Walking Away

I have a couple of questions for you, right here, right now, dear reader:

Right…

🖤 Do you always have to be right? 

🖤 Can you give up, concede, when you hear a differing point of view? and;

🖤 Consider what the other person is saying and perhaps, agree with them?

I don’t like to argue, but when I have a different perspective, or opinion from someone I am communicating with, and I state it plainly with reasonableness, and they insist on validating their slant to the point of ridiculousness, removing all plausibility from their pouring forth of frothy words, I have a tendency to walk away. The crazy thing is, while I am walking away, sometimes the other person keeps yakking, as though by continuing to speak, they have garnered a win. 

Slant...

I think of this form of back and forth communicating as completely manipulative. The insistent one has a slant, an angle, and while I admire their complete committed tenacity to their cause of imposing their point of view, I am repelled by stubborn insistence on rightness. I could be wrong when talking to someone, or misinterpret what their meaning is, and I am open to discussion and course correction, but INSISTENCE upon NONSENSE makes me a little irritable! 

I chuckle a little at recalling my most recent experiences with this kind of strangeness. The spirit of contradiction is very strong in those that refuse to think of themselves as fallible. Do you know anyone like this? They are the ones that have lots of suggestions and ideas on how things, and more specifically, the things YOU DO, could be done better. They are the geniuses that just naturally, intuitively, know better than most stupid folk, and wouldn't you, want to benefit from their limitless wisdom? 

I had a friend years ago that imposed non-stop on her children. She commanded them to their ruin. Breaking free from someone, anyone, that sees others as extensions of themselves, rather than individuals with their own rights and privileges tastes and prejudices, is near impossible when there is a power imbalance. The power imbalance favours the one that is in authority, and the weaker member of the two, becomes subjected. Is it any wonder with such selfish malevolence, that children struggle with their own autonomy, their own comprehension and understanding of self, when parents swipe away the child's ability to confidently choose?

What, pray tell, if the parent was wrong in all their judgments and assessments? What becomes of their progeny?

When I consider my relationship with God, I see how godless the secular are. Based on feelings, hopes, and daydreams, many a parent has willy nilly lead their children down the path of perdition. When a child is restricted from learning, and must acquiesce constantly to parental foisting, they become insecure and feel inept, disabled from trusting that they can with effort, acquire skills and master techniques. Being told you are wrong, or there is a better way when perhaps you are on the right track to accomplishment, is cruel and unnecessary tampering with emotional wellness. Countering this may take years of self-analysis, AND a willingness to not self-blame, and perhaps take a close look at the perpetrator and inflictor of insecurity. 

The self-blame and self-doubt is what needs to stop: when you finally realize that you have been bullied by someone that supposedly loves you, you have an opportunity to assess their character flaws, sans guilt. You get to see how they worked you over for their own self-aggrandizement, and not for your benefit. You get to finally see who they are, and who you have potential in becoming!

All those ideas you have had all your life, they are super important and fun to explore. All the joy you experience when you think of painting that image you have popping into your head, or sculpting that lump of clay that has yet to take shape, or writing that story you giggle and cry over with all those characters running around in your brain, or that cool looking artisan bread that you cannot wait to braid into perfection... these are life blood inspirations, and you get to do them all! But you must, simply must, cut the puppet strings that someone else attached to you that never belonged in the first place. 

When I walk away, I am walking away from argument. When I walk away, I am letting the other person know that I am not going another round in the ring with them. It took me a long time to figure out that I just cannot win an argument with someone, anyone, that refuses to admit they may possibly, as crazy as it may seem to them, be wrong. This character trait is a curse on those that possess it, because they alienate those that would champion them, by contending rather than co-operating. 

God, and the godly, will point out what righteousness sounds and looks like. God never imposes his will, although, dear reader, it will be done, no matter what we choose to believe or do with our own lives. God, unlike earthly parents, always judges and assesses righteously, and if only dear one, if only, we lived his precepts, we wouldn't be witnessing en masse, the destruction of humans that ought to have thought for themselves, rather than be lead to their own slaughter by mass murdering manipulators.

The school system, as institutions taken over by demonic forces, have taught our children and their parents before them, to obey without thinking, to ignore reason and good sense, and to capitulate with all that God forbids. 

What a bloody shame.

Now, if what you have just read rings true for you, and you can see reflected here, what you have experienced, you get to start taking charge of your own thoughts, recording and assessing your feelings and looking at what formed and shaped you. If you feel as though you were someone else's project, you get to break free, and discover what you were created to do and become. 

Whatever gives you that joy joy joy joy, down in your heart, was placed their by God Almighty, and if you have any doubt that it is from him, go to scripture and measure what you are considering against his righteous principles. What you want to do, if it is from him, will never ever harm you or another, in fact, it will bless you both. 

Go with God, and you will never regret your choices. 

Peace be with you now and always. 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11)

Crickets & Chemical Trails

The demonized love them some fantasies of dehumanizing the populace. Demoniacs are mouth pieces for the devil, and when they open their gubbs, we see all manner of flying and crawling insects ushering out. What is good for the goner (the already walking dead and committed to damnation), they want to make good for the living: “they” want us to consume and inhale death. 

When I hear the nonsensical speak, I immediately comprehend that there has been a hostile soul takeover. Satan is the hostile, hateful, and most definitely, hurtful being that appropriates what is not his via compliance with his wicked will. You have to want to be bad to get on his good side so that he will do favours for you, favours that require life blood, yours, and everyone else’s too. 

So is it at all surprising, at this late stage of the cosmic game, that when a liar speaks, he spews misleading mental meanderings? When a killer converses, he strongly and repeatedly, hints at inhalation and injection of lethal poison, and consumption of crunchy crickets? I mean seriously, dear reader, should we expect differently from those guys and gals that hate their fellow man to the point of wanting to off them all? I think not. 

I expect nothing good to come from those that are committed to badness. It becomes easier over time to tell people apart, you know, the wicked from the godly, the zombified from the alive in Christ. Everyone dies, but while we are alive, walking, talking, living, we let others know into which camp we have pegged our tent. 

Just like the satanists do the bidding of their lord and master, Christians cannot help but be inclined to lovingly obey our King, our Saviour, our Sovereign. The false god(s), literally, cannot hold a candle to the Son of God! While Lucifer's little pee on men scurry about building cricket and other insect factories, and loading up planes with chemicals to criss-cross mark-up the skies, Christians pray to the God whose storehouses are in the heaven-lies: do recall that God can send, and rescind, plagues and pestilences. Pharaoh had his fill of frogs and gnats, and yet he still could not bring himself to bow before the God of the universe. The pretend pharaohs of our current timeline are no different. They insist that they can impose their will and way on God’s people without stoppage or reprisal, but alas, their faulty thinking sinks them deeper into the quick sand they have willingly leapt into. 

The crux, let us talk of cruxes, shall we? The crux of the matter is knowing who God is, knowing who Satan is, and knowing that they are not equal in strength or power: Satan is not a contemporary of God's. He has not the privilege to influence or impact the God that made him! It is ludicrous to think him a threat to the God that fashioned him. The magicians in Egypt could mimic the miraculous, but could not produce originals: they just don't have the blueprints or the ether that God alone has access to, because HE CREATED ALL! 

The Bible is our hope and help in troublesome times. We learn there how to sense and feel our own sin, where to look for redemption, why we must call out to God from our fallen fleshly form, to save us from our nasty selves! O, don't pretend you aren't nasty, dear reader... we all have some cleaning up to do: it isn't just me 😂.

Believe me when I tell you that getting my nose back in joint after it being out for months on end, running into years on end, took some working over on God's part. This lump of dough that is called me, had to be kneaded, folded, kneaded some more, proofed, and then eventually rolled out flat, in order for God to reshape me into something that resembles ever slightly, who he is. The chemical trails and "edible" cricket sad comedy incensed and irritated me, and I am fairly confident the headaches I have experienced where from tension unrelieved: I can't just leap skyward like superwoman and pull planes down by their tails and pound the pilots to a pulp! Hahahha, that was a fun sentence to write!

What I can do, is pray for God's people to have a Goshen kind of life. To shelter in the place of safety he has designated for us. If you have a home, food, a bed to sleep on, work, money to pay your bills, and more importantly, access to a Bible or five of them, you have all you need to learn who you are meant to be. Creature comforts afford us the luxury of study, and what could be more valuable, than studying the Word of God, pray tell? 

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success (Joshua 1:8)

Astounded At The Ruins

We are in the thick of it, dear reader, the ruins, in some ways yet to visualize, in others so blatantly obvious, as to turn the stomach sour. 

Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt (Deuteronomy 29:24-25)

From Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible, page 392, pertaining to the verse above:

Why be astounded at the ruins? if you are guilty, self-convicted, self-condemned? You will be forced to acknowledge your shame, that you ruined your own life, spoiled your own family, laid to waste your own future, and theirs by forsaking the Lord your God 

• Ought we to be astounded at the ruins?
• Are we guilty, and self-convicted, by sinning in God's sight and hearing?
• Have we self-condemned, meaning damned ourselves by who we have become and all that we do?

If you answered yes to these questions, then there is hope for you, despite the ruinous and challenging situations you find yourself in. If you answered affirmatively, recognizing that God sees your guilt, that you have convicted and even condemned yourself, and deserve the recompense via damnation, you are in most excellent company. Are these harsh thoughts, and harsh words too? Yes, indeed, they are... and yet, the evidence dear reader, is so gut wrenchingly obvious that we have cumulatively corrupted the earth, that we must not look away; rather, we ought to shame faced gaze until our souls quake and have us saying, I must stop, I must change, I must think and do differently: give up sin for my souls sake, and that of my children. And so much more...

My family is not ruined. My family has been plucked from the fire, washed in the Holy Blood of the Saviour, made new in Christ Jesus. Of my own accord, I could do nothing, in fact, there were times that I lay prostrate, helpless, weeping, and God, and God alone, managed to scrape me off the floor, brush me off, and fill me with the courage to face what looked like devastation irreparable. It was the Lord that we sought, it was the Lord that over time healed, it was the Lord that deserves all the glory, and it was the humans that needed to be salvaged...

Have you ruined your life, dear reader? laid waste your future, and that of your children, by forsaking the Lord your God? The ancient Israelites did this, time and time again, despite having direct access to the Almighty! The shameful bit we must acknowledge now, is we have access too, and yet we prefer our own embarrassingly despicable ways, over the honourable ones he wants most for us. 

If you still have breath, there is a chance that your life can turn around, and by natural influence, you can help your children become godly, and goodly! It is not a far fetched concept, you know: saying yes to what is good, and no to what is evil, is more than possible. If you aren't sure what the differences between good and evil are, there is a very Good Book I highly recommend, that boldly defines all, taking the guess work right out of the wondering! 

We, collectively, are under God's judgment. We, collectively, must be accountable, and as responsible humans, do our bit to save ourselves and others, via submission to the will of God, and returning to our first love. Are you willing? If you are, God will make you able!

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41)

See now, what we, what you, must do? Pray, and God will give you strength to enter not, into temptation. If your spirit is willing, and you admit your flesh is weak and inclined to give in to temptation, God will strengthen your resolve as you depend on him in your saying NO! 

Dare I say it is, That simple? Yes, and no. It is hard in the beginning to change our wayward ways, but over time, with prayer and Bible study, you will want more of him and less of you... and the sinning will not be nearly as appealing. In fact, you can pray, whatever disgusts you Lord, make is repugnant to me too. Believe me when I tell you, this works. 

Try it for yourself, dear one. You won't regret it. 

Lastly, to close the circle and this piece of writing, I suggest to you that if your life is in ruins, you are the one that is in charge of the mess in your head, heart, and soul. You are the one that must detangle and disengage from what has become nightmarish and sick. If you don't, you are the one to blame, when you look about and see the destruction your choices have caused. You will not be able to point a finger at anyone else, and especially, not at God.

Ruin and rebuilding... we ruin ourselves, and God can and will, rebuild us, when we decide to believe and trust that he knows best, and we submit to his will.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up (James 4:7-10)

Once Was Saved, Now Lost

Calvinists, who deny that salvation can ever be lost, reason on the subject in a marvellous way. They tell us, that no virgin's lamp can go out; no promising harvest be choked with thorns; no branch in Christ can ever be cut off from unfruitfullness; no pardon can ever be forfeited, and no name blotted out of God's book! They insist that no salt can ever lose its savor; nobody can ever 'receive the grace of God in vain'; 'bury his talents'; 'neglect such great salvation'; trifle away 'a day of grace'; 'look back' after putting his hand to the gospel plow. Nobody can 'grieve the Spirit' till He is 'quenched,' and strives no more, nor 'deny the Lord that bought them'; nor 'bring upon themselves swift destruction.' Nobody, or body of believers, can ever get so lukewarm that Jesus will spew them out of His mouth. They use reams of paper to argue that if one ever got lost he was never found (John 17:12); that if one falls, he never stood (Rom. 11:16-22 and Heb.6:4-6); if one was ever 'cast forth,' he was never in, and 'if one ever withered,' he was never green (John 15:1-6); and that 'if any man draws back,' it proves that he never had anything to draw back from (Heb. 10:38, 39); that if one ever 'falls away into spiritual darkness,' he was never enlighteded (Heb. 6:4-6); that if you 'again get entangled in the pollutions of the world,' it shows that you never espcaped (2 Pet. 2:20); that if you 'put salvation away' you never had it to put away, and if you make shipwreck of faith, there was no ship of faith there!! in short they say: If you get it, you can't lose it; and if you lose it you never had it. May God save us from accepting a doctrine, that must be defended from such fallacious reasoning!" ~ John Wesley

I have some friends of the Christian variety, that believe in the doctrine of once saved, always saved. I am of a different mind, but I am not inclined to apologetics: I gave those up long ago, in my university days. Rather than debate by going toe to toe utilizing scripture, I prefer the ever so slightly caustic well versed quotes from John Wesley, to dismantle the argument that when a person says they believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour, perhaps even getting baptized and taking communion in the presence of God and his saints, means they are thereafter, no matter what they say and do, forever 'saved.'  

I know what love grown cold sounds and looks like. Anyone that has gone through a divorce understands that where there once was glowing ambers of affection, there might only remain, as the years go by, cold ashes from a fire that burned out and could not be rekindled. I have considered the man I was married to, and whether or not I still love him. I think it romantic to say that I do, but question whether or not this is true. Out of sight, out of mind? How, dear reader, can it be any different, in any of our relationships? When one has left, and the other looks longingly at first to follow, but cannot, and does not, because they are uninvited, does this not represent the ending of said relationship? Does it not make sense, that there must be at least two, one two, count 'em, to make a couple in love, in like, in friendship, marriage, partnership, in relationship? 

God calls us into relationship with him and some answer the call, gleefully, similar to the first blush of attraction, a puppy love kind of feeling, ecstatic in the excitement of newness. When the feelings fade, and another strikes their fancy, the shallowness of affection wains, and off the puppy goes in search of something new to gratify their immature desire for temporary satisfaction. Believing in God is fanciful for some, trusting in him and living according to his will as described in the Bible, is entirely, a different story. 

Allow me to enumerate what Wesley refers to in his countering of the once saved, always saved argument, based on scripture that points exactly to the opposite. I will not be doing your homework for you, I only suggest you look up the scripture references and come to your own conclusions. You will read the repeated phrase, is in reference to, to lead you to the contrary message that many a believer needs to read to understand that God demands more from us, then a simple one and done confession or profession of faith. We must live according to his will, his way, for all our lives, to ensure our salvation: 

• No virgin's lamps can go out is, in reference to Matthew 25:1-14
• No promising harvest be choked with thorns, is in reference to Matthew 13:22
• No branch in Christ can ever be cut off from unfruitfullness, is in reference to John 15:2
• No pardon can ever be forfeited, and no name blotted out of God's book, is in reference to 33:8 & Exodus 32:33 respectively
• They insist that no salt can ever lose its savor is in reference to Matthew 15:13
• Nobody can ever receive the grace of God in vain, is in reference to 2 Corinthians 6:1
• Bury his talents, is in reference to Matthew 25:15
• Neglect such great salvation, is in reference to Hebrews 2:3
• Trifle away a day of grace, is reference to 2 Corinthians 6:2
• Look back after putting his hand to the gospel plow, is in reference to Luke 9:62
• Nobody can grieve the Spirit till He is quenched, is in reference to 1 Thessalonians 5:19
• Nor deny the Lord that bought them; nor bring upon themselves swift destruction, is in reference to Peter 2:1
• Nobody, or body of believers, can ever get so lukewarm that Jesus will spew them out of His mouth, is in reference to Revelation 3:16

For the rest of what John Wesley references, he has given us verses to look up. 

During a discussion about this topic, my son made simple sense of what has become a controversial conversation point for those that love the Lord and their Bibles too! He stated, That's why the warnings are there... 

Why, O why, would God repeatedly warn us that what we have now, can be lost, if it weren't true? Do we not have a plethora of examples in the Bible, and here I am considering king Solomon, who under the seductive influence of his many heathen wives, indulged in idol worship, cutting his life a little shorter than it would have been, if he had been obedient in his covenantal relationship with God. God does not condone sin, or trifle with it, or us for that matter. He is very direct in his messaging, and I for one, take the warnings very seriously. 

Speaking of covenantal relationships... when someone steps out, leaving the relating to another broken beyond repair, how is that reconciled? In other words, if you, or I, decide to walk away from God, will he not let us go our wayward way? Isn't that what freedom to choose good over evil is, deciding to stay in relationship with him over toying with the wicked world. Do you not know someone, dear reader, that once was saved and now, sadly, is lost? 

I will end here with a short story. When I was twenty-two I met a Baptist. The Baptist became my spiritual mentor and my go to when I had God questions. Eventually, she suggested I go directly to the Bible for my answers. Over time, she became a debauched women, drinking, driving with her kids in the car, swearing, and she even had a boyfriend, whilst attending marriage counselling. In the end ~ she died young ~ she was consulting the dark spirits to guide her. I ask you, is she now, in heaven, with God, after inebriation, fornication, lying, manipulating, endangering herself, her children, and innocent fellow drivers? Was she once saved, always saved?

Only God knows where she ended up, because God knows hearts. And this ought to be our warning, God knows what is in each man's mind, each woman's heart, each child's soul. He knows, will not be mocked, and will not allow entrance into his kingdom, those that go directly and willfully, against his Word. 

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22-23)

P.S: I guess this piece of writing is a teeny tiny apologetic... but really, dear reader, it is my attempt at letting people know, that they must abide in God, for him to abide in them. What could possibly be more magnificent?! 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me (John 15:4)

The Hilarity of Arrogance

I have been thinking about God, and as is typical in my incapacity to comprehend his foreverness, I see him as ancient, aging, and maybe a little behind the times. Kind of like, say... me. I giggled out loud when I typed these ridiculous thoughts. Finite beings clearly, have difficulty understanding the infinite, all powerful wisdom of God... I am quite obviously, no different. 

Using raw materials, made from something that wasn't there before he designed it, whatever it is and was and will be, God made everything. I am laughing again, dear reader, because try as we might, there is nothing, absolutely NOTHING we can make without sourcing the materials, to put the thing together, that we imagine in our minds. We humans are outsourcing all the time!

Now, let us walk along a gorgeous shore line, feeling the warmth of wet waves washing over our toes. The sun warms our shoulders, gently kissing tender skin. Feel the sand, silky beneath your feet, sinking in and being swallowed, temporarily suctioned and then released, as you lift one foot, then the next, spotting a glimmering stone here, a shiny shell over there. Glorious...

Man did not make this, nor can he... demons hate the luxuriousness of God's creation, and they want to dissemble, tear apart, divide up what he made whole and perfectly complete. We see them doing this with the humans God crafted, but dear reader, they must use what was made by his mighty hand, his raw materials, in their attempts to undo what has been Holy ordained. 

The arrogant believe they can look into the mysteries of God, and use what he divinely created, against humanity. I must say, they are doing a pretty good job of it, but they are no different from the murderers of old, the crafty, sneaky villains that saw themselves as gods: humans that think themselves above others, will impose their will, manipulate, poke and prod, in order to enslave: this is how we know demons are influencing them. God on the other, right hand, never forces, never takes away a man, woman, or child's right to choose. 

The demoniacs really are enjoying themselves... for now. They really believe they have the world by the tail. This is sadly funny, a sick joke played on them by the devil himself. He uses and abuses them until all they can think of is destroying, maiming, killing their fellow man. He has placed rings in their noses, and shackles on their ankles, and the microscopes they use, the syringes they fill and press, are the very things that damn them. Since they love and cling to death, it will be their ultimate demise... and they know not what awaits them; arrogance holds them captive.

But he that sinneth agaisnt me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death (Proverbs 8:36)

I guess what I am driving at, and want you to understand too, is God isn't out of synch, or out of time. God is not an anachronism to be dismissed as too old to understand modern times, including technology. I had to laugh yet again typing this because I am ever so slightly feeling silly at having these thoughts about him... and I am fairly confident they pop into my head unbidden, repeated as a whisper from someone that would prefer I make God little, inept, bent over, a bit blind, deaf, and dumb. Yup, Satan is always taking shots at God, and his children. But I see the fiery darts, thanks be to God, and my Lord is quick to quench them! 

So, dear reader, we get to have a little tete-a-tete with God, and thank him for all creation. We get to ask him to protect us from the dissemblers, the mockers, the mimickers that want to misuse us. We get to see him as All Powerful, All Knowing, and trust that his plans for us are perfect, even when the weirdos arrogantly make bold claims against us. 

We get to call this, the day of the Lord, and every day hereafter too. Isn't this marvellous news?

May mercy and truth be with you every day of your life, in Jesus Mighty Name.

Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: 

let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me (Psalm 40:11)

By the way, if anyone's brain is "washed", it is those that believe they can corrupt God's creation and get away with it: that is the epitome of absurdity. Only the ludicrous are thusly deluded. 

Reprieved

... though he has been long reprieved, he shall be reckoned with at last: time does not wear out the guilt of any sin, particularly that of murder ~ a quote from Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible. 

It is the reprieves that are so egregious to us, are they not, dear reader? Wanton reckless reprobates wander freely, wounding our senses and scarring our souls as we look on and listen, in utter dismayed disgust.

The longing heart looks for relief and wonders how long, O Lord, must this be? I hear an echo from the past, and perhaps you do to... not until the proud have filled their cups to brimming full with iniquity... not until the saints are secure, and all the lost sheep have been gathered into the fold. 

If anyone needs a reprieve, it is the saint gone sour, sinning along side the heathens. I don't believe in once saved, always saved: the inclusion of the word apostasy in the Bible has me knowing that you can call yourself a Christian and act like one today, and in seemingly no time, become just like those that are ruled by their fleshly urges, and behave as though you belong NOT to Christ at all. Switching teams is a common game, most recently evidenced by the pretend pastors that jumped on the antichrist, anti Bible bandwagon from the pulpit, or stage, as it were. In droves they behave like petulant children, rather than deferential reverends. God does not condone, approve, tolerate, or bless sin, this is why repentance is vitally important in relation to the Sovereign.  

Wherefore my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12)

Have you, dear one, ever had a reprieve? I have had many: I cannot count the times I escaped dire consequences for foolish actions taken. Phew. When I look back, I cringe at what I have said and done, and quickly thank God for gracing me with another day to make my life a little more, ummm, godly shiny... rather than selfishly dull? Each new day is another opportunity to honour and glorify God, isn't that right? 

To stay with our theme from above, quite literally the top of this page, and from heaven above, we must address God's timing and reprieves. The wonder of God is how he can stand us at all, and the glory of him is the merciful time, after time, that he allows us to stumble, fall, scrape our knees and souls, and get back up, to either do it all over again, or choose differently, and hopefully according to his will. 

Murder, dear reader, is nothing new, and there are some famous murderers that repented from their hateful ways, and were saved from damnation. I think of John Newton, the man that penned the famous hymn, Amazing Grace. A former slave trader, responsible for locating and selling Africans into slavery, was saved by God's grace during a storm at sea, when he cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us." This life altering experience changed his life trajectory, and it can change yours too, dear reader. Cry out, Lord, have mercy on me... and see what happens in your mind, your heart, your very soul.

Now, let us address the murderers that roam freely that haven't an ounce of regret, not a sign of repentance, not a stitch of shame... God sees their hearts, and while they may have a temporary reprieve, and while their heads still remain attached to their bodies, it does not mean they will remain so forever. Listen again to the words of the wise: time does not wear out the guilt of any sin, particularly that of murder

Justice will be served. For all the contributors to the destruction of the human race, all those that said yes to de populating and diminishing their fellow man, your days are numbered, and tick tock goes the damnation clock. Repent now, sin no more, and perhaps YOU will be saved from the slavish prison of wickedness you now reside in with demons. 

NOTE: You may not know that some of the things you are saying and doing are sins against God. If you suddenly feel a flood of memories wash over you that make you blush in shame and embarrassment, that is called conviction. It is your conscience letting you know that yes indeed, you have done what God disapproves of. That yucky feeling, believe it or not, is some kind of wonderful. 

You get to say you are sorry, repent, and plead with God to make you new, in Christ Jesus. Jesus modelled what a perfect human sounds and acts like, so that we can emulate him. He didn't have to, and you don't have to do as he did either, but that is the beauty of freedom of will, you get to choose! I pray you choose wisely, and I will see you in heaven.

Praise be to God Almighty, and peace to his saints on earth.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14)

Accustomed To Pain

I cringed the other day while being treated by my osteopath. She has a way of rubber necking my head, and since the results after the adjustments are fantastical, I submit with nary a complaint: but she notices my wincing without whining when in discomfort. Too much, she might ask... A little, but it is what you have to do to fix me, I am inclined to reply. She is a gentle kind person, and wants to alleviate pain, not inflict it. She goes to tolerable limits, always considerate of what the client is experiencing. 

I am not a verbatim quoter, but the next part of our conversation got me thinking. The osteopath indicated that some people are used to pain: I add here, that when others inflict it, they submit without question. That is the gist of what I got out of our brief exchange. 

Some people are used to pain...

What if some people are used to being offended

What if some people are used to being offensive

What if some people are accustomed to being mistreated

What if some people are accustomed to maltreating 

What if some people are quietly hurt

What if some people loudly injure

What if some people are helplessly lost

What if some people purposefully mislead

What if some people are naively gullible

What if some people are viciously disingenuous

What if...

I have said many a time to a trusting client, drop naiveté on its head, kill it now. Cruelty cruises into overdrive when prey pretend there aren't any enemies roaming and lurking, waiting to pounce. This is why Biblical advise is so astoundingly precise, and needfully so!

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16)

Try as we might to warn them, there are some people that like to continue to believe that people are naturally good and kind, despite what they have experienced. There is a form of self-deception that serves them in their day to day, that ultimately, will be their demise. And maybe they just don't care?

Soul searching isn't for everyone, and neither is pain for that matter. 

My osteopath is a long time trusted friend. She is the best of the best, and I know that I am literally in good hands, when she puts ribs and shoulders back where they belong. Just because I trust her and her professional abilities, doesn't mean I have to submit without question, to her twisting me this way and that, if it hurts!

I like this lesson, it is helpful on many fronts, and I hope it gets you thinking too: about your own pain, the pain you may inflict on others without noticing, or the injure others cause you that you haven't challenged as of yet? 

We are so intricately and wonderfully connected when we want to be. We can read each others facial expressions, eye emotions, body messages. We can pick up on tone and volume in a voice, and discern when something is amiss or when someone is bursting with joy. We get to do this with one another, what a gift this is. 

If you are accustomed to pain, perhaps you can take a look at it right now, and ask yourself if this is the state you want to continue in, or perhaps, find a way to alleviate your suffering. It isn't easy to change established patterns of thinking, behaving, reacting, but with awareness, you can do it, and alter the trajectory of your life while you are at it! 

Ask these questions:

1 Am I in pain? If yes, is it emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual, or a combination therein?

2 How long has this been going on?

3 When did it start?

4 What do I remember that will help me figure out how and why it began?

5 Do I want this to stop? Do I believe with conscious effort, it can?

6 Who can I talk to that I trust about this?

You don't have to be alone in your self-questioning. You can get help, and it is important that you decide to take charge of your own life, and surround yourself with healthy people that enjoy alleviating pain, rather than inflicting it. 

My prayer for you is that you break free from unsavoury patterns that have you unduly suffering. You can choose change, and in fact, you are the only one in your life that can. 

And the commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also (1 John 4:21)

Dalliance With Darkness

Perhaps you have heard of shadow boxing. It is you, fists up protecting that mug of yours, then a right jab jab, left hook, followed by uppercutting your inky black side, as you bob and weave, dodging the enemy that darkens the wall just in front of you. 

The shadow you, dances with darkness: moths to flame singe their wings but cannot help being drawn to fire. We humans are inexplicably pulled too, and have the soul scars and gashes, attained during deadly dalliances, to prove it. There isn't a human alive that hasn't caused self-harm: we are at times, our very own worst enemy.

There is no one that talks to you as much as you do. There is no one that spends as much time with you, as you do. Do you spend this precious time fighting with yourself?

I have found a way out of this shadow boxing self-absorption. To take myself out of the ring, I put myself into the Word of God. There, I am matchless with no one to spar with, a humbled little creature appreciating that the fight is not mine... I get to participate when called to battle, and by God, it is prayer that is the greatest weapon ever trusted in by man. 

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Romans 8:37)

The last seven years have been most educational for me, dear reader. Confusion has evaporated in favour of confidence, contention replaced with calm. I had to figure out who I am, and have my character closely follow suit. I had to look at shadow, dark figure me, and bring her into the light, to expose that which was uncomely, ungodly, and the parts of me that were attached to persona and pride. After all is said and done, bobbing and weaving to dodge self is exhausting and fruitless pretend work, and once it is done, what is left is malleable and can be shaped for good usage: reformed and ratified for godly endeavours. 

It is God's merciful love that melts and puddles me like wax. He is so kind and has forgiven me much. What is a woman to do, except be grateful, and want the same for everyone. This brings me to us, we humans, that fight firstly with him, then with ourselves and others, and finally, spent, we stop the bickering and the brawling, step aside and and ...

I step away from contention now, seemingly defenceless. I could put my fists up and protect myself when I don't like the cut of someone else's jib, maybe throw a couple of punches and land some solid, jaw cracking ego blistering blows, but I am disinclined: there are enough internet trolls and trouble makers looking for petty entertain to occupy this nonsensical space. There are also plenty of gossips and backbiters that bait, but it is not my favourite sport to play, so they can take their tackle and go fishing somewheres else! 

Jesus gave answers when asked questions, and he did this for the sake of those that belonged to him then, and now. He stopped responding when prideful men persisted in their own folly, because a yes ought to be a yes, and a no a no, and wishy-washy lukewarmness has no place in God, and might I add, it ought not to have a place in our lives either, dear one. 

I like the word vexatious very much, have you heard of it? It describes perfectly that feeling you and I get, that feels like sandpaper on the soul, when we encounter someone that has undertone, is sickly obsequious, disingenuous, ever so subtly malicious, or gives us stink eye, as though WE are not to be trusted! When someone vexes our spirit, it is like a hex, a curse, an invitation to agitation and verbal or physical blows. The devil is very good at teaching vexing, hexing, and methodology to the willing, on how to engage peaceful people into defending themselves and hopefully making them vicious, just like him. Christ wants us to follow in his holy footsteps, Satan wants us to surrender to sadistic besotting sin: dalliances with darkness are demonic.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Romans 8:37)

This bit of scripture is often quoted, and has the feel of a boxer, mitts high in the air, face lifted with eyes upturned: victorious, a winner, a conqueror that has done mortal battle and won the belt and title. His fuel for the fight? Love. His regime for training? Biblical wisdom. His most knowledgeable instructor, God himself. Yay!

I have learned that just because I am scrappy and can fight, it doesn't mean I have to, and it also doesn't mean I am meant to either. I don't pick fights, but some people do, because they like it: realizing this has been very freeing for me, and I hope it is for you too. We always get to choose our battles, but better than this, we get to discern the when, the where, the how, of what God wants us to do, taking our time in responding, when the pressure is turned up and someone demands, RIGHT NOW from us, when we aren't ready to go and may never be. 

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18)

What this means:

If it be possible: sometimes we have to fight, but when it is possible, we must refrain;

as much as lieth in you: when it is within our control and choice;

live peaceably with all men: we must live peaceably, avoiding contention and brawling

This wisdom it life affirming, and I aim to live by it, fortified by God's loving strength. I pray the same for you, dear reader.

A Beautiful Feeling

Repentance is a beautiful feeling: it is the sorrowful, I am sorry, of the soul. Regret, remorse, repentance, what a marvellous trio they make. 

Today I read about king David, stealing away the ewe-lamb, the cade of Uriah. Lust lead David by the nostrils and he indulged his desires by ordering up another man's wife to bed her, while her husband fought for king and country, to glorify God. What follows is tragic, because David attempts to cover sin with more sin, and murder ensues. I would not do the story justice by retelling it here, it is too extraordinary, too painfully exquisite to simplify. Suffice it to say, that good men of great report, and good women, of honour and reputation, sometimes slip and slide into debauchery, and isn't it so, dear reader, that you and I have done the same from time to time?

*Go to 2 Samuel Chapter 12 to get an insiders view of this intricate story of a corrupted, convicted, and then redeemed heart.

Shame is a marvel, a gift from God. It is a signalling of wrong doing, letting us know that we have contrived and committed crime against the Father of lights. In our dimly lit minds, when we give ourselves permission to perseverate on what God disapproves, followed by action that is insulting to him, we sin against our Maker, and our own souls; not to mention the souls of those we have included or impacted by being deviationists, taking ourselves out from under God's protective and generous government, and placing us in mortal and moral peril. 

Lately, I have asked God to help me forgive others that have done me wrong, in mild and massive ways. In so doing, it is near impossible to not hear the echo of my own past reminding me of the wrongs I have committed, suggesting that while I ought to forgive, I too need forgiveness. None are innocent except of course, sweet little newborns that have yet to learn manipulation and lying, and these, generally, are taught by their very own parents! 

And so, dear one, we have a conundrum. We are born to sinful, lying, cheating parents (you can say yours were perfect but alas, I would have to challenge this faulty belief system, since few are they that have not sinned, while ALL come very short of the glory of God!), and if we lean in the direction of wanting to honour and glorify our heavenly Father, we have to course correct continually. 

🔥 What lies do we tell ourselves and others?

🔥 What cheating have we indulged, and in what form?

🔥 What is our secret sin, or public for that matter, that has stained our souls?

🔥 Worse than these, how have we detracted from glorifying God in our sinful self-indulgences?

One of the many things I appreciate about The Bible, is the honesty of those that had been self and other deceiving. When they wanted their own way, and had it by disobeying the God that loved and blessed them, they tell on themselves, dear reader! They confess for goodness sakes. King David wrote the Psalms and in them, he tells of having sinned against the Lord. The kings story of adultery, fornication, conspiring to kill, and ordering a murder, are shared in detail for the mortifying of our own souls, so that when we sin against God, we feel the sting of regret, in the hope that we never do the same again. When we repent, and sin no more, God forgives.

Isn't this the best news ever? God forgives when we repent and sin no more. This takes away the shame, and replaces it with joy unspeakable. The beautiful feeling of drawing near to God, cuddling into him as a cade, a precious lamb without blemish, a pet that he feeds at his own table and snuggles with as one of his favourites. The lost lamb, gone after and rescued from its own silly idiocy...

You are that lamb, when you see and feel the mercy of God Almighty, after weeping bitter tears of regret for forsaking your own soul and dishonouring your Father in heaven through sin. You are that sweet little newly made innocent lamb, that childlike says, I am sorry, please forgive me, and is welcomed into his loving open arms.

Bahhhh, BAHHHHHH, you bleat... and then leap for sheer joy. A wonderful, beautiful feeling indeed. 

The heart of God must beat in our own chests. He tracks the lost, and retrieves them from peril and perishing, and we must do the same: 

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? (Luke 15:4)

Infamous Self-Murderers

There are infamous self-murderers, and I list three here, not in the order of historical occurrence, but according to how well known, world wide, their prideful self and other, destruction was.

Judas

Hitler (proportedly)

Saul

Imagine, dear reader, a criminal committing heinous crimes, purposefully, willfully, in cold blood. Next imagine they initially get away with the illegal acts: no one comes to arrest them, hold them accountable, or makes them pay for their mischief, and imposition of will; they carelessly hurt, permanently harm, and kill, innocent people. Just as they suddenly find themselves facing the fact that their day of reckoning calls for their own blood, they decide to self-murder, taking their own life.

Coward... cowards

NOTE: one does not need to strain the brain imagining the scenario described above, since we are currently bearing witness to atrocities on a daily basis, that have yet to be justly reconciled. 

Self-murderers are cowards. I suppose those that kill before falling on their own sword (Saul), shooting themselves in the head (Hitler), or hanging themselves by the neck from a tree (Judas) value life so little, that it is with odd ease they take their own, when they can not handle the prospect of publicly paying for their wickedness. 

JUDAS

The mercenary known as Judas, with his name forever synonymously linked with the terms traitor/betrayer, had a question for his tempters, the wicked Pharisees that sought to kill the man/God they knew fulfilled prophecy, namely, Jesus:  

And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15)

A life ... worth thirty ... pieces of silver ~ I will not go into how vulgar and obscene this is, because it ought not need explaining; nor need I emphasized how deplorably base this former disciples actions were. Suffice it to say, Judas couldn't live with himself after payment, tried to give the money back, and then hung himself. Coward.

HITLER

Next on deck, we have the maniacal, notoriously and insanely corrupt, Hitler. He deemed himself commander, controller, condescender, condemner and commandeered similarly wicked minded people to murder their neighbours, their friends, their family. Anyone Hitler adjudged unworthy of breath and existence along with everyone discovered that dared go against his plans and orders, was targeted and marked for disposal, and an early grave. 

As Soviet troops entered the heart of Berlin, Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, in his underground bunker. Although there is some speculation about the manner of his death, it is widely believed that he shot himself. Eva Braun, whom he had recently married, also took her own life: an excerpt from, The Internet. Coward.

NOTE: It is not lost on me, that neighbours, friends, and family, aligned with the devil  most recently, ostracizing, maligning, manhandling, jailing, anyone that did not go along with world government orders. It was suggested that business failure, relationship rupture, and painful death, were just rewards for those that did not mask, distance, and get lethally injected, at the behest of demonic forces disguised in human form. Satan and his tricks, huh?

SAUL

Lastly, we have Saul... the very first king of Israel. He was head and shoulders above the crowd, dear reader, was anointed by God to be king, and had good and godly council that he heeded early in his reign. But wouldn't you know it, dear one, he had an ego problem, and was given over to self-governance, self-indulgence, and pride. He had a murderous heart, and tried on various occasions to kill David, a man after God's own heart. 

He threw a javelin multiple times, in the hopes of pinning him dead to a wall; he put him in peril in hopes of his demise when fighting the Philistines; he hunted David with an army at his disposal to seek, find and destroy; alas, David had Providence going before him, keeping him from the malicious man that was thirsty for innocent, loyal to God, blood. 

Enraged, Saul ordered a vengeful henchman to murder eight-five priests of the Lord, when he learned the high priest had been helpful to David while he was a refugee in his own country (David had ran for his life, so to speak, to avoid being killed by the crazed king). Fast forward, and we find king Saul, with his three dead sons by his side, wounded in battle, and asking his armour bearer to take him out of his misery, so that he would not suffer the humiliation of being killed by the enemy army. His armour bearer did not want to face God's judgment for killing the anointed king, and refused to do the deadly deed. Saul took it upon himself to fall on his own sword (his armour bearer followed suit: see how influential people of the mentally and spiritually impaired variety, horribly model deployable behaviour?), AND, once discovered the very next day, had his head lopped off, and put on display as a trophy, along with his body and the bodies of his sons, being hung so that the victors could celebrate their win and honour their demon gods for securing it. Saul was a self-possessed, and demon dominated man of infamy. He was a killer, and in his turning away from God, he turned himself into a mad man. Coward. 

NOTE: Murderers are indiscriminate. Murderers like the spilling of blood: they have blood lust. Isn't this strange, dear reader, an aberration? 

Now, I am not done with this subject yet, oh no. The three men mentioned above died dripping in blood, theirs, and that of their victims. They killed themselves because their master would have them dead, after their usefulness had expired. Judas betrayed the living Saviour, Hitler made himself a tyrannical god, and Saul disobeyed the Sovereign... anyway we slice it, these men hated God, hated other humans, and ultimately, displayed self-hatred via self-murder. 

Suicide is self-murder, and anyone that does this, denies God as the giver and taker of life. It is abominable in his sight, and utterly demonic. To assist someone in self-murder makes one an accomplice to killing... yup, yup, it is that clear.

Just as all the generations that proceeded ours, we have the same scene playing out. Satan loving demon worshippers, with their fangs exposed and dripping blood, lust for a continual crimson flow. They like death, and as I said earlier, murderers are indiscriminate: they are good with babies dying, moms and dads dying, your grandma May in the nursing home dying, and uncle Fred up the road dropping dead. 

Thing is, everyone dies... it just so happens, the mass murderers become infamous, eventually have no where to hide, and their pride cannot keep them from the ultimate humiliation of being brought low, once the cup of their iniquity has been filled. God gives us many an opportunity to refrain from committing sin, and to repent when we have gone against his Holy grain and name. Those that live in the limelight on the global stage that are committing crime after brutal crime, with have a day of reckoning before Almighty God, even if they decide to hang, shoot, or stab themselves to death to avoid public embarrassment and shame. 

I leave you with an encouraging word from scripture:

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:8-11)