#and david for showing this and bringing light unto mine own life | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

araitsume · 6 years

Video

youtube

Prophets and Kings, pp. 379-391: Chapter (32) Manasseh and Josiah

SECTION 4—NATIONAL RETRIBUTION

“I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” Jeremiah 30:11

The kingdom of Judah, prosperous throughout the times of Hezekiah, was once more brought low during the long years of Manasseh's wicked reign, when paganism was revived, and many of the people were led into idolatry. “Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen.” 2 Chronicles 33:9. The glorious light of former generations was followed by the darkness of superstition and error. Gross evils sprang up and flourished—tyranny, oppression, hatred of all that is good. Justice was perverted; violence prevailed.

Yet those evil times were not without witnesses for God and the right. The trying experiences through which Judah had safely passed during Hezekiah's reign had developed, in the hearts of many, a sturdiness of character that now served as a bulwark against the prevailing iniquity. Their testimony in behalf of truth and righteousness aroused the anger of Manasseh and his associates in authority, who endeavored to establish themselves in evil-doing by silencing every voice of disapproval. “Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another.” 2 Kings 21:16.

One of the first to fall was Isaiah, who for over half a century had stood before Judah as the appointed messenger of Jehovah. “Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Hebrews 11:36-38.

Some of those who suffered persecution during Manasseh's reign were commissioned to bear special messages of reproof and of judgment. The king of Judah, the prophets declared, “hath done wickedly above all ... which were before him.” Because of this wickedness, his kingdom was nearing a crisis; soon the inhabitants of the land were to be carried captive to Babylon, there to become “a prey and a spoil to all their enemies.” 2 Kings 21:11, 14. But the Lord would not utterly forsake those who in a strange land should acknowledge Him as their Ruler; they might suffer great tribulation, yet He would bring deliverance to them in His appointed time and way. Those who should put their trust wholly in Him would find a sure refuge.

Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and their exhortations; fearlessly they spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but the messages were scorned; backsliding Judah would not heed. As an earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian soldiers, who “bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon,” their temporary capital. This affliction brought the king to his senses; “he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God.” 2 Chronicles 33:11-13. But this repentance, remarkable though it was, came too late to save the kingdom from the corrupting influence of years of idolatrous practices. Many had stumbled and fallen, never again to rise.

Among those whose life experience had been shaped beyond recall by the fatal apostasy of Manasseh, was his own son, who came to the throne at the age of twenty-two. Of King Amon it is written: “He walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them: and he forsook the Lord God of his fathers” (2 Kings 21:21, 22); he “humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.” The wicked king was not permitted to reign long. In the midst of his daring impiety, only two years from the time he ascended the throne, he was slain in the palace by his own servants; and “the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.” 2 Chronicles 33:23, 25.

With the accession of Josiah to the throne, where he was to rule for thirty-one years, those who had maintained the purity of their faith began to hope that the downward course of the kingdom was checked; for the new king, though only eight years old, feared God, and from the very beginning “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” 2 Kings 22:2. Born of a wicked king, beset with temptations to follow in his father's steps, and with few counselors to encourage him in the right way, Josiah nevertheless was true to the God of Israel. Warned by the errors of past generations, he chose to do right, instead of descending to the low level of sin and degradation to which his father and his grandfather had fallen. He “turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” As one who was to occupy a position of trust, he resolved to obey the instruction that had been given for the guidance of Israel's rulers, and his obedience made it possible for God to use him as a vessel unto honor.

At the time Josiah began to rule, and for many years before, the truehearted in Judah were questioning whether God's promises to ancient Israel could ever be fulfilled. From a human point of view the divine purpose for the chosen nation seemed almost impossible of accomplishment. The apostasy of former centuries had gathered strength with the passing years; ten of the tribes had been scattered among the heathen; only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained, and even these now seemed on the verge of moral and national ruin. The prophets had begun to foretell the utter destruction of their fair city, where stood the temple built by Solomon, and where all their earthly hopes of national greatness had centered. Could it be that God was about to turn aside from His avowed purpose of bringing deliverance to those who should put their trust in Him? In the face of the long-continued persecution of the righteous, and of the apparent prosperity of the wicked, could those who had remained true to God hope for better days?

These anxious questionings were voiced by the prophet Habakkuk. Viewing the situation of the faithful in his day, he expressed the burden of his heart in the inquiry: “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save! Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.” Habakkuk 1:2-4.

God answered the cry of His loyal children. Through His chosen mouthpiece He revealed His determination to bring chastisement upon the nation that had turned from Him to serve the gods of the heathen. Within the lifetime of some who were even then making inquiry regarding the future, He would miraculously shape the affairs of the ruling nations of earth and bring the Babylonians into the ascendancy. These Chaldeans, “terrible and dreadful,” were to fall suddenly upon the land of Judah as a divinely appointed scourge. Verse 7. The princes of Judah and the fairest of the people were to be carried captive to Babylon; the Judean cities and villages and the cultivated fields were to be laid waste; nothing was to be spared.

Confident that even in this terrible judgment the purpose of God for His people would in some way be fulfilled, Habakkuk bowed in submission to the revealed will of Jehovah. “Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One?” he exclaimed. And then, his faith reaching out beyond the forbidding prospect of the immediate future, and laying fast hold on the precious promises that reveal God's love for His trusting children, the prophet added, “We shall not die.” Verse 12. With this declaration of faith he rested his case, and that of every believing Israelite, in the hands of a compassionate God.

This was not Habakkuk's only experience in the exercise of strong faith. On one occasion, when meditating concerning the future, he said, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me.” Graciously the Lord answered him: “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:1-4.

The faith that strengthened Habakkuk and all the holy and the just in those days of deep trial was the same faith that sustains God's people today. In the darkest hours, under circumstances the most forbidding, the Christian believer may keep his soul stayed upon the source of all light and power. Day by day, through faith in God, his hope and courage may be renewed. “The just shall live by his faith.” In the service of God there need be no despondency, no wavering, no fear. The Lord will more than fulfill the highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him. He will give them the wisdom their varied necessities demand.

Of the abundant provision made for every tempted soul, the apostle Paul bears eloquent testimony. To him was given the divine assurance, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” In gratitude and confidence the tried servant of God responded: “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10.

We must cherish and cultivate the faith of which prophets and apostles have testified—the faith that lays hold on the promises of God and waits for deliverance in His appointed time and way. The sure word of prophecy will meet its final fulfillment in the glorious advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords. The time of waiting may seem long, the soul may be oppressed by discouraging circumstances, many in whom confidence has been placed may fall by the way; but with the prophet who endeavored to encourage Judah in a time of unparalleled apostasy, let us confidently declare, “The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.” Habakkuk 2:20. Let us ever hold in remembrance the cheering message, “The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.... The just shall live by his faith.” Verses 3, 4.

“O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make known; In wrath remember mercy.

“God came from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light; He had bright beams out of His side: And there was the hiding of His power. Before Him went the pestilence, And burning coals went forth at His feet. He stood, and measured the earth: He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; And the everlasting mountains were scattered, The perpetual hills did bow: His ways are everlasting.”

“Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, Even for salvation with Thine anointed.”

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labor of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength.”

Habakkuk 3:2-6, 13, 17-19, margin.

Habakkuk was not the only one through whom was given a message of bright hope and of future triumph as well as of present judgment. During the reign of Josiah the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, specifying plainly the results of continued apostasy, and calling the attention of the true church to the glorious prospect beyond. His prophecies of impending judgment upon Judah apply with equal force to the judgments that are to fall upon an impenitent world at the time of the second advent of Christ:

“The great day of the Lord is near, It is near, and hasteth greatly, Even the voice of the day of the Lord: The mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

“That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of wasteness and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess,

“A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm Against the fenced cities, And against the high towers.”

Zephaniah 1:14-16.

“I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust.... Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath: but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” Verses 17, 18.

“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, Before the day pass as the chaff, Before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, Before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you.

“Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, Which have wrought His judgment; Seek righteousness, Seek meekness: It may be ye shall be hid In the day of the Lord's anger.”

Zephaniah 2:1-3.

“Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven away; and I will make them a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in all the earth. At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring again your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord.” Zephaniah 3:19, 20, R.V.

“Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; Be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, He hath cast out thine enemy: The King of Israel, even the Lord, Is in the midst of thee: Thou shalt not see evil any more.

“In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: And to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee Is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.”

Verses 14-17.

1 note · View note

drpaulmacdonaldrnma · 3 years

Text

Listen to God and His Commandments and Live (Ecclesiastes 3:1-22)

Paul MacDonald RN MA Dipl

Again, Solomon contrasts the wisdom of God alongside the evil of Satan and his demons.

Verses 1-20 is where Solomon instructs that wisdom is;

(1) Be rooted in sound teaching, verses 1-4;

(2) Rest your in trust in God (verses 5-6);

(3) The rewards those who obey (verses 7-10).

While wisdom could "sometimes" demand chastening, it "could" also bring with it profound benefits if one uses wisdom (verses 13-18), and its importance is clear since it was wisdom that undergirded God’s creation (in verses 19 and 20).

DON'T Forget God or His Wisdom

Proverbs 3:1 "My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:"

“My law”, Hebrew “Torah” from the verb “to throw, distribute, or teach, hence “teachings”.

God's Law

It is used of God’s law but here (as in 2:1), it is used of the commands and principles that God gave through Solomon.

Proverbs 3:2 "For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee."

"My son" tell us who this message is to. It is not to the world in general, but to the followers of God. God reminds us to not forget His teachings, but hide them away in our hearts. God also reminds us to walk in His ways.

Consider ALL of God's Ways

His "commandments" here are talking about all of His ways. Just as the commandment to honor father and mother promises that our days may be long upon the earth, we see the promises of length of days here if we follow in His ways.

When you know that you have done the right things, it does bring peace. Sin brings fear of punishment, but obedience brings peace.

DON'T Forsake the Path of Truth

Proverbs 3:3-4 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:" "So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man."

Loyal Kindness

“Neck … heart.” The virtues of mercy (the Hebrew word for loving kindness and loyal love), and truth that come from God are to become part of us, outwardly in our behavior for all to see as an adornment of spiritual beauty, and inwardly as the subject of our meditation. Such inward and outward mercy and truth is evidence of New Covenant salvation.

The Bible says the "merciful shall obtain mercy".

Matthew 5:7, "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."

"Mercy" shows love to the utmost, for God and for man.

Truth is NEVER Questioned

"Truth" cannot be underestimated. It is beyond compromise. A truthful person is a person whose character cannot and will not be questioned by anyone. One of the highest compliments that can be paid a man is to say that he is a man of truth.

Bind Mercy and Truth Around Your Neck

If a person could have the two most important strengths of character, it would be mercy and truth. This "binding them about the neck", I believe, just means to treasure them highly and don't lose them somewhere along the way. "Write them upon the tables of thine heart" has to do with the heart dictating a person's actions.

God Will Write His Will Upon Your Hearts

God will write His laws upon the heart of His people, if we will allow Him to. I believe that is the message here. God says if you have these two, mercy and truth, you have His laws on your heart. (In verse 4), we find if we practice these two, we will be able to get along with not only the men around us, but God as well.

Trust in God and Commit Your Ways to Him

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

This (verse 5 here), applies to all believers, but even more to those who are in the service to God. God never chose any man or woman to work for Him because of their training and ability within themselves. God chooses people like Jeremiah who was just a lad with no formal training; and God put the words in Jeremiah's mouth to give to the people. You may read all about it (in chapter 1 of Jeremiah). When we depend upon our own ability, we fall very short. For a minister of God to be effective, it must be God speaking through him.

Proverbs 3:6 "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Three commands are given (in verses 5 and 6): Trust, meaning “rely on, depend on”; Lean not, meaning do not depend on your own native instincts, and Acknowledge him, meaning have fellowship and intimacy with God in all of life. The result of such devotion is that God will make the paths straight before you.

Here again, we get into the will of man. Man has to be willing to accept God's help and to give God the credit for the job well done. A Christian must first of all not start anything that the Lord is not in, and then we must praise Him in everything.

Praise Yahweh

Hebrews 13:15, "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."

If He directs our path, we shall walk in the light and not stumble and fall.

Proverbs 3:7 "Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil."

Rely On God and Fear Him

The most dangerous thing, if you are trying to succeed in the world, is to get satisfied with yourself. A person cannot grow when he gets this attitude. When we rely upon our self, we are always disappointed. No one likes a know-it-all or a conceited person. We must remain humble. What little knowledge that we do have is because of God's generosity towards us.

Fear of the Lord will take away all arrogance and pride. In the first few verses of Proverbs, we learned that the fear of the Lord is true wisdom. Fear here could be looked at again as reverence or high praise. Give God the glory for it all.

God's Promise of Deep Physical Well Being

Proverbs 3:8 "It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."

The strength here is in the marrow, the inner parts. God is promising physical well-being for those who live wisely according to His will. Such physical well-being is what David forfeited before he confessed that he had sinned against Bath-sheba and Uriah.

Many illnesses are brought on by sins as we said before, not all illness, but some. Good clean living seems to assist in good health. For sure, good clean living brings a clear conscience and no regrets. When the spirit of man is healthy, it helps with the physical health, as well.

"And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statues, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26).

Honor God With Your Resources

Proverbs 3:9-10 "Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:" "So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

A biblical view of possessions demands using them for honoring God. This is accomplished by trusting God, by giving the first and best to God, by being fair, by giving generously and by expressing gratitude for all He gives. The result of such faithfulness to honor Him is prosperity and satisfaction.

Honoring Yahweh goes much further than just attending church and stating that we are a believer. Our heart is where our pocket book and time is.

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again" (Luke 6:38).

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it]" (Malachi 3:10).

DON'T Despise the Chastening From Yahweh

Proverbs 3:11-12 "My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:" "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [in whom] he delighteth."

“Not despise … chastening”: Since even the wisest of God’s children are subject to sin, there is necessity of God’s fatherly discipline to increase wisdom and blessing. Such correction should not be resisted.

Chastening and Trials Must Come

"And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;" "And patience, experience; and experience, hope:" "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Romans 5:3-5).

Lessons in Obeying

You see, the only way a baby learns right from wrong is correction of parents. Sometimes a little paddling makes the lesson easier to remember. This is sometimes true with baby Christians, as well. When we do not obey God, He has to give us a spanking so that we will remember to obey next time. Just as an earthly parent corrects a child to help him grow in the knowledge of the truth, so does our heavenly Father.

If He cared not what becomes of us, He wouldn't bother to correct us (Read chapter 3 of Ephesians beginning with the 13th verse), it will thrill you that you have been tried. I will give one more Scripture here to show that God loves us in our tribulations and then go on.

"So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:" "[Which is] a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer" (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5).

If God loves us, He corrects us; and we take on His worthiness.

Proverbs 3:13-14 "Happy [is] the man [that] findeth wisdom, and the man [that] getteth understanding." "For the merchandise of it [is] better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold."

One of the most wonderful gifts that God can give to man is "wisdom" and "understanding". Solomon was no fool when he asked God for wisdom. Wisdom will bring prosperity of body, soul, and spirit. A wise man who chooses God's ways and therefore cannot fail. If you have silver and gold, you can spend all of it and have nothing, but "wisdom cannot be taken away"; and with wisdom you can acquire silver and gold and any other thing that you might ever have need of.

Divine wisdom yields the richest treasures (described in verses 14-18 as “profits”; merchandise) “length of days,” “riches,” “honor,” “pleasantness,” “peace,” “life”, and happiness.

Proverbs 3:15 "She [is] more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her."

We will have to look back at the last lesson to see what the "she" is here. Wisdom is the she. In fact, this whole third chapter of Proverbs is all about wisdom. Material things of this world, regardless of how valuable they are, are not anything to compare with wisdom.

Proverbs 3:16 "Length of days [is] in her right hand; [and] in her left hand riches and honor."

The right hand blessing is always the best blessing. Length of days is spoken of here as being more wonderful to possess than riches and honor. If a man has no time left to spend his riches and fame, most would trade all of that to extend life a little longer. Even this blessing of extended days is still far short of the blessing of wisdom.

Proverbs 3:17 "Her ways [are] ways of pleasantness, and all her paths [are] peace."

Again here, the "her" is wisdom. Wisdom is pleasant and brings peace.

Proverbs 3:18 "She [is] a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy [is every one] that retaineth her."

This expression is a metaphor referring to temporal and spiritual renewal and refreshment (compare 11:30, 13:12, and 15:43).

No precious jewels or earthly treasures are worthy to be compared with true wisdom, whether the concerns of time or eternity be considered. We must make wisdom our business; we must venture all in it and be willing to part with all for it.

Proverbs 3:19-20 "The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens." "By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew."

The wisdom of God so far surpasses anything we might know of. God actually, through His great wisdom and knowledge, placed the stars, sun, and moon in the open sky. The earth was hung in open air, as well. Not only did God hang them in the atmosphere in perfect orbit, but He also made all of this, as well. Not only did God make all of this, but it is all subject to His will. God causes the sunshine and the rain. He controls the whole universe.

The Wisdom of God the Key to Everything

Solomon is indicating that wisdom is basic to all of life, for by it God created everything. Since God used it to create the universe, how eager must we be to use it to live in this universe?

Proverbs 3:21-22 "My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:" "So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck."

True wisdom belongs to God. God will give us wisdom if we seek it prayerfully. The grace that Jesus has provided for us has to be held in high esteem, even to the saving of our soul. We must remain in that wisdom.

Proverbs 3:23 "Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble."

Proverbs 3:24 "When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet."

Proverbs 3:25-26 "Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh." "For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken."

We see many instances in the New Testament when the demon spirits are afraid of Jesus, because they know that He is the Judge of the world and that they have a terrible fate awaiting them.

In Matthew 8:29, "And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?"

You see, sudden fear gripped them, because of the terrible fate they know they have awaiting them. If you know that you are saved and safe with the Lord, you have no sudden fear. The only fear permitted to those who trust in the Lord is Godly fear. You see, trust in the Lord brings confidence, a knowing that all is well.

Proverbs 3:27 "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do [it]."

As opportunity arises, we must help anyone and everyone that is within our power to help. It seems those full of wisdom seem to be better off financially.

Proverbs 3:28 "Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee."

This is saying, do not put your neighbor off until to-morrow if you have the ability to help them today. Their need is now. We should be eager to help those less fortunate. Only God has seen fit for us to be the better off.

Proverbs 3:29 "Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee."

One of the two most important things God wants us to do is love thy neighbor as thyself. We would not figure up evil against ourselves, so we must not against the neighbor, either.

Proverbs 3:30 "Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm."

We should not live in strife and fussing, but should learn to live peaceably with all men. If we live for the Lord, we are promised that even our enemies will be at peace with us. This does not say that there is never a time for strife. If your enemy attacks you, you may defend yourself; but you must not start strife nor keep it going.

Proverbs 3:31 "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways."

We must never choose the way of the oppressor. Bullies as children are not to be looked up to.

We must not even fellowship with those who choose to oppress others. The worldly wealth that some acquire with their oppression of others should never be envied or desired. Evil and good are like oil and water. They cannot mix.

Proverbs 3:32 "For the froward [is] abomination to the LORD: but his secret [is] with the righteous."

"Froward" means perverted or wicked. The wicked will not know the secret, because they will not see; and hearing, they will not hear. They (the wicked), will not understand the things of God. The secret that the righteous know is that Jesus Christ is their Savior. God reveals Himself to those who love Him.

Proverbs 3:33 "The curse of the LORD [is] in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just."

From Genesis throughout the Bible, God promises blessings to those who follow in God's commandments and curses to those who do not follow in the ways of God.

Proverbs 3:34 "Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly."

Those who reject the teachings of the Lord are rejected themselves by Him.

The scribes and Pharisees are a typical example of this. They thought too highly of themselves and turned the Lord of glory down. The lowly of the world were willing to receive and were granted grace of the Lord.

Psalms 138:6, "Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off."

Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools."

The wise seek God. Those who seek God inherit glory. The glory of the only begotten Son is shared with those who live for God. This is a shared inheritance.

Fools, on the other hand live worldly lives for the here and now. Worldly, selfish, and shamefully.

Paul MacDonald RN MA Dipl ©

Israel Institute of Biblical Studies

0 notes

goodbysunball · 6 years

Text

Best of 2017

Countering the truly embarrassing news cycle of the past year was the deluge of great new music released upon the world, so much so that I’m leaving a good chunk of more than deserving albums hanging. To simplify everything, this is a compendium of what was played most around here, along with a handful of new-to-me reissues/archival releases.

I skipped doing the rap recap this year because my list was so pathetically brief, and doing so seemed both short-sighted and irrelevant. That being said: Quelle Chris’ Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often was my favorite album, followed by Starlito’s Manifest Destiny and Playboi Carti’s vapid, relentlessly fun album. Goldlink’s “Crew” featuring Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy was my favorite song, like everyone else.

Full list of 30 records below. We’ll do better next year.

12. Mount Trout, Screwy (self-released)

This unassuming, digital-only gem crept up on me as the months turned cold. Scraps of paper with notes written on them are held afloat by spare guitar lines; elsewhere winds whip in and chaos overtakes clarity. Lots of the lyrics sound like half-thoughts that forced themselves out after extended periods of solitude, sometimes peaceful, sometimes anguished. Screwy rewards patient attention without dragging you through the mud - but it’s there, should you need to cool off.

11. Group Doueh & Cheveu, Dakhla Sahara Session (Born Bad)

The intriguing pairing on Dakhla Sahara Session turns out to be one of the best surprises of the year, and easily one of the most listenable. Cheveu’s robotic yet effervescent contributions are immediately recognizable, as are Group Doueh’s swirling guitar lines and sweeping vocals; the two fit in and around each other, explosion welded together into a foundation for a colored smoke tower.

10. Leda, Gitarrmusik III-X (Förlag För Fri Musik)

The two people behind Neutral put out a lot of music this year, most of it well worth hunting down despite its highly limited, premium price barrier. I can’t claim to have heard everything, but by my count the two best were Neutral’s När mini-LP and Leda’s limited-to-100 Gitarrmusik III-X LP. Most of this sounds like King Blood collaborating with Robert Turman, looping machinations mixing with heavily distorted shredding, all of it recorded in a metal-walled bunker. Doesn’t sound like much on paper, but when you arrive at “Gitarrmusik VIII” and “IX,” time just about stops. (If you missed out, “Gitarrmusik I” and “II” are available here.)

9. The Body & Full of Hell, Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light (Thrill Jockey)

The first collaboration between these two heavyweights was a slow grower, both bands clearing the land by seeing how far out they could push their respective versions of extreme metal. Ascending, then, is the sound of the two bands communicating as one. The immediate standout is “Farewell, Man,” exactly what comes to mind when one imagines what kind of song the Body and Full of Hell could write together. But tracks like “Our Love Conducted With Shields Aloft,” all free drumming, violently humming noise and sandblasted vocals, hint at a broader, uglier horizon.

8. Bad Breeding, Divide (Iron Lung/La Vida Es Un Mus)

One of the year’s nastier hardcore records, and a reminder that the shitstorm at home extends across the Atlantic, too. The band’s got enough chops to rip through every track here - check out that stuttering riff on “Anamnesis,” and how it comes roaring back after a quick respite - but the best songs close each side. The screaming of “Now what?” that concludes “Leaving” is chilling, and serves as one of the best summations of this mess of a year.

7. The Terminals, Antiseptic (Ba Da Bing)

I’ve been hankerin’ for more Steven Cogle ever since that self-titled Dark Matter LP, and if that’s one of your favorite records of recent yore like it is mine, you oughta get your mitts on Antiseptic. The long-running band is absent Brian Crook, but he is ably replaced by Nicole Moffat, who also appeared on Dark Matter; her violin seeps into the empty pores, creating a dense, beautiful atmosphere ripe for Cogle’s powerful vocals. The deal’s done by the time “Edge of the Night” hits.

6. Taiwan Housing Project, Veblen Death Mask (Kill Rock Stars)

Wrecking crew led by Kilynn Lunsford and Mark Feehan brings the heat, here as two parts of a six-piece ensemble. The ten tracks on here range from caustic to catchy (”Eat or Be Eat” into “Luminous Oblong Blur” for the former, “Multidimensional Spectrum” for the latter), accentuated by sax blurts and ever-present static grime. If that ain’t enough, lyrics acidic enough to melt bone make Veblen Death Mask a complete meal worth droolin’ over.

5. Sida, s/t (Population)

The Theoreme LP that came out last year turned into one of my favorites this year, syrupy-thick industrial body music from one Maissa D. She fronts Sida, and she turns in the vocal performance of the year on their first LP. She seemed more restrained as Theoreme but that’s all out the window here; "Qu'Est-Ce Qui T'As Pris?” ups the ante and things don’t slow down from there. The band, for their part, turn in a burly and caustic punk/no wave hybrid that does all it can to keep up. An aural steamroller.

4. Omni, Multi-task (Trouble In Mind)

It was a real mistake to not include Omni’s deceptively catchy debut Deluxe on my year-end list last year, so when they came back and made an even better record, credit is due. Not sure how Frankie Broyles doesn’t sprain his wrist or let melodies go off the rails, but his snappy drumming and spindly guitar work are the stars of the show. The lyrics slyly present a general malaise with modern romance, and when it all clicks, like on “Supermoon” into “Date Night,” strap in.

3. Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys, Rot (R.I.P. Society/What’s Your Rupture?)

Ready for Boredom was a great album full of weary-headed anthems, and it looks like growin’ up hasn’t come any easier for these bedwetters on Rot. The Boys left their glam rock tendencies (i.e., “Sally”) behind this time, and they stick to making gruff pop songs for people whose weeks slip by uneventfully more and more frequently. Songs like “Plastic Tears” and “Device” are urgent and unbelievably catchy, and whoever did the vocals on “Work Again” needs more time at the mic. The Replacements are still a good reference point for these guys, but after two rock-solid albums, it’s time they get to shed that flattering-yet-overbearing label and lay claim to this sound that they’ve perfected.

2. Dreamdecay, YÚ (Iron Lung)

Man, Dreamdecay are so good. They’ve softened the edges from N V N V N V but they’re even more potent this time around, figuring out how to include big slow-moving guitar riffs in a nominally punk framework. Songs like “Mirror” just about leave you on the floor with the guitar theatrics, while “IAN” is a one-way ticket to the stratosphere. All of it sounds incredible, and I think Andrew Earles said it best, so I’ll let him do the honors: “YÚ could easily rearrange how someone thinks about music… in that unforgettable way that stays with the experiencer forever.”

1. Aaron Dilloway, The Gag File (Dais)

What more can I say about The Gag File? I have gushed. Not only a complete statement of an album, but one of the only records to force a localized shutdown when it’s on, keeping everything else at arm’s length. A world unto its own. Clear the cobwebs out.

7″/12″

Anxiety, Wild Life 7″ (La Vida Es Un Mus)

There’s a good bit of cornball humor present in Anxiety’s lyrics and credited band member names, the sort of thing that has persisted/pervaded a lot of modern punk and hardcore. But these guys sell it, and more: with better (read: less juvenile) lyrics, sly and self-deprecating; a monster vocal performance (”Dumped” especially); and a blistering intensity that oughta put their peers on notice.

Bent, Mattress Springs 7″ (Emotional Response)

Bent’s been on my radar since their Non Soon tape, and this year they dropped the Snakes & Shapes LP, every bit the shifting, shambling and at times annoyingly silly experience Non Soon prepped me for. The Mattress Springs 7″ came soon after, and compressed all the best parts of the LP (including “Mattress Springs”) into several minutes of leaky roof drums, hypnotic bass lines and smothered, frantic guitar parts.

Crack Cloud, Anchoring Point 7″ (Good Person)

Whereas Bent are happy to let their songs droop and flow, Crack Cloud come across as almost militaristic in their approach. Perfectly rehearsed, not a hair out of place, and yet as urgent as anything released under the banner of post-punk in the past however-many-years. The first three jagged and dense tracks whip in and cut out, just in time but somehow just too soon; “Philosopher’s Calling” is the payoff.

Hothead, Richie Records Summer Singles Series 7″ (Richie)

The Richie Records Summer Singles Series once again distinguished itself in a household where 7″s aren’t really given the time of day. Sure, Writhing Squares Too breathed life into krautrock in 2017, and David Nance’s "Amethyst” is kingdom come on the right day, but Hothead? Their shambling take on two covers (and a quick sketch) netted them the gold.

Mordecai, What Is Art? 7″ (Sophomore Lounge)

Mordecai is one of America’s great treasures, ain’t no way around it. Their Abstract Recipe LP on Richie from this year is great, reclaiming the highs of Neil’s Generator while pushing further from their influences - but the two disparate sides of this 7″ compress everything great about the band into a tidy package. The A-side rambles out of the gate in the same way Abstract Recipe does, whereas the B-side goes all Don Howland: low fidelity, downtrodden but toe-tapping. Buy everything they’ve recorded.

Mutual Jerk, s/t 7″ (State Laughter)

“He’s really a nice guyyy” begins the A-side track “He’s Harmless,” and hoo boy you better sit down for this one, because that bass line is not quitting anytime soon. Feeble excuses pile up, a disinterested defense of a friend presented with a mocking snarl until the constant pummel causes the dam to burst. The flip cynically covers comfortable suburban lifestyles and macho hardcore, two new takes on No Trend's vast influence, but not quite reaching the impossible heights of song-of-the-year “He’s Harmless.”

Neutral, När 12″ (Omlott)

Neutral’s self-titled LP quickly turned into a favorite here in the early months of 2017. The duo kept busy all year, eventually releasing this mini-LP that favors electronics over guitars. The brittle backbone is the perfect support for Sofie Herner’s fragile yet mechanical vocals, a fitting soundtrack for a walk home so cold your eyelashes freeze. Shadow music that lacks a distinct time or place but leaves a flood of sensory overload in its wake.

Scorpion Violente, The Stalker 12″ (Bruit Direct Disques)

“The Wound”’s slow ooze remains one of my favorite musical moments of the year; there’s a reason it’s the only one you can’t stream via Bandcamp. Pay up, because if any modern label deserves your money, it’s Bruit Direct Disques.

The Shifters, “A Believer” b/w “Contrast of Form” (Market Square)

Brilliant little single of downer pop from the Shifters, whose self-titled cassette gained them a lot of Fall comparisons and was previously mined for a 7″ by It Takes Two. But it looks like they’ve got ambitions beyond the record nerd cadre: both songs are immediately satisfying without imparting a sticky sweetness - who can find fault with that?

Straightjacket Nation, s/t 12″ (La Vida Es Un Mus)

This is the punk record of the year for me, one that maybe got lost in the deluge of releases from La Vida Es Un Mus. If you wanna learn about effective vocal delivery in hardcore, please see “2021.” Eight tracks, all meat. Please tour the US.

Reissue/Archival

I don’t really feel too qualified to comment on music largely made before I was born, especially since I am the owner of several 2017 reissues with flowery press kits that I will probably never listen to again. But if you’re gonna be a sucker, let a sucker clue you in to these tried-and-true slabs deserving of any and all accolades. Unrepresented here, somewhat criminally, is the Black Editions, a label doing really amazing work reviving the P.S.F. catalog.

The And Band / Perfect Strangers, Noli Me Tangere split 7″ (Look Plastic/Noisyland)

Noli Me Tangere is two sides of barely-music from early ‘80s Christchurch, with this new edition featuring extensive liner notes from George Henderson, he of the And Band (and perhaps more recognizably, the Spies and the Puddle). Both sides showcase a coupla outcasted NZ bands supporting each others’ avant-scrawl, as inspirational as it is baffling.

Byron Morris & Gerald Wise, Unity LP (Eremite)

Freedom music, full of raw intensity (”Byard Lancaster did push-ups when not playing”) and fiery exchanges. The two sidelong pieces are demanding of your full attention, repaid in kind with chills so deep you’ll swear a spirit passed through ya.

Cosey Fanni Tutti, Time to Tell LP (Conspiracy International)

Gorgeous reissue with a foil-stamped gatefold and a huge booklet full of ephemera from the recording period. Less Throbbing Gristle menace than new age shimmer, especially on the B-side; the gentle ascent is the natural conclusion once you’ve lived through the stunning title track. Cosey, take me away.

Die Tödliche Doris, “ “ LP (États-Unis)

Brutally minimalistic post-punk from early ‘80s Germany, painstakingly restored by the Superior Viaduct sub-label États-Unis. The A-side is full of blistering, manic bursts; the flip smoothes things out, allowing ideas to stick around, proving this approach works in both short- and long-form. Call it ZNR meets DNA.

Harry Pussy, A Real New England Fuck Up LP (Palilalia)

Two live sets, one on each side, both monstrous and in shockingly high fidelity, especially given the circumstances detailed by Tom Lax and Tom Carter on the sleeve. The show from T.T. the Bear’s is the performance I always want (”Harry Pussy took the stage and sandblasted the night into oblivion”) and rarely get.

Khan Jamal Creative Art Ensemble, Drum Dance to the Motherland LP (Eremite)

Capping off a brilliant year for Eremite was a beautiful reissue of Drum Dance to the Motherland’s cosmic transmission. All of the hyperbolic reviews ring true when “Inner Peace” stumbles into a groove, but my favorite part is the almost painfully shrill horns on the title track.

Meat Thump, “Metal Gun” b/w “Left to Rust” 7″ (Coward Punch)

Coward Punch Records kept the memory of Brendon Annesley alive with a couple of archival Meat Thump 7″ers this year. The earlier one was good, but didn’t quite hit home; here, “Metal Gun” could be twice its length, and “Left to Rust” rambles down my spine in the same way that still-great “Box of Wine” 7″ does.

V/A, Oz Waves LP (Efficient Space)

I did not have more fun this year than when I was dancing along to this record like a poorly operated marionette, which was every time “Will I Dream?” started. Efficient Space continues to deliver the goods I didn’t know I needed.

31 notes · View notes

kzbrandt · 3 years

Text

On an eve of catastrophe, Darkness remains.

Be brave, the words started to fade on my palm, even though the ink rubbed off, my brain still burned, I couldn’t forget these two possibly insignificant conjugations of letters. I still couldn’t believe this was the world I was living in, this was the new reality.

Looking at the abandoned house, I imagined its life before. Who lived here, how did the floor look freshly swept, how did the paint smell with a fresh coat? Underneath the trash was a blue loveseat and a matching recliner, stained and used, they were comfortably worn in. Across a faded white mantlepiece were several dusty pictures of what looked like a happy family. The men were brawny and serious, while the women were thin and leggy, quite a striking lineage. Even the children looked flawless and calm. I envied their happiness, it was untouched and free of carnage.

It was 1935, my family was torn apart, dismembered and discarded. The worst part was we weren’t strangers and our own friends turned us out to the wolves. These wolves wore the faces of men but inside they were anything but human.

After Hitler rose to power in 1933, everything changed so fast. First they omitted us from public life, our faces were no longer desired, especially now that his Arian race had been perfected. Everyone else was being pushed out. My whole life I had been a German, until the day I wasn’t. My true identity was now reflected back and I was Amira Naghrela and my family had been wandering homeless for thousands of years. After the Spanish Expulsion just before the 1500’s, my ancestors were ousted, turned from their homes. Destitute and starving we were barely surviving. Finally in 1910, down to only my father as the sole heir to our legacy, he met my mother in Munich, Germany. On a cold winter’s eve in January, 1921, my father, son of Abram Naghrela would have a daughter.

There were no secrets kept from husband and wife, each knew the other wholly, in every way. For 23 years my name was Ella Lenssen, at the stroke of midnight, suddenly my brown hair turned light yellow and my eyes burned cerulean blue. I was hidden in a sea of likeness, no one would know I bore the mark of the falsely accused, the one who was hated. I still heard her words so clearly. November 9th. It never stopped playing in my head, it blazed too bright and too horrible. As moths flocked to my window, an omen of Darkness began to swell. Fumbling with the six pointed star of David, I grew more nervous by the second. How long until they found me? Those poor people… I couldn’t just sit back and watch when my people were being slaughtered, raped and cleaved apart. I had been silent for long enough.

All through history my people have been persecuted, and that didn’t change on the night of broken glass, we should’ve known the horror Kristallnacht would bring. The Nazi’s have always despised us, just as God loves, the Devil hates. So Lucataerius Diablos invited in a dark stallion to stomp out the chosen ones, and unleash Anti-Semitic propaganda that would flood the earth and her people by storm. Films, pamphlets, and brainwashing scum burrowed effortlessly. Hatred, racism, violence, all of it was a part of Covid-black, a fabricated virus that would disappear until it was time for her final attack, and the second time she refused to be defeated by mere mortals, the dirt under her fingernails.

I had to watch as they ripped off my mother's breasts and shoved them down my fathers throat. On my knees covered in my family's blood, I was convulsing overcome with violent tremors of fear. Locked in abhorrence, I suddenly was very thankful for the well orchestrated lie of my adoption, how my name was slightly skewed from reality. If it was any other way then I wouldn’t have survived this encounter. It was strange how they knew I was adopted, maybe it wasn’t random. Could we have been targeted? Unfortunately, even though I survived the barrel of their guns, I still wasn’t free from the tyranny of men.

Germany’s citizens were disappearing and replaced by perfected soldiers, humans with unnatural abilities. A once great and diverse country now wore the same face, no variation, almost clone-like. Light, yellow hair and sky-blue eyes, although I may look the same it was only a supernatural mask, a key to open the future and rearrange the files.

In 1938, I met the creatures who painted the stars and lived in their castles cloaked in white light hidden in the Andromedan nebula. Their leader came to me in the midst of the mass pillaging and capture of my Jewish kin, and showed me how this would all play out. I could still see all of their deaths, six million Jews and so many others who didn’t fit the bill, German sympathizer or not, no one was safe from the will of Darkness. If she got her way, the realms would be altered in a terrible and irreparable way.

The Andromedan queen was beautiful, she seemed to embody space and its spectacular wonders while retaining a strange physical form. Her wings are what stick to my mind the most. Shimmering in watermelon colors, pink and green were splattered across in intricate blotches. They moved so fast, faster than a hummingbird buzzing in a flock of wildflowers, all of the colors blurred, taking on a singular illusion.

As she spoke her lips moved in the same fashion as her insect like wings, “Amira Naghrela, my name is Pazit, Ascender from the Golden Realms, I’ve chosen you for a great purpose, our cousins the Mothmen see a great torrent that will come swiftly and become one of the deepest crimes that humankind will do unto themselves. You cannot stop what is going to happen, but in the future you may be able to avoid history repeating itself. Will you help us ascend your soul and gift you with my essence?”

I never spoke, but Pazit had my answer. How could I turn down this ethereal angel? The apparition filled me with an intangible contentment. I was going to be recycled, floating around the cosmos of the afterlife, until my vessel was reborn.

I was given the face of the enemy so I might affect the coming days. Now all I had to do was die, and speaking of death I could feel his hot unwelcome breath warming my neck. The time had come, Hitler’s secret group of assassins would be here by now, knowing what I had done and would strike me down for good this time. When I was flung from my body, only then would I be free. I guess all I could hope for was a quick death, but these men were not men of honor, they didn’t know the meaning of the word.

Sinking into a damp, mold infected corner, footsteps vibrated across the floor, echoing like a tribal drum beating my heart. Tears fell down my cheeks as I dreaded what would transpire. I wasn’t at all surprised at the smug grin that appeared above me.

“Well, well, well now I have found you… Amira.” He snared my name like it was a curse passing out of his lips. So they knew, the ruse was up, but after what I did, I knew this charade would cease. I knew my expiration date had come, now at least it wouldn’t be for nothing, I’ll have a second chance. Maybe in my next life I'll find more than enslavement and mass decimation.

“Ready to play our game some more?”

“No, just kill me, I have no desire for your sick fantasies!” Thwack. Hot, searing pain slapped my right cheek, forcing me to look away.

“You little bitch, did you think no one would see you? Mein master is very displeased with you, setting fire to her laboratories, good thing the original specimen is still intact…” Wrestling with my crouched body, he pulled me up and called out to his shadowy goddess, the one whom he served.

Darkness animated through the rotting wood floor, seeping upward like an impenetrable smog, smelling of thick demoniac (crux of demons). The mother of evil had arrived. Rising out of a cesspool of umbra, red irises tore into my temples, knocking me down onto my knees once more. So this was the true hand behind the madness, the one who haunted my dreams.

Vile, stinging talons reached out from the malevolent cloud and what I assumed to be her mouth opened unnaturally wide and she attempted to suck out my soul. During this unpleasant encounter, I saw brief flashes of her mind, and a shrouded veil from within was revealed to me.

Deep inside the chasm of Darkness, I could see two young girls, one was like sunshine and the other was cloaked in ravens and starlight. A multitude of memories were joined together making it nearly impossible to understand anything.

Taking a breath and trying to focus the images, I could see someone else among the children, a long slinky man, who’s flesh looked inhuman, stretched too tightly like a costume. As if I cut a nerve too closely, The Darkness threw me across the room as a banshee scream pierced the empty house shattering all the windows, and the soldier all at once. Blood and guts exploded everywhere coloring each surface in chunky crimson.

“It is not possible to resist me, what are you? Your gifts shall be mine, one way or another.”

Quickly looking down I glanced at a reflective dagger lying not two feet from me. Adrenaline dilating, I thought about two words that I now realized were anything but meaningless. BE BRAVE. Grasping the cool metal, I readied my mind, body and soul. Closing my eyes, my short life flitted by, seeing only the ones most precious to me.

Only 15 years old, too young to get the chance to fall in love or travel the seven seas. There were so many places I still hoped, I might see one day, whenever that might be. Without wasting a second more, I took the blade and ripped open my neck exposing my clavicle, and draining my life force. Most blood was a bright, cherry red, but my own poured out in a gleaming golden frenzy. I wasn’t the only one taken aback either.

Who knew I could be so alert during my own death, I could still feel everything around me. I figured when the lights went out it was only darkness, but it was so much more. As the sounds of everyday life faded I heard the faintest cry of infuriation, a howl mixed with pain and vengeance. I didn’t know how I felt about this enfant terrible, was it calamity that drove it, what was her story?

It would be 120 years before my body would be birthed once more. But time was so different in The Vale, there are no words in creation that can quite describe it. And just like that, risen from the ashes I became small and tumescent, breathing underwater. What was this strange sensation? I was light as a feather while bobbing along like a booey in the middle of the ocean. The walls started to shrink, contracting more and more.

Of course, it all made sense now. A big push forced me down the birthing canal and I felt squished and kind of claustrophobic. With each propulsion my destiny was schlepped closer. Just as I was about to breach the world, I could hear the doctor say excitedly,

“Oh look Persephone, your little Krista is just about here! Just one more push! Mrs. Star, what beautiful eyes she has, none like I’ve ever seen…

So it began.

#kz #brandt #fantasy #writing #the #gathering #darkness

0 notes

omgkeeem · 6 years

Text

Inside Taekwondo

I was 9 years old when I got myself interested in martial arts. I’m a weird kid back then, showing off my fictional skills in our backyard alone at dark evening with dim lights all over. I was a fat kid that time (well, I still am. but not that much unlike before) And gladly my classmates didn’t have their guts on bullying me, instead they follow me and even respects me as if I’m their master. It’s really funny how it goes seeing myself a bossy one before. I’ve been sent to Principal’s office once, because of pulling on my classmate’s hair --the reason is he kept on blocking the blackboard on purpose where I am still taking down notes-- I didn’t intentionally pulled his hair with extreme force. Adrenaline I guess, who’ll don’t get mad right?.

Later on 5th grade, I was 10 years old. I joined taekwondo, I was with my Nanny when I got myself on registration because Mom can’t take it that time for being too busy at school and it isn’t a big deal for me because I respect Mom and her career. It was mixed emotion that time, I was watching those kids with different colored belts around their waist, following their Instructor/Master’s command. At night, thoughts kept on flying in my mind, being too excited to start my first training. I was too occupied that time, thinking how I will boast it to my friends that I finally joined taekwondo. I badly wanted to be physical fit those time and to learn different kicks.

Months inside taekwondo, everything turned out to be just great. At first, I was way way way too shy wearing my white belt with me. Oh I nearly forgot, I was a very silent person that time, well up ‘til now but it’s much worse before. “I’ll just go with the flow i guess”, I told myself. I remember how my Instructor encourages me to join the Unit meet when I stepped on my 6th grade, I was naive, obeying what all elders telling me, So I agreed. I was a Yellow belter, The fight came and it was very fortunate for me that I won the championship game. Motivations all over! shivers through my spines! All the proud from my families and friends came! it was absolutely brilliant. But, Unfortunately, I failed at Divisional meet. I guess I was being too proud of myself for winning my first award in taekwondo during the held Unit meet. I cried that time and been very down lately, but my instructor lifted my chin up and motivates me even more, to practice more because It was just an experience. “At least now, you knew what makes you lose. more training camille! you’ve got this.”.

Summer, before I turn into Junior High School. I’ve trained harder, atleast 3 times a week. The revenge side has been with me the whole summer. School came, while waiting a long months to play. I focus on my studies first, I got high grades, balancing my role as a student and athlete. Luckily, heaven heard my prayer. I’ve finally selected as one of Taekwondo Regional Players after I won the battle against the Giants!. For snake’s sake, what I hate ‘till now is I’m lack of height hahaha. But, God guided me as if I was David battling against Goliath.

The day came, when we, taekwondo team are obliged to attend a 7 weeks training outside school. There I realized, how hard taekwondo really is. That it’s not every time you’ll just lean unto someone’s shoulder when everything’s not fine. Taekwondo teaches me to be more independent, to step in life using my own feet. It was my first time, being separated with my mom, miiiiiiles away. I’m in Palawan just with my teammates, coaches and trainor.

I hid in bathroom at late night evening that time, crying while talking to my mom at phone. Pleasing her to come as soon as possible. But it isn’t that easy because booking an airplane is way too expensive plus she’s at school, she can’t leave her students out of knowledge. We, players have an exclusive ship that time where we stayed in for 3 days before we got there in Palawan. So, my sister had no choice but to book an airplane, ignoring how expensive it was. I, again failed to win and happily brought home the Bronze Medal. “Maybe it’s not yet your time, ok?” My sister calmed me. Telling me how young i am and still have a lots of years to take over. My opponent is a graduating student that time, meaning if she lose the match, she wasn’t able to play next year anymore. I returned at school, receiving all their sweet smile as they congratulate me. My grades got even higher! just a great thing to have as a motivation at school.

Summer before my 8th grade, I got very tired on attending training 3 times week. The reason is, my friends inside our gym slowly fading out. I mean, every other day, they just went up gone and not showing off their faces anymore. So we were like just 4 inside our gym unlike before that we’re in 20′s. Plus, my instructor trains me to teach the white belters and assist him every training. I had no choice but to follow to the fact that I’m not a fan of spending time with kids, unless they’re that easy to get their attention. I found the training that time, so boring, where I started to leave just for a moment, too. Weeks passed, my sister was so confused asking if we don’t have training schedule those time, there I realized and forgot that I was fully payed for 2 months training session. She scolded me, and I get her point. It was months when I returned at training. And it ripped me off seeing those kids level are already higher than me. I’ll never forget how my instructor welcomed me, “who are you?” he joked and laughed right after. I know it was a joke but hell it hurts me. The way I feel before when I enter the gym turned out to be different. I felt like I was a noob or new comer. I cried at night regretting all those mistakes I’ve done. But I payed my instructor with hardwork and dedication on training which results a good feedback. But, Still, i didn’t make it to Regional meet again.

I hated it being too conceited with myself. There I realized that God is challenging me. I realized my mistakes, I forgot to talk to God every before the fight, and everytime it happens, I always lose. Everytime I judge my opponent’s skill, I lose. I lose everytime I assumed that I will win. So I lost all my hopes, It ripped off my positive side. The reason why nearly quit Taekwondo. “Make yourself humble to god” my sister told me which woked me up again to reality.

I trained continuously. I, again selected as Regional Player when I was in my 9th grade. I worked hard on 1 month training. And been praying every night until the fight came. Again, I lose, receiving all the tormenting words from my trainor, “idiot, stupid!”. Yh, t’was the first time someone called me that and I admit it was all my mistakes. I was covered up all with fear during that match, which gave me unconscious mind inside the rubber mat. Of course I cried again, thinking how much I worked hard on 1 month training and just ended up a loser inside a 2 minutes match. I was so ashamed that I didn’t brought home some medals, not even bronze. I was too guilty at every expenses my family spent for me and for all the knowledge and time that my instructors have shared for me.

I returned home, and I just found myself staring outside the window, crying. Thinking that If I knew that I’ll just ended up a loser, I’ll rather just use that 1 and a half month time on school instead of training. I talked to God everyday, It just feels so good talking to God in a friendly conversational way while crying. It was as if his talking to you, too, but without voices. He’ll just makes you realize something and poop! there you go.

I also talked to myself, weird but that’s how I lived my life. I told myself that when I got myself on 10th grade, I’ll just focus on my studies and prepare for my Senior High and aspired course on college. My decision is settled. play no more and go excel on academics!.

I am now a Grade 10 student. Whose living each day to the fullest as if there’ll be no tomorrow. I’ve gained awards and weight, LOL. Been elected as Class President, has joined Journalism and been very disgusted bringing myself on stages as muse, two times at least, both 1st and 2nd placer. No really, not being boastful but honestly I was very annoyed having them encourages me to participate on this kind of event which literally don’t suite my personality. But I’m somehow very thankful because it cured my Speech-anxiety and stage fright a 60 and a half percent.

Months of success at academics, Idk but I felt like something’s missing and just found myself having a guts on participating the upcoming District meet. I trusted God, and he did never leave my side. Now, he let me joined at Divisional Tournament which I got two gold medals, and right after that God brought me again into National Age Group Taekwondo Tournament and did grant my wish to brought home the Gold and Bronze medal both in two categories I’ve joined, the poomsae and kyurogi. And he still did shower me so much blessings for I just won again yesterday on Divisional meet and selected again as Regional Player which brought me into tears! God did heard my prayer that this will be the last year where I’ll represent my town and province as a player. For I am planning to switch from different school for my Senior High and Career in taekwondo. As my journey continuous... God knows what’s best for me and I will always stick to his plans for I know he has a better dream for me than mine.

I thought joining taekwondo will just help me to be physical fit and gain knowledge on different kicks. But taekwondo did a lot for me, I realized that taekwondo is much wider than i think it was before. It transformed me from a shy and fearful one into a sociable and brave one. Taekwondo builds up my characteristic as a humble woman from a boastful one. Taekwondo teaches me how to treat everyone as a family and to stay positive at all times. It teaches me to manage time between school and career.

Inside Taekwondo, You’ll never see it as a hobby, it’s more like a home where you and your family unites and fight together.

Taekwondo isn’t just a sport, It’s an art of rebuilding your character and conquering your fears at once.

I wanted to thank God that taekwondo was sent to me for it sheltered me against fears and negativity. Indeed a life changing!

i am now on my way to blackbelt degree hihi

12am | 11/11/17

1 note · View note

everydaynuggets-blog · 5 years

Text

Steps to Abigailism

In medical science, when you are able to make out the diagnosis of the disease you are often far advanced in curing it. If you are not able to put your finger on the exact problem, it is often difficult to solve it. You will ask yourself, “Which of these one thousand different medications should I administer to the patient?” You are still very far from the problem when you have not identified it.

1. The first step to solving many problems is diagnosis.

First, Abigail recognized and acknowledged truthfully that she was married to a churlish personality. Acknowledging that your husband has the character and the tendencies of Nabal is the first step in the art of Abigailism.

Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

1 Samuel 25: 25

2. The second step is to stop pretending that the problem is not there.

Many people practise what we call denial. They pretend that the problem is not there. They say that black is white and white is black. Daughter, pretending that a problem is not there does not make it go away. Calling a white thing black does not make it black.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20

There are many women who want to hide their problems. They feel that they are disgracing their husbands. There is a fine balance between denigrating your marriage, humiliating your husband and talking frankly about a problem that exists. To denigrate your husband means to blacken his reputation. This is wrong and a woman with direction does not do that!

A daughter of destiny is not so secretive that no one can help her.

A certain amount of openness allows you to be helped. Dear woman, the problems that you have are not new. Read the Bible and you will realize that the problems you have are not peculiar. Speaking about your problem is not wrong if it is done in the proper context and for the right reason.

3. The third step of Abigailism is to ask for help.

And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.

1 Samuel 25:24

Many people need help but not everybody wants it. My experience in the ministry has taught me to give help to those who ask for it and not just to those who need it. There are many needs everywhere. If you try to help some needy people, they may attack you to show their gratitude. We once experienced this when our church built a facility for a community.

Abigail asked David politely to listen to her and understand what she was going through.

4. The next step is to realize that God is the one who gave you your husband.

When you are conscious of the fact that God is the one who established you in marriage, it will help you to realize that it is God who preserves the marriage.

A woman, who is conscious of the fact that God brought her to where she is, never wants to be separated from the Lord. She needs the help of the Lord in everything that she does. It is God who will keep you going.

When you have this conviction, you immediately work from God’s point of view and from God’s side of the fence. A woman practising Abigailism is on the side of the Word of God.

5. The next step is to speak wisely to your husband.

And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

1 Samuel 25:36

The Bible says here that she told him “nothing, less or more”. She did two things. First of all, she said nothing to him. It is not wise to say some things. If she had told of her donations to King David, she may have been executed that very night.

Secondly, “less or more” means in other words, she did not say anything unusual to him. Her conversation with him did not centre on the controversial issues. She told him only what he needed to know.

A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

Proverbs 29:11

If you learn how to speak wisely, you will be successful at Abigailism. Some women quarrel with their husbands constantly. They fight about every issue and argue about every point. Men do not like arguments. Men do not like to be shouted at. Men do not like to feel they have lost an argument. No man likes to be put down. Be wise when dealing with men. Abigailism is the key you need. Abigailism means that you speak wisely to your husband.

6. The next step is to give soft answers.

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. Proverbs 15:1

A woman practising Abigailism employs the weapon of soft answers. A man gravitates towards a woman with soft answers. A man yields unknowingly to a woman with soft answers. Be a woman with soft answers and you will successfully combine your marriage with your ministry.

7. The final step is to act wisely.

In a hopelessly difficult marriage, Abigailism prevails. A woman with direction is able to act so wisely that she preserves her marriage and her ministry.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, God reveals the master plan for winning in hopeless situations.

A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Ecclesiastes 10:14-16

This story applies to any circumstance. It applies to a hopeless marriage, business or church. It applies to your case, in which your husband is unyielding and insensitive to the things of God. You will win in this fight because God’s wisdom is the master key to overcoming impossible situations.

A wise wife does not stir up controversy with her husband. As you provide your husband with his daily requirements he will be at peace with you. If he feels that he is deprived in any way he will look for the culprit. Many Christian women unknowingly cause the church to look like the destroyer of their marriages. Their husbands see the church and its pastors as rivals. They perceive the ministry as their enemy. Soon, the only feeling that he has for the pastor is resentment. It is sad that many husbands hate the church.

It is the duty of a woman with direction to act wisely. Do not deprive your husband of food, sex or peace at home. In fact, load it on him until he is suffocating with your love. He will be charmed by your sweetness and will have nothing to complain about.

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation (behaviour) of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

1 Peter 3:1, 2

Are you married to a Nabal or to an Apostle Peter?

Coming to church must be done with great wisdom and circumspection. If you are married to someone like Nabal, you cannot afford to behave like someone who is married to Apostle Peter. Your circumstances are entirely different!

What is the result of Abigailism? When the art of Abigailism is practised, there is peace at home and peace in the Kingdom of God. Abigail prevented David’s men from killing and destroying her entire household.

Many women do not realize that when their husbands are destroyed they will be destroyed as well. The mystery of marriage is that if your husband goes down, you go with him. The entire family of Abigail and Nabal would have been destroyed by David’s army. Abigail would have died with her husband and children. Abigailism saved their lives.

Abigailism also preserved Abigail’s relationship with the man of God. She was still connected to the move of God that was taking place through David. You will recall that Abigail believed in the prophecy that David was to be the next king. She was flowing with the things of the Spirit and nothing would cut her off. Abigailism is the key you need.

Notice David’s response to Abigail. It was peaceful and there were no curses or proclamations made against her family.

And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

1 Samuel 25:32, 33

Nabal, on the other hand, continued in his life of foolishness and drank himself to death a few days later. You will see from the Scripture below that Abigail did not do anything to make him angry. In fact, he was so happy that he had a party. Abigailism does not bring about confusion and quarrels. It makes the husband so happy that he has parties!

1 Samuel 25:36

Apply the wisdom of God to your life and you will effectively combine your love for God with the love for your dear husband!

by Dag Heward-Mills

0 notes

workingontruth · 5 years

Photo

NOT OUR OWN

Left to ourselves, in our humanity alone, we are limited to what we can comprehend. This is not a curse, but a wonderful thing! For through the limiting apprehensions of our physical man, we are being given space for faith–for which God will credit to us a future beyond our wildest imagination.

And at the end of our ability to reason and then grasp what is true of us as God’s inheritance (Eph. 1:18), we must know God is the Author of our lives, as ones who are now found in Christ.

Life will buffet us. But it’s what we do with the instability of this world and of the fleshly man and woman that carries our new, inner creation in Christ that matters.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. – Romans 12:1

It may seem to some that really living into and reckoning continually upon whose we are, and whom we are no longer (the old, dead man who was buried in Jesus at Calvary) is a denial of ‘reality.’ But I beg to differ. Rather, it is in living only in this physical body of flesh (which can feel and see with human perceptibilities alone) that deals us a false hand of cards as true Christians. When we do so, we are denying our new reality–the one into whom we are now living as new creations.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17

We cannot, nor do we want to, deny pain or sadness or health concerns when they appear in our natural bodies. There are things that DO befall us in this life which must not be met with some kind of ethereal denial–as if to make unreal what is happening to us.

Take, for example, my wife’s current diagnosis with breast cancer. The physical reality is that the result of sin in this fallen world is all around us. The earth, our bodies–all of creation is lumbering through the fallout of the decision Adam and Eve made in the garden…taking upon themselves (ourselves), through conscious election, the ‘right’ given them by God to follow their/our own path.

But thanks be to God, we have been given a way out of the dilemma–in Christ’s once-for-all act on the cross which brought us a righteousness and a return to a place where we can live anew and aright.

Let’s be clear, we are nowhere in the Bible asked to deny our God-given emotions. It is through these emotions, and our surrendering ourselves to God in the midst of such challenging and real circumstances, that we can consciously give ourselves over into our new reality, and into a life capable of worship unto the One who has redeemed us and to whom we owe all.

However, we do know it is not God’s desire that we wallow long in our self-pity and emotional turmoil. To do so for an inordinate amount of time would indicate a lack of trusting provision in God’s true place in our lives as Author. And I am not saying that even nearly debilitating sadness won’t recur as we walk through the valleys! I am simply saying that we must quickly return to the feet of God to reckon upon his sufficiency, grace and strength as we live over and over again into His life which worketh so mightily within us (Colossians 1:29).

God’s interaction with Samuel in I Samuel 16:1 came to my attention this morning.

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” – I Samuel 16:1

Notice, God is not saying He was displeased with Samuel’s compassionate and natural disposition of grief over this development. But God did have some advice for Samuel after what we may assume to have been a season of crushing emotional turmoil. My paraphrase would be something like…

Okay, Samuel, even now I am with you. For a time, we have wept together. I have been with you in this. As you have sobbed and hurt, I have been allowing you to feel my hurt as well. This whole thing really stinks. O how I hate sin. And one day, if you could only see several hundred years into the future, you would know how much I hate sin, and how it is I will make a once-for-all and very personal sacrifice to put this sin thing to bed forever.

But for now, my heart has been grieving alongside yours over what has developed here–a development I would not have wished to have come about. But now it is time to accept my decree. You can trust me, Samuel. I am making a way to a brighter future. I am going to make beauty from ashes. Trust me in this. Let your mind and heart both come with me now to what is next. Grieve no more about what is happening, but look ahead to what I have planned–something that could not have taken place without Samuel’s rejection of me through disobedience.

Now, up we go! Fill your horn with oil and GO. I am making a way. In fact, this next thing I am going to do will blow you away. This David guy I have in mind…well, just you wait. It is through him I will make this way of which I speak to send my own Son into the turmoil and emotional grief of your world. But I need you to carry on now. Remember you are mine. I own you as my prophet. Rise up, and let me show you what is next. This is not only about Me, but you as well. I understand your emotion–remember, I created you this way! But now, bring me glory and demonstrate my power through your grief to an onlooking world by trusting into me as you walk where I am leading. I will strengthen you. Be faithful now. Here we go. Fear not. I AM.

So let’s remember through trial (an emotional reality not to be denied), that we are not our own. We are God’s to do with as He pleases. This IS NOT EASY. And to get through it (cancer, loss of a father or mother, Alzheimer’s, lost wages and jobs and material possessions) we must dwell upon what is true of us. And we must know that in our own strength or repetitious verbal rehearsal alone, we will not achieve any real peace in the midst of our storms. It is only through the authority of the Holy Spirit who lives in us that we are sustained - and in a way that does meet our emotion as well as our intellect.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20

Lord, let your word dwell richly within us – that we might be capable of reflecting our newness in you. For you. For us. For a world that continues to need Light.

#painintheoffering #notourown #newnessinchrist #cancer

0 notes

ar3volut1on · 7 years

Text

The other night I talked about the coming sign in the sky on Sept. 23 of this year, and said I had much more to say about it but wanted to give you time to prayerfully ponder it. That wasn’t my first time mentioning the sign as prophecy is a subject I spend much time studying, but I hinted at new insights I had come to. Tonight I want to really dig into it and follow where the Holy Spirit has led me as I earnestly sought His will and guidance to show me what to make of this somewhat difficult passage.

And a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child: and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered. Revelation 12:1-2

As I mentioned the other night this exact sign appears in the sky on September 23, 2017. We know the woman is Israel, not the Church as some teach – if the woman is the Church we have a big problem! The Church is the virgin bride of Christ as we see several times in the Gospels, and the woman is pregnant, not a virgin! So it makes perfect sense that the woman is Israel, Israel where the Church was conceived all those years ago. Yes, the Church was conceived in Israel when the Holy Spirit came down on Pentecost almost 2000 years ago! That makes the Church the baby, the baby about to be born! How great is our God to have placed the exact sign in the sky.

Let’s look at the sign shall we. The actual main heavenly players in this alignment and their meanings are listed below and when they are combined you have very clear message as you will see:

Taking the meaning of each major star and planet (wandering stars) :

Regulus the alpha star of the constellation Leo, representing the Lion of the Tribe of Judah in Jewish as well as Christian tradition, which crowns Virgo and is made up of nine main stars, plus three wandering stars or planets, for a total of twelve. Regulus means “The King, the heart of the lion”, giving us The King, the heart of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.”

Venus is known as the Morning Star when it rises in the east, which it does during this alignment. We know Jesus is the Morning Star from Scripture.

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star. Revelation 22:16

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 2 Peter 1:19

Mars, traditionally means war.

Mercury has many meanings including messenger, water, and knowledge and writing. Consider the following verses from John :

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:38-39

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:1-5

That gives us something along these lines – The word, the Messenger of all Knowledge, Light, and the Living water.

The Sun which gives us light also puts us in mind of the Son and verse 3 in Genesis 1.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Genesis 1:3

Add John 1:1-5 to that and we have something like “the one who breathes life out of His image and gives light to the dark world.”

Spica, the alpha star in Virgo, means wheat and gatherer.

Jupiter is the King Planet, the fifth from the sun, is associated with thunder and lightning. Since 5 means grace Jupiter means “the King of Grace with lightening and thunder.

Last is the moon, representing purity, virginity and calling to mind this verse from 2 Corinthians:

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2

Added up gives us something along these lines.

The King, The Lion of Judah, The Morning star of Love, The Coming War, The Written Word, The One Who Breathed Life Into Being and Light Into Darkness, Is Gathering the Wheat, The King Is Arriving As Lightning With Grace For His Virgin.

Wow! Considering God created, placed, named, and set upon it’s path every star and planet that is mind blowing and deserving of our heartfelt praise. Think of it, the Creator, the God of Glory wrote it all out in the heavens from the beginning.

This sign only occurs once, ever, on September 23, 2017 which happens to be the end of Hebrew year 5777 which is significant because 5 is the number of grace, 7 is God’s perfect number, and a number repeated three times means completion in scripture giving us the year of the completion of grace. There are other numbers involving the stars that appear to point to this as well but I will just encourage you to research them on your own for now.

Let’s consider that the age of grace began at Pentecost around 2000 years ago when the Holy Spirit came down and the Church was conceived, this age of the Church is still going on today. We live under grace, but that time may he quickly drawing to a close. The Church is the body of Christ, who as the head of the body, was born into heaven on the day of Ascension. We know that when a baby is born the head is normally first, followed by the body. Jesus, our head, has already been born so it’s time for the body to be born, thus completing the age of grace. And again we are talking about the next feast day that to be fulfilled.

I should probably explain why the child cannot be Jesus before we move on. First off Jesus is already in heaven on his Father’s throne and secondly in Rev 1 Jesus tells John that the Revelation is a prophecy.

Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter; Revelation 1:19

So that leaves the Church as the child.

And there was seen another sign in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems. And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was about to be delivered, that when she was delivered he might devour her child. Revelation 12:3-4

As if the first sign wasn’t enough now we see another one, a dragon waiting to devour the child! Not good! We know from later in chapter 12, that the dragon is ole Slewfoot, Satan himself.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:9

I have much to say about these verses but this is already getting very long so I will keep this part short and just talk about the sign itself. Now, just using Scripture to interpret Scripture we can see that the dragon is also the serpent. Said serpent just happens to be in the constellation below Virgo, with it’s head before her fat waiting to devour when she delivers. That alone is enough for me but God might just have given us another moving sign, another wandering star might be involved. It just so happens that there could be a 9th (10th if you count Pluto ) planet: Planet X, Niburu, also called the Red Dragon.

Guys, I can’t make this stuff up! God truly did declare the end from the beginning when he set this planet in motion on a path that only brings it close to earth once in 6000 years! Oh, its a dark planet too, not reflecting light like others do, instead it must be viewed using infrared technology. Easy enough with today’s technology, just select that option in Google Sky then select the constellation Virgo. See it, well you sorta can around the blackout box Google is trying to hide it with. Whatever it is it’s big, it’s red, and it is lined up to hit Jupiter which will complete it’s 42 weeks of gestation in late September. Lined up to devour it! It actually looks very much like a dragon where you cam see it around the edge of the black box. The only such box I might add.

So we have the Woman, the child and the dragon. But we need to see how this all plays out, inquiring minds want to know.

And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. Revelation 12:5

Remembering that Jesus gives the Church the iron rod his Father gave him:

And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father: Revelation 2:26-27

Get ready brothers and sisters, we may be going up very soon. If you are reading this and aren’t ready I beg you to do so today, time is drawing short and trust me when I say you do not want to be left behind when the Rapture occurs. Once the Church is born into heaven with Jesus then God will once again begin to deal with Israel during what is known as Daniel’s 70th Week, a time of judgement for all those who rejected the gift of grace God gave us through his son, Jesus Christ! It’s basically going to be the worst seven years this world will ever see, with each passing year getting successively worse! I’ll tackle the rest of the story tomorrow night the Lord willing.

Signs pt. 2 The other night I talked about the coming sign in the sky on Sept. 23 of this year, and said I had much more to say about it but wanted to give you time to prayerfully ponder it.

#church #faith #God #jesus #king #love #truth

0 notes

araitsume · 6 years

Video

youtube

Prophets and Kings, pp. 340-348: Chapter (29) The Ambassadors From Babylon

In the midst of his prosperous reign King Hezekiah was suddenly stricken with a fatal malady. “Sick unto death,” his case was beyond the power of man to help. And the last vestige of hope seemed removed when the prophet Isaiah appeared before him with the message, “Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.” Isaiah 38:1.

The outlook seemed utterly dark; yet the king could still pray to the One who had hitherto been his “refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1. And so “he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech Thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.” 2 Kings 20:2, 3.

Since the days of David there had reigned no king who had wrought so mightily for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God in a time of apostasy and discouragement as had Hezekiah. The dying ruler had served his God faithfully, and had strengthened the confidence of the people in Jehovah as their Supreme Ruler. And, like David, he could now plead:

“Let my prayer come before Thee: Incline Thine ear unto my cry; For my soul is full of troubles: And my life draweth nigh unto the grave.”

Psalm 88:2, 3.

“Thou art my hope, O Lord God: Thou art my trust from my youth. By Thee have I been holden up.” “Forsake me not when my strength faileth.” “O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.” “O God, forsake me not; Until I have showed Thy strength unto this generation, And Thy power to everyone that is to come.”

Psalm 71:5, 6, 9, 12, 18.

He whose “compassions fail not,” heard the prayer of His servant. Lamentations 3:22. “It came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of My people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for Mine own sake, and for My servant David's sake.” 2 Kings 20:4-6.

Gladly the prophet returned with the words of assurance and hope. Directing that a lump of figs be laid upon the diseased part, Isaiah delivered to the king the message of God's mercy and protecting care.

Like Moses in the land of Midian, like Gideon in the presence of the heavenly messenger, like Elisha just before the ascension of his master, Hezekiah pleaded for some sign that the message was from heaven. “What shall be the sign,” he inquired of the prophet, “that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?”

“This sign shalt thou have of the Lord,” the prophet answered, “that the Lord will do the thing that He hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?” “It is a light thing,” Hezekiah replied, “for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.”

Only by the direct interposition of God could the shadow on the sundial be made to turn back ten degrees; and this was to be the sign to Hezekiah that the Lord had heard his prayer. Accordingly, “the prophet cried unto the Lord: and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.” Verses 8-11.

Restored to his wonted strength, the king of Judah acknowledged in words of song the mercies of Jehovah, and vowed to spend his remaining days in willing service to the King of kings. His grateful recognition of God's compassionate dealing with him is an inspiration to all who desire to spend their years to the glory of their Maker.

“I said In the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

“I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

“Mine age is departed, And is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: “I have cut off like a weaver my life: He will cut me off with pining sickness:

“From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me. I reckoned till morning, that, As a lion, so will He break all my bones:

“From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me. Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: Mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

“What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me, And Himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

“O Lord, by these things men live, And in all these things is the life of my spirit: So wilt Thou recover me, and make me to live.

“Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: But Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.

“For the grave cannot praise Thee, Death cannot celebrate Thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth.

“The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, As I do this day: The father to the children shall make known Thy truth.

“The Lord was ready to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of the Lord.”

Isaiah 38:10-20.

In the fertile valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates there dwelt an ancient race which, though at that time subject to Assyria, was destined to rule the world. Among its people were wise men who gave much attention to the study of astronomy; and when they noticed that the shadow on the sundial had been turned back ten degrees, they marveled greatly. Their king, Merodachbaladan, upon learning that this miracle had been wrought as a sign to the king of Judah that the God of heaven had granted him a new lease of life, sent ambassadors to Hezekiah to congratulate him on his recovery and to learn, if possible, more of the God who was able to perform so great a wonder.

The visit of these messengers from the ruler of a far-away land gave Hezekiah an opportunity to extol the living God. How easy it would have been for him to tell them of God, the upholder of all created things, through whose favor his own life had been spared when all other hope had fled! What momentous transformations might have taken place had these seekers after truth from the plains of Chaldea been led to acknowledge the supreme sovereignty of the living God!

But pride and vanity took possession of Hezekiah's heart, and in self-exaltation he laid open to covetous eyes the treasures with which God had enriched His people. The king “showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.” Isaiah 39:2. Not to glorify God did he do this, but to exalt himself in the eyes of the foreign princes. He did not stop to consider that these men were representatives of a powerful nation that had not the fear nor the love of God in their hearts, and that it was imprudent to make them his confidants concerning the temporal riches of the nation.

The visit of the ambassadors to Hezekiah was a test of his gratitude and devotion. The record says, “Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that He might know all that was in his heart.” 2 Chronicles 32:31. Had Hezekiah improved the opportunity given him to bear witness to the power, the goodness, the compassion, of the God of Israel, the report of the ambassadors would have been as light piercing darkness. But he magnified himself above the Lord of hosts. He “rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up.” Verse 25.

How disastrous the results which were to follow! To Isaiah it was revealed that the returning ambassadors were carrying with them a report of the riches they had seen, and that the king of Babylon and his counselors would plan to enrich their own country with the treasures of Jerusalem. Hezekiah had grievously sinned; “therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.” Verse 25.

“Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.

“Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

“Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken.” Isaiah 39:3-8.

Filled with remorse, “Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.” 2 Chronicles 32:26. But the evil seed had been sown and in time was to spring up and yield a harvest of desolation and woe. During his remaining years the king of Judah was to have much prosperity because of his steadfast purpose to redeem the past and to bring honor to the name of the God whom he served; yet his faith was to be severely tried, and he was to learn that only by putting his trust fully in Jehovah could he hope to triumph over the powers of darkness that were plotting his ruin and the utter destruction of his people.

The story of Hezekiah's failure to prove true to his trust at the time of the visit of the ambassadors is fraught with an important lesson for all. Far more than we do, we need to speak of the precious chapters in our experience, of the mercy and loving-kindness of God, of the matchless depths of the Saviour's love. When mind and heart are filled with the love of God, it will not be difficult to impart that which enters into the spiritual life. Great thoughts, noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth, unselfish purposes, yearnings for piety and holiness, will find expression in words that reveal the character of the heart treasure.

Those with whom we associate day by day need our help, our guidance. They may be in such a condition of mind that a word spoken in season will be as a nail in a sure place. Tomorrow some of these souls may be where we can never reach them again. What is our influence over these fellow travelers?

Every day of life is freighted with responsibilities which we must bear. Every day, our words and acts are making impressions upon those with whom we associate. How great the need that we set a watch upon our lips and guard carefully our steps! One reckless movement, one imprudent step, and the surging waves of some strong temptation may sweep a soul into the downward path. We cannot gather up the thoughts we have planted in human minds. If they have been evil, we may have set in motion a train of circumstances, a tide of evil, which we are powerless to stay.

On the other hand, if by our example we aid others in the development of good principles, we give them power to do good. In their turn they exert the same beneficial influence over others. Thus hundreds and thousands are helped by our unconscious influence. The true follower of Christ strengthens the good purposes of all with whom he comes in contact. Before an unbelieving, sin-loving world he reveals the power of God's grace and the perfection of His character.

1 note · View note

araitsume · 3 years

Text

The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 47-56: Chapter (5) The Gift of the Spirit

When Christ gave His disciples the promise of the Spirit, He was nearing the close of His earthly ministry. He was standing in the shadow of the cross, with a full realization of the load of guilt that was to rest upon Him as the Sin Bearer. Before offering Himself as the sacrificial victim, He instructed His disciples regarding a most essential and complete gift which He was to bestow upon His followers—the gift that would bring within their reach the boundless resources of His grace. “I will pray the Father,” He said, “and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” John 14:16, 17. The Saviour was pointing forward to the time when the Holy Spirit should come to do a mighty work as His representative. The evil that had been accumulating for centuries was to be resisted by the divine power of the Holy Spirit.

What was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost? The glad tidings of a risen Saviour were carried to the uttermost parts of the inhabited world. As the disciples proclaimed the message of redeeming grace, hearts yielded to the power of this message. The church beheld converts flocking to her from all directions. Backsliders were reconverted. Sinners united with believers in seeking the pearl of great price. Some who had been the bitterest opponents of the gospel became its champions. The prophecy was fulfilled, “He that is feeble ... shall be as David; and the house of David ... as the angel of the Lord.” Zechariah 12:8. Every Christian saw in his brother a revelation of divine love and benevolence. One interest prevailed; one subject of emulation swallowed up all others. The ambition of the believers was to reveal the likeness of Christ's character and to labor for the enlargement of His kingdom.

“With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33. Under their labors were added to the church chosen men, who, receiving the word of truth, consecrated their lives to the work of giving to others the hope that filled their hearts with peace and joy. They could not be restrained or intimidated by threatenings. The Lord spoke through them, and as they went from place to place, the poor had the gospel preached to them, and miracles of divine grace were wrought.

So mightily can God work when men give themselves up to the control of His Spirit.

The promise of the Holy Spirit is not limited to any age or to any race. Christ declared that the divine influence of His Spirit was to be with His followers unto the end. From the Day of Pentecost to the present time, the Comforter has been sent to all who have yielded themselves fully to the Lord and to His service. To all who have accepted Christ as a personal Saviour, the Holy Spirit has come as a counselor, sanctifier, guide, and witness. The more closely believers have walked with God, the more clearly and powerfully have they testified of their Redeemer's love and of His saving grace. The men and women who through the long centuries of persecution and trial enjoyed a large measure of the presence of the Spirit in their lives, have stood as signs and wonders in the world. Before angels and men they have revealed the transforming power of redeeming love.

Those who at Pentecost were endued with power from on high, were not thereby freed from further temptation and trial. As they witnessed for truth and righteousness they were repeatedly assailed by the enemy of all truth, who sought to rob them of their Christian experience. They were compelled to strive with all their God-given powers to reach the measure of the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. Daily they prayed for fresh supplies of grace, that they might reach higher and still higher toward perfection. Under the Holy Spirit's working even the weakest, by exercising faith in God, learned to improve their entrusted powers and to become sanctified, refined, and ennobled. As in humility they submitted to the molding influence of the Holy Spirit, they received of the fullness of the Godhead and were fashioned in the likeness of the divine.

The lapse of time has wrought no change in Christ's parting promise to send the Holy Spirit as His representative. It is not because of any restriction on the part of God that the riches of His grace do not flow earthward to men. If the fulfillment of the promise is not seen as it might be, it is because the promise is not appreciated as it should be. If all were willing, all would be filled with the Spirit. Wherever the need of the Holy Spirit is a matter little thought of, there is seen spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, spiritual declension and death. Whenever minor matters occupy the attention, the divine power which is necessary for the growth and prosperity of the church, and which would bring all other blessings in its train, is lacking, though offered in infinite plenitude.

Since this is the means by which we are to receive power, why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, and preach concerning it? The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who serve Him than parents are to give good gifts to their children. For the daily baptism of the Spirit every worker should offer his petition to God. Companies of Christian workers should gather to ask for special help, for heavenly wisdom, that they may know how to plan and execute wisely. Especially should they pray that God will baptize His chosen ambassadors in mission fields with a rich measure of His Spirit. The presence of the Spirit with God's workers will give the proclamation of truth a power that not all the honor or glory of the world could give.

With the consecrated worker for God, in whatever place he may be, the Holy Spirit abides. The words spoken to the disciples are spoken also to us. The Comforter is ours as well as theirs. The Spirit furnishes the strength that sustains striving, wrestling souls in every emergency, amidst the hatred of the world, and the realization of their own failures and mistakes. In sorrow and affliction, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone,—these are the times when, in answer to the prayer of faith, the Holy Spirit brings comfort to the heart.

It is not a conclusive evidence that a man is a Christian because he manifests spiritual ecstasy under extraordinary circumstances. Holiness is not rapture: it is an entire surrender of the will to God; it is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our heavenly Father; it is trusting God in trial, in darkness as well as in the light; it is walking by faith and not by sight; it is relying on God with unquestioning confidence, and resting in His love.

It is not essential for us to be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Spirit is the Comforter, “the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father.” It is plainly declared regarding the Holy Spirit that, in His work of guiding men into all truth, “He shall not speak of Himself.” John 15:26; 16:13.

The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them, but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.

The office of the Holy Spirit is distinctly specified in the words of Christ: “When He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16:8. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts of sin. If the sinner responds to the quickening influence of the Spirit, he will be brought to repentance and aroused to the importance of obeying the divine requirements.

To the repentant sinner, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, the Holy Spirit reveals the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. “He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you,” Christ said. “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 16:14; 14:26.

The Spirit is given as a regenerating agency, to make effectual the salvation wrought by the death of our Redeemer. The Spirit is constantly seeking to draw the attention of men to the great offering that was made on the cross of Calvary, to unfold to the world the love of God, and to open to the convicted soul the precious things of the Scriptures.

Having brought conviction of sin, and presented before the mind the standard of righteousness, the Holy Spirit withdraws the affections from the things of this earth and fills the soul with a desire for holiness. “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13), the Saviour declared. If men are willing to be molded, there will be brought about a sanctification of the whole being. The Spirit will take the things of God and stamp them on the soul. By His power the way of life will be made so plain that none need err therein.

From the beginning, God has been working by His Holy Spirit through human instrumentalities for the accomplishment of His purpose in behalf of the fallen race. This was manifest in the lives of the patriarchs. To the church in the wilderness also, in the time of Moses, God gave His “good Spirit to instruct them.” Nehemiah 9:20. And in the days of the apostles He wrought mightily for His church through the agency of the Holy Spirit. The same power that sustained the patriarchs, that gave Caleb and Joshua faith and courage, and that made the work of the apostolic church effective, has upheld God's faithful children in every succeeding age. It was through the power of the Holy Spirit that during the Dark Ages the Waldensian Christians helped to prepare the way for the Reformation. It was the same power that made successful the efforts of the noble men and women who pioneered the way for the establishment of modern missions and for the translation of the Bible into the languages and dialects of all nations and peoples.

And today God is still using His church to make known His purpose in the earth. Today the heralds of the cross are going from city to city, and from land to land, preparing the way for the second advent of Christ. The standard of God's law is being exalted. The Spirit of the Almighty is moving upon men's hearts, and those who respond to its influence become witnesses for God and His truth. In many places consecrated men and women may be seen communicating to others the light that has made plain to them the way of salvation through Christ. And as they continue to let their light shine, as did those who were baptized with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, they receive more and still more of the Spirit's power. Thus the earth is to be lightened with the glory of God.

On the other hand, there are some who, instead of wisely improving present opportunities, are idly waiting for some special season of spiritual refreshing by which their ability to enlighten others will be greatly increased. They neglect present duties and privileges, and allow their light to burn dim, while they look forward to a time when, without any effort on their part, they will be made the recipients of special blessing, by which they will be transformed and fitted for service.

It is true that in the time of the end, when God's work in the earth is closing, the earnest efforts put forth by consecrated believers under the guidance of the Holy Spirit are to be accompanied by special tokens of divine favor. Under the figure of the early and the latter rain, that falls in Eastern lands at seedtime and harvest, the Hebrew prophets foretold the bestowal of spiritual grace in extraordinary measure upon God's church. The outpouring of the Spirit in the days of the apostles was the beginning of the early, or former, rain, and glorious was the result. To the end of time the presence of the Spirit is to abide with the true church.

But near the close of earth's harvest, a special bestowal of spiritual grace is promised to prepare the church for the coming of the Son of man. This outpouring of the Spirit is likened to the falling of the latter rain; and it is for this added power that Christians are to send their petitions to the Lord of the harvest “in the time of the latter rain.” In response, “the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain.” “He will cause to come down ... the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain,” Zechariah 10:1; Joel 2:23.

But unless the members of God's church today have a living connection with the Source of all spiritual growth, they will not be ready for the time of reaping. Unless they keep their lamps trimmed and burning, they will fail of receiving added grace in times of special need.

Those only who are constantly receiving fresh supplies of grace, will have power proportionate to their daily need and their ability to use that power. Instead of looking forward to some future time when, through a special endowment of spiritual power, they will receive a miraculous fitting up for soul winning, they are yielding themselves daily to God, that He may make them vessels meet for His use. Daily they are improving the opportunities for service that lie within their reach. Daily they are witnessing for the Master wherever they may be, whether in some humble sphere of labor in the home, or in a public field of usefulness.

To the consecrated worker there is wonderful consolation in the knowledge that even Christ during His life on earth sought His Father daily for fresh supplies of needed grace; and from this communion with God He went forth to strengthen and bless others. Behold the Son of God bowed in prayer to His Father! Though He is the Son of God, He strengthens His faith by prayer, and by communion with heaven gathers to Himself power to resist evil and to minister to the needs of men. As the Elder Brother of our race He knows the necessities of those who, compassed with infirmity and living in a world of sin and temptation, still desire to serve Him. He knows that the messengers whom He sees fit to send are weak, erring men; but to all who give themselves wholly to His service He promises divine aid. His own example is an assurance that earnest, persevering supplication to God in faith—faith that leads to entire dependence upon God, and unreserved consecration to His work—will avail to bring to men the Holy Spirit's aid in the battle against sin.

Every worker who follows the example of Christ will be prepared to receive and use the power that God has promised to His church for the ripening of earth's harvest. Morning by morning, as the heralds of the gospel kneel before the Lord and renew their vows of consecration to Him, He will grant them the presence of His Spirit, with its reviving, sanctifying power. As they go forth to the day's duties, they have the assurance that the unseen agency of the Holy Spirit enables them to be “laborers together with God.”

0 notes

araitsume · 4 years

Text

The Desire of Ages, pp. 476-484: Chapter (52) The Divine Shepherd

This chapter is based on John 10:1-30.

“I am the Good Shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” “I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

Again Jesus found access to the minds of His hearers by the pathway of their familiar associations. He had likened the Spirit's influence to the cool, refreshing water. He had represented Himself as the light, the source of life and gladness to nature and to man. Now in a beautiful pastoral picture He represents His relation to those that believe on Him. No picture was more familiar to His hearers than this, and Christ's words linked it forever with Himself. Never could the disciples look on the shepherds tending their flocks without recalling the Saviour's lesson. They would see Christ in each faithful shepherd. They would see themselves in each helpless and dependent flock.

This figure the prophet Isaiah had applied to the Messiah's mission, in the comforting words, “O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! ... He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.” Isaiah 40:9-11. David had sung, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1. And the Holy Spirit through Ezekiel had declared: “I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them.” “I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.” “And I will make with them a covenant of peace.” “And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen; ... but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.” Ezekiel 34:23, 16, 25, 28.

Christ applied these prophecies to Himself, and He showed the contrast between His own character and that of the leaders in Israel. The Pharisees had just driven one from the fold, because he dared to bear witness to the power of Christ. They had cut off a soul whom the True Shepherd was drawing to Himself. In this they had shown themselves ignorant of the work committed to them, and unworthy of their trust as shepherds of the flock. Jesus now set before them the contrast between them and the Good Shepherd, and He pointed to Himself as the real keeper of the Lord's flock. Before doing this, however, He speaks of Himself under another figure.

He said, “He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” The Pharisees did not discern that these words were spoken against them. When they reasoned in their hearts as to the meaning, Jesus told them plainly, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Christ is the door to the fold of God. Through this door all His children, from the earliest times, have found entrance. In Jesus, as shown in types, as shadowed in symbols, as manifested in the revelation of the prophets, as unveiled in the lessons given to His disciples, and in the miracles wrought for the sons of men, they have beheld “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and through Him they are brought within the fold of His grace. Many have come presenting other objects for the faith of the world; ceremonies and systems have been devised by which men hope to receive justification and peace with God, and thus find entrance to His fold. But the only door is Christ, and all who have interposed something to take the place of Christ, all who have tried to enter the fold in some other way, are thieves and robbers.

The Pharisees had not entered by the door. They had climbed into the fold by another way than Christ, and they were not fulfilling the work of the true shepherd. The priests and rulers, the scribes and Pharisees, destroyed the living pastures, and defiled the wellsprings of the water of life. Faithfully do the words of inspiration describe those false shepherds: “The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away; ... but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.” Ezekiel 34:4.

In all ages, philosophers and teachers have been presenting to the world theories by which to satisfy the soul's need. Every heathen nation has had its great teachers and religious systems offering some other means of redemption than Christ, turning the eyes of men away from the Father's face, and filling their hearts with fear of Him who has given them only blessing. The trend of their work is to rob God of that which is His own, both by creation and by redemption. And these false teachers rob man as well. Millions of human beings are bound down under false religions, in the bondage of slavish fear, of stolid indifference, toiling like beasts of burden, bereft of hope or joy or aspiration here, and with only a dull fear of the hereafter. It is the gospel of the grace of God alone that can uplift the soul. The contemplation of the love of God manifested in His Son will stir the heart and arouse the powers of the soul as nothing else can. Christ came that He might re-create the image of God in man; and whoever turns men away from Christ is turning them away from the source of true development; he is defrauding them of the hope and purpose and glory of life. He is a thief and a robber.

“He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” Christ is both the door and the shepherd. He enters in by Himself. It is through His own sacrifice that He becomes the shepherd of the sheep. “To Him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear His voice: and He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.”

Of all creatures the sheep is one of the most timid and helpless, and in the East the shepherd's care for his flock is untiring and incessant. Anciently as now there was little security outside of the walled towns. Marauders from the roving border tribes, or beasts of prey from their hiding places in the rocks, lay in wait to plunder the flocks. The shepherd watched his charge, knowing that it was at the peril of his own life. Jacob, who kept the flocks of Laban in the pasture grounds of Haran, describing his own unwearied labor, said, “In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.” Genesis 31:40. And it was while guarding his father's sheep that the boy David, single-handed, encountered the lion and the bear, and rescued from their teeth the stolen lamb.

As the shepherd leads his flock over the rocky hills, through forest and wild ravines, to grassy nooks by the riverside; as he watches them on the mountains through the lonely night, shielding from robbers, caring tenderly for the sickly and feeble, his life comes to be one with theirs. A strong and tender attachment unites him to the objects of his care. However large the flock, the shepherd knows every sheep. Every one has its name, and responds to the name at the shepherd's call.

As an earthly shepherd knows his sheep, so does the divine Shepherd know His flock that are scattered throughout the world. “Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.” Jesus says, “I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” “I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” Ezekiel 34:31; Isaiah 43:1; 49:16.

Jesus knows us individually, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows us all by name. He knows the very house in which we live, the name of each occupant. He has at times given directions to His servants to go to a certain street in a certain city, to such a house, to find one of His sheep.

Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one for whom the Saviour died. The distress of every one touches His heart. The cry for aid reaches His ear. He came to draw all men unto Himself. He bids them, “Follow Me,” and His Spirit moves upon their hearts to draw them to come to Him. Many refuse to be drawn. Jesus knows who they are. He also knows who gladly hear His call, and are ready to come under His pastoral care. He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” He cares for each one as if there were not another on the face of the earth.

“He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.... And the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.” The Eastern shepherd does not drive his sheep. He depends not upon force or fear; but going before, he calls them. They know his voice, and obey the call. So does the Saviour-Shepherd with His sheep. The Scripture says, “Thou leddest Thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” Through the prophet, Jesus declares, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” He compels none to follow Him. “I drew them,” He says, “with cords of a man, with bands of love.” Psalm 77:20; Jeremiah 31:3; Hosea 11:4.

It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward, that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the Saviour's matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary's cross, and the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him.

As the shepherd goes before his sheep, himself first encountering the perils of the way, so does Jesus with His people. “When He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them.” The way to heaven is consecrated by the Saviour's footprints. The path may be steep and rugged, but Jesus has traveled that way; His feet have pressed down the cruel thorns, to make the pathway easier for us. Every burden that we are called to bear He Himself has borne.

Though now He has ascended to the presence of God, and shares the throne of the universe, Jesus has lost none of His compassionate nature. Today the same tender, sympathizing heart is open to all the woes of humanity. Today the hand that was pierced is reached forth to bless more abundantly His people that are in the world. “And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” The soul that has given himself to Christ is more precious in His sight than the whole world. The Saviour would have passed through the agony of Calvary that one might be saved in His kingdom. He will never abandon one for whom He has died. Unless His followers choose to leave Him, He will hold them fast.

Through all our trials we have a never-failing Helper. He does not leave us alone to struggle with temptation, to battle with evil, and be finally crushed with burdens and sorrow. Though now He is hidden from mortal sight, the ear of faith can hear His voice saying, Fear not; I am with you. “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore.” Revelation 1:18. I have endured your sorrows, experienced your struggles, encountered your temptations. I know your tears; I also have wept. The griefs that lie too deep to be breathed into any human ear, I know. Think not that you are desolate and forsaken. Though your pain touch no responsive chord in any heart on earth, look unto Me, and live. “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.” Isaiah 54:10.

However much a shepherd may love his sheep, he loves his sons and daughters more. Jesus is not only our shepherd; He is our “everlasting Father.” And He says, “I know Mine own, and Mine own know Me, even as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father.” John 10:14, 15, R. V. What a statement is this!—the only-begotten Son, He who is in the bosom of the Father, He whom God has declared to be “the Man that is My fellow” (Zechariah 13:7),—the communion between Him and the eternal God is taken to represent the communion between Christ and His children on the earth!

Because we are the gift of His Father, and the reward of His work, Jesus loves us. He loves us as His children. Reader, He loves you. Heaven itself can bestow nothing greater, nothing better. Therefore trust.

Jesus thought upon the souls all over the earth who were misled by false shepherds. Those whom He longed to gather as the sheep of His pasture were scattered among wolves, and He said, “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock, one shepherd.” John 10:16, R. V.

“Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again.” That is, My Father has so loved you, that He even loves Me more for giving My life to redeem you. In becoming your substitute and surety, by surrendering My life, by taking your liabilities, your transgressions, I am endeared to My Father.

“I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” While as a member of the human family He was mortal, as God He was the fountain of life for the world. He could have withstood the advances of death, and refused to come under its dominion; but voluntarily He laid down His life, that He might bring life and immortality to light. He bore the sin of the world, endured its curse, yielded up His life as a sacrifice, that men might not eternally die. “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:4-6.

#egw #Ellen G. White #Christianity #God #Jesus Christ #Bible #conflict of the ages #the desire of ages #Jesus's ministry #prophecy #symbolism #salvation #pharisees #God's law vs. man's traditions #false doctrine #the path to righteousness #good shepherd #God's love

0 notes

araitsume · 6 years

Text

Satan's Malignity Against Christ and His People (Part 2) By Mrs. E. G. White

(Concluded.)

From the moment that Christ entered the world, the whole confederacy of Satanic agencies was set at work to deceive and overthrow him as Adam had been deceived and overthrown. Could he win the victory over Christ, the world that God had created would become his empire.

When Christ was born in Bethlehem, the angels of God appeared to the shepherds, who were watching their flocks by night, and gave divine credentials of the authority of the new-born babe. Satan knew that One had come to the earth with a divine commission to dispute his authority. He heard the angel declare: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.”

The heavenly heralds aroused all the wrath of the synagogue of Satan. He followed the steps of those who had charge of the infant Jesus. He heard the prophecy of Simeon in the temple courts, who had long been waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Ghost was upon him, and he came by the Spirit into the temple. Taking the infant Saviour in his arms, he blessed God, and said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” Satan was filled with frenzy as he saw that the aged Simeon recognized the divinity of Christ.

The Commander of heaven was assailed by the tempter. He had no clear, unobstructed passage through the world. He was not left free and without hindrance to win to his kingdom the souls of men by his gracious mercy and loving-kindness. From the time that he was a helpless babe in Bethlehem, when the agencies of hell sought to destroy him in his infancy through the jealousy of Herod, until he came to Calvary's cross, he was continually assailed by the evil one. In the councils of Satan it was determined that he must be overcome. No human being had come into the world and escaped the power of the deceiver. The whole forces of the confederacy of evil were set upon his track to engage in warfare against him, and if possible to prevail over him. The fiercest and most inveterate enmity was put between the seed of the woman and the serpent. The serpent himself made Christ the mark of every weapon of hell. Satan knew that he must either conquer or himself be conquered. Success or failure involved too much for him to leave the work with any one of his agents of evil. The prince of evil himself must personally conduct the warfare, since all other enterprises were inferior to this. He came in determined opposition against Christ from the very beginning of his work. “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him... And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

Satan saw the image of God in the character and person of Jesus Christ. He knew that if Christ carried out his plan, his Satanic authority would be at an end. Therefore, the life of Christ was a perpetual warfare against Satanic agencies. Satan rallied the whole energies of apostasy against the Son of God. The conflict increased in fierceness and malignity, as again and again the prey was taken out of his hands. Satan assailed Christ through every conceivable form of temptation. Christ had come to die for the world, and Satan finally offered to him the kingdoms of the world, surrendering them to him without his striking a blow to obtain them. But the condition upon which this offer was made was one with which Christ could not comply.

“And the Devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the Devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” He presented the world to Christ as a most dazzling, enchanting spectacle. But Christ saw that which Satan tried to veil from his eyes, and that which he flattered himself he had done. Christ had not exchanged his divinity for humanity; but he had clothed his divinity in humanity, and he gave Satan the evidence for which he had asked,—showed him that he was the Son of God. Divinity flashed through humanity, and the evil one could not resist the authority of the divine voice, as Jesus said, “Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

Failing to lead Christ into sin, the prince of darkness gathered together his human agencies in the religious world, and instilled into men the enmity which he felt against the champion of truth. He led them to reject Christ, to expel the Prince of truth from his territory. For a time success seemed to attend his efforts. Christ “came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

Just previous to his crucifixion, the Saviour said, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me,” Though it was the hour of the power of darkness, yet in anticipation of his triumph, Christ could say, “The prince of this world is judged.” “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” Viewing the work of redemption as completed, he could, even in death, speak of the great final deliverance, and represent things that were future as if present. The only begotten Son of the infinite God could successfully carry through the great plan which made man's salvation sure.

The condition of the world at the time of Christ is well described by the prophet Isaiah. He says that the people were found “transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey; and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head.”

The condition of the world previous to the first appearing of Christ is a picture of the condition of the world just previous to his second advent. The same iniquity will exist; Satan manifests the same delusive power upon the minds of men. He is setting his trained agents to work, and moving them to intense activity. He is securing his army of human agents to engage in the last conflict against the Prince of life, to overthrow the law of God, which is the foundation of his throne. Satan will work with miraculous presentations to confirm men in the belief that he is what he claims to be,—the prince of this world,—and that victory is his. He will turn his forces against those who are loyal to God; but though he may cause pain, distress, and human agony, he cannot defile the soul. He may cause affliction to the people of God as he did to Christ, but he cannot cause one of Christ's little ones to perish. The people of God in these last days must expect to enter into the thick of the conflict; for the prophetic word says: “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

- The Review and Herald, October 29, 1895

#egw #Ellen G. White #Christianity #God #Jesus Christ #Bible #prophecy #the first Advent #temptation #resisting temptation #last day events #God's Truth vs. Satan's deceptions

0 notes