Reflection 3: What You Can Expect From Life: According to Charity; pt 3

38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” ~ Luke 6:38, NIV  Read in Kindle Cloud Reader For Free!

Back in July, 2011 I wrote about Charity in the Virtues Series of  blog postings, I described it from the point of view typically thought of in the, “final degree”, (if you will), most accepted in our world today. I wrote;

“Charity is more than benevolent giving; rather it is also, limitless, unconditional, it is filled with an open hearted-acceptance, and overwhelming need to do for others, much like God has done for us. Charity in short is loving, kind, and patient. It cannot be expressed out of envy, boastfulness, pride, rudeness, and it is never self-serving. Charity works outside of the spectrum of anger, of keeping records of wrong doings, as it is more powerful when applied through understanding and sympathy toward our fellow men and women who have less than we do. But the real miracle behind charity is found in the ideal giving of those who seem to have everything. The best example of this is a rich man who has everything but piece of mind, who constantly seeks for solace for actions done in order to become rich; to remain rich, and /or in some other matter not related to finances but of relationships, ect. The act of forgiving this person or the offering of kind words which completely changes their way of thinking and or believing for the better can be charity as it lifts them from the bondage of guilt. I offer this example because I have known rich people that on the outside they seem happy, but on the inside they are dying, unfulfilled, left wanting for the words and the love of God.  Mind you this doesn’t have to be a rich person either; anyone could find themselves seeking God in this manner” (Keith, Brian, 2011, Virtues of Charity.)

In the 2011 post I was more concerned in expressing the virtuous act of charity, or the end result. But today I want to focus on the process we all must undertake to become charitable as it relates to the, “first degree”, (so-to-speak), and thus what we can expect from life in accordance to undergoing the path to charity.

Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke 6:38 is talking about how God measures our charity, for the word, “measure” is repeated three times, (which is of holy significance), which is a pattern constantly repeated throughout the Old Testament in accordance to the Hebrews in measuring all kinds of things including actual measurements of distance, sacrificial responsibilities within months and years. God applied such a holy significance on the number three that to truly understand the many layers and levels Jesus was applying to his words one would have to have been intimately familiar with old testament teachings and the belief system of the Hebrews that had later became the Jewish standard that Jesus was dealing with when he used the word “measure”. To help in understanding the symbolic nature of the usage of the number three a study was conducted by  Richard D. Patterson, titled; “The Use Of Three In The Bible”.  Thus, when Jesus used the word,”measure” three times then he was eluding to this deeper understanding of the process one must undergo when deciding or contemplating how to react to the poor, how to give, what the reward will actually be, and how it will be delivered. Jesus is talking about a process of how justice is to be dispensed, how we should perceive our role in this life and what we can expect from God when we give from the right perspective.

So what is the right perspective? Charity again is an unnatural act, the laws of nature are such that only the strong survive, and the weak parish. Thus, the perspective of Jews doctrine and later the philosophy of Christian teaching, most certainly the delivery of Jesus as in how he spoke, the words he used, the manner he carried himself, to the miracles he performed, and then the brutal way he was killed by the Romans are in its totality contradictory to the laws of natures. His death then must have re-enforced the laws of nature in that the weak die under the foot of the mighty; but the message he gave again in contrast was also not natural, it was a hard message to grasp because it forces us to feel a plethora of emotions that make us uncomfortable with our selves, with world, with our relationships, with our careers, and with God. But it is through the pain of change do we begin to contemplate a different path, one absent of brutality, one more forgiving and tolerant, one more kind and filled with the of love of God.

1 “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.” Psalm 41:1-2, NIV Read in Kindle Cloud Reader For Free!

Notice the act of Charity first must come from a place of pain, which then begins to change us, and within that change transforms our perception of the world we live in. All this is sparked from an action that forces us to think, to consider, to contemplate a different reality than what nature has thus far provided. In this alternate reality then, Jesus proposes for us to walk in his likeness. God Himself commanded us to treat each other in a more peaceable manner. Indeed the process God has placed humanity is a three step process which is derived of love, resulting in charity. Think about how different the world would be if we did not harbor ill will for our enemies, how different would life be if everyone was charitable to each other, freely giving to each other what we need, helping those who have less than. For in contemplating that reality today was met by the same resistance with equal force of the message Jesus taught two thousand years ago. As race, we are collectively being taught that nature does not have to be as harsh as we first perceived it to be. We can be kind, loving, and charitable with one another just as Jesus had first commanded. In retrospect its just one more step to being molded into a better version of ourselves, one closer to God, closer to righteousness. We are truly blessed in our contemplation about how to best respond to the poor. The Lord does deliver those who first have the spark of charity in their heart.

I had told one of my students many years ago in response to a question about why we need to give to those “strangers” on the street begging for food, “that to see and do nothing is just as wrong as doing something for the wrong reasons. We are convicted with the same measure we judge others with. We will receive in the same measure we give.”  In that through the process of thinking, we place ourselves in the other persons shoes, we begin to think and to feel what it is like to go without, the pain of not having, and thus through that process do we come to the realization of what the right course of action should  undoubtedly be. Because if we submit ourselves to the out dated laws of nature, that “stranger” would be stamped out without remorse, without any thought, and the human being that his soul represents would be smitted for all time. So yes, the Lord does preserve him, and keep him alive through the charity of others who can sympathize and rationalize the harshness of his reality.

With all this said, the process of thinking and being moved into an uncomfortable place has also moved mankind in some regard farther away from God, as our belief systems are impacted by our modern culture and our modern thought. We have changed and replaced words in scripture to make us feel better about what we do not want to do, what is required of us in order to recognize the truth of scripture. We have in some instances softened the message of Jesus because it brings to bare that hard to grip idea of how to become more like Him, again what is required, (i.e. sacrifice),  by all of us in the act of being charitable,  an example of this is found in the following two versions of the same text;

17 “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.” ~ Proverbs 19:17, KJV   Read in Kindle Cloud Reader For Free!

17 “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” ~ Proverbs 19:17, NIV   Read in Kindle Cloud Reader For Free!

Over time the way we think about scripture reveals how we as a people have changed in our relationship with God. We tend to stop fearing God and this leads us to change harsher words found in scripture with ones less harsh, less intrusive, less invasive, less critical, less judging, and less demanding stripping away all since of obligation to our fellow man as depicted here with the usurping of the word “pity” with “kind”. I argue we must feel “pity” for those in our lives closed to charity, for those who are poorer, we must feel this emotion of “pity” first before our contemplations of what to do about this obvious need that surounds us daily can fully manifest itself into our hearts and minds, before we can truly be “kind”. It is Gods way of molding us into a better person, moving us into action in ways we never thought possible. It is His action of inducing discomfort that shapes our sensibilities and gives us a new path with new values that allow us to be charitable, because in stark reflection of mankind we are not naturally charitable nor naturally kind. It is this which separates us from all other creatures in creation, it is this ability that makes us redeemable before God, and thus led God to send his only son in the greatest act of charity known to all creation. So it is those harsher perspectives of ages past that is closer to the real message of God, it is the meaning behind the word “pity” that tells a different story about what is required to become charitable, and the action as depicted in the word “kind” that is a completely different path from hence we have started and which leads to a different conclusion within our hearts and minds. Therefore, we must first feel the emotion of pity before we can allow ourselves to mature enough in the spirit to take action and to be kind, and through that process we are in the spirit and truly being blessed because we have acted upon a volume of preset emotional triggers God had put into place that moved and molded us into the act of charity. Thus, both versions of Proverbs are necessary to understand within the right context as it relates to the true definition of charity and the process we must first go through.

13 “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” ~ Luke 14:13-14, NIV   Read in Kindle Cloud Reader For Free!

Charity in its totality is an extreme form of humanism, it is a campaign against greed. But, to those who have plenty it is an even harder concept to master as who do you know that in throwing a banquet purposefully finds poor people, destitute people, homeless people, in order to share this feast? How many of them if they did so, would feel good about a “strangers” roaming their house and mingling with their guests? How many rich people do you know have invited you regular person, poor in comparison to them to their banquet? My favorite one-liner to people who would say in response to these questions, “But that just is not expected from us!”, is, “Isn’t that what Jesus did?” Then I hit them with, “Who did Jesus hang out with?”

See our Lord meant every word he uttered. I like to believe that he underwent a long dress rehearsal before being born to Mary and Joseph. I think Jesus knew instinctively what to say and how to say that would make people resist His radical concepts. For Jesus not just preached His message He lived His message. Thus, because we are also called to live in like manner to Jesus as humanely possible  I would love to see our President hold a huge dinner with an un-godly amount of food, then fly people from all over the United Stats, and Africa, Asia, and Mexico to take part in this feast. Because that is what Jesus would do. I say that because we are the wealthiest nation with the most plentiful of resources and yet we have such poverty, some of us live in the most impoverished of situations. Likewise, no matter how bad off some of us Americans have it there are people from all over the world who have it ten times more harsh, more impoverished. I say to you, that would be a righteous response, that would be an awesome act of charitable giving ever on behalf of our richest sector of our population. But in saying this, how many of those in our upper class would be tempted to charge these poor people something for attending? Again this reimbursement mentality is not just in our upper class but permeates throughout all classes of our society, it reaches down and destroys family, forcing many of us parents into poverty even though we work. We are being forced into slavery by paying double what any other person would only be required to pay once. Indeed our nation is sick, as is most of the worlds population, and it is that reality many people do not want to hear. So they change the wording of scripture, distance themselves from God, so there isn’t this big perception of obligation, and so we can live comfortable lives being charitable on our own terms, not on Gods terms.  To this I can only say, How much more blessed would we all be if we just gave into to Christ, Jesus, and submitted to His perfect ideal of charity.

33 “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.” ~ Luke 12:33, NIV   Read in Kindle Cloud Reader For Free!

The concept of selling everything was also a teaching that the people of Jesus’s time just completely resisted. In that time as like to this time people were and are very materialistic judging wealth by what you own, not by how much you have given to others. Think about the standard we for thousands of years have lived by, accumulate stuff, call it yours, show it off, brag about what you have taken from others, and then at your death your family becomes vultures and pick your estate apart as if you had never lived. No put that into contrast to what Jesus required, sell your possess, create treasures in heaven that cannot be stolen or that does not rust. Give to the poor in this life so your next life will be bless with a permanent  abundance. The obvious problem is greed, we are as we were a “Now Society” we are a “ME” orientated race, thick headed people. Personally I don’t want the unhappiness of being extremely wealthy, but I do want to have enough to share with all those I love and those who need me to share with them. I would like to build a permeant source of income that could be used to help millions rather than one or two lucky enough to be int he right place at the right time. That too isn’t how God works. In general societies work best when everyone shares resources, no one is above the law, no one has more or less than the other. The closer to that ideal we can get the better we all will be.

21 “It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.” ~ Proverbs 14:21, NIV   Read in Kindle Cloud Reader For Free!

Again we see this hard to grasp ideology of living without greed. Charity by its very nature is the exact opposite of greed, and thus the more greedy you are the less likely you are to be able to accept the whole notion of being charitable, and when the opportunities in life arise where by God is testing you to be charitable then the less like you are to passing this test. Sadly I have seen many people fail this test of Gods, and it had nothing to do with money, or possessions, but everything to do with attitude and disposition. I have bared witness to people that I deeply loved fall into this mindset of oneness, singular thinking which dictates there can only be one path, one person, one important set of philosophy and belief.  Normally these people fall into depression because they locked out hope, love, caring, compassion, forgiveness, and year they by nature are not charitable even when it would be within their best interest, they cling to a desperate ideology of greed, mired in full blown selfishness.

9 “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.” ~ Psalm 112:9, NIV

Again the exact opposite of greed is charity. In this life you can expect to be given many chances to be charitable, you will confronted by hundreds if not thousands of people asking you, pulling at you, begging you to show them charity, but in faith know that God is the judge of all you do and he alone knows your heart. He alone knows if you truly where contemplating or not about an act of charity. God alone knows your mind and in some regards is rooting for you, encouraging you to scatter gifts in every direction, giving to the poor, not just in your monetary wealth but also in your time, in your heart. True charity is born from that uncomfortable feeling of pity, then guilt, which moves you to contemplation and action.

13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV   Read in Kindle Cloud Reader For Free!

Faith in God is equal to your heart trusting in His path, accepting His ideal which is uncomfortable in many terms, but this faith you build within God gives you hope, and in turn this hope builds up in you a love of charity. A deep longing to always be a helper to others as God is a helper unto you.

Amen

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Brian Keith

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ANNOUNCES TO THE COMMUNITY OF FOLLOWER, FRIENDS, AND SUBSCRIBERS;

In the spirit of charity and from the necessity to provide  for all of Gods children, together in this mission,  Listening Faithfully has teamed up with a wonderful charitable organization in East Texas whose name reflects their good works, “God’s Hand Ups” and their work  is accomplished by a Godly motivation to help every children throughout their community. I am honored to have them as good friends in the Lord.  I can testify before you all today, that my good friend who is a founding member of this charitable group  has truly been tested in the manner described here in this blog posting and who has consistently passed this test of giving and working for the benefit of all in her community. I introduce you all to Tonia Allen, who currently has a wonderful new campaign in raising money for children in need. Please visit her donation site:  “GOD’S HAND UPS NOT HAND OUTS ”  and please be very charitable.

Someone once told me that compassion was not simple. They believed compassion was huge. Compassion is SO simple as it is an act of kindness from one to another. It is only huge when it becomes over thought. God’s Hand Ups was founded by the vision of a 17 year old junior in high school who believed the world could be saved–“one person at a time.” ~ Tonia Allen, Gods Hands Up, 2013. 

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Special Reflection: Sin Series e-Book Release

So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sistersins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” ~ Luke 17:3-4, NIV

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The nature oJesusf sin as it was introduced is based upon the most grievous of acts known as Pride. This act as the base sin brings us to the most inhuman levels of existence as it glorifies such emotions as selfishness, greed, wrath, rage, violence, madness, the want for instant gratification, and ultimately leaves the human soul depleted and filled with anger that turns the heart as black as coal. Within this series now in e-book format SIN is discussed in a more understandable, conversational manner that brings the reader through the Origin of Satan, the introduction of the first sin, and then finally through the various pitfalls of sin better known as the Seven Deadly Sins. There is in great detail the path everyone can follow to avoid these sins and their affects on our lives. This Armor Plating which repeals SIN is found in scripture and always starts with forgiveness.

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Reflection 4: Abundant Love

Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God,compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” ~ Exodus 34:6-7

The road to living without expectations from others is a road to freedom. It is a choice, a frame of mind, a deep force which is made whole through action and faith. It is like saying, “Enough with this world, I want God only!” It is a transition within your heart, one that leads you from looking for acceptance, looking for repayment, looking for love, and yes looking for satisfaction. Turning from the world to not looking, or yearning, or expecting, but rather knowing your loved, knowing your accepted, knowing your treasure is infinite for all time in God. For our Lord God in Heaven has already given us, His children compassion, grace, abounding love, truth, life, forgiveness, and He sealed it with His blood on the cross. Why, then would you turn to evil, do evil and sin in His presence, rebel against Him who is all powerful, all knowing, and all loving? Why fight when all you have to do is surrender your heart to God, and allow Him to work in your life. For know this simple truth, God does not delight in the punishment of sinners, or the evil or wicked, rather He has given many chances for those people to turn form evil works and to turn instead to righteousness. For God hath spared many, yearns to spare millions more if only they wake up and live. For our God will punish the wicked, and He alone will curse the multitude and all who come from their line. Therefore, the road to life is a road without living in the world, but rather living in the abundance of God in its wholeness, it is taking hold of his hand and never letting go, never looking back, and staying convicted in the truth of God all the days of your life.

11 Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’” ~ Ezekiel 33:11

Expectations in the world demands so much effort, it demands so much time and gives nothing back. It is like a heartless taskmaster who works you to the bone without mercy, yet almost every human being accepts this fate without question. Do we not get angry when someone tells us they will do something in return for something we have only for them to not deliver. Where have then placed our faith? Know that it was not intended by our God to ever be so, yet Satan delivered to mankind sin. Satan gave us sin and taught us to rebel with the simple idea that God is not love. This lie is the same lie we hear everyday when we place our faith in other people instead of God. For Satan’s undoing was found within the death of CHRIST ON THE CROSS. So our fate can be with God, with eternal love, with abounding joy, with our Lord forever if we simple make one shift in our heart, mind, and soul and open the door to God and forever close it to Satan and this world.

Be on guard for the attacks that follow when you make this transition, as Satan will try his best to turn you back to a life filled with sin, for it is written;

18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it.” ~ Ezekiel 33:18

But again God does not take pleasure in the punishment of the wicked, therefore God offers to you repentance for it is also written;

19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them~ Ezekiel 33:19

I say to you that it is better to emulate God, than Satan, it is better to live without expectations in man than it is to live within the world slaving away for nothing but dust in the grave. For it is a much fruitful life to live with your eyes open and your filled with the glory of God than it is to be blinded, condemned, and torchered for eternity.

45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” ~ Luke 24:45-47

Jesus Died for all men, Jews and Gentiles alike, His sacrificed Himself just as Abraham was asked by God to do to Isaac.God stole from Satan his victory and tore the cloth from the synagogue and brought down all evil for all time. God, through His son Jesus Christ made all things new, and this was their plan since before the foundations of the world where poured.

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,

“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” ~ 1 Corinthians 2:6-10

To live without expectations is to live within God and His perfect wisdom, wisdom given by the Holy Spirit. Therefore turn from your wicked ways and live.

Amen

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Reflection 1: Spiritual Accountantcy

” 15 And he said unto them, ‘Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.‘” ~ Luke 16:15

Life is a journey of immense struggles pitted with many victories and defeats. It is a race to the finish line of judgement, once there many will have ran a good race but will have done it without moral conscience and will be damned to hell for all eternity. Many will have ran the same race but prevailed with great love, faith, and ethics, and will be allowed passage into the Kingdom of God. The difference between the two is incalculable if coming from the filter of modern life, celebrating our many luxuries and comforts afforded those with what is termed as the good life. But if viewed from the prism of our Lord and Savior then it becomes more personal, deeply ethical, riveted with countless moral guidelines that help to forge a sinner into a born again child of God. It is not an easy path, in fact it is filled with much sacrifice and with many painful defeats. For to choose to be a child of God is not for the faint of heart and in the end, within the very hour of our death, Jesus promises for the faithful that they shall never taste death.

47 Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” ~John 6:47

For many of us it is hard to put into place a moral life while being surrounded with such temptations which we find at our fingertips on a daily basis. It is hard to not give in to the world of excess and comfort with so many voices telling us we don’t have too. The prevailing belief advertisers drown us with daily is, “Life doesn’t have to be so hard” and “Why wait when you can have it now!” We have become a society of capitalistic carnivores devouring everything while ignoring the implications it places upon our life and our immortal soul. We make recluse justifications to explain away why we can, when the Holy Bible has clearly stated we should not. A world that places more value on things, property, and money, over relationships, love, honor, ethics, and that of our christian savior, who is the savior of every man, women, and child on planet Earth as we know it, is an abomination in the sight of God. There are so many sins, so many fruitless attempts at winning Gods favor while pleasing the flesh. People can be so awesomely good, and in the same breath find ways to be just as evil and destructive. When we look hard at who we have become, the choices we have made, the justifications for actions which caused countless others to suffer, it is then that our deeds will be told, despite the lies of our mortal legacies. For you can preach good all the days of your life, but in private do evil, it is in your heart and therefore God see’s the truth of your life. He can discern the proper judgement from the web of misleading, randomness and noise of sin which has permenantly blacked your heart.

33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”~ Luke 14:33

Jesus warned against collecting wealth and then not sharing it but rather hording it. He warned against ignoring your own sins while calling to the carpet others sins. He warned against hypocrisy for in the eyes of God it is nothing more than “lip service”. Jesus warns against denying the poor food, clothes, shelter, and mercy. He warns against not raising your child up in the ammunition of the Lord thy God. For he also warned against excess of all kinds, depravity of all kinds, blasphemy of all kinds, and evil works of all kinds. Yet we do them daily, we ignore Him daily, and in doing so we mock Him daily!

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” ~ Matthew 10:32-33

Be on guard for those who refuse to speak the truth of God, who refuse to hear you speak the truth of God, be warned they are filled with Satan. There are people who get upset when they are shown their immoral ways and are convicted by the light of God, and by His son’s moral teachings and inwardly repress God, reviling against all righteousness, for they are filled with the spirit of Satan. Stand firm and do not waver from the light of God for instead bask within its glorious rays for it shall purify thy soul. Profess daily the miracles of God in your own life, for each day is a true miracle as it was not promised to you before you went to sleep the night before. Be on guard of those who would manipulate your words, the words of others, and the words of God to suit their lying ways, for such is the arch tool of Satan himself. Walk away from profane, perverse, corrupt, immoral, and impure people as they will as soon suck you down with them than to see you happy and free in the light of God. For to disown God is a rejection of the miracle of ones own birth and life; for Satan does not hold the keys to these things; for only God can create life and can bring about death; for only God can destroy thy very soul. Be on guard of those who wish to systematically take from you all the things in your life which bring you happiness, for they have no conscience, no remorse, no ambivalence to using deceit to accomplish their goals. For these people are expert in their disguise and can make the most illogical thing sound logical, the most profane thing sound holy, and the most hurtful thing look to others as self-defense. For God has no tolerance for them and though in the moment they grasp victory, in reality they have only clutched defeat because what God meant for you and was stolen, he will give to you in abundance in Heaven, a reward they shall not reap for they chose a selfish and self serving path.  

21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have I not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?  23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” ~ Matthew 7:21-23

It is truly important to not just know which side of the tracks you are on, but to also profess it, teach it, embrace it, and above all love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul; to do all things for God with all your strenght and might. It is simply not enough to say you love God to close family and friends then in private do wicked, but rather love God enough to always do good in public and private, for there should only be one message of your life, because there is only one God. Be sure to never take credit for the things which you have accomplished in your life for each accomplishment was first a gift from God, to do so would be to say you willed it to be so and that is a lie. For remember Moses who took credit for the miracle of the rock which sprang water; for the rod was from God, the power was from God, and the very words which Moses spoke to bring forth the water was from God, for such a sin he was denied entry into the promised land. Remember also King David who committed adultery and who God took from him the first born son in payment of the life he had stole from Bathsheba’s first husband Uriah the Hittite. Rather be like Christ who complied with the will of God even until the point of his own death.

1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

Spiritual accountantcy is the means which we review our own place with God, it is the act of asking where are we in our relationship to God. “Have I done things which God disapproves of, am I saved?”, is the question we need to ask daily and then we need to repent daily. Be assured God loves you, wants you, cares for you, and will never leave you if you never disown Him.

Amen.

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Reflections 4: Damnation

“11Then I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.  12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened.  And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.  13And the sea gave up the dead who were in it; and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.  14Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  15And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15, NKJV, Pp.1188).

Damnation: 3. “Theology . Condemnation to eternal punishment as a consequence of sin” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/damnation ).

The living and the dead whose names are not written in the Book of Life, according to the Holy Bible are damned, and will burn forever in the lake of fire and brimstone. Forever damned for ones sins against God. When I read this I think about those people who have rejected God, rejected the teachings of our Lord and Savior, reject morality as it is so described in the Bible, and who think there is no consequence to their actions, I want to scream out loud, “Fools wake up!” Satan as described in Revelation will burn in the lake of fire. So if this is true my logical-self demands me to believe anyone linked with Satan, doing his bidding will also parish in the lake of fire and brimstone, not for a day or two, or a week, or a month,  or a year, but forever. Is this wicked behavior worth it? I dare say “No! It’s not worth it!” But for those among us who are truly lost will be blinded by their sins, which mount into a multitude, stacked so high they themselves have lost count, lost all feelings and emotions, and will burn in Hates forever. The told sum of sin-debt Jesus talked about and which the Apostle Paul wrote about so eloquently in I Corinthians bears enough testimony for the logical thinker to turn about and rethink ones actions while here on planet earth.

“8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the kingdom of God.11 And such were some of you” (I Corinthians 6: 8-11, NKJV, Pp. 1102).

The most dramatic of these things which are of the wicked, according to the Bible and where supported by Jesus can be found in various New Testament Books such as Mark;

“18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments; Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother” (Mark 10: 18 – 19, NKJV, Pp. 979-980).

In the above verse from 1 Corinthians, Paul supports Jesus as found in Mark, by mentioning specifically, adulterers, thieves, and extortioners, or in the words of Jesus defraud.

Moreover, the unchanging word of God is supported by Jesus and Apostle Paul in the following verse from Leviticus as it relates to homosexuals and sodomites;

“22 You shall not lie with a male as with a women. It is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22, NKJV, Pp. 111).

For those of you who require a less known voice as it refers to all sexual sin which permeates throughout the entire bible, and which supports the word of God, Moses, Jesus, and all the Apostles, then this one verse from Jude, a bond servant of Jesus and brother of James,  sums it up nicely;

“7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality, and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7, NKJV, Pp.1173).

For it is these people to which is being referred too, that will not inherit the kingdom of God. The Bible is vast with a plethora of sins, all which are seen by God as an abomination. There are so many who live lives divorced from God, who will speak in a manner as to try and convenience the people of God that these sins mentioned above are not sins, but rather man’s nature, thus is not punishable by God. There again, my logical-self argues violently against such immoral arguments, as again God is unchanging in his will and is perfect, thus needing not to change. However, the words from Jesus as it relates to those who boast in their own works, in their own defense, and who argue matters which come from Satan because they are blind to their own sin, is indeed the most telling;

“42 Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand my speech? Because you are not able to listen to my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murder from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you convicts me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God” (John 8:42-45, NKJV, Pp. 1035).

Jesus also points out that their will be those who will be expecting to be saved but are not;

“21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord.’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord,’ have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23, NKJV, Pp.941).

Damnation if taken seriously is a punishment that will last forever. It is shared by those who have been fooled by Satan, which is one third of all the angels, and all those who are blind, rebellious, hard of heart, staunch in their attitudes, with the conviction they shall suffer not. It is the most twisted joke which is being played upon humanity by a master deceiver, one who has indeed deceived himself. By virtue the path of the damned is wide, but the path of the righteous is narrow. To be sure God’s judgment is final and righteous. It is absolute without blemish or flaw. There will be neither argument nor rebuttal. For God’s judgment is eternal and fair.

“23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?”  24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die” (Ezekiel 18:23-24, NKJV, Pp. 818).

It so completely amazes to me that so many people rather live for their own wants and desires, all of which are a sign of contempt and selfishness. The road signs are clearly marked we only have to read where they are leading too. Jesus was very specific on this point, as is God. Our immoral behavior will be judged according to their own works. The real fear I have every time I read Revelation, Leviticus, or any passage that I recognize where I have sinned against God, I have to stop and ask myself, “Where am I when my life is done?  Am I in the Lake of Fire, or am I with God?” Each time I contemplate this question it takes the breath from me, because though I have not sinned as much as others, I have sinned, and I have no other choice but to own it, as does the rest of humanity.

“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” ( Romans 6:23, NKJV, Pp.1089).

It is all too easy to say that if we just ask for forgiveness then we are forgiven. When hearing this message some of us nod their heads and reply, “Right… I have heard that all before.” All while discounting the simplicity of God’s love, compassion, and want for all of to join him in eternal life in the kingdom of God. But never the less, if you are sincere in you’re asking God through his son Lord, Jesus Christ for forgiveness, your name will be written in the Book of Life and your sins forgiven. The truth is there is no sin which God cannot forgive.  But be warned, you must mean it, because when your sins are forgiven you can feel it deep down in your soul, and you begin to express this in your everyday life, much like Apostle Paul. However, the first step as outlined by Jesus, as written by Matthew if followed, will radically change how you act, and what you believe in;

“22 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’ ” (Matthew 22:37-40, NKJV, Pp. 959).

Challenge question: If we don’t ask for Jesus’s forgiveness and live a righteous life now, then when?

Amen

If you have been moved by this blog I humbly invite you to leave a message telling me your thoughts and how this reflection has touched you. May peace and love be with you all the days of your life.  May God keep you and bless you.

Reflections 2: When We Follow Him

“24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24 – 25, NKJV, Pp.952).

Our Lord Jesus Christ is so direct, so cunning with His words I think sometimes we hear them, read them, and can even feel the emotion behind each and every phrase that he spoke, but somehow we fail to allow his message to sink in and really touch our souls. I feel we erect a barrier, a shield of shorts around our hearts that allows nothing good in, which prevents His healing touch to really work the miracles in our lives in the way they were intended too.  As I reflect upon Our Lord Jesus, His message, His longing for us all to put down our troubles and worries and pick up our cross, I have to also suggest that the faith Jesus exhibited in God is what gives meaning to His words, to His message, to His command to Follow Him.

I am also led to the conclusion that Jesus’s message was delivered in such a way that for those men and women who heard his voice, touched his skin, and who had the privilege to hug and interact with Him, they understood exactly His intent, for the message was crystal clear. Some of them, as some of us today just refuse to submit to Jesus. In fighting this unwinnable battle of wills we are also fighting against God our father in heaven. In propagating this strength test of sorts somewhere down the line we make a conscious choice. Some of us rebuke God because it is an easier road to follow, leaving our cross to rot where it is. Still others are so horrified that it is our very life we are required to willingly sacrifice that we simply panic and do everything imaginable to save it, condemning ourselves in the process.  But the majority of us are like Apostle Peter, we have no problem with the sacrifice of our own life, if it would mean Jesus didn’t have to die, and as innocent as that may sound it was against the very purpose of Jesus Christ being here in the first place, because through our death, we die a sinner, a rebel, and are ultimately separated from God Our Father. So to Peter, Jesus replied the only way he could and in doing so he also was talking to every man, women, and child that would ever live on this planet.

“22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!’ 23 But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16:22 – 23, NKJV, Pp.952).

To follow Jesus we must commit our souls to Him completely, lay down our own wants and desires and follow Him with absolute faith, without question of where He is leading us. It is this requirement that separates the people of God from every other people in the world. It is this one prerequisite that keeps the people of God focused on the end game, thwarting any distractions.   Yet, some of us can hear His calming voice, but with our eyes we see the enemy coming closer and like Peter, we become fearful which leads us to become irrational and then we sin before God.  I find this response to be ironic, because Peter knew as did the other disciples, as we all know today, why Jesus was headed down the road that he freely chose. Yet, even armed with this knowledge Peter still allowed fear to momentarily blind him making him unable to accept the truth of Jesus’s mission. In retrospect Peter was coming from a place of earthly concern, fooled into believing this concern for Jesus was coming from a place of love. In allowing this Peter momentarily allowed Satan in, and Jesus saw it, heard it, and was responding to it. In that moment, Our Lord was also responding to each and every one of us each time we allow Satan in, speaking directly to our immortal soul as he cast Satan out.

“26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26, NKJV, Pp.952).

As I have stated before and will state again, it is righteous to have a healthy fear of God and a massive amount of respect for Him. For it is with His grace we continue to multiply, to live, and be so blessed. It is because God loves each and every one of us that we exist at all. It is so mind-boggling to me that some of us are so lost, so hungry for God’s love and yet run so fast in the opposite direction. Grant-it for many it is out of ignorance, but for those unlucky people who continue to practice willful disobedience in living an immoral, offensive life that which is chalked with sin, so much so it physically destroys them and hurts everyone around them, while ignoring God’s many pleas, for them we must pray for Gods mercy. For in all they do, in all their efforts they have accomplished nothing, for we are nothing when compared to God, as all things are accomplished through Him and by Him alone. I know God must really shake his head in wonder every time He looks down from heaven, hearing our many complaints, requests, and cries for help, only to turn the other cheek when He presents us the answer. Truth is Jesus asked this very question over two thousand years ago when He frustratingly announced;

“26 But why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46, NKJV, Pp.998).

Jesus went on to explain the many differences in a person’s heart that does what he says, from one who does not in the following two verses, and as straight forward as His commandments are, none of them was as direct and as skillfully aimed at our human hearts as when he said over and over to the multitude, “Follow Me.” He said it because we are lost, and within Him, through Him we are found.

I am constantly inspired by those of us Christians who confess their faith and live a day-to-day life filled with God’s commandments, but I morn for those who live their lives as they see fit, absent of remorse while skillfully executing their own set of faulty morality. I can tell the unmistakable difference in a person who is filled with love from God, from one who is filled with love of self. The person filled with the love of God is peaceful, and holds a heart that strives to do good not for themselves, but for those who are around them. In their presence you feel safe, secure, and at peace, because they are humble before our God. But the person filled with selfish ambition and blind, reckless greed, well for them they betray their own self-serving intentions by the words that come from their diseased hearts.

Challenge question: Now that you know what is required what will you do in your own life today to honor God our most deserving Father?

Amen

If you have been moved by this blog I humbly invite you to leave a message telling me your thoughts and how this reflection has touched you. May peace and love be with you all the days of your life.  May God keep you and bless you.

Reflection 9: For When Your Soul Is Depleted?

First Sunday after Easter

As I write this reflection this week, I wanted to express that though life is not easy, and there are doors which shut for no reason there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Though there might be pitch black in every direction and the feelings of helplessness, and loneliness might be creeping in there is hope in Jesus. So I write this first to set the stage so to speak, so the raw emotions that most certainly was present upon that first Sunday after the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, there might be clarity amongst all the religious noise of this Easter season.

“44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shinning. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last” (Luke 23:44-46, Zondervan NIV 2002, p.1618).

Jesus often reminds us that the struggles we endure here on Earth, as flawed mortals, has less to do with our petty squabbles with each other, but has more to do with the war which is raging between our heavenly soul and our sinful flesh. It is not a physical war that we can use our five senses to protect ourselves against our aggressors, but rather it is a spiritual one which drains our energies making us change our minds and to give into temptation. Our bodies cannot win this war, because we were not created to win it as flesh and blood creatures within sin. Rather through our spiritual weapons made known to us as having absolute faith in God will the victory be realized. The death of Jesus was caused by physical torture, his fight however was not focused on the physical pain he endured rather the war of the soul. Our Lord and Savior died on the cross not to illustrate his so called dishonor of the Jewish faith but rather the willingness to sacrifice his life as a spiritual payment that would build faith in his true mission. Thus through Jesus Christ, and by emulating his example of perfect faith in our Father in heaven, within that very moment that he committed his spirit to God, did he then claim victory over Satan, reclaiming the world for all mankind.

“33We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of man will be betrayed to the chief priest and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles; 34who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise” (Mark 10:33-34, Zondervan NIV 2002, p.1547).

This was the second warning of Jesus to his disciples describing in detail what was going to happen, in an attempt to prepare them. It proves that he knew what was to befall him, but he went to Jerusalem anyway. Jesus had so many other avenues he could have taken which would have spared him this horror, but his fight was not of the flesh, but of the spirit. His perfect faith in God, gave his mortal body the strength to face the final showdown between God and Satan.

“8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Matthew 4:8-10, Zondervan NIV 2002, p.1473).

Spiritually speaking, even though Jesus’s disciples had witnessed his many miracles, and professed with their lips their belief that he was the Messiah, their hearts where still empty and starving. Their souls were depleted and almost ready for the final miracle. Ironically none of them got it; none of them realized that Jesus was at war, he was fighting a battle to which none of them could see with their own eyes. None of them realized the severity of his actions and teachings until the very moment he appeared to them after Easter. I find myself thinking how hard it is to accept the fact Jesus knew of the absolute pain and indignity he was going to suffer and yet he still chose to carry on with it. So we can’t really fault his disciples who loved him as a brother and did not want to see him die. But we then must ask; if not Jesus then who would have faced Satan, faced the cross? The real question is who else could have?

“3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:3-5, Zondervan NIV 2002, p.1473).

During his trial and flogging he remained amazingly silent. He was neither defiant, nor was he smug about his actions, his mission, but amazingly humble, accomplishing this feat with precision and grace, with unearthly mercy. Yet within his final words before he closed his eyes on the cross, Jesus’s disciples where in hiding, crushed by the world, their faith dashed their souls depleted. There defeat was so absolute that even Mary Magdalene could not believe her own eyes when she saw the tome empty even though Jesus told them of this miracle.  It took Jesus himself to appear before they all believed. As the word spread through the city of the miracle, still those who heard but had not yet seen Jesus could not believe. I am quite sure his disciples where recounting every word Jesus had ever spoken to them. I am sure they all felt guilty that they could not have faith in him enough to not doubt it. The words which must have rang in their minds the most before Jesus appeared to them was;

“Fortunate are the eyes that see what you are seeing. Many prophets and kings wished to see what you now see and never saw it, longed to hear what you now hear and never heard it” (Lost Gospel Q, Q33, p.67).

We celebrate Easter because that is when our sin debt was paid in full. I write about this first Sunday after Easter so that we will remember how empty our souls where as the hunt for our risen Lord began. The miracle that is Jesus, that was his resurrection, his absolute faith in our father that was revealed and proven. Even unto the very moment of his death his soul was not depleted, but from time to time ours is, so this is but one reason why we need him. I write about this first Sunday after Easter to also illustrate how God planned this event, how Jesus obeyed our Father, how we came to believe.

“A week later his disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ 27 Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed” (John 21:26-29, Zondervan NIV 2002, p.1671).

Amen,

If you have been moved by this blog I humbly invite you to leave a message telling me your thoughts and how this reflection has touched you. May peace and love be with you all the days of your life.  May God keep you and bless you. Amen.