LivingMeditation

Knowledge without conceptual understanding is folly, knowledge and understanding of mechanical concepts are dangerous in the hands without wisdom. Having knowledge, understanding and wisdom without relationship leads to arrogance; all to say any knowledge that is apart from the grace, guidance, patience love and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Left to our own, these things become weapons in the hands of someone who speaks out of turn to the things that divide truth from lies. If I were to come to the things of Yahweh himself, Jesus Christ, or the word in my own state of being without fear of misrepresentation or allowance to chance of manipulation then I would be a bad servant to the Kingdom of God. In speculation we do not sin if we admit to what we do not know however speak to what we do. All things in Christ have been revealed in his word. Respectively in time to come until this plane of existence passes away, or perhaps better spoken this age. There is no new revelation to the word of God that is not searchable within his word. From guidance of the Holy Spirit all biblical truth has been kept both being passed on by both corrupted and justified men despite all attempts to add to or subtract from the breathed word of God.

Philippians 4:8 NKJV
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things.

Meditation is a concept understood to many as clearing of the mind as a ritualistic exercise to focus on spiritual things. Everyone has a differing level of ability to exercise this concept both in focused seclusion without distractions at rest and in motion. Perhaps both a blessing within God’s will and a curse without as all people meditate intentionally or not. I have been blessed to have known both people who are better tuned both inside and outside of the grace of God who are both more tuned into spiritual things. Perhaps healthy defense, I do not say anxiety, of oneself should be exercised in complete respect when approaching true or corrupted spiritual understanding. Without being well equipped with the salvation of Christ, filled and fulfilled with the Holy Spirit, well guarded by a fathers wise commandments, and a double edge sword of truth in hand at all times, one can be led away; by anxiety, pride, love of self, spirits looking to acquire and devour the weak and defenseless of the flock that strays. Yes, Jesus is a relentless Shepard. Leaving none of his flock behind however we only know we are his when we are following him, and there are many who enjoy our company without committing to him. We only know he is with us when we are being corrected, that are able and willing to listen. If someone has no feeling of sadness or a dwindling voice within themself to come back then they have no assurance that they have truly known God as he truly is, committing themselves to a relationship, not anymore than recipients of the crumbs without sanctification. There is no true salvation in utterance of a prayer not built on a foundation of faith, which is why many who come to large churches admonishing only saying a prayer can enter into the kingdom of God as a failsafe life insurance policy. If there is no foundation for faith with relationship, then a prayer in itself only leaves our father in heaven unsatisfied as he is with meaningless sacrifices of animal offerings. He will call you a wicked servant, as a employer who fires an employee that does not even what is asked,God will cast you away from his kingdom because you never entered, you never endured.

Meditation itself is a beautiful thing I have been blessed with. Being able to always be allowed to tune myself either to spiritual conversations within myself or pure theology. Knowledge only given to those who seek, understood by those who humble themselves, saturated by those who fully commit themselves to seeking out Gods perfection, forsaking the calling of the dead flesh; a living spirit calls home until resurrection and being caught up into our spiritual form we dwell in old wineskins. We must in the morning meditate, thinking, wrestling, not leaving until given the blessing of the flesh being crippled so that we can withstand; not falling to temptation in our daily lives. Not leaving this internal state of meditation except when talking to others which in itself should become the second form of meditation through speech.Steering old dead conversations to living communion whether with believers in agreement or to those who are willing to listen or inspect our way of being to see whether it is worthy of consideration. The third mode of meditation is communal worship together with others because we need to know that regardless of how well, how often, we engage in meditation with God or on the things of God, we step away from meditation of some form less and less every time. Through affirmation of the spiritual truths placed within you by the word of God, Together learning that we have the ability to return to become better into it through persistent offerings of time, company and mindfulness. Such things lead to greater faith that produce sure and accepted works in ourselves and in others because we are no longer working from the flesh, we are constantly living a spiritual state of meditation and working from the spirit and where Satan has no chance to draw us away.

The dark side of meditation is apart from Yahweh’s gift of salvation, all creation being aware of his works of design either in observations in nature or written in their heart, deviated willingly from his design and unwillingly. I caution anyone away from accepting nor giving denial of the truth that we are born into the sin we are born into without understanding and wisdom from above. Since the beginning all accepted truth has become corrupt. If I were to give example in design of a artificial intelligence, I would say we are perfectly designed to function properly, however the designing manufacturer can not be blamed for the mess created by the corrupted product. The flaws can be fixed with a updated patch until the new hardware is replaced by the superior designed machine. That is to say we were offered a gift of being reformatted, therefore we can neither complain when the machine becomes dangerous and must be discarded because of its own intelligence that chose not to be fixed nor try to justify acting like we have not too been corrupted, contending like we are still one who has not been patched, nor can we deny the intelligence given to the those who have never accepted the patch. We can speak to what they know, present the errors and do as the creator does give grace to those who self destruct to themselves and not take others with them before their appointed time….

The world in this age knows what meditation is, the world acknowledges the design, it sees the errors. The only difference is in the meditation, constant absorption of time, focus and energy. The meditation becomes worship not on the creator, but the one who help corrupt it to the spiritual in false rituals and repetition. Sexual pleasure for both the spiritual attuned and devoid of any need for worship except for self worth, achievement and pride in self. The ones who are still living in the same state as those who deny having errors but are aware are always more devastating to those who are faithful to the design, accepted reprogramming. I would rather set and talk with a practicing Wiccan in their ignorance searching for spiritual things and willing to listen to truth than a self righteous pseudo intellectual religious person taking Gods name in vein to his deathbed despite the warnings. However, it would not be profitable over time to keep companies with either too long; if neither yield to truth they will remove your spiritual shine. Leading to recorruption of a once cleaned spirit. One given to Christ will always return, however scarred and only Christ knows who is going to be faithful until the end, thus why we must not neglect salvation nor despise reproach giving opportunity to stumble our walk. Grace and a pure spirit from a sound mind must always exercised whether showing a meek spirit or bold truth undefiled by arrogance nor false humility which is fear of being offensive when needed to be to define or correct sin before it consumes.

In all things meditation on truth will keep us to the end.

Life laid to rest

Matthew 5:4 KJVS
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

When man first fell to sin, he never knew the death he would endure. The day you taste of the fruit of the tree you shall die. Nor did he understand the bitter seperation he would taste from his fellow man. The sting of death can be felt from the cradle to our resting grave.

It is strikingly fast when it comes, how quickly it is to take. Painfully it becomes seeing those we love die both quickly and slowly at the same time. In our youth we bind ourselves to those we love. Our parents, our siblings, our friends, our spouses. Death to me seems not to simply be at the end of your life. Death begins with every sin we commit towards one another.

Not all sins are as big as others. They creep up to separate us, to slowly kill us until one day we are dead. Perhaps not physically but spiritually dead to each other. Mentally exhausted from our own desires we carry. Desires of what we believe we should be entitled to.

I have come to believe, since witnessing the pain of dying and the grief of those I love pained by death around me. Death is in itself a wake up call. A reminder. Not always are we blessed to say goodbye. When we do it is never enough. We then try to condense a lifetime of companionship into a small amount of time as not to inconvenience our lives. Yes life continues on. However I believe that we miss something… I believe that we miss the lessons that death teaches us.

We ask of God how he can allow us to suffer. Eventually moving on; pushing the question towards the back of our mind. Either quietly accepting that question is not answerable or bitter from it not being answered. Perhaps there are only two conclusions to such a question. Bitterness or grace. Bitterness of death, towards our creator…. Or acknowledgment of the grace that is being awakened to the knowing of what love is and awareness of the pain that death, physically or spiritually brings. Perhaps death is its own grace in our human condition; so that we can break free from the cycle of hurting one another while we live. The realization of a living dead life. Going through the motions. Separating ourselves further from each other day by day. Month by month. Year by year.

I further ask myself why must we be allowed suffering? Why must death be so painful. Perhaps we are such a hard headed creation that it takes great pain to awaken us from our slumbering trance that we pretend to call life. Could it be that Christ himself did not have to suffer such a vehement beating to pay for our sins? Could it be that he could have quickly been wrongly executed for our sins to atone for our sins? Forgone the beatings? The humiliation? The hanging on the cross? Perhaps Christ’s sacrifice would have not have held the same gravitas that it did. His own mother watching as he hung there forsaken as a theif or a murderer.

What do I propose to all of this? But that for all of the negative comments. For all of the lack of time for one another. The arguments. The pain of death while still alive. Perhaps freewill to love and death as a reminder of how much we can love each other is perhaps grace that God gives us. We are a hard headed creation with much propensity for love and hate towards one another. I believe that life is a gift to realize love, while death is gift to remember it. Sometimes death comes too quickly to find reconsolidation as it does for many. When death does announce itself I believe it is grace to atone with one another. When it does not come soon enough it is a reminder of cost of sin itself. Perhaps if it was beautiful and poetic we could fall quicker into sins seperation again worse than before.

The hardest part of forgiveness lies with in the heart of the living when the dead have given their forgiveness and have passed on. We are left with the decision to accept that forgiveness and sin no more among our brothers and sisters or continue in seperation until the day we pass from this life.

Matthew 6:12-13 ESV
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Hopefully cynical

cyn·i·cal
/ˈsinək(ə)l/
adjective
1.
believing that people are motivated by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity.
“her cynical attitude”

hope·ful
/ˈhōpfəl/
adjective
feeling or inspiring optimism about a future event.
“a hopeful sign”

To change the world, your own, or on a higher scale. I think that one must find serenity between opposing mental enemies. Good, bad, ugly. We wouldn’t need saving if we weren’t hopelessly lost. There wouldn’t be a point in trying if there wasn’t something worth saving, or at least able to be saved. Christianity, at least pure christianity, faith, love, hope is a dichotomy of cynicism and hope. One can not be effective until you have found yourself on the same level of worthless as the person you think is the most worthless. Until you reach this level of understanding you can not plausibly surrender to God’s command to love your neighbor as yourself. You can not fathom loving your enemy to pray for their welfare. Perhaps, this is why Jesus wrestled hardest with the spiritually dead conservatives of his time. Yeah, he wrestled with liberals of his day, but not as much. Self-righteousness is harder to remove from someone than it is to teach someone who perhaps is not trying to avoid sin. It is easier to show someone who is ignorant of their sin than someone who believes they have not sinned. The truth is that those who feel the weight of their sin, are closer to redemption than those who have followed the letter of the law, physically or at least as much outwardly as the flesh would allow.

Satan does his best work within the church. When the church is united in Christ, there is no place for him. If we are students of history, healthy cynicism says that he plants his deceit in the same congregations as believers. I believe that there is two reasons God allows this. One, he doesn’t need cynicism, he knows the hearts of men and chooses to allow it to be played out. He knows who will prevail, who won’t. God knows what kind of person we are. He knows what heard mentalities do to faith. He needs for us to be able to look at history to see who people are, so that perhaps we will repent of continuing the same sins as those who came before us.

If one is not cynical of one’s self then he becomes cynical of everyone else, and there is no hope. If honest cynicism begins with one’s self, ones family, ones loved ones, those whom they prefer to trust on the things that one has been told to accept is right. You can find hope in holding up ones own world to the fire of truth. If one is humble, truth will burn away the lies. What is left can grow like a forest regrows new and stronger than before. The problem is that we have been taught that if you question perceived truth, then you will surely go astray. If you go to the world to find truth, this is the truest outcome. However if you examine your world, the truths you have been told, the truths you have believed to be truth. You need to have a central definitive truth to examine it to. For me, whether your pastor says it. Your denomination says it. Family says it. If it’s not true to the word of God, it’s not true. That said, when examined to the word of God and given conviction by the Holy Spirit, regardless of how uncomfortable you can not go back to calling it truth no more uncomfortable those in your life make you for the truth.

In example, pre tribulation theology, which has no scriptural basis apart from taking scripture out of context and philosophical views as a pretense for why one does not believe God would put the church through the tribulation. Not to mention that there is no theological history to it until the 19th century. It is important to distinguish between the two positions because either you will be preparing to be taken away secretly, or purposely prepared in mind and spirit to endure to the end as Christ himself admonished us to. I believe that we need to firmly grounded in faith so that we do not become deceived as Paul warned us many would be. Now, I do not believe that one’s beliefs on pre tribulation or post tribulation theology, matters for salvation. However I do believe that it is a tool that has created division more so than it should. It shows how emotional reasoning based on ones surroundings can separate us from each other. Which is the point of why I write, not to talk on the divisive theology, but the point that we are divided.

What of those spiritual principalities? The ones we wrestle with? What are they up to with in the church? Division. Hostility. Anxiety. Complacency. Entitlement. Judgmental self-righteousness. If a church has works they hand the church pride. If the church has stability, they fatten it up into complacency. If there is love, they court the church into division by the lusts and anxieties of the flesh. They show us what we are able to lose if we concede that we are not entitled to being in control. They threaten our liberties, and play to our vanities. A church in my opinion has always been stronger when it is not in accordance with the government under which it lives. Those who are more concerned with keeping control of worldly status, are afraid of losing control, and are ineffective in spreading the gospel or working together in brotherly love towards each other and towards his neighbor. That said there is a place in government that has been used despite the dangers of hypocrisy to spread the gospel, to spread good will around the world. To me it’s no more expression of satisfaction or condemnation from God whether a country prospers based on their faith as a whole or lack thereof. Just because you carry God’s name and prosper doesn’t mean that you know him. Wicked people exist regardless. They continue, and God will continue to use them to further the gospel. Just because you suffer doesn’t mean that you are fallen from grace, in fact suffering causes the strengthening of faith. It is to you to ask God to show you who you are and where you stand with him. It is also important to not follow the crowd.

Lately I’ve been harping on racism, civil rights, and social inequality lately, which is not the point of this post but is a great example of the necessity for it. I think that history is not so far removed from our present. I think that the pride, arrogance, and idolization of a better time in America, still exists as it did for those reminiscent of the the antebellum south after the the civil war. Make america great again? Certainly arrogance does not make a nation great nor does wealth. Perhaps we should not have marveled at how wealthy we were as a nation once upon a time but ponder how great God is and how we have been used greatly despite how wicked our nation has acted in God’s name. Looking at the good we’ve done as a nation does not excuse the evil we have done as a nation. It may not be as pronounced now; certainly people are not slaves anymore. However systems that were put in place after the civil war; along with the denial of those systems having evolved or staying in place shows how christianity as a whole can be corruptible within certain churches to the point of needing reviving or walked away from altogether. The laws may have changed, but the principalities that were influencing the church, keeping slavery legal and christians who followed the bible as the Pharisees who once followed the Torah, prideful in themselves; those principalities are alive and well today. Showing the unbelievers the hypocrisy within the church. Leading christians within the church into prideful thinking that at least they don’t partake in those things the unbelievers do or thing that other churches allowed.  Causing weak christians to walk away because they had no foundation to speak of. Principalities that  bring anxiety that they are going to lose their “christian” country.

However on the flip side of the coin despite all adversity and hypocrisy, faith with in another part of the church was born. Those who were enslaved. Those who had faith despite not enjoying all of the liberties of freedom. Those who were crying out to God for freedom from American oppression, which has slowly come but still we see the hypocrisy within the system that is perpetuated to this day and ignored, or admonished as right and good with in the church. I would be wrong to say a good enough part of the church opposed the wrongs to make changes but this is the example history shows to us. Yes the laws changed but the mindsets didn’t. People still believe that they are better than one another, those with authority exercise their authority with this mindset.

Now we either can accept or deny racial inequalities are happening today; while we may not have participated in creating a system which has helped ourselves, our parents and grandparents directly or indirectly(who were alive in the 60s civil rights) and hurt minorities. If we continue to say that centuries of systems of historical oppression placed on black people whether slavery, Jim crow laws, officers of the law and government agencies particularly operating to control predominantly black neighborhoods, 50 years is three living generations. That’s 50 years of learning to be civilized racists, whitewashed racism. I don’t believe in generational curses, however I do believe that parents pass down prejudices and children act out those prejudices regardless of laws. Those in authority, police forces particularly, are taught to act superiorly by previous generations. How do you think that they will act?

Calling evil good and good evil. Which is is absolutely what the right side political minded christians rightfully say the left does. As far as morally the left indulges in, while doing it themselves in equal but different ways. Because the right has indulged in calling evil good, racial inequality, greed, capitalism to the point that people are enslaved to underpaying jobs. Creating laws that created the largest prison population in the world based largely on the drug choice such as marijuana, which was hypocrisy as alcohol stayed the legal choice because “people drink to be happy and smoke to get high”, yet the biggest reason that it was illegal was because Nixon hated Jews. Especially Jewish psychiatrist. Then again, those who claim to follow Christ were never called to legislate morality. God already did that. That failed, and perhaps the point was for it to fail. Man can not live morally right apart from God according to God. Everytime religion has come to power whether a Catholicism or some protestant state sponsored, results were killing each other over it. American solution was freedom of religion, yet not freedom for everyone.

Which to me, people choose sin in whatever form, one of the sins we as a free democratic nation indulged in is creating laws that criminalize behavior that we personally see to be “sinful” yet indulged in other equally questionably sinful behaviors based on prejudice. That in my opinion is why God is giving this nation into its fears as he did with Israel. I believe that is far worse to misrepresent God to the world than to not believe and be apart from God.

Changing gears, as I’ve made my point to history on the stubborn nature of people and my reasoning for skepticism on mainstreaming christianity. Just because a lot of believers believe something is right or wrong, doesn’t make it right or wrong. People are extremely hard headed. People follow emotion over truth. Whether it’s historically accurate recording, or personal interpretation (perhaps bad reading comprehension) of the bible. I could have simply said what I am about to say, but people in general are willfully ignorant, hard headed and arrogant. Whether it’s racism, condemnation to hell for musical taste, hairstyles, eating pork, getting tattoos.

I do not offer all of this to damage faith, or judge, but shine a light on darkness. We are trying to contend with fleshly advisories in a spiritual war. We as a nation contend for our rights. We contend with each other for who’s right when we are both wrong. We contend more for our right to bear arms to protect our selves than we contend for feeding people or making sure we all have what is needed. I’m not saying it’s wrong to own a gun. I am saying that if you personally know someone one who can ask his dad to call down legions of angels, and you are scared of going out before your time because some democrats going to take your guns, perhaps its time to examine what you believe. Again I do believe that there is stronger and weaker faith. We need to examine that and do something about this before we go out don’t you think?

What do the principalities that we should be contending with gain from all of this? It causes christianity which is particularly called to be salt to become flavourless. Whether you are talking about hypocrisy, endless theological debates, miss treatment of your neighbor. It inoculates people from hearing truth. It pushes people into becoming ineffective in there faith. Causes people to find reasons to hate their enemies. Doesn’t matter whether it’s national media agendas, unconfirmed and unreliable conspiracy theories that fit your narrative on YouTube, political narrative. We are continually bombarded with truth and lies all day long. Is it real, is it not. Is it this, is it not. They said this or they did not. Do masks work or not… Are they trying to kill us with vaccines or is the government appointed by God and keeping us safe?

Personally, this is all I know that God is in control. That is what I know. I know regardless of political choice, the whole system is fallen people carrying out a fallen system. What I don’t know is what’s in people’s hearts. I know that neither the man of perdition has been revealed; nor are the vaccines are on the right hand or forehead. I know that as with all medicine it can be useful and/or harmful. I know that God allows physicians knowledge, I know Satan corrupts knowledge. I know that in Christ whether you are vaccinated or not, he is bigger than either. Which is in itself one more thing principalities are going to use to separate us from one another. Whether you believe that vaccines will magically make you something other than human or cause you to take the mark. Thus repeating the lie Satan told people about black people not being equal to white people, thus not only making slavery in America stay but caused it to be worse than most recorded history. We judged the Egyptians for their part biblically, yet a Christian country said hold my beer. America said at least we weren’t Hitler. Yet how many lives, were taken. Families torn apart, lives lost in transit, beatings, malnutrition, lynchings, rapings. Look at the longevity. You are only as worthless as the one whom you consider to be the most worthless.

I know that I’ve written a very long list of reasons for cynicism, however that is not what I want to leave on. Honest cynicism is a tool for sobriety. Perhaps a reflection of a mirror on reality. Truth is God the father. He has a plan. One that is amazing and more awesome than we can fathom. Do I believe that we are destined for better days? Perhaps a full return to normal life? Are we going to see the best America that we can? Absolutely not. I told you. I am cynical. However my hope is in God. As worthless as I am he knows me. I believe that when he sends his son all will be made right. I believe that for all of my own failings, one day he will make all things new. I know that for all of the things that I have pointed to as wrong, makes me no better than those who committed them. Truth be told it is only by God’s light on the world that worse has not been committed. If it wasn’t for his light in the world we all are capable of the same if not worse. That is the hope. If with the light that he has left us with has kept the world from so much; how much better when he returns? How much more is currently possible if we surrender to him and stop fighting with flesh and start bringing down enemy strong holds again?

2 Corinthians 10:4 KJVS
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds 😉

Right in my own eye

Something that should be noted in the book of judges is that people were with out leadership in the official capacity in their everyday lives. Yes they had judges and leaders but not like kings to really put forth decree and people really did what was right in their own eyes as long as there was no need for the judges to intervene. I feel though that even so people would do what was right in the kings eyes which wasn’t necessarily right before Yahweh. Even so they had the Torah and the priesthood set up to know what was right however interpretation and reading comprehension wasn’t always there. Sin has a way of muddying truth to find loopholes. Then again Yahweh was always seeking true relationship with his people and people substitute relationship with religion and satan loves to stand waiting to give people religious experience to alleviate the nagging feeling of unrepentant sin in our lives. Even so it is a hard thing to measure one’s own relationship with someone else’s relationship.

Judge not… Really when we judge what we see in our own eyes we judge mainly by what we see acceptable for others by our own flawed understanding. Yes we must balance what is scripture and what is self understanding. Thus why we need to be willing at least to remove the plank to teach others because in teaching others we teach ourselves. This is why Paul taught Timothy to be blameless in stewardship and his churches to be blameless within their worship together before the Lord. He also taught that our lifestyle was just as much a reflection of faith. Though we we work, which is separate from our faith toward our father should be diligent to show his glory. If co workers or employers see laziness in a vocally professing christian, they equate our father as lazy. If they see one to be cowardly then they equate cowardice. If they see unfair business, or lying they perceive our father to be those things. If our wives see us unfaithful they see our Lord to be unfaithful which is untrue. But alas all men will have to give account for all that we have done, one can not blame others for your their bad example and ones unwillingness to seek truth itself.

C.s Lewis put it this way and I am paraphrasing, we seek to be saved from one or two things in our lives by Jesus and he seeks to clean us of all things that kill our relationship with the father and others. Myself I see that Yahweh has created us with the intent of relationship with himself and seeing that it is a lonely thing to not be with others as one self he created not only one man but he created an equal in woman perhaps not the same but a perfect opposite equal. Not only so ending there but creating the ability to equal each other out in all aspects of life which is why fellowship with each other is so very important and missed when not partaking.

There is a perfect balance between human beings sorely forsaken between man, woman, brotherhood and sisterhood when we try to isolate ourselves or substitute with impurity and sexuality. Not that sexuality is impure in proper relationship with ones spouse or that man and woman can’t admire each other’s attributes. However sin and satan’s influence on society finds occasion to separate people through promiscuity and jealousy. Separation of one’s self from another based on stature and attire or success. Truth is modesty has little to do with sexuality, as clothing and acceptability; the way we equate sex with attire varies widely by geography. Though God calls us not to sully ourselves in sexual sin, that is covered in other biblical reference in conduct with mind body and soul.

Modesty is not showing one’s self to be above one another when we congregate as family not by natural but spiritual birth. Even so one can not covet what another has gained in this life nor should one lord over the brother or sister who has struggled. There is a balance that we seek in this life and obtain the one thereafter.

While I am saddened by my own social anorexia in this life, I know that it’s been for a purpose. Had I been rewarded in this life with many friends, perhaps it would not have been stored up as a treasure in heaven awaiting me for a reward first with my savior Jesus himself I long to behold, and his father greater than he that has given me life and forsook his own begotten son to be given for sin and death to give me reason for hope; in that he wanted a true friend in me.

I would say in ending, I would say I have been blessed to find a true friend in my wife; with my children I hope to be great friends with them in my lifetime, and I hope they find friends in each other. It is better to have one or two real true friends, then a thousand fake friends. It is better to find true friendship than substitution. I relish the moments I do connect with the many acquaintances I have met over the years. That said we must be honest most people come and go in our lives anyway. It is good to know the difference between friend and mere passerby. Not taking for granted what great fellowship we have while we have it because life is but a vapor, and with hope we can meet together once again thereafter and I hope that by my life and writings that I have led all to our awaited assembly.

Justice before God: abomination of rape and cowardice

What is justice and when will it be dealt to mankind?

Revelation 6:9-11 ESV
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. [10] They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” [11] Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Many people are given to the false preconception that God is only love, only full of forgiveness. Thus adding to the problem is the false notion of forgiveness over justice for anything and everything. Also those who look into religion, rightly so, perceive this blind forgiveness with out consequence to be lunacy. If we search the scriptures, when does God himself step in or push those with good conscience to bring judgement? Or even so when does God allow evil wicked men to meet out justice to other wicked men?

First we look at Sodom and Ghamorra. What was the tipping point? After all Abraham pleaded that the city be saved if ten men remained. (Genesis 18:20-33) Then when the Angels came to see Lot and his family, those within the city sought to gang rape the angels. Lot to his own disservice offered his own daughters to the men of the city yet they sought to further defile that which was good. The point of such is that though God is long suffering, he is just and gives out justice on those who are given into their wicked desires. (Genesis 19:1-29) I would point out that in his actions Lot himself was cowardly and corrupted in his faith by the wickedness around him. You see this in that he was willing to give up his daughters, while in the presence of the angels.

Then in Judges 19:22-30, we come to the reason God allowed civil war between the benjaminites and the rest of Israel. A man with his concubine is traveling when he stops for the night in a mans house then as it reads ,worthless men, come demanding to rape the man, then out of fear he throws his concubine out to be raped all through the night until she dies. Thus he sends pieces of her to the rest of the countries tribes causing them to seek the Lord on starting war when the Benjaminites refused justice. (Judges 20). The tribe of Benjamin was almost destroyed, not because of what the men had done, but because of the refusal of justice. Which in itself is what sin does in the lives of people in general. If left unchecked will consume all that which surrounds and corrupt all that refuse to remove it. Eventually the line of Benjamin was brought back to Israel but at what cost? Refusal of justice is as wicked as committing the crime itself when men of power refuse to act.

Now going back to when Jacobs daughter Dinah was raped (Genesis 34). Jacob did not have the will to defend his daughter, yet when the man who raped her had his father ask for her hand in marriage, it was agreed on by her brothers deceitfully. When all the men (who were all less honorable then the rapist) were all sore from having themselves Circumcised, the brothers came in and killed them all, plundering them to which God used to make all the inhabitants fear them (Genesis 35:5).

In all of these three historical accounts, judgement fell on these cities, towns and tribes at the point of rape (of which is by biblical accounts a abomination before God himself if not specifically said but in his actions against those who commit these crimes). Of this I believe there is a reason that God chooses to judge men when others fail to act. He causes circumstance that causes people to act. While I do believe in love your enemy, as was taught, there is a tipping point when God the father can no longer not act and that is when men of good conscience will not act. Salt is good, but when it has lost its flavor it is to be thrown out. One day we all will be judged for the things we have done and what we have allowed. I believe if we acted on justice with in our lives more then on trying to condemn others for sins that condemn oneself, society could be much better off.

All of this of coarse must be balanced with Christ. In my faith I pray not to be awkwardly ignorant of righteousness and yet I pray to be angry and not sin. That tipping point I’ve struggled with towards seeing the effects of rape on those it has effected and those who fail to act even to the point of covering up.

Matthew 5:48 ESV
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Food for thought

Genesis 2:9 Restoration Study Bible

And out of the ground made Yahweh Elohim to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and veil.

2:16

And Yahweh Elohim commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Genesis 2:17 KJVS
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

When God created all living things, he saw that it was good. A question some ask themselves is, is it good to eat meat? (Acts 10) Is our freedom to kill and eat as Peter was told to do, good? Should we continue to end the lives of animals for the support of our own lives? I bring this up as the drummer and guitarist from one of my favorite bands, Tourniquet, are both vegan and have been as a band much outspoken against animal cruelty. Which is a real honest issue in my opinion.

The question that I ask, does it cause sadness to the father in heaven that we eat meat? It certainly does show in creation that we were not meant to eat meat and in punishment we are given hard labor to gain food from the land. However in the Torah God himself does Institute laws for the sacrifice of clean animals for eating. In my mind these things are given to us in fact to show us the very sacrifice that our father in heaven made for man in that he gave us his one and only begotten son to be brutally beaten, deprived of his glory, taken into mockery and mutilation eventually sacrificed so that we may live. So you ask why we no longer sacrifice animals? Because Yeshua the messiah was sacrifice enough for all of our sins. Why was Peter told to kill and eat unclean animals? why did Peter not want to obey? Because something unclean could not be sacrifice for something unclean to become clean and because now we have the real sacrifice for sin. Not merely a picture of coming perfection, but the real sacrifice made we have freedom through relationship to enjoy his salvation for both the Jew first set apart and now the gentile, once believed to be as unclean as swine. The truth being that unfaithful sacrifice for the Jew is as unclean as swine sacrifice and true fellowship from a gentile born again is as much a sweet aroma to our father in heaven.

In close, whether you eat meat, or animal byproducts, or abstain. Whether you eat pork, or abstain. Remember this brothers are to uplift each other removing the plank from within our own eye to better teach each other with whatever faith we have been given. It is not good to tear each other down but to lift each other up for the renewal of our spirit. In the end meat for food will pass away, everything will be given back into purity and that is what we are training for. The end of sin, the day death no longer supports life. All of our tears are wiped away. No longer do we abuse Yahweh’s creation. I work in arboriculture industry and can tell you that plants are as much living as animals and feel as much pain and stress and death for sustaining our sinful desires as much as the animal kingdom. While I do not believe in our condition that it is sinful to eat meat, but I would point out sin alone is responsible for the consumption of animals for food and sin alone is why men are cruel in the keeping of God’s creation which was first given to Adam. This is why I judge neither those for or against eating meat or byproducts but applaud them that have compassion for creation.

Shalom Shabbat.

Agope Love

Perhaps this is by far the hardest commandments Jesus gives (yet it was a spiritual gift to the early church). It is not only good enough to love one another, but we place too much of our own love on converting one another to our own faith, our own moral high ground if you would. In fact I believe most wars fought between catholic and protestants, and division in our country stems from ignoring the core principal, love your neighbor. Not love your brother. It says in this scripture, pray for those who persecute you, but first I would elude to the fact that we can not pray for our neighbors if we do not ask first to be given this gift of love. Or even if we feel the urge to, our flesh wars with our spirit thus the need to ask the spirit to win that battle. Thus the saying you have not because you do not ask. I was told once, fix the hand shake to fix the man. I thought it odd but it lasted with me. We all have fault within ourselves, and we need to fix ourselves (not us doing that work literally, because we lack the capacity). If we would follow this one commandment, I believe the world would be asking what gives you that shine. In the face of what you call a time of sin abounding (in a better context, sin is to the father and follower of christ, offensive or offends our soul as we follow him), your ability to shake hands with anyone who does not profess faith, that is what makes a unbelieving world see and say I want that. Or it doesn’t, and they see your love in the face of it. If there is only love for the brothers, then you no different than the world, and if you are not different than the world then you create occasion for separation from the father. It is good to love that which is good, but we still must love those who don’t do right according to what we know to come from the father, the son and his spirit.


Matthew 5:43-48 ESV
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ [44] But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45] so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. [46] For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? [47] And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? [48] You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect..

Shalom shabbat, Restoration Study Bible

It has been a minute since I posted so I thought it would be a perfect time to show of the knew bible I have been gleaning scripture from. Give a little insight to it and offer my personal reasons for picking it up.

RSB with the King James as its source translation, Strong’s concordance and reference to Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry notes.

In short the reason I wanted a bible with out LORD was because while I see no wrong in calling the father Lord I do believe that it has a deeper impact when you read that the father just as the son had a name. Names denote many different things to different people. A friend can call you by a first name, a nick name. In the military the call you by your rank and last name, you call your superior by their appropriate title and rank. When Jesus was on earth he was called Rabbi, teacher, master but he was the first to call us friend. I fully believe whatever name the father and son comes to you, you are his friend if indeed you place salvation in Yeshua the Messiah, or commonly Jesus Christ. There will always be debating over who has the right name. To me it’s better that you know the father by his works and the son by his sacrifice as he knows us by his work through us or our works done apart from him if we don’t know him.

The ability given to man has no bounds of wickedness through disobedience to God by the knowledge of good and evil. For this God saw fit to take away the one language of man and reach out to each person individually in their own language. I say all of this for reference to the discussion of what names are given to us are not important but the friendship that has been extended to us.

I really like this bible, it gives greater insight to those seeking a deeper relationship. I do like the Strong’s in the back and the name Yahweh for the father, and Yahshua for the son. Also in place of God, he is referred to as El, elohim, what ever the original text had for it giving better context.

The only thing I disagree with is the theological foot notes. I do like understanding other churches point of view but we all have to search the scriptures for ourselves. That said as with the commentary in my old kjv they themselves had their own bias. That is why we read for ourselves to show ourselves approved to our father in heaven. As the son has said not to judge one day he will remove the wheat from the chaff and we will be as one again for the glory of his name amen.

Fall of Jericho; redemption, part 1

Joshua chapters 2,5,6,7

Much can be drawn from these chapters, and would encourage anyone to take out your bible to read these chapters before proceedings (though you can read this blog before hand too as it is a good stand alone message for anyone). If you don’t have a bible the Blue letter bible is a great free resource with many different translations for better understanding.

We see that when the children of Israel had sent spies into Jericho, they came to a prostitute named Rahab, and for all purposes Rahab was as some could say the sinner of sinners but what saved her life was not the life she had lived but the faith she had shown. She was condemned by the law of moses as an adulterer, she most likely worshipped false gods. She had heard of the great thing this “yahweh”, elohim (god) of Israel had done through the Hebrew’s and had the same options, the same free will, as any nation God had brought his people against. Instead of a spirit of fear she chose to reach out in faith to a god she had never worshipped, to a people who were not her own and humbled herself before Gods people and saved not only herself but her entire family (who may or may not have held her life choices in high regard). Eventually we see her faith not only rewarded momentarily but in the book of Matthew she was indeed in the bloodline that lead up to another Joshua, who would be known throughout the world as Jesus. Also being named with all of the great people of faith in Hebrew’s 11.

When God uses people he knows them, and he chose her not for her past but for her future. For all of her sins were as great as any other but God knew her before she was born. God had a plan for her, not of destruction but for grace, mercy and a shining example of the kind of woman God loves and uses. Her sins were not what defined her. Her past did not hold to her like a ball and chain. Though she probably still had the memories of her past life before, all of that did not amount to the great rewards she received on earth and notably in heaven. Though she was born a sinner she was reborn that day a daughter of God and as much partook a reward with the children of Israel as a child of Israel.

Now I don’t know what happened to her family afterward but her faith saved them from destruction in Jericho. So when you see family not following Christ you can know without fear that your example of faith can be what saves your family and not have anxiety, because God has preserved us faithful when we ourselves were unfaithful. If your life has not been saved by Jesus blood yet, know that all things can be new again, and the latter days of your life can be greater than the former by your faith in his redemption. If you have sorrow, he can heal it. If you have wronged yourself, your family, your friends, he can forgive it and show you to be redeemed before your peers not as a prostitute (literally and figuratively) not as a worshipper of other gods, money, self or whatever have you but a daughter. This is what being saved means. Not simply a redemption in the afterlife as a life insurance, but immediately in this life. Salvation is the redemption of your life immediately from your past and into eternity.

This is a new year, and though it may be better or worse, this year you can be renewed. This year you can see things around you falling apart, but you too can be preserved yourself and those in your family. You may not have to be tried as Rahab, the redeemed and faithful woman by Gods grace (true hero) , but in 2021 you can lay down your burden, you can reach out to God. You can be redeemed by faith in Jesus and his blood, and be sealed with his name on your life. Today is the day you can find redemption while the walls fall around you.

A Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ

Leviticus 25:47-49 ESV
“If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan, then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself….

Leviticus 25:53-55 ESV
….He shall treat him as a worker hired year by year. He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

In the book of Leviticus we find imagery of servitude or slavery and redemption. The simplicity of the terms of it was that in Israel there was not to be any forced servitude among themselves but if one became destitute that you could in a way contract yourself out to another man who would treat you as a servant in his house with a wage paid toward your contract. However ownership wasn’t given to said master because god had brought them from forced labor and slavery in Egypt. The condition of said servitude was that the master had to treat his servants fairly and there were punishments up to death for those who broke the terms.

For us and what it means to christians is ever present today. For we are born into bondage to sin. We have no choice in the matter. To be born means we serve sin until we are served the wages which is death physically and spiritually. We can be redeemed through Jesus Christ through his sacrifice. Now the hairy part of it is we really have free will to accept or remain in our sin. In truth that is all we have. We can no more choose to not sin than choose to be good when we become Christians. We ourselves can do nothing. This is why we must fall in love with the Holy Spirit. This is why we can not boast in our works this is why this quasi free will we have been given must be surrendered. Indeed all that we have must be from Christ.

John 3:26-30 ESV
And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness-look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John the Baptist knew this indentured servitude all too well. When he came to make way for the messiah, he came in knowledge that one day his ministering would come to an end and his redemption would come. He was but a servant until the end. Much like him we have been called to serve a purpose, to make straight the way of Jesus Christ second coming. To serve within whatever capacity he sees fit but to do so we must decrease so he can increase. How can we do such thing in this flesh? We can not. Our flesh holds onto its free will and uses it to sooth itself with pride. In the same breath that we say, look at what I have done in tour name lord, Jesus will say look at what you have done in my name Jimmy, it is not good. So what can we do? We throw up the white flag of surrender and defeat. This how we become more than conquerors. In failure we are rewarded. John ran his race, lived by denying himself and though he was beheaded for his righteousness that he only had because he received it from God himself, he found paradise.

Free will is both a gift and a curse. A gift to those who surrendered to the will of the father and a curse to those who cling to it. Once you have waived the white flag you can start your life. When we give free will away then we can be filled with the richness of heaven. If we choose to follow Christ and don’t give it away then we become poor and in essence sell ourselves to the sojourner and strangers though we have been taken out of Egypt. In his faithfulness Christ will give you to them until you return to be redeemed. If you never truly gave yourself to him then you will not feel his pull back to him, for the chastens those who he loves.