Personal Transformation Opportunities

2019-01-06T12:37:00.002-06:00

From

https://www.freeimages.com/Felipe Horst

The Devil's Tool Box

How to Keep Nations, Churches, and Individuals from Repentance

KEY: Replace weeping with anger.

The best thing thing for our ultimate agenda is to get people angry with God. Tell them he is not just, he is not loving. Get them to evaluate God by human standards. But, anger against God, is not effective in creating enough heat to replace weeping with anger.

Getting people to reject God's moral standards related to sex, partying and drunkenness is the easiest thing to do, but again that does not produce enough heat to replace weeping with anger even if their new choices lead to harm, lawlessness, or disease.

Political fervor is your best tool. Using political fervor it is easy to push people to the point that they get angry about the issues and take up the quest for the influence and power to silence the opposition. This is the easiest kind of anger to fan into the white hot heat that shuts down logic and makes them ready to believe lies and to become liars. All kind of treachery becomes possible -- thank you God for creating people that way -- which further fans the heat, hardens their positions, and drives out any possibility of weeping over themselves.

Christian Friends

Listen to the words of Jeremiah while watching his nations and the people of God being destroyed:

https://www.freeimages.com/Marcin Jochimczyk

Jeremiah 9:1-2 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹If only my head were a pool of water

and my eyes a fountain of tears,

I would weep day and night

for all my people who have been slaughtered.

²Oh, that I could go away and forget my people

and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert.

For they are all adulterers—

a pack of treacherous liars.

Pray This Audacious Prayer:

Dear Lord,

Gives me eyes that weep over those things that cause you to weep. Free us from captivity to political fervor and the anger that Satan has used to keep us captive and to keeps us from weeping and repentance as individuals, as churches, and as a nation.

Martyrdom/ Depression/The love of God/An Allowed Awareness

2017-11-07T18:29:00.000-06:00

The love of God/An allowed awareness

In this is love ... that God has loved us

We were created as an outlet for the expression of his love

The commands that leave only martyrdom, not love, as the way to God

The Mercy without the love of God leaves martyrdom as the best chance of covering our sins. So, for Muslims, the theme of death becomes let everyone be a martyr in order to secure a life with God.

Why do we find in that so many Muslim "martyrs" were first men who grievously sinned against the commands of God. Men crushed by the weight of their wildness and wicked rebellion against God.

Martyrdom masked the beginning of their desired journey out of the darkness. Cloaked the light need to begin their journey out of the depression of guilt, the terror of having to some day stand before the judgement seat of God. Martyrdom, a willful distraction from the light depression quickly extinguished to prevent escape of the intensity of its negative emotion it uses to control the mind and soul. The embrace of Martyrdom slew the nano-second of wonder the men did not want to deal with because it makes demands of the self protected mind and emotional core. The possibility of the love of God being greater than their guilt.

The love of God, so rich and pure, so measureless, and strong it shall for evermore endure ...

For in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that God in his mercy, even before his mercy was fully revealed, has loved us.

A dream beyond hope, a call to be a responder not a regurgitator of others words ...

In the dream, I held a book, the core example by a demanding but erudite professor of the quality of work expected in order for the final paper in his class will be accepted. The last class standing between myself, and many others, and granting of the degree.

The notes of the female student who first used the book covered the blank first and last pages and filled the margins and I struggled to read the handwritten notes to find comfort for the journey my mind and soul were resisting and had resisted by my refusal to go to even one class of the course being so defined and evaluated.

I sat on a tall stool at a bar with others who were speaking their journey through the required writing that had to be personal and yet meet the highest creative yet academic standards. Had to not just be a rehash of voluminously footed noted writings of others. A fresh response to the central question - a question not spoken in the dream.

For the dream was about the demands of the course and the barrier of the task to fulfillment, that tiny flash of mental and emotional awareness of the love of God. That tiny flash that to be true to my God would have be fleshed out, brought back out of the dark, to accomplish the task. That tiny flash, that created a barrier to the professor's demand. The final paper I must write to have a chance at being personal and fresh, the two hallmarks of my inner standard of responding to what I heard and read in my seminary courses. My stand against the anathema of being merely a regurgitator of others words and ideas rather than a responder... (source unknown)

My Prayer For You

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, co that you may live pure and blameless lives.

______________________________________________________

The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell.

It goes beyond the highest star

And reaches to the lowest hell.

The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

God gave His Son to win;

His erring child He reconciled

And pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure—

The saints’ and angels’ song.

When hoary time shall pass away,

And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall;

When men who here refuse to pray,

On rocks and hills and mountains call;

God’s love, so sure, shall still endure,

All measureless and strong;

Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—

The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made;

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.

_______________

Based on readings from the following:

1 John 4:10 - 11

Philippians 1:9 -10

Template

2017-04-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

Striking Down Jesus:

Proverbs 4 NLT

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Photo Credits:
Forlorn Hope by Jim Surcamp, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

Scattered Sheep by paidetres, all rights reserved @ flickr.com

"Who stands under God's judgment today?"

2017-01-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

And I ask, "Who stands under God's judgment today?"

Survey Says Fewer Christians Pray for Refugees

"Only 41 percent say that they are willing to pray for refugees, versus only 19 percent of committed Christians have actually prayed for them." http://buff.ly/2kdAYNh

I dread to think how many fail to pray for the conversion of Muslims to God's Grace.

And yet the so-called "Christian" world is being overrun by people who wish to eradicate faith in Jesus Christ.

Be careful what you fail to pray.

Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which spitefully use you.

Then your reward will be great.

Luke 6:27-35

Photo Credits:
War Refugees by John Felix MacKey, all rights reserved @flickr.com
Refugees by Peter Frank, all rights reserved @flickr.com
06_07_07_G6Y9001 by Zoriah, all rights reserved @flickr.com

The Lord is a Jealous God, Filled with Vengeance and Rage

2017-01-18T00:00:00.000-06:00

Minor Prophets Speak To Today

He Continues To Rage Against His Enemies!

Nahum 1:1-3 NLT

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The Lord is a jealous God,

filled with vengeance and rage.

He takes revenge on all who oppose him

and continues to rage against his enemies!

The Lord is slow to get angry, but his power is great,

and he never lets the guilty go unpunished.

He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm.

The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet.

____________________________________________________________

Well, now, that is certainly not a politically correct thing to say. That does not meet the standards of the modern scholars and their view of what is real or right. In fact preach that today from a national forum and you will quickly be browbeaten and shamed into retracting your words.

Is it is any wonder that so many scholars, even ones who claim the names 'Christian' or Jewish are hell bent to claim these are words from the past to the past and do not apply in our world today.

But the premise of this blog has been and continues to be that these words are the very ones I Corinthians 10:6, 11 call us to heed as
warnings to ourselves in the last days.

The historical situation and happenings in Nahum's day are recorded so that we might escape God's vengeance and rage both as unbelievers in the world and as God's chosen people.

This message concerning Nineveh came as a vision to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh.

It does not matter if your name is Donald Trump, Barrack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Benjamin Netanyahu, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or Vladimir Putin.

It does not matter that under grace God is patient and not willing that any should perish.

It does not matter what a person's background is.

It does not matter if he is Wayne M. Anson.

God works against those who oppose him even as he works to draw them to himself and offers to save us from his own vengeance and rage.
-

"Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: 'So that he may be proved right when he speaks and prevail when he judges.'"

Romans 3:4 NIV

Photo Credits:

Storm comin" by thompsons gazelle, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA ... by Bill Strain, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

Light at the end of the tunnel by Alejo, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

Do Not Get Sidetracked

2017-01-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

Ponder The Path Of Your Feet

Proverbs 4:26-27 NLT

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Mark out a straight path for your feet;

Stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked;
Keep your feet from following evil.

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Marking out a straight path is not an easy thing.
Nor does this passage give you license
to create your own way.
(Agh, again, God's way is not what we
Americans teach.)
Ponder the path of your feet
is another way to translate
the word 'mark'.

Ponder and mark out
when combined into one word
lead to fulfilling this life pathway.

And note -
The straight path
is the safe path.
To get sidetracked is to
wander headlong into
danger.

To leave the path
is to walk away unprotected
in your folly.

Ponder the straight path.
It is the safe path.
But, sorry, you will not be
carried down the path,
you must walk in it.

Still, you are not left to chance.
You are not left to flawed human judgment.
Following the path is not
a twisted fate,
left for you to live in fear
for your safety.

In pondering,
marking out what is revealed,
you are not alone.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,
"This is the way; walk in it."

New International Version
Isaiah 30:21

Don’t get sidetracked!
Follow the voice.

Photo Credits:
Listen Composite: listen by Dheepak Ra some rights reserved @ flickr.com
listen by Robyn Jay some rights reserved @ flickr.com
pondering by Heather some rights reserved @ flickr.com.
listen by Ky some rights reserved @flickr.com

The Dark Side of Talking with Your Friends

2017-01-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

Words That Bring You Down

Proverbs 4:24-25 NLT

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Avoid all perverse talk;

stay away from corrupt speech.

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Photo Credits:
Words by TRF_Mr_Hyde, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

Determining the Course of Your Life

2016-11-23T00:00:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

Heart Matters

Proverbs4:23NLT

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Guard your heart above all else

for it determines the course of your life.

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Let's Clarify The Language - What Does "the Heart" Mean:

"The Old Testament psychology differs from our popular allocation of certain faculties to bodily organs. We use head and heart, roughly speaking, as being respectively the seats of thought and of emotion. But the Old Testament locates in the heart the center of personal being. It is not merely the home of the affections, but the seat of will and moral purpose.

"To the Hebrew thinkers, the heart was the indivisible, central unity which manifested itself in the whole of the outward life. ‘As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.’ And that personal center has a moral character which comes to light in, and gives unity and character to, all his deeds." (Alexander MacLaren)

Out of the Heart:

The scripture makes a contrary point and makes it often. Jesus makes that point a cornerstone of our understanding of humanity.

It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. Mark 7:20-22 NLT:

Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness and by the worries of this life. Luke 21:34 NLT

It is not the evil outside that we guard against. Such is the thinking of a man and woman. Such is the erroneous teaching of many leaders and people in the Church.

The danger does not primarily lie in the outside coming in. The danger lies in what is inside coming out. Such is the nature of the fallen heart with which we are born.

Then Woe is Me for I Am Undone:

If the evil I do comes from the core of my being, not the pressures and peers in my life, what am I do? Even scripture says the heart is exceedingly wicked. So what can I do? For who can change his heart even by his own will. Who can recreate a new core? Can I create in me a new moral character?

Awe, this is why the New Testament message is not one of just salvation from the wrong we do and have done. The message is "be transformed."

Transformation does not occur when we are forgiven. Forgiveness is not heart surgery. Heart transformation does not even occur when we change directions ('repent' means to turn and go a different way). Transformation is a creative act of God. As we walk and talk with him by the Spirit which lives within us, only then can we become a new creation.

For it is not just I guarding my heart. No, Christ has brought a new order, a new opportunity to empower us to guard our hearts against the wickedness that tries to escape our core.

And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. 1 Peter 1:5 NLT

Like the disciples, let us cry out for increased faith. For faith is not a once and over event. It secures us for living if we live in it day by day.

Yes, There is Hope for Today, Hope for a Guarded Way

God is not only protecting us. God is not merely kicking aside the rotting pieces of heart as we shed them. God, also, is watching, recognizing our faith, renewing, and rewarding us.

Like in the past, when the hearts of the people had brought judgment and earthly terror into their lives and into the deteriorating, dying world which was their country. God is watching us. God is waiting for the change of heart he has made possible within.

In our day, as it was in the day of Shemaiah, may it be recorded;

When the Lord saw their change of heart, he gave this message: “Since the people have humbled themselves, I will not completely destroy them and will soon give them some relief. I will no longer use their enemies to pour out my anger on them. 2 Chronicles 12:7 NLT (revised)

Present Your Hearts for the New Circumcision Needed Today!

Don’t forget that you used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. Ephesians 2:11 NLT

Guard your heart above all else

for it determines the course of your life.

Photo Credits:
Wild by Jeff Power, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

Words That Bring Healing To The Whole Body

2016-11-16T00:00:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

Let My Words Penetrate Deep Into Your Heart

20 My child, pay attention to what I say.
    Listen carefully to my words.
21 Don’t lose sight of them.
    Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
22 for they bring life to those who find them,
    and healing to their whole body.

Proverbs 4:20-22New Living Translation (NLT)

___________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

LISTEN!

Seems we have heard the first three or four lines of this passage before. And we have several times in this passage - Proverbs.

Listen!

Seems that has become a missing art in the plethora of words that make up our society and the recent American presidential season.

Listen!

The demand of massive crowds of people whose chosen candidate did not win. The need of injured souls, dead hopes, traumatized emotion. Please just listen!

Listen!

The need of a vile even violent fringe of the winner's supporters who take a majorities angst against the status quo establishment as an endorsement of their evil, racist, misogynistic clan and kindred sinners among who are too many who name the name of Christ and thereby defile his truth.

Listen Children!

To the real and active words of the present, not the made up future of your fears and rage. Not the rhetoric of victory. Not the lies of manipulative institutions and dark glasses media.

Listen!

Then listen to the wisdom of the wise that transcends culture and LISTEN, with your mouth shut and your minds quieted so you can hear, to the voice of the Spirit of God who alone knows what he has allowed and why.

Let these words of Wisdom penetrate deep into your heart, like we have been supposed to do all along but have failed to pursue, to value, to let mark and shape our lives, our outward physical living.

for they bring life to those who find them,
and healing to their whole body

Have you ever sought healing from this source?

Photo Credits:
Listen by Ky, some rights reserved @ flickr.com
heart by skyler817, some rights reserved @ flickr.com
Pondering man by Spyros Papaspyropoulos, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

Why They Can't Live And Let Live

2016-11-09T00:00:00.001-06:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

Because They Can't Sleep

Proverbs 4:16-19 NLT

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TWO STARK CONTRASTS

Two distinct worldviews

Which describes your living,

your church?

Which will you chose?

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Proverbs 4:16-19New Living Translation (NLT)

16 For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day.
They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble.
17 They eat the food of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence!

18 The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.
19 But the way of the wicked is like total darkness.
They have no idea what they are stumbling over.

Photo Credits:
Day fourty-six by Lina F, all rights reserved @ flickr.com

ying yang by franny lane, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

Don't Even Think About It!

2016-11-02T00:00:00.001-05:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

Don't Even Think About It

Proverbs 4:14-15 NLT

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Proverbs 4:14-15(NLT)

Don’t do as the wicked do,

and don’t follow the path of evildoers.

Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way.

Turn away and keep moving.

____________________________________________________________

In a society where morality no longer has an accepted definition and what God calls evil is championed as the source of happiness, self-fulfillment, and the norm, this proverb is not as easy to follow as, on the surface, it sounds like.

Don’t do as the wicked do:

Certainly, for a vast majority of our people, in all our cultures, in our churches, it is hard to identify what around them is wicked. Oh, I know, we can usually list off some basics: murder, stealing... Oh, wait. That's about as far as we can go!

Even then what is murder?

Easy you say, "The taking of a life."

But wait, "When is physical being a life?"

Now, it gets tricky. Is an unborn baby - a physical being - a life or not. At what point of development does it qualify as life. Or, if it is killed after being partially born, does that not equal "taking a life"? Or murder.

Oh, but that's a political controversy or the court has already decided. Does shifting an evil into the realm of politics keep it from being defined as evil? It seems like it in a lot of areas most much less controversial than abortion.

Well, stealing is easier to agree on: taking what does not belong to you and treating it as your own to do as you wish.

Oh, wait, that too gets tricky.

When a banker takes what belongs to another person, often a person poorer than himself, and keeps it and pursues an unjust financial gain at the expense of that person (financial gain is alway a shift of income from one person or entity to the other) is it no longer greed? Does it no longer qualify as injustice? We all are taught to run hard after wealth and power? Does that make dedicating our life to personal gain and to possessing power a good rather than the pitfall of evil God calls it?

Don't do as the wicked do. As - not what. That throws in what the wicked value. It throws in the system by which the wicked execute their evil. It comes down to acting like the wicked. Looking like the wicked. Having the same motivations as the wicked do.

Who, reading this, has laid any or all of this, their culture and their own minds, and their mindsets and presuppositions before God and asked him to show you what is evil in your mind, your way of living, and your business dealings? What is 'doing as the wicked do"?

Do not let culture and social pressure become your God.

Don’t follow the path of evildoers

Don’t even think about it

Don’t go that way

* * * * * *

Turn away and keep moving

Now these phrases are pretty straight forward.

Photo Credits:

Up at Ayder by Charles Roffey, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

The Key to Life

2016-10-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

A Bold Claim

____________________________________________________________

My child, listen to me and do as I say,

and you will have a long, good life.11

I will teach you wisdom’s ways
and lead you in straight paths.

When you walk, you won’t be held back;

when you run, you won’t stumble.

13
Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go.

Guard them, for they are the key to life.

Proverbs 4:10-13 New Living Translation

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DO AS I SAY!!

With the ascendance of psychology and its claim of parental failure as the root of most of life's negative actions, parents are taught to believe they cannot prevent causing a dysfunction in their children's adult lives.

So edited for modern Christian parenting's belief system these verses would read:

"Listen to me and do what I say! "

Yes, that is exactly where too much parenting stops.

Who would dare say, "If you do, you will have a long good life"? Change comes too fast to guarantee a child or teen that. Right? Besides you might be wrong.

Add to that the Lord's claim that teaching "do this" and "do that" leads to stumbling, falling backward, and being destroyed (see Isa. 28:13 NIV) and modern Christian parenting dares not say, "If you do, you will have a long good life," unless they don't mind lying to their children and fulfilling the prophecy of psychology that parental failure is the cause of most dysfunctions in their adult children's lives.

And if the parent adds, "Do as I say, not as I do," well it doesn't take a psychologist to recognize what will happen.

NOTE: I am not anti-psychology. I trained in psychology and in counseling. There is much we can learn about the order of God's creation in man from these sciences, imprecise as they are.

I WILL TEACH YOU WISDOM'S WAYS.

Aw... Now here is the missing piece. Here is the only basis of saying, "Listen to me and do as I say and you will have a long, good life."

But I need to remind you, and myself, that there are two kinds of wisdom, the wisdom that comes from human thoughts (a created but fallen part of human creation) and wisdom that comes from above (which scripture says is freely given to believers).

Let me remind you it is the wisdom that comes from above, not the do's and don'ts, that leads a child, and we adults, in straight paths. Nothing else can. There is no set of rules that can duplicate the life lead by wisdom from God.

But, of course, we will not teach that wisdom if we ourselves do not follow it, do not even know what it is. We will not teach God's wisdom if we do not trust it (we prefer the Old Law). This lack of trust is what leads to so many semi-believers remaining forever babies who need milk and are unable to digest words of wisdom. It is this lack of trust that leads us to teach the do's and don'ts and other false wisdom.

- - - - -

Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

What does a wise parent teach children?

To Trust In The Lord

Therein is the

Key to Life

Take hold of my instructions; don't let them go.

Guard them, for they are the key to life.

Photo Credits:
Flying Eagle by Tim Hester, copyrighted @ Dreamstime.com
House door key and house key chain by Milic Djurovic, all rights reserved @ Dreamstime.com

Wisdom Will Be A Crown Of Life To You

2016-09-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

“Who is wise and understanding among you?

By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom”

(James 3:13)

She Will Place A Wreath On Your Head

Proverbs 4:7-9 NLT

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Develop Good Judgment

Wisdom and good judgement are married like heads and tails on a coin. You can't have one without the other.

But again that begs the question, "What is wisdom?" Clearly, it is something so missing in American culture that without a dictionary most of us are not able to provide an answer, not even one that will satisfy ourselves let alone our listeners. We are thrown back on the dictionary so here we go:

Simple Definition of wisdom

(note it takes all three of these statements to define wisdom)

· : knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life

· : the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand

· : knowledge of what is proper or reasonable : good sense or judgment

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wisdom

With the Hebrew use of couplets in the proverbs, one could argue that the first two lines of Proverbs 4:7 equate wisdom and good judgment. I'll leave that to the linguists and biblical scholars. But again it is clear you can't have one without cultivating the other.

Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!

And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.

At the risk of being mentally beaten by the biblical purists -I am one myself- I want to again quote from a secular source, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. His words may help us understand why in our culture we have such a hard time defining wisdom and even practicing good judgment.

For decades our definition of "smart" was tied to academic knowledge. But there is a big disconnect between what universities teach and what the real world of work demands, and individuals with high IQ can sometimes do stupid things.

Then came the notion of emotional intelligence, or EQ, which highlights the importance of social and political skills in all areas of life. Although EQ is enormously important, there is more to intelligence than social skills. Indeed, you can have great people-skills but make the wrong decisions in life, and several of the most exceptional achievers have been considered interpersonally dysfunctional and antisocial: Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Ellison are just a few examples.

So what is it, then, that smart people do right? What qualities do they have that set them apart from the rest?

Mostly, they make better decisions, especially when it really matters...

Although there is no universal formula for making better decisions, good judgment is key.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3038060/3-ways-to-improve-your-personal-judgement

In other words, what we consider to be the basis of being "smart" has undermined our knowledge and experience of wisdom. What we designate as intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ) and our American thinking that turns everything into two opposing choices (ie. it's either IQ or EQ that is the basis of being smart) undermines the exercise of good judgment.

Our pedestaling of "smart people" has made knowledge a beginning and end in itself rather than the precursor of understanding and then of wisdom (good judgment). We have elevated academic knowledge over experience to the point that even in science we insist our intellectual theories are true regardless of the experiential evidence. We have elevated granting of degrees to a place where, for most recipients, they no longer have enough work related value to sustain life.This elevating of head knowledge over experience has bled over into how we make spiritual judgments as well.

As much as I hate to say it, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic's three ways to improve judgment mirror the words of Proverbs and other scriptures. There is wisdom wrapped up in them and if you are going to seek wisdom and develop good judgment, you would do well to ponder them until God grants you understanding and wisdom.

RECOGNIZE YOUR DEFAULT BIASES
ACCEPT YOUR MISTAKES
LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE

Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!

Whatever else you do, develop good judgment.

If you prize wisdom, she will make you great.

Embrace her, and she will honor you.

She will place a lovely wreath on your head;

she will present you with a beautiful crown.”

“The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason,

full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere”

(James 3:17).

What a lovely picture - life based on wisdom.

Get wisdom. It is the wisest thing you can do!

Photo Credits:
Victor's Crown @ betteroffreas.com, some rights may be reserved

Floral Head Wreath by Maggi Polk, all rights reserved @ flickr.com

Take my words to heart: Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

2016-09-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

Take my words to heart

Proverbs 4:4-6 NLT

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Proverbs 4:4-6(NLT)

My father taught me,“Take my words to heart.

Follow my commands, and you will live

Get wisdom; develop good judgment.

Don’t forget my words or turn away from them.

Don’t turn your back on wisdom,

for she will protect you.

Love her, and she will guard you.

____________________________________________________________

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL

Here is wisdom known within the secular world, Christianity and most religions. It is a key to the future or a lack of it.

It can be found in God's recorded words from the beginning down to all faithful teaching of His scriptures today.

Though the lessons taught today

are often recklessly chosen resulting in the original

wisdom in this proverb becoming lost
by our human interpretations

and line selections.

Deuteronomy 4:10 NLT - Never forget the day when you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai, where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’

Deuteronomy 11:19 NLT - Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up

Psalm 34:11 NLT - Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord

Psalm 78:5-6 NLT - For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children.

Isaiah 54:13 NLT - I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace.

I have pastored or befriended Christian fathers who never taught their children anything about faith and biblical wisdom. Even those who were good at interacting with their children seldom taught the wisdom of God though some taught the "do's and don'ts" that we saw last week bring destruction rather than wisdom.

I had one Christian father, a leader in his church, who told me that he knew God directed fathers to teach the children but he had delegated that responsibility to his wife. He could not see that such an arrangement placed himself above God and God's clear instructions. I doubt he ever saw the religious teaching he delegated as a matter of laying aside God's wisdom and abdicating the needed father role in a believer's home.

Women, especially mothers, indeed are also to teach their children in ways that lead to understanding and wisdom. That does not happen when teaching stops at the do and don't performance level of religiosity. And this critical role of the mother (even stepmother) does not replace the father' role.

This becomes clear when watching children as they start to choose their own religious ways or lack of them. For example, the majority of children who have a father in the home that does not gather with believers to worship, most often demonstrated by not attending church, produce children who when older do not gather with believers or attend church. The teaching of the father by example in a majority of cases becomes the wisdom or foolishness the children embrace.

However, the opposite is less often true. Children living in a home with a bitter mother but an engaged Christian father most often follow the wisdom of the father not the example of the mother. Of course in the individual cases, nothing is this simple except that children who are taught faith and religion that stops at the do and do not stage fall backward, are injured (most often in the home itself), and too often destroyed.

I have seen the opposite as well. Men and women who have set despicable examples, turn to God and seek his wisdom (not his rules only) then turn to teach their children - young or adult and not some legalism but instructions that lead to the understanding that begets wisdom - and thereby save two or three generations who follow their example in teaching children.

The how of teaching, the correct goal of teaching -which is understanding not blind obedience- is the key. That is the key the writer of this Proverb and the God he sought to follow teach in this passage.

May we stop twisting it.

HOW THEN SHALL WE LIVE OUT THIS PROVERB

First, by taking God Our Father's words to heart, following his commands, learning wisdom, developing good judgment, then remembering the Father's words (something Solomon failed to do in his old age), keeping them in sight, and never turning our backs on wisdom.

We must stop taking this proverb as a carte blanc or an excuse to teach from our human culture or desires. We must stop thinking we know what is best. Stop teaching a do and do not relationship to religion and God.

I have known so many, many Christian parents who expected their children to grow into blind obedience of their (the parent's) words right up to and through the teen and young adult years when by creation children must make their own choices based on their own understandings.

Having not taught the understanding behind the "rules" of the faith, they had nothing to embrace and no wisdom with which to face the transition from childhood to maturity. Some have never matured - neither mentally, socially, nor in faith.

Second, we must teach words that target the heart not the head and mind. We must teach in a way the calls children to understanding, that draws a child's heart, that provides them the opportunity to develop good judgment, not just physical obedience.

We must teach and model wisdom. This is difficult in our society where we struggle to define wisdom let alone find many examples of it. Our peer-driven society is so opposite to a society seeking to increase in wisdom. The displacing of philosophy as a needed subject demonstrates how far we have come to abandoned wisdom - even human wisdom.

Third, we must stop making the foolishness of youth the idol that represents the best of a person's life. We must stop seeing living in the continuing ways of the foolishness of youth as the greatest fulfillment an individual can have.

Yes, I have heard that we need to follow the youth taught and preached even in the churches, especially in the conservative churches.

Youth's energy we need. Their fresh approaches can help us maintain a balance and escape legalism and dead works. Their ability to pursue knowledge and enjoy learning can remind us that true wisdom dictates the continued accumulation of knowledge and of delighting in learning versus believing we have come to know all that is necessary. The latter is a particular sin of the churches.

But we must not follow youth's foolishness for wisdom never comes as a fruit of being young. It must be sought and learned. It grows from experience, which youth has not yet accumulated, and from the development of good judgment the lack of which is the Achilles heel, the attribute which youth every generation does not yet have. Every generation of youth demonstrates this lack.

When will we make the development of independent good judgment and wisdom the heart of our teaching? When we do, our youth will be prepared to weather the transition to sexual maturity, adult responsibility, and spiritual strength.

Unfortunately, we have concentrated on do and do not teachings, which produces the exact opposite and on head knowledge without understanding. We have demonstrated the lack of good judgment. We have not sought nor found wisdom. We have turned our backs on wisdom's very existence. And so we and our children no longer are protected. Wisdom is not longer loved or regarded. And thus, we are unguarded in the Christian way.

May God help us!

"Get wisdom; develop good judgment.

Don’t forget my words or turn away from them.

Don’t turn your back on wisdom,

for she will protect you.

Love her, and she will guard you."

Photo Credits:
Beauty Among Thorns by Wayne Anson, inquire about rights

Sean Teaches His Son Peace by Justin Davis, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

2016-09-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 4 Speaks To Today

Do Not Grow Weary

Proverbs 4:1-3 NLT

____________________________________________________________

My children, listen when your father corrects you.
Pay attention and learn good judgment,
for I am giving you good guidance.
Don’t turn away from my instructions.
For I, too, was once my father’s son,
tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.

____________________________________________________________

A Life Worth Living:

Life does not just happen - leastwise a life that is worth living. Life must be pursued by gaining knowledge of what is good, what is healthy, what is wise. But, knowledge does not make life good, or healthy, or even wise. For wisdom is not only knowledge applied, but knowledge rightly applied.

Learning from your mistakes may get you there, but is an exercise in foolishness and wasted time and living. Learning from your stubborn headed desire to only learn through mistakes in most cases fails to get there - fails to find or embrace wisdom.

A Needed Understanding:

This passage also makes no sense if humans and the good life is just the accident of evolution and therefore, today's good life is simply a struggle for the new better way to mutate upon us. But, that is a very different reality that needs to be addressed.

A child tenderly loved by a mother, whether an only child or one of many, still has much to learn. This is the core of this proverb.

But also at the core of this proverb is the need for sons, daughters too, to learn the exercise of good judgement even if they grow to maturity in a solid, godly, even god-fearing home.

However, a solid, godly, even god-fearing home is not a prerequisite to learning how to live.(see the NOTE below.)

How is a wise life learned? How can it be found and embraced? Where does it receive the best foundation? From what is learned and experienced in childhood.

A Foundation for Wise Living:

Before we proceed, let me remind you that an ideal is being presented here. A way of learning that some find easy, but most, at some time in growing to adulthood, find hard.

There is no allowance here for the "their just kids" culture of youth today. In fact at church, in our homes, we may do well to teach our children these proverbs rather that most of the biblical content that youth teaching centers on today. Our teaching rule-on-rule, line-upon-line has produced just what God told us would happen, our children fall backwards, are injured, snarred, and captured. (Isaiah 28:13 NIV)

The surveys tell us what our eyes have seen, the children to whom we have taught Bible stories and rules for living have become the youth who leave the faith. The progression is heartbreaking. First, they fall backwards. Then they are injured. Sometimes by us. Sometimes by others. In their pain, despair, anger, or pure pursuit of the forbidden, they are snarred by the ways of the world, and, may God be grieved, captured by the evil one just as warned. (Colossians 2:8 NLT; 2 Timothy 2:26 NLT)

The Proverbial Steps:

Listen when your father corrects you.

Pay attention and learn good judgment,

when I am giving you good guidance.

Don’t turn away from my instructions.

For I, too, was once my father’s son
(I too had to learn these truths)

- - - - - - * - - - - - -

NOTE: Generally the author of this portion of the Book of Proverbs is recognized to be Solomon. For those who know his life, this causes some concern. For Solomon, despite his seeming righteous beginning and his gift of wisdom from God, in his later years departed from both, received a curse, and worshipped other God's including Moloch to whom children were sacrificed or at very least cut and passed through flames of fire.

Given our American judgementalism, we ask, "How can a man such as this be a source of wisdom to wish upon our children?"

Of course, the question is flawed and so is the presumption behind it. A fallen life does not mean nothing was redeemable before the fall. Equally, walking away from wisdom does not mean a person never had or even no longer has wisdom. Walking away is grievous. Living as unwise is a foolish waste of life. Departing from the ways of the Lord is perhaps the most grievous sin and most audacious flaunting of God possible.

But we error when we believe what went before is to be thrown out because of what came later just as we error when we believe what came before means nothing good can be accepted today. If that were so, not one of us can be saved. No one is transformed. Jesus was a flop. And, as to the evil after God-given good, free will is disabled by grace.

And so it is that we must address the dearth of wisdom among the males of America today, its absence, even rejection as unmanly, in many of our subcultures, and therefore the qualification or disqualification of the words of young fathers and even the middle-aged and aged fathers among us.

When the current life of a father is fractious, unwise, and he is teaching his son to emulate that life, then little wisdom is imparted. Maybe it would be better to say, the wisdom that is given, remains corraled by the unwise actions, words, beliefs, and habits being modeled and all too often directly taught.

Still, I am often amazed by the wisdom that rough men, cursed and cursing men, speak to their children. I have known men to discredit godly living but teach their children compassion, the fragility of love, the need to do no direct harm. From observing their lives and listening to their words, I would never have thought that those tidbits of wisdom had ever entered their minds.

Likewise, I am amazed at what ungodly men who have spent a lifetime throwing off the chains of righteousness or the restraints that God calls his children to embrace teach their children about God and Christ, even the Holy Spirit. What they teach about moral living and the value of people who show more restraint than themselves.

Are these words of wisdom to be rejected because of the lives of the fathers? Will these words of caution fail to help a child develop a life free of the losses and abuses of the fathers' lives? Are godly words of wisdom invalidated because of the vessel that bears them?

Oh, I acknowledge the horror of the examples. I weep over the lifestyles that surround the children. But, I have a God that invented wisdom, who is wisdom, and that living seed within the failed fathers' words of wisdom, because the seed is divine, will still produce a wise life if embraced and followed, especially if further enabled by God.

Each new American generation from World War I until the teen and young adult fathers of today has amassed a greater and greater percentage of men who live by immature, faulty ideas and ideals of manhood. They vomit their lifestyles upon the earth and burn themselves out pursuing an ideal that destroys themselves, their children, and often their families.

Some learn and come to reason out the need to change. Some, exhausted, sink into a calmer life but feel forever like failures (if they still believe the ideals) or fools (if experience has taught them their folly). A precious few, like King David, Solomon's father who blatantly sinned in impregnating Solomon's mother, learn wisdom from their failed lives and teach their sons and grandsons wisdom's ways.

Photo Credits:
Do Not Grow Weary by Chase Greene, some rights reserved @ flickr.com
Father & Son by Martin Gommel, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

The Day of the Lord -

2016-08-17T00:01:00.001-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

No More Trading Jesus:

Zechariah 14:20-21 NLT

____________________________________________________________

20 On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: Holy to the lord. And the cooking pots in the Temple of theLord will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar. 21 In fact, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. All who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices. And on that day there will no longer be traders[a] in the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

____________________________________________________________

We may not know on a practical level how
the things listed in these verses
will look.

BUT

THIS WE KNOW:

The City of Jerusalem Will Be Unique:

You may say the Jerusalem is unique today. But why be a merchandiser of words or cantankerous. The uniqueness in the Day of the Lord will be of a measure of holy unrelated to the reality of today. Everything in Jerusalem, in that day, will be holy unto the Lord or more plainly spoken to rid the meaning of the baggage of superstition, everything in Jerusalem will be dedicated to the service of the Lord whose throne will be there and whose Holy Spirit will sanctify all things, persons or material.

The business of Jerusalem, and I do not mean in the sense of the buying and selling of merchandise of things, services, or ideas but every act and thought, will be the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ on his earthly throne.

Every person to enter the city will be there to worship him and while there their every act and purpose will be an act and thought of worship. Nothing else will be possible for the holiness of the Lord will be so pure that even those who come with a divided heart or evil thought will be caught up into worship at his unfathomable presence. So caught up that during their sojourn in the city they will be unable to think evil, do evil, or keep their heart divided. For among other things the workers of evil and their lord Satan will not be able to work on any human, creature, or material thing in the pure holy presence of Jesus.

Now tell me again that the uniqueness of Jerusalem today can even touch on the meaning of God's words of prophecy here and repent of the evil and arrogance in your heart.

Jesus Will No Longer Be For Sale:

Those who sit and observe Christians today and then read the Gospels are often put off by the actions, words, deeds, and omissions of the organizations and people who call themselves Christians.

The extravagant wealth of tele-evangelists, gospel teachers, and many Christian writers clearly smacks of using Jesus as a piece of merchandise. This sale of "Christian" merchandise and services is big business raking in billions of dollar a year around the globe. The journey to Jerusalem plus the programing, items and experiences for sale there are big businesses wrapped in a sense of awe and crafted emotions.

But, in the Day of the Lord, no one will make money off of Jesus. No one will get rich selling trips, and trinkets, or supposed articles of worship. In the whole earth, no imitator will be able to weigh scripture and the gospel in the balances of deceit so prevalent among the merchadisers who trade in Jesus today. No false teachers will be able to make merchandise of the souls of men as they do today. No traffickers or merchants of "Jesus" will be left unpunished. They will be removed.

Jesus Will Not Be For Sale.

Photo Credits:
Jerusalem by Irena & Libor, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

The Day of the Lord - But Not The End Of The World

2016-08-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

Struck Down By Jesus:

Zechariah 14:16-19-21 NLT

____________________________________________________________

As we have looked, we have seen that the Day of Lord ushers in two things:

____________________________________________________________

A Time of Destruction:

War, destruction. Counter war, destruction. Conquest, plague. How can anyone but the Christ and those who return in the air with him survive?

Yet they do!

For scripture says, "Those who survive will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King..."

Jerusalem will take the place of Mecca. Jerusalem will take the place of Rome. Jerusalem will take the place of New York City, and Hong Kong, and Beijing, and any other place where people worship the idols of commerce, comfort, and the false religions.

For Jerusalem will be the dwelling of the Conquering Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ and the seat of his one world government.

The Lordship of Christ Over the Whole Earth:

The world does not become one nation, but Christ's lordship is exercised over all the earth.

We know this because not only do those who survive the plague come to Jerusalem once each year, but the nations of the world will come, representatives of the nations will come to worship His Majesty and acknowledge his governance.

This will be a time of peace because Jesus will rule all nations with an Iron Will and the outworking of his power over all creation.

So - - - if any nation decides not to come to Jerusalem as instructed (disobedience will still reign in the hearts of men and of nations) that nation will be punished.

The most common punishment will be to be humbled by severe famine. To be made to depend upon God's governance to eat, to drink, to eke out survival itself. It will not depend on how mighty they are. It will not depend on what great resources they have. It will not depend on the glory they hold in the eyes of their citizens or other men and countries.

They will be humbled until their rebellion against the Lord's governance and rule are broken and the people again subjugated.

There will be peace, but it will come at a price.

* * * * *

Any nation in the world that refuses to come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will have no rain.

If the people of Egypt refuse to attend the festival, the Lord will punish them with the same plague that he sends on the other nations who refuse to go.

Egypt and the other nations will all be punished if they don’t go to celebrate the Festival of Shelters.

The Festival celebrating God's provisions and promises.

The Feast of the Kingdom of God.

Photo Credits:
Hiroshima @www.dailymail.co.uk, maybe copyrighted.
Image from page 118 of "The national standard squab book" (1908) by Internet Book Archive Images, public domain

Stricken By The Lord!

2016-08-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

Stricken By The Lord

Zechariah 14:12-15 NLT

____________________________________________________________

Zechariah 14:12-15New Living Translation (NLT)

12 And the Lord will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 On that day they will be terrified, stricken by theLord with great panic. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand.14 Judah, too, will be fighting at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the neighboring nations will be captured—great quantities of gold and silver and fine clothing. 15 This same plague will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in the enemy camps.

____________________________________________________________

The Price of Fighting Against Jerusalem

Who are these nations that fought against Jerusalem and ushered in the Day of the Lord for their insolence?

This passage describes them as all the nations round about Israel. The map may help you define who they would be if this happened in the near future.

The scripture does not speak of alliances that might draw in other nations. Perhaps in their arrogance they decide they do not need any alliance. After all the scripture earlier says they have gone mad with blood thirst. And mad nations usually think themselves more powerful than they are.

But what if this is referring to the Muslim nations that surround the present Israel/Jerusalem? Could it be they have become deluded by centuries of uncritically accepted teachings to believe that they are God's appointed warriors? That they alone are on the Lord's side? This prophecy would indicate they will after initial conquest of Jerusalem celebrate in victory only to be struck by the terrible plague of this passage.

A Terrifying Plague

By anyone's standards, the plague described in this passage shocks and horrifies.

"Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths."

When I read about Hiroshima after the atomic bomb exploded upon them, I thought of this passage. The first responders found soldiers with their eyes melted in their sockets. People were found with their skin burned and hanging from them.

But this plague sounds worse than that. This plague sounds worse than the result of the most horrifying chemical weapons of World War I or the napalm burned little girl running away from a Vietnamese village.

I have read about some pretty scary stuff related to biological weapons research.

Will this be a nuclear plague unleashed? Will it be a biological plague with quick and devastating effects? Will it be a chemical or biochemical ravaging of the bodies? We don't know. Though all of these remind us that this plague sounds more possible in our day than centuries ago in Zechariah's day.

Has Satan fanned our fascination with the "walking dead" as preparation to mute our response to the victims of this plague? Has he fanned such a great hatred of Muslim people and nations so that our hard hearts will not care? Will not comprehend the human tragedy of this plague so that the world looking on is blinded to the root cause, the root lesson - it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God?

We do not know!

But this we do know - the victims will look like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets. Their tongues will rot in their mouths.

The People Will Turn Upon Each Other

The people whose nations have taught incorrect teachings about the One and Only True God and His Son Jesus Christ, even the people of Israel and Jerusalem who still do not accept him, will respond to the plague with terror. And as happens so often in the presence of terror, they will panic. Not only will they have the normal human reaction of panic, but they will be stricken by God with a great panic. An outsized panic.

In panic, they will turn on each other. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand. It will be a mighty brawl consuming the inhabitants of the nations who originally attacked Jerusalem and even the unbelievers among the Israelites and Jews themselves. From the farthest borders of the farthest nation to the people near or within Jerusalem these false believers will take out their terror and panic on one another.

An All Inclusive Plague

The plague will not only cause the people to rot it will also cause all the living creatures in the land to rot. Even the engines of war will rot. Let there be no one deceived - this is the hand of God!

Photo Credits:
The Big Tree - Texas Coast by wayne anson, all rights reserved, private collection
map of the middle east by AN, all rights reserved @ flickr.com
The Walking Dead Wallpaper by Leonardox silva all rights reserved @ flickr.com

The Day of the Lord - Day 2c - One World Order

2016-07-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

The Mountains Will Become A Plain:

Zechariah 14:9-11 NLT

____________________________________________________________

And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.

___________________________________________________________

An Unspoken Truth

There will be one Lord - but it does not say all people and nations will accept his lordship. There will be one name worshiped, but it does not say there will be no opposition.

It seems to be a joint belief of Muslims and Christians that when the Lord returns to earth the whole world will accept their belief and those who do not will be punished severely or destroyed. Somebody, some religion will be greatly disappointed.

For those who believe the recorded prophecies of Jesus and his claim to be the only begotten son of God, the Lord who returns refers to Christ himself. We, therefore, believe that those among the Muslims who reject the Sonship of Christ will be dreadfully cast into a turmoil as these Old Testament Prophecies come true.

And here is the unspoken truth, one which we will see borne out in the remainder of Zechariah and in the great rebellion against Christ which will be raised many years after the fulfillment of the current passage.

The Lord alone will be worshiped, but not all will worship him. Many while compliant will still reject his Lordship. The day will come when they stop complying with his kingship and seek to destroy him.

An Interesting Modern View of The Worlds Reaction to Christ's Lordship

In the Revelation, John sees Christ and he says:

12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

The Christ who returns will not look the pictures on our walls and in our churches. He will be brilliant and have his new body. All who come with him will have bodies like his and a brightness of their own.

Some people today think that all the talk about extraterrestrials is Satan preparing the world to see Jesus and interpret him to be an alien and all of us who are transformed as part of his alien race. Coming in the clouds with a grand entrance will be seen as an alien invasion of the planet. Taking Lordship and Kingship will be the conquest of the human species.

And so, as portrayed in the movies, a day will come when we humans rise up to overthrow the extraterrestrials and take back the planet for ourselves.

Now, I do not believe that to be a prophecy of God. However, it does illustrate how the understandings of people in the early church probably did not fit the reality of what Christ and his followers return will look like. Likewise, our visualization these events, and His Lordship and Kingship also most likely will not fit the coming reality either.

This reminds us that prophecy is not given so that we will know the full details of what will come to pass. Prophecy is given so that as these things are coming to pass we will remember God's words and recognize what is happening.

One World Government

Among American evangelicals, there is a great fear of terms "one world government."

I do not understand why.

When Jesus returns he will establish a one world government. This is a huge part of our great hope. We need to grasp these words and make them refer to this passage in Zechariah.

Of course, that will make us suspect to those who think they are creating a new world order, but have no place in it for the historical Jesus returning to rule. These foolish humans believe they, not God, will usher in this great era of peace.

Let us use this understanding of prophecy to remind our fellow earthly citizens that we humans do not have the power to create a united world or bring peace. This should be fairly easy to do if we become students of the past and students of the present.

Human one world orders always fail. There is no
example of those who sought to create them even coming close without producing some form of tyranny and authoritarianism. Some kind of haves and have nots. Some form of intolerance and even destruction of those who oppose their ideas. We are not gods nor did we create God. The seeds of these necessary evils are clearly visible in the words and actions of those who believe they are on the cusp of ushering in the era of one world government and unity.

Look at the two present American Presidential Candidates. Each has their own view of creating a new world order. Both, if you listen, are already setting up an us/them dichotomy. Their 'us' believes it must get rid of the 'thems' who stand in their way.

True, scripture predicts a powerful, false one world government which will organize and seek to impose itself upon the whole earth. It even predicts that their power will be exercised by controlling the world's economy.

Scripture also predicts that they will not succeed.
I suppose what makes us fearful is that this false government will try to destroy all the Christians who will not accept their ideas and systems. It will be a terrible time for us and others who oppose this beast of human making and power.

But, God himself steps in and destroys these pretenders. His care of his children plus the poor and oppressed is never compromised. He has sent us the prophecy of this beast to encourage us. He has sent us the prophecy of this beast to remind us that nothing can separate us from Him. He has sent us the prophecy of this evil one world order to remind us to be prepared to trust only in him. He did not send it so that we can plan a way to escape of be captured by fear so far in advance. The false world order will test the faith of many and they will be found to not actually trust God.

If your faith is so weak that now, before the beast consolidates its power, you are already afraid and you work against God to assure that this precursor to heaven is stopped or delayed, then you already do not trust God. You are already working against him and his prophecy.

But --

One world government - what are you afraid of. It is our great hope and even the evil one world government means our great hope is very near. Our Christ is already king over all.

An Amazing Capitol City

The king will set up his rulership in Jerusalem and his kingdom will never end.

I do not know if the Jerusalem at this point in Zechariah is an existing earthly Jerusalem or the New Jerusalem come down to earth and occupying the place of the old and present Jerusalem.
(A New Jerusalem would sure feed the thought of an alien invasion.)

But this we do know!

The mountains among which Jerusalem is now nestled will disappear. Apparently, the mountain upon which Jerusalem sits will also be removed and a great plain will replace all of the mountains in an area roughly the size of the Old Testament Judah.

Will it be by major earthquakes or the movement of tectonic plates?
Will be the mountains flee in the presence of the descending New Jerusalem?
Again we do not know.

But it will be an amazing sight.
It will catch the whole world's attention.

And Jerusalem will then be lifted up and returned to its elevated position above the plain.
Perhaps the valley highway Christ provides to let the inhabitants of Jerusalem escape will define the elevation of the plain and become the main highway by which the city can be entered. Who knows.

Whatever happens,
Jerusalem, the capitol of Jesus kingdom
will be physically awesome!

A Point Of Security

Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never again to be cursed and destroyed. vs.11
The plain will encircle Jerusalem making its defense easier.
It will provide a fertile area capable of feeding the city.
It will be awesome.
A point of Security!
Bring on the aliens
and traitors.

Photo Credits:
Alien by Angel Ortega, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

The New Jerusalem @ awildernessvoice.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/new-jerusalem.jpg

The Day of the Lord - Day 2b, Streams of Living Water

2016-07-20T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

____________________________________________________________

On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean, flowing continuously in both summer and winter.

____________________________________________________________

What Is This Living Water?

Zechariah 14:8 NLT

____________________________________________________________

Too Many Interpretations

When there are many interpretations, it is time to not accept any of them as authoritative. One may be what God means. Several may be what God means for different times and different circumstances.

We know that streams of living water flowing from Jerusalem or the temple are spoken of in reference to this world but also in reference to heaven, but that does not weed out the crowd. We know that Jesus speaks of streams of living waters and the Gospel writers say at that time and in that speech Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit which had not yet come. But other passages do not lend themselves uniformly to that meaning.

Here are some of the interpretations of Zechariah 14:8.

the quickening, saving truths of the gospel, with all its ordinances in purity
the church of Christ
exceeding great and large shall be that outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the saints
the progress of the gospel, beginning from Jerusalem
perennial streams flowing from Jerusalem both to the East and to the West shall irrigate and fertilise the land
a figure of the spiritual blessings and graces bestowed by God upon his Church

Undoubtedly other interpretations can be found. Likewise each interpretation on the list comes in many different forms.

We clearly do not know what these rivers of life are nor even how they impart life. But, then again, we do not need to choose between them. Some prophecy, says scripture, is given so that when the event it refers begins to come to pass we will recall the scripture and recognize the fulfillment.

As much as I love the image of streams of living water, as much as I have experienced God when meditating on the living water, I must choose to wait till God reveals the truth. The Spirit does not let me be fully content with any of the interpretations to date.

But This We Do Know

And this brings us comfort.

These streams will water and refresh, enlighten, renew, and cheer. They will flow perpetually, without intermission. These waters shall never dry up, be obstructed in their course, or lose their healing, fructifying, and refreshing virtue.

Oh, Heavenly Father, bring them on. Hasten that day of fulfillment. I long to experience these waters fresh, pure, and perennial.

And thank you, Father, that neither shall the gospel and means of grace, nor the graces of the Spirit wrought in the hearts of believers by those means, ever fail, by reason either of the heat of persecution, or storms of temptation, or the blasts of any other affliction.

AMEN!

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Photo Credits:
Humber Bridge by John O'Sullivan, some rights reserved @ flickr.com

The Day of the Lord Day 2a - The Sun and Moon Will No Longer Rule

2016-07-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

The Day of the Lord Day 2a

Jesus: The Light of The World

Zechariah 14:5-7 NLT

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Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. You will flee through this valley, for it will reach across to Azal. Yes, you will flee as you did from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.

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Then the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.

After God provides a way for the people left in Jerusalem to flee to safety through a new valley on dry ground, our great hope will come: Jesus will return and all his holy ones with him.

Some will be the saints and prophets who have died before. Some will be people alive at this return who have been caught up to be with him and the other holy ones as he returns.

It is not revealed here how physically this juxtaposes with his standing on the Mount of Olives causing it to split in half. We can only speculate that if the mountain split in half beneath him, he lifted up off the mountain until the great flight of people has finished.

This transition we do not know. But this we do know:

On that day the sources of light will no longer shine.

The words used in this statement are no longer clear in the Hebrew. No surprise. The prophecy itself declares that how the state of continuous day occurs only the Lord knows.

We do not know if the sources of light will disappear or just be so diminished by the presence of Christ that on that day there will be continuous day. It sounds like the words of other prophets and the words declared by Jesus.

Isaiah 24:23

Then the glory of the moon will

wane, and the brightness of the sun will fade, for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion. He will rule in great glory in Jerusalem, in the sight of all the leaders of his people.

Isaiah 60:19

“No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

Joel 3:15

The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars
will no longer shine.

Matthew 24:29

“Immediately after the anguish of those
days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

But this we do know. This the Lord has revealed:

There will be no normal day and night,

for at evening time it will still be light.

Photo Credits:
Featured Contributor from Welcomia by confidential @ dreamstime.com
Second Coming of Christ @ fountainoflife.com
Sky Sun Stars Moon by Julija Sergeeva @ dreamstime.com
White by Dominique Cappronnier some rights reserved @ flickr.com

The Day of The Lord - Day 2

2016-07-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

The Day of the Lord - Day 2

Jesus Steps Foot On The Earth

The Lord Will Rule the Earth

Zechariah 14:3-5 NLT

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Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations,

as he has fought in times past.

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As in Times Past - -

In the times past, the Lord went out to fight the nations. Egypt he fought by ten plagues and the parting of the sea. Jericho on the plains of the Jordan he knocked down walls. Held still the sun and the moon so that the Amorites and their liege brothers could fall in battle. The Philistines he fought with thunder. God caused the descendants of Lot, and the descendants of the sons of Ishmael to fight against each other until not one man of their combined armies was left standing.

The Assyrians the Lord killed by sending an angel to destroy the King's generals, commanders, and soldiers leaving him to return home in shame to be killed by his own sons. Though the Lord used the Babylonians to carry Israel into captivity, by stealth he brought the armies of Persia to dam the river and destroy the city and its mammoth kingdom.

Before the Babylonians, God used the unbounded cruelty of Ninevites, to plague, then capture, then carry away the ten tribes of Israel.That disbursement has never been undone, leaving the genetic tests of today to testify to the intermingling of their blood in the bloodlines of widely scattered nationalities in Europe and Asia. In his time the Lord also destroyed the Persian Empire using yet another conqueror.

By many means, the Lord indeed has in times before fought against the very nations who will gather to take and plunder Jerusalem in the first day of the Day of the Lord. And He will go out to fight against those nations as he fought in times past.

But This Time Will Be Different - -

Israel and her allies will not lead the fight. Israel and her allies will not initiate the fight. Israel will have lost the fight before the Lord intervenes.

This time the Lord, Jesus the Christ, will step from heaven onto the Mount of Olives from which years ago he left the earth. The Christ will put his feet on the garden he so loved and often visited.

This time the Lord will not be invisible. He will not be using thunder and lightening, other angels, other nations, any of his past means to fight the nations. He will step once more into the physical history of the earth and personally fight those nations who have believed lies about him and plundered the believers. May the Lord have mercy on the soles of those who have believed lies about him.

Deliverance on Dry Ground - -

Then the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. You will flee through this valley, for it will reach across to Azal.

The Lord will make a way where there is no other way. When he delivered his people from Eygpt, the Lord sent them fleeing between walls of water on dry ground. When he delivers the people this time, he will send them fleeing between walls of earth and rock on dry ground.

The Lord will step down upon the Mount of Olives and a new valley will open as the mountain splits in half creating a wide new avenue through which the people can escape, a valley that reaches all the way to Azal.

Now we do not know where Azal is, but the reach will be enough to protect and deliver the people. It will be far enough for safety from the great flattening of the Mountains of Israel which will come next.

In the beginning, the nations win, God's children appear to lose!

But God Steps In!

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Watch, for the day of the Lord is coming!

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The Day of the Lord is Coming: Day 1

2016-06-29T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

The Day of the Lord is Coming: Day 1

When your possessions will be plundered right in front of you!:

Zechariah 14:7-9 NLT

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Watch, for the day of the Lord is coming!

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The Lord Will Rule the Earth

Isn't that what we anticipate with joy? Isn't that what we believe The Day of the Lord means?

And, yes, that is true.

But that day will be like no other day, It's opening volley is not the total rule of the earth by the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are reasons that scripture, especially the Prophets and Jesus, call that day:

The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord

In Zachariah, before God describes Jesus literal ruler-ship over all of the earth, he starts with a shocker, a dreadful set of events which will fall upon the prostituting Israel - old and new.

And he strikes first at that god that so grips our modern era.

Your possessions will be plundered. They will be gone through by people who wish you ill intent. They will be carried away by whoever can grab them first - the first who want that thing in you possession. Nothing will be left except the garbage and even that will be carried away by the poor and destitute.

The objects of your pride and joy. The gods for whom you have primarily poured out your labor. Your mark of selfishness. Your badge of standing and "success". This god called possessions will be taken from you by the God whom you claimed to serve.

You Jerusalem Will Be Fully Conscious

You will - with eyes wide open - standby and watch this plundering and looting of your house and all the other houses. Given the electronic speeds of the news, the whole world will watch along with you.

We will watch as God gathers the nations to fight against Jerusalem! We will watch while the city falls nearly intact, certainly in shock that it has been taken over so swiftly and completely.

We will watch the houses being looted. We and the male inhabitants of Jerusalem will watch as the women of the city are being raped. And we are talking about modern women, women in the garb and make up of today. Women that look like our own mothers and daughters and sisters.

We will watch in wonder that the Lord has not stepped in to stop these terrors.

We will watch as half of the population of the city are rounded up and marched away - though in Zechariah we are not told where they will be taken. But the cameras will follow as the half of the population disappear over the horizons.

Neither the Cameras Nor the Captors Will Stay

All the capturing armies, all the looters and plunderers, will wreak their havoc and walk away. All the cameras and news coverage will also leave. Only the other half of the population will be left in the city. Left among the ruins.

Now, it may be that the captors leave the city but surround it to be sure the people cannot leave. It maybe that they cut off all supply and assistance. This God has not revealed, at least in this place.

But it maybe, that as the plunder and captives disappear over the hills, the Lord of Heaven will immediately step forward and take the city for himself. For the picture of what comes next defies imagination, but results will be:

The Lord Will Rule the Earth

Photo Credits:
The Why : MEDITATION ON THE DESTRUCTION OF ALEPPO, HOMS AND THE SYRIAN URBAN CENTRES - The Why @ www.thewhy.com

The One Third Left Behind

2016-06-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

I Want To Be In The One Third Left Behind

Zechariah 13:7-9 NLT

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“But one-third will be left in the land.
9 I will bring that group through the fire
    and make them pure.
I will refine them like silver
    and purify them like gold.
They will call on my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

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Death, Death, Death . . .

We grow tired of the topic of death and destruction that God speaks of through the prophets. For modern people especially, the prominence of these passages becomes an excuse to turn away from God. Or maybe, more accurately, for not accepting God.

"How can I believe in a god who destroys and is always talking about death? How can that god be God? God is love."

Not that the questions, merged with the quote from God himself, have a logical connection. But they have a strong empathic connection in the minds of humans who judge God by their own minds and emotions, by human wisdom and wishes. If God is God, who are we the created beings to judge him. We struggle to even have concept of him.

Death Is Not The Message Here . . .

The message here is that God will purge away all that is impure. It is his right and in his divine character to do so. God will purge away all that is impure--that message is nowhere clearer than in Zechariah 13:9.

I know we humans think we are pretty special. In fact, God thinks we are special. We are special because God made us special. No matter how you believe God brought homo sapiens into being, at some point he did something to man that he has not done to any other creature. After forming him from the ground, God breathed into the human his own divine breathe making homo sapiens living souls. No other animal or plant life, no other life form received the personal breathe of God. They were merely created and were alive.

Given the free will that that breathe carried with it, man was given the power to upset and destroy all the rest of creation. And we did. We continue to do so. We are the greatest threat to life and non-life on this planet and we keep proving that day after day.

And so, ever since the first disruption, God has been in the business of bringing man back to the purity he had at the homo sapiens' creation. Purity of body. Purity of purpose. Purity of mind. Purity of relationship to God.

The One Third Left In The Land . . .

Two-thirds of the inhabitants of the "land" will be cut off and die.

What a trauma that will be for the one-third left. Heartbreak, lost love ones and friends, the terror of seeing God's children getting cut off, dying. That can not be easy. Perhaps, the one-third will wonder if they will be next. The scripture does not say anything about the one-third being removed, being shielded, being coddled or even divinely protected from the terrors of that day or the day of falling away.

The one-third will care deeply about the people called God's. They will weep at the great falling away, the scattering, the shattering, the cutting off. It will test their own faith to its limits. It will test their concepts and beliefs about God. They may even question God's wisdom or whether it is Satan rather than God orchestrating the events.

No, there is no promise anywhere in scripture that the one-third, even under grace, will not suffer and be trembling in mind, body, and soul.

But, when it is over, when they are now the ones left, for them the purging and purify is not over. This is truly the case of when it's over, it's not over.

God says of the one-third. . .

I will bring that group through the fire

and make them pure.

I will refine them like silver

and purify them like gold.

Passing through the fire of purification is not all hallelujahs, and praise the Lords.

Silver is refined by skimming off the dross. The things that do not belong. The things that cloud the finish and leave the silver corrupt. The fire melts the silver making the dross visible and ready for the refiner to skim off. That separation is not easy, not a process that leaves the silver unmoved but scrapes the very silver itself.

Once the refining removes the dross from the one-third, and their lives, another step occurs - the purifying like gold.

Gold is purified by heating to the point the impurities are burned away. Only their heart of faith and trust in God will remain. Only their surety that God loves them and is working for their good will sustain them.

But sustain them it will. For they will call upon the Lord affirming, "The Lord is our God." And the Lord will say, "These are my people!"

Actually, outwardly, first the Lord will say, "These are my people!" and the people will respond, "The Lord is our God." Like a round, God will speak and the people will answer. The Lord will speak and the people will respond. And all the earth, whether pro or against God will know these are God's people and who it is that is their God.

The world may continue to reject their God. The nations may turn to plotting against him directly. But they will know who it is that they are rebelling against. And it will be clear who is rebelling and who is on the Lord's side.

I Want To Be In The One Third Left Behind

Photo Credits:
Christmas Gold Blinking Background ID 22081819 copyright Sabbotina @ dreamstime.com
Chrome stars on red ID 240734 copyright Mike_keiv @ dreamstime.com

I Will Turn Against The Lambs

2016-06-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Minor Prophets Speak To Today

Are You Willing To Stand Among The One-Third That Will Be Left

Zechariah 13:7-9 NLT

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I Will Turn Against The Lambs

7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
    the man who is my partner,”
    says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Strike down the shepherd,
    and the sheep will be scattered,
    and I will turn against the lambs.
8 Two-thirds of the people in the land
    will be cut off and die,” says the Lord.
    “But one-third will be left in the land.
9 I will bring that group through the fire
    and make them pure.
I will refine them like silver
    and purify them like gold.
They will call on my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

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I Will Turn Against The Lambs

What a haunting statement.

I didn't say it, God did.

And no matter when you believe it was, will be, or was and will be fulfilled. It, according to the New Testament, is written as a warning to those of us upon whom the period of grace has come.

Further disturbing, Jesus quotes the prior verses saying he is the Shepherd and leave open the reality that his lambs, regardless of the flock they are in, can expect the same kind of treatment at the hands of the Lord.

Two-Thirds of the People Will Be Cut Off And Die

Is the land referred to the Israel of Jesus' day?

Is it his followers in the Kingdom on earth?

Is it the present or a future Israel?

Does 'the land' refer to the whole earth and thus God's lambs throughout the earth?

I am not here to tell you which. I am not here to take the place of the Holy Spirit in telling you the who and thus whether you are part of the who and the potential two-thirds who will be cut off and die.

We know God purges those who say they are his people. We know he cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit.

We know that the disobedient receive discipline even, if he knows it is necessary, severe discipline in this life.

We know God makes an example of some individuals as a call to seriousness to the rest. Think Ananias and Saphira.

And, we know, God rescues many, who are too weak to stand the coming test, by their physical death.