it my way!”  This is the evil and wickedness of human beings.  It is the root of all that is wrong in the world today.

          “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me,

           the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns, broken

           cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

This befuddles God and astonishes the heavens and all other created things that know and look to God with the awe and respect He should be shown.

(Jeremiah 2:13)  It should befuddle all of us.

It absolutely amazes me that God, through all of this, continues to want to have anything to do with us!  “Behold what manner of love He has for us.”  He loves us so much that He sent His Son to recover and renew the relationship He had with us in the beginning when He created us.  He wants us to live a Sabbath Life with Him, not be worried, anxious, and fearful about so many things.  He wants us to find rest and peace and joy in Him and His love.

“Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you       rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).  Love, Jesus.

WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT

The nation’s cry is to “Make America Great Again”.  The Church’s cry is for “Revival”.  Jesus’ cry is for “Repentance”.  My belief is that we need to start with Jesus’ cry first and the others will probably follow suit.

I cannot speak to the world for I am in the world but not of it.  I have chosen a different path, that of God and His kingdom.  But I can speak to those who claim to know and follow Jesus and His principles.  We all need to Repent, “humble ourselves, seek God’s face, pray, and turn from our wicked ways so that God will heal our nation.”  (2 Chronicles 7:14)  God is clear that the wicked ways He speaks of are, “forsaking Him and hewing our own cisterns” AKA doing things our own way.  (Jeremiah 2:13)

I believe this country was established, not as a Christian nation, but it was established on Godly fundamental principles.  Those principles are foundational for the freedoms this nation enjoys.  When we turn away from the fundamental principles we abuse the freedoms by not using them responsibly.  Once that happens we turn freedoms into “rights” and demands because we have exchanged the Godly fundamental principles for anarchy, which results in disorder and confusion, which results in each person doing their own thing, becoming their own authority, which results in chaos. It is my belief that this state of disorder and chaos is where Satan thrives, grows vigorously, and flourishes.  One need only to look to the news and see this is our condition today.

All of us have blown it; we are all in the same boat in the middle of the storm, and sinking fast.  Believers, nonbelievers, churched, unchurched, Republican, Democrats, liberal, conservative…all of us are in the boat with the waves and wind throwing us around ad battering the boat that will not endure much longer.  What good does it do to shout at one another?  What good does it do to cry “let’s be great again” or “let’s have revival?  Only the one who has power and authority over the wind, waves, and storm can help us now and that One says Repent, humble yourselves, feel regret and penitence for what we have done or failed to do, seek God’s face, and stop our wicked ways.  Then God will hear us, stop the storm and in the calm heal our nation.

Ours is a diverse culture consisting of many religious views and beliefs.  It would make my heart happy if everyone would choose the path I did and enter into a personal Relationship with God through the work of Jesus Christ.  I don’t see that happening at this point in time.  But that doesn’t mean we all can’t at least acknowledge that those who were the Founders of this country did look to God as an authority on what works for a society to dwell together.  Adherence to Godly principles was seen as good and necessary.  If we can at least get consensus on that we can sail in smoother waters and make it to the shore where we can live in freedom and peace in a responsible and respectful way.  This requires responsible behavior and sacrifice for all, but in the end we will all benefit, so it is worth it.

WHEN DID NASTY REPLACE NICE AND BECOME CHIC?

UPDATE

I wrote this and shared my concern on Facebook.  The responses I got were mostly about how this is a reaction to men’s feeling about woman and Donald Trump’s remarks that were exposed during the debates.

WHEN DID NASTY BECOME CHIC?

When Did NASTY become chic?  Houston, we have a problem!  This seemed to be a common thread in the signs I saw and the rhetoric I heard at the Woman’s March this past weekend; “Nasty girl” signs being carried by kids and mothers being proud of that.  This breaks my heart.  We have crossed the line of decency when Nasty becomes our role model and goal.  We have become an adulterous and sinful generation and that is topped off by offending children and making them thing this is the new norm.

Nasty: Disgusting to see, smell, or touch; filthy; malicious; spiteful;

            unpleasant; disagreeable.

Is this really what we want our little girl children to grow up to be?  Is this really what women really want to be?  If we believe our world is a mess now, wait until these ‘nasty girls’ become of age.  Shame on us!  The illusion of happiness and celebration of sisterhood and solidarity is just that; an illusion.

Todays journal entry is a response to my pondering about the responses.

25 January 2017

Who do I look to to define my behavior?  I like to think I am the one who does that but I do have role models I look to for some ideas.  I have been fortunate to have good role models to look to.  I have been mentored by some very strong women who were able to be strong without losing their gentle, kind, and modest selves.  Nice had not become a bad trait like it appears it has become today.  As a follower of Jesus I look to Him to pattern my heart, mind, and soul after. I know that while in the flesh He was male but in reality He was in the form of one flesh, male and female, which is what we will be in our Spiritual being.  Thankfully God kept record in His Story in the Bible of some very strong women who lived in times when women were considered nothing.  But Jesus showed the world something very different.

I am eternally grateful for all of the many role models I have had and I am pleased that I am who I am because of their influence.  My heart goes out to those who have only the allure of what the world says is appealing and what to be desired.  Those role models are an illusion and are not real.  It is clear to me that the “prince of this world” is still as crafty and deceitful as he was at the beginning of time.  It is as if he knows his time is short and he is pulling out all stops.  It is clear to me who our true enemy is in these difficult times. 

It is my prayer that we would not give into “the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:11,12).

Let’s make Nice chic again, instead of nasty.

Nice: Pleasing, appealing, considerate, well mannered, respectable, virtuous,

         fastidious, exacting.

There is nothing weak in being nice.  In the end it beats out being nasty, hands down.  Love overpowers hate just as light overpowers darkness.

PS…My reading this morning was in Mark 16.  It was the women who Jesus appeared to after His resurrection.  He told Mary to go and tell the other disciples.  They did not believe the women.  “Afterward He appeared to the eleven disciples and UPBRAIDED them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen him after He was risen.”  (UPBRAIDED means to scold or chide vehemently.)  I smiled.

In the end we will all be held accountable and responsible for our words and behavior.  I want to make good choices.

I Don't Know How But I Do Know Who

Matthew 11: 28-30

Mark 4: 26-28

I find this world exhausting.  I find the negative energy exhausting.  The anger, holding on to grudges when things don’t go my way, unforgiveness of wrongs done to me, holding on so tightly to what I perceive as my rights;  it all just exhausts me physically, mentally, and spiritually. 

These past few years have been restorative for me.  I have been able to resolve things that I could and have learned to let go of the others.  I have come to the conclusion that forgiveness is freeing and repentance is restorative.  The conditions of this country, this world, continually show me that I am right in my thinking and beliefs.  The consequences of the denial of God’s Way for His creation have been played out right in front of us.  I believe an acceptance of God’s Way for His creation is the only satisfactory and sustainable solution.  I know that by the ultimate Truth revealed in Jesus and in the Bible.  I know that by personal experience.

God created human beings for a wholesome Way and a particular path; it is the life and teachings of Jesus Christ that speaks to and provides for that Way to be lived by me.  There is no other Way, Truth, or Life.  When I receive, believe, and commit myself to that Way, I will do well and the snares of Satan will have no hold on me. (Genesis4)

Holding on to wrongs done to me is like running poison through my veins.  It makes me judgmental, mean, angry, and vengeful.  I harm myself as much as whatever was done to me.  I had the opportunity over the past few years to revisit people and situations that did harm in some way to me that I have been holding onto for many years.  I was able to bring resolution and restoration to most of them.  The ones I was unable to revisit I simply needed to forgive.

Some of this work was conscious; some was hidden deep within that I wasn’t even aware of.  But at some point in time I felt a lightness and a freedom in my sol that just manifested itself one day.  I knew something had changed deep in my inner self that was now coming out in my thoughts and feelings.  I felt a joy and a peace that passes all understanding and I knew I was  different as I sat there enveloped in joy, peace, and awe.

What I find true now is that I don’t want to be judgmental, mean, angry, or unloving even when in my mind I can justify being all those things.  It isn’t worth it anymore to be “right” in my mind but hardened in my heart.  I don’t know how this, what I would call a major miracle came about, but I do know Who accomplished it.  I am eternally grateful.  I know now that I want to be yoked together with Jesus forever.

The Bible is God's Story Beginning to End

CATCH THE VISION

God is so much bigger than the cares and concerns of this transient world.

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.   The Bible tells me God’s Story, the beginning and the end.  It gives me the panoramic picture, the bird’s eye view of all of life on earth and a glimpse of what it will be in the new heaven and earth.  Looking at that full view gives me perspective for my life in the here and now which is transient and passing by.

Beside the Bible I have a Relationship with the Holy Spirit who knows all that is written on the unrolled scroll of the ages that reveals the future as clear as the past.  The Spirit knows all and daily encourages me to seek the wisdom of God and the secrets that wisdom holds.  Those secrets are revealed in God’s time for God’s people to know, to obey, and to pass them down to our children to know and obey. (Deut. 29:29)

To me the Bible is a treasure book.  It tells me who God is; who I am in God;

what Jesus did to make that Relationship possible; it shows me what a life following Jesus and walking with God looks like.  The Bible prepares a strong foundation for me to stand on when the winds of adversity blow strong; it continually shows me how much God loves me and all He created; it promises me a life forever in His Presence.  My Relationship with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit always comes first.  But next comes the Bible and its words of love and guidance that strengthens and enhances my times of being in His Presence.

I Choose Enough

The root of ENOUGH yields the fruits of the Spirit

Love, joy, peace, longsuffering,

Gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance.

The root of ENOUGH yields gratitude and thanksgiving.

When I drink from the Fountain of Living Waters

I have no need of building my own cisterns.

When I drink of the water that Jesus gives me

I shall never thirst nor need an empty water pot.

When the Lord is my Shepherd

I shall not want or need anything more.

When I seek first the kingdom of God

All I need will be given to me and I need nothing more.

When I know who God is and who I am in God

It is ENOUGH…I want nothing MORE!

God makes a “Social Contract” with His people

That social contract is based on a Covenant Relationship

Between God and His people.

For me it is ENOUGH

I want NOTHING MORE!

Following Jesus and walking with God is an ENOUGH LIFE

Following the world will always keep one WANTING MORE

I choose ENOUGH!

Enough

Wanting more has been the wile of God’s enemy Satan since the beginning of time.  He empted Eve with gaining wisdom and being like god by eating from the one tree that God told them not to eat from.  God made male and female in His own image and gave them everything they needed; but Satan promised more.  The Israelites were tempted by the ungodly nations to want a king to rule over them rather than God who had led and provided for them for over 40 ears.  Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness with all that was not his to give by saying, “If you are the Son of God do this”, as if being God’s Son wasn’t enough.

Wanting more destroys nations and creates wars.  It makes people envious and jealous of one another.  It feeds the gods of capitalism and consumerism, which results in slavery, classism, and discrimination, the very things that pollute and destroy a society from within.  Wanting more is a most dangerous and destructive weapon because it hides and disguises itself as progress, success, and ‘doing good’ in the world.  But in the end it only corrupts individuals, societies, and nations.

In the movie Babe a powerful statement is made by Babe’s owner.  After Babe completed his task of rounding up and penning the sheep, his owner shut the gates, looked down at him and said, “Enough pig, enough”.  Then they both smiled at one another, those “get ya” smiles that say “all is well with the world”.  It’s that smile that I expect was on God’s face on the sixth day of creation.  It was on that day that He told Adam and Eve that He had given them everything they would ever need.  And God saw everything that He had made and saw that it was good…very good.  In other words, “It is Enough”.

God provided everything that was needed by the Israelites in the desert for 40 years.  They had manna, quail, water, and clothes and sandals that never wore out.  They lacked nothing.  It was Enough!  Then God brought them into the Promised Land and provided great cities which they did not build, houses full of good things that they did not fill, wells which they did not dig, vineyards and olive trees they did not plant.  And then He warned them. “Beware lest thou forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” 

Unfortunately they did forget and did exactly what God told them not to do.  They went after the other gods of the people that were around them.  That behavior and those choices took them right back into bondage again; a bondage that we have inherited and suffer the consequences of.  We ignore the ENOUGH and live in the WANTING MORE, and then complain that we are in bondage and not free to enjoy life.

Jesus shows and teaches us the ENOUGH life in God’s kingdom, where He provides all His people could ever want or need.  It is a life filled with the fruits of the Spirit that are ENOUGH for all.  It is a life lived in God’s Presence that is ENOUGH for all.  It is a life of drinking freely from the Fountain of Living Water, and it is ENOUGH.  Everyone had everything and it is ENOUGH!

Be Not Earthbound

“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

John 17:16

BE NOT EARTHBOUND

“Be not entangled in the things of the world, for they are transitory.

Be not over concerned as to they personal needs,

For your Heavenly Father knoweth what ye have need of

And He will supply it.

I will be to thee what the sun is to the flower;

What the water in the ocean is to the fish;

And what the sky is to the birds.”

BE NOT EARTHBOUND

“Come Away My Beloved”

God Presence is immense.  It is everywhere with no boundaries or tethers.   His Presence is total freedom for my soul.  If I feel out of His Presence or if I feel tethered, those are my feelings, my perceptions.  He puts total trust and faith in me to be His child.  Any chaos or change in our relationship

is my action, not His.

God provides me with all I need or could ever want.  I am free to take all of my inheritance and wander off looking for life.  I am free to squander all of it away and end up in the gutter or feeding pigs somewhere.  That is not God’s Way for me but He never tethers me to His Way and allows me to go my way, no matter how wrong that way is.  But even in my rebellion and wandering off He is always there, waiting for my return. 

No one but me can make the decision to go home.  I must come to my senses on my own, in my own experience.  When I do I will humble myself through conviction, not guilt.  I will remember and realize how good I had it and will return broken and willing to simply be a servant in my Father’s house.  But that is not His intent.  He waits for me, His child, to come home on my own free will…my freely made choice.  When I do I am welcomed and celebrated as His child.  I have had a couple of instances when I didn’t come to my senses and God sent a Nathan to me, just as He sent Nathan to David to make him aware of His wrongdoing.  This is just further proof of how immense God’s love is for me.

The other side is true as well.  God doesn’t want me feeling tethered or corralled, looking out at all that the world offers, feeling obliged to be good but wanting to experience life as the world gives it.  God’s Way is not a Duty to perform, like I am doing God a huge favor by staying in His Presence.  That is a worse squandering of ones life.  One needs to come to one’s senses about that attitude as well.

I look back over my life and see how foolish I was over and over again.  I made bad choices and lived in the consequences of those choices way too many times.  God never left me and I was always welcomed home from my foolish adventures.  I wouldn’t want to squander my life away like that again but I learned from those experiences so I wouldn’t want to change anything. They all go into the compost pile that I keep raking and using to enrich the new growth in my daily life.

The most important lessons that I learned is how much God loves me; I learned what a good Father He truly is; I learned His Way is the best way for me; I learned how much this Relationship with Him means to me. There is nothing that this world offers that even comes close.  God doesn’t tether me.  Being with Him and loving Him isn’t a Duty.  I freely yoke myself to Jesus because I enjoy and receive life from that Relationship and Presence. There is nothing better.

What Will Fix A Broken World

Governments and Institutions are not going to fix our broken world.  I think they are the ones who took part in breaking it.  I used to be a political person, back in the 60’s.  I listened to JFK say, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.  Of course that was back when the government was sending people in the Peace Corps over to underdeveloped countries and helping people develop their land.  Soon we evolved into a government that was sending soldiers over to under developed countries and killing their people and destroying their land.

Many of those soldiers were boys I went to school with and were friends with.  It was then that I became political, not by asking what I could do for the government but demonstrating against what the government was doing to us.  My disillusionment led to a distrust of government and institutions that turned their attention to their form and structure rather than the people they were created to serve and help.  That is the root of my becoming not a Political person but a People person.

Years have come and gone and I have watched governments and institutions rise and fall due to their malfunction.  Unfortunately I have also watched the fall of those governments and institutions bring many people down with them, including myself.  My disillusionment developed over the years into bitterness and cynicism, neither of which becomes me.

I studied Behavioral Science and Psychology to help me figure out what makes people tick, including myself.  I also became a Follower of Jesus, not a denominational or institutional church person.  I began to look seriously at Jesus as I read about Him in my Bible.  I tried my best to do what He did, especially in His encounters with individual people that he met along the way. Following His example suits me.

I have very strong beliefs. I know and love many folks who have very different beliefs than me.  But the way I see it is we are all human beings and we all have hearts, hopes, and dreams that are important to us in our lives.  And we all have a story to tell.  That is where we can meet and love and respect who we are as individuals.  That is where we can become friends rather than adversaries.  Once we meet where we are the same and give one another a safe place to be in each others presence, then we can lay down our weapons and our defenses, pick up a cup of coffee or tea and begin to talk about the what, whys, and wherefores of how we see things differently.  When I look into someone’s eyes I see their heart and humanity that is just like mine.  When I listen and hear their voice speak their cares and concerns about their families and loves ones, and the world they live in, I hear their heart and humanity that is just like mine.  I believe something in that encounter will transform into something good.

For me it is in that place that Jesus comes and joins us.  With Him the Spirit of love, joy, and peace makes His appearance as well.  That brings the hope of healing and the wholesomeness of wholeness.  That is what builds bridges over the divides and can repair the brokenness of this world.

The Bible Is The Story of God Not A Weapon For Terror

I am reading the book Terror In The Name Of God  by Jessica Stern.  I majored in Behavioral Science in college because I have always been interested in understanding why people do what they do, including myself.  Studying it provided not only a degree but also a way to get free therapy.  I like those two for one deals.

The thing I am finding most disturbing as I read these many interviews with Religious Terrorist is the conviction these folks have of what they are doing is based on their belief in the God and in the Holy Scriptures of their declared faith.  They can turn to and point at chapter and verse to justify their behavior that includes killing people and defending their rights to inflict terror and torture on other human beings because of their judgments on them for not believing as they do.  It is clear to me that my understanding of God and my understanding of the Bible is very different from theirs even though the words read are the same.

I am aware that anyone can use verses in the Bible as proof of many things that have nothing to do with God and His Word.  Anyone can justify just about anything by pulling out a verse of Scripture.  I am aware and ashamed that the Bible has been used (misused) for horrible things throughout history.  It sickens me to see verses used as bullets and the Bible used as a weapon.  My knowledge and understanding of God precludes the thought that God inspired His words to be used in that manner.

I have been in an intimate relationship with God and with the Bible for over forty years now.  I read the Bible every day and have read through the entire Bible many times.  I have been to Bible College, and have been blessed to sit at the feet of many competent teachers of the Bible.  To me it is The Story of God and to me it is the Greatest Story ever told.  The Bible is inexhaustible in Truth and guidance for living life well and for how to be in this world with one another.  To have it misused for anything other than good grieves my heart.

One thing that has helped me in my love of reading the Bible and of understanding the intention and purpose of its message and mission, is seeing it as the whole Story of God, not just random verses and bits and pieces to be used individually.  Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of all things; the beginning and the end.  Jesus is the comprehensive Truth of that Story.  The Holy Spirit is the comprehensive narrator of that Story.  God’s words culminate in God’s Word, in Jesus Christ the Messiah.  The Story of God in its fullness is The Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.

Knowing and understanding the whole Story of God was the last lesson Jesus taught His disciples.  Through out the gospels He kept asking His disciples if they understood what He was saying and teaching them.  They kept saying yes but their actions revealed that they really didn’t understand comprehensively.  They really couldn’t until Jesus completed His mission of dying and rising from the dead.  They really couldn’t until Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to give them understanding and comprehension.  Jesus knew that and was patient with them in their frequent blunders.

(Luke 24)

When Jesus completed (finished) His mission of dying on he cross and rising from the dead, before He left to return to the Father He gave them His final and maybe most important lesson.  After showing them His nail scarred hands and feet, and sharing a meal with them, “Then He said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophet and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

His disciples were to be His witness of His mission; to die, rise from the dead for repentance and forgiveness of sins so we can be reconciled to God.  He then empowered them with the Holy Spirit, and then He left to return to His place with and as God.

It is clear to me that the Bible has a prominent place in my life, in all lives that claim to know and understand God and His work through Jesus, and that place is not as a weapon or an instigator of hatred or terror on mankind.  It is to tell us the Story of God, to fill us with the sense of awesomeness of who He is and how much He loves us.  It is to teach us how to live life well and how to live life well with one another…all one anothers, in God’s love, God’s joy, and God’s peace.

Obedience To God Is Following Jesus

God speaks and His people do well to listen and do what He says.  In the Old Testament it was about obeying Him.  In the New Testament it is about following Him.  The end result is the same but for me FOLLOWING makes it more meaningful and personal.

Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets.  He IS the Law and the Prophets.  He manifests a life of obedience to God in all that He says and in all that He does.  He them invites those who follow Him to do the same.  In that, obedience is not a burdensome duty; it is a delightful devotion.  When I read Psalm 19 and 119 I suspect that was what the Law was always meant to be.  It is a delight to do what God says because it is nourishing and enriching for the soul.  Being yoked with Jesus isn’t bondage; it is perfect freedom because He knows the Way we are going; He is the Way.  Following Jesus provides the Way to Truth and Life.  What greater delight can there be?

It’s always interesting to reflect back on my life.  It seems like I was always fighting to have my way; fighting people, systems in the world, and fighting God in my life.  I liked my independence and rebellion because I believed they made me free.  I was wrong; it did not make me free because I was continually having to fight to keep things going the way I thought they should be going.  These were good ways not necessarily bad ways…But they were MY ways.

At some point in time I just got tired.  I felt like I was hanging over a cliff, hanging on to the edge of a rock so as not to drop.  My fingers were bloody and I was exhausted, and finally I bit the bullet and just released my grip, closed my eyes, and dropped.  When I opened my eyes I found I was really only a few inches from a wide platform and I sat down and wept.  All that energy, all that pain, trauma, and drama, all that time clinging to My way on a cliff when on the other side was beautiful, empty space.

There was no question in my mind that God was that platform and that He was that beautiful wide open space.  But to be in that free space I needed to let go of my way of being and begin following His Way of Being.  Even in the worst of circumstances I have never regretted that decision.

I lived through an often “hard knock life” with the Bobby McGee attitude that “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose, nothing ain’t worth nothing but it’s free”.  There is some truth to that.  It is necessary to lose everything, including my Self reliant, independent, and I’ll do it my way attitude.  But God puts something beyond that loss; He puts a life.  He puts a life of everything I could ever desire or need beyond the emptiness.  God also provides the Way to that Life in following Jesus who is the manifestation and fulfillment of all the rules, commandments, and precepts that yield that perfect and absolute freedom.

A Discussion With Friends From The Past

God created us to be free.  He created us with the ability to choose.  Right out of the gate we made the wrong choice; we chose no to listen and obey what God had told us to do; we decided to choose to do what we wanted to do. Yes, we were tempted by Satan, listening to what he had to say about God and what we should be desiring.  But the ball was in our court and we made the wrong choice.  No matter who we blamed, it was in the end our bad, and we still continue, even after all the chaos and consequences that wrong choice caused and cost.

God did not create puppets.  He created people whom He loved and wanted to be in relationship with.  He gave us all we could ever want and need but we continually reject it and think we can do better.  He is a Fountain of Living Water and we continue to build our own little cisterns that quickly break and can’t hold water.  He provided a rule and reign that was holy and righteous, filled with love, joy, and peace, but we wanted a king like everyone else had even though that king did not have our best in mind but wanted power and control over us, eventually taking away all our freedom and making us slaves.

And today the ‘beat goes on’ and we continue to do things our way even though we know our track record for making bad choices.  What’s up with that?

We have a God who says, “If my peoples who are called by my name 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.”  What is our response?  “I, God, have called and you refuse to listen; I have stretched out my hand to you and no one heeded; you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof.  You hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel.”

God offers us a Fountain of Living Water and we keep choosing our puny little cisterns that continually break and hold no water.  We continually choose our way to live and our way of doing things, thinking that we know best.  What’s up with that?

God’s response is to stand back and let us have our own way. “Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.”  So bad is our behavior that it even causes God to say what is not in His heart, what is not what He does at all because He can’t.  “Because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I will laugh at your calamity. When you call I will not answer; when they seek me they will not find me.” 

We know the whole Story of God and we know that is not what God did.  He continually hears us, sees our mess, and always comes to our rescue.  In the end He sent His own Son to clean up the mess we made and to die for our sin and our rebellion so we could be back in relationship with God.  Behold, what manner of love is that?

At some point in my life I, like the son who was stuck in the mire and mess of the pig sty, realized something.  Oprah calls it a “ha-ha moment”.  That wayward son came to the end of his self, the end of his ‘doing it my way’, and truly came to his senses and realized how good he had it at home with his father.

I realized I was slugging my way through the pig sty, trying unsuccessfully to make do with my waterless, empty cisterns when I could be swimming in the Fountain of Living Water.  Everything changed for me, most important my perspective on God and what I wanted my life to be about.  I now know that when my way is truly God’s Way, all will be well.  My prayer is that everyone will come to that point in their life and have that “ha-ha moment”, and leave their broken cisterns, just as the woman at the well left her water jug after her encounter with Jesus, and come and enjoy the Fountain of Living Water, who is God Himself.  I pray that for all people and all nations.  Then God in His amazing steadfast love will heal each and every one of us and will heal our land.