Rapacious

I accuse this morning, one member of the body, as rapacious. This one member has far too much say, and indeed, usually has the very last say, in all that starts and sometimes ends, a domino effect of disaster. I speak of the mouth as rapacious. Aggressively greedy and grasping, I tell you the mouth must not have the first and last say, and today we address this culprit.

Think with me about your habits. If you take a moment to look down at the area below and above your belly button, you may instantly spot evidence there, of your mouth having had far too much say in how your midsection presents itself. Conversely, your flat and fit looking upper and lower abdomen, may be reflective of what happens upstairs, in your brain department. My point, is this: the mouth must not be the one that makes all of the decisions for the rest of the body; the mouth must not be permitted to pleasure itself, at the expense of insulting and injuring all the members that make up the rest of the system, that ought to run like a well oiled flesh and blood creation, of the most high God. 

I take you to Egypt, and Pharaoh, incensed when asked by Moses, to let God's people go. Not wanting to give up power, Pharaoh demanded that the enslaved Israelites make more bricks, without the provision of necessary straw: in other words, work harder, make more, and come up with your own materials. The mouth can be like Pharaoh, a cruel dictator that shouts to the rest of the crew, Stop your moaning and groaning. Deal with the suffering, and get the job done, you ingrates. I am in charge here.  

Food is treated like a plaything, a form of entertainment, a way to reward, and then distract from and dodge, the responsibility of being accountable for the havoc it wreaks in the body. Drink is treated similarly, and I ask you, What makes the mouth the most important member? Why does it have free rein, as though it is sovereignly speaking for the entire creature, that often times suffers for the mouths indulgences? Who gave the mouth the right to speak for all the members, disregarding their input, dismissing their complaints, and degrading them by throwing them on mute, in favour of instant and short lived gratification, that must be repeated often, because do recall, that the mouth is rapacious. 

Think with me of all the big bass (the fish) loud mouths that speak for entire countries. When I consider some of the governmental leaders that talk on behalf of Canadians, I draw back and recoil. They do not speak as my representatives to the world; they do not think or behave in ways that would have me be proud of them as agents that I can relate to. I didn't vote for them, I don't want to know them or hear what ushers from their mouths, and yet, they have taken the helm, and they steer the ship toward jagged rocks, that surely will tear the bottom out of the boat they presume to captain. 

The mouth is either a primitive partner that hasn't been trained in the ways of the Lord, or a profoundly brilliant professor of all that is good and true, speaking Holy Love for the sake of itself and its members. The mouth when fed mind or food nonsense, is like a petulant demanding child, never truly satiated, always wanting more, and forever dissatisfied, with greedy green eyes that look for their next fix. 

There was a garden, and a snake, and a naked lady that had many a tree to sample. The words from the serpents mouth, matched the curiosity and craving in the ladies soul, and with a quick and dirty verbal exchange of twisted words and meaning, an agreement was struck. The mouth corrupted, and the mouth has continued to rule with impunity, at the expense of all its members, ever since. 

The Word became flesh, and dear reader, what we say and eat, becomes flesh too, sometimes too much flesh, because the body asks for one thing, and the mouth says, I want it all, whenever and however I want. Shut up stomach, shut up eyes, ears, nose, temples, fingers knees and toes. I don't care how this hurts, I will have my demands met, and to hell with you bellyachers. 

There comes a point in time when it no longer suffices to complain about an issue that prevails in our thinking, and takes up space in our physical world. There comes a point in time when what we say we want, matters more than what the mouth says it wants. The mouth must not be permitted to take liberties at the expense of all the other members of the body; whether it be individual you and me, or whether it be global leaders that shoot out words like darts aimed at heads and hearts, there must be accountability for outcomes, and that requires a significant investment of time in thinking, and thinking some more, to stop mindless activities that maim mercilessly.  

Your mouth must not be the boss of you. You have a working brain, that processes information rapidly, and can assess, what is good for you, and what is hazardous: reason must rule the day, so that your night time is restful and restorative. What we eat affects how we think. What we think affects what ushers out of our mouths, and shows up on our bodies. If your body is burdened, then might I suggest to you, that it is time for you to have a sit down honest conversation with yourself or a trusted confidante, and address what hasn't been spoken of that needs to be aired? 

Solutions:

1. Read scripture

2. Pray

3. Journal

4. Go for a walk

5. Lift weights, dance, do pilates, get physical

6. Eat food you have prepared

7. Resolve to refrain from the consumption of fake fast "food"

8. Drink water all the live long day

9. Weigh yourself daily, and journal your calories

10. Eat most of your calories early in the day, and be done with food by 5 p.m

Know you will not starve to death as you take the reins from your mouth and placed them where they belong, in your more than capable thinking centre, known as the thought generator, your mind. You owe it to yourself to do things that work for you to keep you bright and shiny like a brassy penny! 

It makes cents (a little play on words here), dear reader, to take very good care of yourself, and I sure hope that today is the first day of the rest of a most healthy and wholesome life for you, and all your members. 

False Conception

I am a Christian 

There is a false conception, a standard applied to professing Christians, that turning the other cheek requires us, the professors, to take a beating. Not so, not so. 

There is an abundance of room for forgiveness. Forgiveness is spacious, awe inspiriting, love embracing, and soulful. Forgiveness is especially edifying following requests of the like, that sound something like this: I have done you wrong. I am so sorry for causing you pain, for being a source of your suffering. I ask that you forgive me. 

As a Christian, there is nothing I appreciate more than sincere apologies, except for sincere forgiveness! I love to forgive! It is one of my all time favourite experiences. Misunderstandings are marvellous opportunities for heart to heart exchanges that can lead to clarifying conversations, and confirmation too, that love remains, when two are willing to own the role they played in the misalignment. This having been said, it is quite a drastically different story, when someone purposefully, and repeatedly offends, maligns, and injures another, and expects to be treated as a loved and trusted person. 

I have apologized many a time over the years. There are some people I have thought about tracking down and asking for forgiveness. The idea makes me happy, but last names escape my memory, making it difficult to accomplish this duty. How about you, dear reader, are there people you would like to reconnect with so that you can speak these words: I am sorry; please forgive me?

God forgives, yes indeed he does, and so should you and I. The trouble starts with the person that refuses to own their badness, refuses to confess their sinful words and activities, and refuses to acknowledge the pain and suffering they cause when they cling to their ways, at the cost of relationship. God doesn't tolerate nonsense, and neither do professing Christians - a repeat offender that does not feel the sting of regret, ought to be put in jail, or, in the case of those that are petty thought criminals that we sometimes have to suffer, put in a timeout, away from the general population, cuz they just cannot be trusted. 

Distrust destroys relationship, now that there is a fact. Christians are entitled to choose their company, and bad company, according to scripture, does this: 

1 Corinthians 

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 

Psalm 1:1-4

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

God forbid we do not forgive the repentant: that would be ungodly. The question is, Do I/Do you, forgive someone that isn't sorry, that does what they do, regardless of the impact their doings have on others? My answer, is yes, I forgive them, even if they aren't sorry, even if they never speak the words, Please forgive me, but dear reader, it does not mean I white wash the situation, and pretend all is good between us; it means I acknowledge how things have been, how they are, and how they will most likely continue, if this person refuses to see the harm they cause, and if they continue to be unwilling to humble themselves, ask God for strength to change their ways, and seek forgiveness. 

I know that if a person prefers their pet sin in favour of relationship, then their pride prevents them from being meek before God and their fellow man. Pride is a preservative for the boastful, it shields them from ever admitting wrongdoing, and sets their heart in an encasement of concrete. If they will not bow down before the living God, what makes you and I think that they will be meek and mild enough to try to make amends with us, by admitting guilt? 

Not a chance, I tell you. 

Christian. you don't have to take a beating from abusive people that show no signs of conscience. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, and, he will judge the quick and the dead, and separate out, the repentant and saved, from the reprobates and self-obsessed. He knows who is sorry and who is not, and so do you and I. Sorry people stop saying and doing terrible things : the proud in our midst continue to embrace their pet sins, and are none the wiser all the days of their lives. 

My last note while we are together. You know you encounter a difficult sin soaked person if in your mind you start to hate them, have terrible thoughts about them, mutter and complain about them throughout the day. This type of person temps us to sin and be similar to them, and this is the challenge faced: to remain holy no matter the people we deal with, and regardless of the circumstances. 

Jesus did not repay evil with evil, and we must ask for his strength, to bless those that curse us, and continue to pray for their salvation and redemption, through Christ our LORD. 

A Fate Worse Than Hate

What could possibly be worse than being hated, dear reader? What is your answer? Here are some possibilities for your consideration: despised, disregarded, displaced, demeaned, dismissed. I say hatred, as compared to the sentiments discovered in the five d words I used, is preferable, because with hate, there is passion, and with passion, love co-exists. 

To not care, to be detached and disabled from being disturbed by, or inclined toward, interacting with someone, is a sign of complete and utter... freedom, from the ties and holds and used to be's of another. Freedom, from a grip they had, that is no longer.

I think of the abuse cycle and the honeymoon phase. Abusers blanket blame their victims, and when the victim reproaches the abuser by standing up for themselves, the abuser resorts to insinuating it was the victims fault in the first place, and that while the victim "asked for it", the villain will try their best to not meed out punishment earned. The villain has been here before, with the old trick of bait and switch, and in the victims weakened state, they want to win over the approval of the haranguer and alas, they agree once again, to forget what has gone before. A fresh start... Or a sad and sick repeat of a repeat?

Patterns are immensely helpful. It behooves us to discover our own auto-pilot unconscious patterns, in order to break them, and remake new ones that are helpful and healthy, for us. We can, I am sure you have heard repeatedly, only change ourselves, and when someone pretends to promise change in order to re-initiate their own sick and perverse patterns, it is vitally important for the new you, to recognize their well worn and travelled tracks, and make new ones for yourself. In other words, don't fall in line once again, thinking somehow this time will be different, because the sicko in your life suggests, without committing, that it will be so. 

I have had people in my life that I wish I had never met: some were completely unavoidable, but that does not mean I am without choices. Relationship is always chosen: does this sound accusatory to you, dear reader? For instance, if a man or woman suffers emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, or physically, at the hands of someone they are in relationship with, is it their choosing, and therefore their fault when they are mistreated? 

How do you, answer this question?

I knew a woman that left her violent husband. She stated once, He said he is going to kill me. He did, he shot her dead on the front lawn of her house, and then shot himself, leaving their two children orphaned. What say you? Did she do the right thing leaving him? even though in the end, he stole her life, and left their offspring bereft and brutalized in the aftermath, of homicide and self-murder. She could not live with him, and he made sure she would not live without him. This case is the extreme, and chances are high that you and I are dealing with different, and perhaps petty crime, kinds of criminally minded creeps. 

Here is my driving point: We either complain, or we do something about the situations we find ourselves in. There comes a point in time when the mistreated, decide they will care more about their own well-being, their own important goals and mission in life, than subsisting and constantly trying to navigate a sicko that could care less about others, because they lack empathy, feel no pain for the suffering one, and do nothing to alleviate the burdens they impose so casually, so caustically, so so... criminally! I use this word often in this writing because it is criminal to be mistreated by another, and dear reader, if I am describing what you have experienced, or you are currently experiencing, you get to choose to not care anymore about the thoughts, feelings, and fate, of the one that mistreats maliciously. 

What, is a fate, worse than hate for the wrongdoer? 

It is this: No one cares for them anymore... no one wants to hear them, see them, relate to them... caring is killed and with a spin of the table, they become the ones that act like victims, and wonder how others can be so so very cruel to them...

What a twisted world we live in, dear one. Walking the straight path is a choice. Being honest and sincere is a choice. Wanting the best for others and living with integrity are choices. And breaking free from a brutalizer is a choice. 

The woman I mentioned earlier was a brave soul. She would not cower in her home, afraid of a murderous husband. People that utter threats must be taken seriously, and unfortunately, this man did what he said he would do, because he just could not stand her freedom. Isn't this a horrifying thought, dear one? Some people cannot stand your freedom, and they work hard to steal it from you. Let this idea sink in, and act as a warning for you, when next, your patterned oppressor, attempts to malign and manipulate you, into being their little play thing puppet. 

The villain will not change, dear one, but it is a must, that you do some things differently, otherwise, you will suffer the regret of letting someone else manage your inner world, all of your live long, or short, life.

Spare the Bulldozer

Spare the bulldozer, bloat the conceited: this is my version of spare the rod, spoil the child. 

There is a certain amount of soul shattering humiliation that rattles the mind and races the heart, when a man or woman of conscience is caught, in wrong doing. The shame filled become red faced in embarrassment, even when all alone, at the thought of having committed moral and ethical crimes. The intrinsic value of being alright before God and man, gets dinged when we do what ought not to be done. 

Does God have the right to chasten, dear reader? 

The shameless do not feel humiliated before God or man; the shameless transgress, injuring others, without the sense that it is God's laws they bend and break when they inflict pain. 

Sin, when acknowledged, invites conscience to speak, and when conscience informs the misbehaved, it acts like a bulldozer, rolling over the guilty, flattening them out, while squishing every bit of pride, self-aggrandizement, arrogance, and conceit, right out of the rotter. The end result, you ask? the degenerate is red faced, humiliated, and embarrassed before God, and willing to make amends with man. Sounds painful, doesn't it?

Yes, it is painful to see ourselves as not good humans, fallen from any semblance of grace and dignity, as troublemakers too selfish to see past our own needs and desires, to the wants and necessities of others. It is a horror to watch our own video tape play backs, and hear in our heads our own soundbites, that rub abrasively like hot sand and burning salt, onto souls. I cover my eyes with long strands of hair, not wanting to see or hear my own major faux pas. Alas, they are inescapable, when I want to be forgiven and blessed by God, as a penitent sinner redeemed.  

Self worship is idolatry, and dare I say that when a person decides to go against God's will, it is their own spirit, their own mind and heart, that they hold nearer and dearer, then the God that made them. It is a simple formula of Me first, rather than God Always. Now where o where does this mentality get the self-obsessed, I ask you?

Look no further than yourself for the answer to the question above. Where, o where, have you found yourself, after breaking God's code, his rules to live by, his honour system, his command over you and all creation? We can break the laws, but ultimately, we never really get away without being charged as offenders. Think with me, about being an offender before the living God, each time we willfully sin. Willful sin is always a choice... and nothing gets past God dear reader!

When looking up bulldozer images, I got a little frightened, seeing how huge some of them are... now picture Almighty, ever present, all knowing, everywhere God, the creator of the unfathomable universe, and you will see teeny tiny you and me as little itty bitty ants that can be flicked, crushed, flattened, and buried with the batting of his all seeing eye. 

Hebrews 4:13

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 

The following verse makes a lot of sense to the humble hearted:

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Only the stubbornly stupid among us, are fearless before the Sovereign. 

Reprobates & Regulars

Reprobates & Regulars, and how to tell them apart.

A reprobate hasn't an ounce of regret

A regular gets that I am a low-down-dirty-rat feeling

A reprobate does as they please

A regular thinks of consequences

A reprobate blanket blames others

A regular is responsible 

A reprobate cries alligator tears

A regular weeps with remorse

A reprobate can't stir up compassion

A regular feels the pain they witness in others

A reprobate and empathy are oil and water; they don't mix

A regular cries salty tears for the injured and mistreated

A reprobate is beyond reach

A regular can be pulled near

A reprobate loves to hate

A regular loves to love

A reprobate will not concede

A regular always admits

A reprobate wants, demands, insists on being honoured

A regular shrinks from selfish-desire, imposing, and shies away in humility

A reprobate just can't do it; they just cannot give in and give way. The price of pride demolished is too costly.

A regular must do it; they must try and try again, extending the olive branch, making repair bids, hoping for unity and resolution. The regular looks the reprobate in the eyes, and states, There is a way, if you are willing...

Nah, says the reprobate, I am fine the way things are. The regular responds, in resignation, So be it. You have sealed our mutual fate, and we part ways, here, and now. 

The reprobate sets their steely eyes on the horizon of time. They mark their own way on a path that is never deviated from, no matter the who or the what or the how of their encounters. 

The regular has tender eyes, softened by the Saviour. Their way is marked by a path that winds in and around and back again, engaging with reprobates and eventually, finding a way to circumvent them, and their friends liars, cheats, thieves, and murderers. The regular spots other regulars, and they exchange looks that speak volumes without a single syllable spoken. 

Reprobates cannot see or hear the regulars. Reprobates only see themselves, and think themselves very, very good...

2 Corinthians 17:5

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Reprobates have not Christ; there is no room for him in all their bigness.

Regulars prefer Christ over anyone and any one thing; there is no room for a regular when Christ is the be all, end all, centre of all of life. 

Examine yourselves : This we must do.

Just As Capable

Maybe they can't

Maybe they aren't capable 

They had it hard

Life wasn't easy for them

Broken, rotto, no fixi, she no worka no more

We are capable, dear reader. We have the capacity to help, to heal, to hold; to hit, to hurt, to hurl. We are capable. I am able to be of assistance, and I can destroy too. 

I worked with young offenders in my twenties. My shift partner was a wise man, and taught me a little something about choices. I repeat his story (more on his story in a moment) whenever I hear someone make excuses for the criminally minded. The criminally minded are those that superimpose themselves, wherever they go, and onto whomever they are closest to. The criminally minded haven't a care about autonomy, boundaries, established borders; the criminally minded cross lines of demarcation, and mark territory like dogs do, leaving their scent in the most despicable and obvious ways - they may never get arrested for their indecencies, but the fact remains, they are the insidiously sneaking ones that delight in insulting the intelligence and sensibilities of the righteous and godly, aiming to agitate and rile the saintly, to behave in unbecoming retaliatory ways. Back to my shift partners story.

David grew up in a rough neighbourhood in Hamilton Ontario; his mother solo parented him, and his older brother. While other boys in his area took to criminal activities, he and his brother participated in sports, and paid attention in school. While his cohorts negatively gained criminal records, he and his sibling became positively responsible citizens. One set of boys to men are a burden on society, while the other set, are contributors to the general population. Same neighbourhood, same circumstances, same opportunities, different selection process. Interestingly, David had great insights into the mindset of the young male offenders housed in the open custody facility we worked in; ironically, he earned money that in turn, supplied them with their physical needs, through the paying of taxes, with a place to live, and food to eat, after breaking hearts and laws along the way. Someone has to pay, dear reader. Someone has to foot the bill, isn't that right?

With my bleeding heart, I would say to David things like, They had a rough childhood. David would respond, They choose; it is all about choices. The part of me that felt anguish for what these young men had experienced in their baby and childhoods, had me not wanting to face the cold hard facts, that they willfully injured, insulted, irreparably wounded and or killed, other people, not because they had been wounded first, but because they chose so horribly, that the ramifications were extreme and irreversible. 

The roster of young offenders I met covered a full range of law breakers. Many had committed heinous crimes, all before the age of seventeen. I met a young man that drank and drove and killed; there was a violent seventeen year old that assured me he would murder in his future. I met young rich kids that enjoyed breaking and entering, and destroying for the fun of it. I met drug addicts and dealers, and pedlars of contraband; there was a paedophile in our midst, and this information was kept from the staff, but leaked to us somehow - the truth always comes out - and I can see in hindsight how one might want to keep this information out of the minds of those that may be outraged in the knowing. As I type I feel anger welling inside and tears, tingling my nose, at the thought of the little children that were marred and maimed, their innocence stolen from them by a wicked, depraved, and dirty violator. Funny, isn't it dear reader, that the paedophile had to be protected from the other offenders, and from the staff too - his law breaking was of such a vulgar and violent nature, that souls scream out, Kill him, kill him... This type of indecent assault assails the very essence of those that deeply love people, especially children. No matter the criminal, paedophiles are the most despised and hated naturally, by one and all. Where is the protection for innocent and vulnerable children, I ask you?

Someone has to pay, and here I suggest, that we all pay in one way or another, when laws are broken, autonomy is disregarded, and liberties are taken where there ought to be a sweet appreciation for each person as an individual, with rights to choose, without being imposed upon. 

Dear one, we are each one of us, capable, of choosing. We have all suffered injury, loss, disappointment, heartache, wounds that felt like they may never heal, and yet, it is how we proceed from there that determines whether or not we get our pound of flesh from others in retaliation, or decide to be kind, thoughtful, other focused, and generous, no matter what we have gone through or experienced in our distant or recent past. Here is what I really mean:

You are not broken, beyond repair, or without the capability to make good of your life. You are just as capable to spin things around to the positive, as anyone else you encounter. You choose, and you choose again, and often, we all do. What makes you think you aren't capable of choosing rightly, righteously even? What excuse do you have, to explain why you aren't a contributing member of society, if this is the case?

I could, if I wanted to, choose very badly. I could be mean and nasty, steal and disrupt. I could insinuate and suggest, and cause distress and angst. I have lots of reasons I can quickly tabulate to reassure myself that I am right in the doing to even a score, but man alive, just the thought of being that wicked, makes my nose tingle once more, with the start of tears. 

Why o why, would I want to give in to hate? 

With every choice we make there are attached therein, consequences, conceding, and a sort of confession! Your conscience confesses what is happening within, with every choice you make, and that is telltale! We are what we say and do, dear one, and this is important for us to take note of, when next we are ready to choose in significant ways. 

Luke 12:2-3

For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. 

Competing With God

Competing with God is never a wise choice. 

When I look around, I see tiny king and queendoms; perhaps they ought to be referred to as king-dumbs & queen-dumbs instead, considering the fact that the only King, unmatched and unrivalled, cannot be dethroned by conceited and puffed up humans, pretending to be greater than they are.  

The would-be kings and queens of this world see things as theirs, and they also see people as their subjects. To off with your head kings and queens, things and subjects are objects to be toyed with, used, manipulated, and disposed of when usefulness and utility are no more. To reiterate: things and subjects are made the same in the minds of royal wannabes, subjected to their whims and wills, so that their desires, wishes, and commands, are granted by servants at their beck and call. What I find most alarming and embarrassing too, is their commitment to steal top billing from God; they willfully attempt to usurp the Sovereign, and as I stated above, competing with God is never a wise choice. It is an exercise in futility when someone thinks their conniving and controlling ways, will eventually grant them that perfect place of commander, over things and people within their reach: that thinking, is criminal insanity in its demonic nature.  

Look at me, honour me, glorify me, deify me, bow to me, do as I say, or off with your head. Do you know a self-important person living in an empty castle constructed with cans, that wants to be worshipped as your god? Have you encountered a tiny heart in a small minded person, that would have you as their subject, obeying their every command, and threatening your safety when you do not submit? These dumb-dumbs are everywhere, and they strut their stuff, brag when lent an ear, assess, critique and criticize, with impunity, since after all, they are, royalty, and it is their due to condescend and comment.  

It is an abuse of power to employ it against the very ends for which it is given, Matthew Henry, Acts to Revelation, Volume 6, page 444. 

Mothers and fathers are given children to raise to be servants and good citizens of this world, with the goal of being family members in Christ's heavenly community. Our work is to glorify the God that made us, and yet, and yet, the tiny hearted and small minded among us, manage to twist the significance of sacred life, when they insinuate themselves onto their own self-appointed throne, as ruler of their domicile. While it is our duty to honour our fathers and mothers, it is never our duty to bow to them as our king, our queen, our liege. We become aristocratic when we belong, by God's grace, to his family, as adopted sons and daughters; it is our bowing to the King of kings that lifts us from the mucky mire of life on planet earth. There is much blundering, in those that refuse to submit to God's Lordship, and when they expect others to bask in their sullied man or woman made "glory". 

Matthew 12:46-50

While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. 

Do you, dear reader, do the will of Jesus' Father, which is in heaven? If so, you can be sure you are considered family by Jesus! What a wonderful concept to consider! Unfortunately, there are members of your family that are the seed of Satan. It is our duty, we are commanded, to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and to live our lives pledging our allegiance to him and him alone: and yet, so many people are self-committed to their own arrogant aggrandizement, and they would have you and I, equally committed as either their replicas, or their underlings. Imagine worshipping the image of God, and not God himself... now thats downright silly, isn't it?

Isaiah 43:10

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

I end with an observation I feel compelled to share: It is cruel and unjust for parents to attempt to displace God in the minds and hearts of their own children. It is an abuse of the power given them, as stewards of God's created in his image, beings. 

How dare you, mother or father, try to kill God, so that you are the king or queen in your son or daughters life... 

How very dare you.