Grace and peace to you all!
It has been over a year since I added any posts to this blog. The last thing I did was take this onion photograph, but my inspiration left me so I set the blog aside. Holy Spirit told me I had to learn some things before I wrote any more, so that's what I've been doing.
Prior to going to Jacksonville in 2016, I had been quite interested in politics, until the person I had been backing for the US Presidency dropped out of the race. At that point, I became disgusted with what was going on and walked away. Holy Spirit had me avoid politics completely until it was time to vote. On election day, I decided who to vote for and I did not listen to any of the results until my wife told me that Trump might win.
Like many people, I did not like Trump, but I ended up voting for him because I did not trust the other candidate. Before Jacksonville, I considered myself to be a "conservative libertarian." I still see myself that way, but am more empathetic about other views than I may have been before. Most of what I knew about Trump came from other people. That changed when I actually listened to him give his Inauguration Speech. It turns out he was exactly what I had been looking for.
I do not intend this to be a discussion about politics. One of the things I have learned in the past year is that politics is like fleas arguing about who owns the dog they live on. If they were wise, they would be be more concerned about what the Owner of the dog will eventually do to alleviate His dog's incessant scratching. But, politics is part of the world we were born into and live in, and God uses it to teach us many things about Him and His Kingdom.
My wife and I started to watch President Trump when he gave his Inauguration Speech. We began to read his Twitter "tweets" and watched the daily White House Press Briefings for a while. It has been very entertaining and eye-opening. I have also gone back to paying attention to media sources I trust. Although my opinion of popular media sources has been low for a long time, it has taken Trump to flush them out of their facades to reveal the liars that they are. This caused me to finally realize how corrupt the world is, and how fallen people are. Sinners sin. It's heartbreaking. It is only through God's grace that anyone is rescued from such futile and agonizing situations!
Why do so many people hate Donald Trump? There are many practical and political reasons, but there is also a critical spiritual reason. Donald Trump loves Israel. His daughter married a Jew and became a Jew herself. His grandchildren are Jews. God told Abraham...
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3 NIV)The Jews are Abraham's natural descendants and God blesses those who bless His people "in the flesh," whether they accept their Messiah, Yeshua, or not. There is something to learn here.
Enough about that. The main thing Holy Spirit has had me working on is learning to follow Him minute-by-minute and working to "get my own house in order." I have been working with my wife to further develop our relationship, and we have been doing things with our children to get closer to them.
So, what about the onion? My wife cut it up for me. She likes onions. I don't know why because there are quite a number of foods she does not like, but onions add flavor to food for her without giving her discomfort, unless it's a particularly strong onion, of course. I often come up behind her while she is cutting onions and give her a hug. It seems I tend to do that when she has a big knife in her hand, and we laugh about it. Often, she has tears in her eyes, and we chuckle about that, too.
I took the photo because I realized our sins are like layers of an onion. The outside layers of an onion are big, and as we peel them away the layers get smaller. Peeling an onion involves cutting, and tears! So it is with our sin.
The first sins we deal with are the big and obvious ones. Once those are gone, the remaining sins seem smaller and are harder to detect. If we keep peeling the onion, eventually all the layers will be gone. If we keep praying in the Spirit and talking to Jesus, Holy Spirit will continue to bring our sins to our mind so we can confess them and repent from them. Eventually, the amount of sin in our lives will be very small or non-existent. Then God can really use us!
What about the cutting and the tears? Getting rid of our sin can be painful as we cut away things in our lives that we have perhaps enjoyed but are destructive to our faith and relationship to God. This will often involve many tears. A wise person will realize if there are no tears, we may not have cut enough to get rid of what is burdening us. Jesus is faithful to help us do this. The tears will come, if we are serious and truly want to be clean and useful to God.
By the way, repentance is not a one-time thing. It is the essential first step to begin being a disciple of Jesus, but it is also an essential part of our continuing life as a saint. Our initial repenting was probably about a particular sin, but we have many sins. Repenting will be an ongoing process that will last until the last breath we take on this earth, if we stay faithful and true to our Master.
There was something Jesus said that I didn't understand, but I do now...
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:14-28 NIV)
The armor of the Darkness is lies. Jesus took away that armor in this case by challenging and refuting the lie that He was driving out demons by Beelzebul. He used logic. If Satan drives out his own "troops," he will lose. It doesn't make any sense for him to do that.
I realized that the margin of victory for us is to confront lies. Once the lies are confronted, exposed and removed, the Darkness will lose its power and must leave. Attacking head-on without removing the armor is not going to work. Look at the picture of the tank on the cover of that book. If you shoot at the front of the turret of that tank your round will glance off. If the armor is gone, the target will be exposed and the occupants will be defeated.
Holy Spirit will help us see the lies, and give us the ability to refute and defeat the lies in each situation we encounter. This is the margin of victory.
How are the onion and the armor related? Much of the sin in our lives is based on lies. If we recognize we have believed a lie, we can repent from the sin that results from the lie.
For example, if we are told by the culture that having sexual relations outside of marriage is the thing to do, we will go right ahead and do it. Once we realize that we cannot "go to heaven" if we offend God, and that our fornication is what specifically offends God, we are more likely to want to repent from that sin. If we continue to believe the lie, what motivation is there to give up our "good time?"
We must understand about the armor so we can deal with our own sin, and so we can help others recognize their sin so they can repent. This is a key strategy we must learn to employ. Jesus will help us.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the fellowship of Holy Spirit be with you all!
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UPDATE, August 30, 2022...
Here are some examples of the armor of the Darkness (lies), with corresponding biblical rebuttals...
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21 NIV)
“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— (Ephesians 6:2 NIV)
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. (1 Peter 3:1-6 NIV)
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:24-25 NIV)
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,...
...Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones... (Romans 1:18,26 NIV)
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20:7 NIV)
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. (Matthew 9:35 NIV)
“‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.” (Leviticus 17:10-12 NIV)
He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. ...
[They] returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (Luke 10:2-12, 17 NIV)
UPDATE, October 14, 2022...
[Photo: Masada, Israel]
UPDATE, October 16, 2022...
So, here's an example of my "non-linear thinking," how inspirations and thoughts cascade from one to the next, hopefully guided by the Holy Spirit...
About forty years after Pentecost, God took away any hope of redemption through the Old Covenant. He allowed the Romans to destroy the second Temple in Jerusalem, which was the only place where people could make sacrifices for their sins.1 Jewish rebels left Jerusalem and some retreated to the stronghold known as Masada.
The Romans besieged Masada and eventually captured it. The single account by Josephus is controversial for a number of reasons, but modern Jews herald his description of defiance as a national symbol. Whatever happened, God the Father had closed the door on the Old Covenant, and the door to the New Covenant was the only one remaining open: the sacrifice of His Son.
Why were the Jewish rebels destroyed? Because they had the wrong gospel. They were zealous and passionate and sincere, but they were wrong. Tragically wrong.
So it is with each of us. If we have the wrong gospel, we will die, too. There are many wrong gospels, but only one right one.
Do we have the right gospel? How do we know? Are we sure?
Sounds like a good topic for discussion with Jesus. 😉
UPDATE, October 17, 2022...
Someone shared this meme on Facebook. I think it is very true, ... unfortunately.
This is how it is with "gospels." We hear a message, embrace it, and then build our faith and life around it. That particular "gospel" becomes "armor," especially if we have confidently proclaimed it to others.
Is this why there are so many different churches, denominations, and religions?
Multiple-Guess Test
Which one has the right gospel? Choose the single best answer.
a) Catholic Church.
b) Lutheran Church.
c) Reformed Church.
d) Baptist Church.
e) Pentecostal Church.
f) Episcopalian Church.
g) Presbyterian Church.
h) Methodist Church.
i) Non-Denominational Church.
j) (insert here) Church.
k) Church of Satan.
l) All of the above.
m) None of the above.
UPDATE, October 29, 2022...
1 I just read this in Brent Allan Winters' Excellence of the Common Law, Section 4.3.1, ©2008, page 469-70...
Like all ceremonies God's Word mentions, animal sacrifices were voluntary acts of faith in response to God's promises, intended to confirm one's oath, promise, and loyalty. These undertakings, if done by faith in God's promises of the coming Messiah, were outward evidences of God's inward justification, but were never the means of personal justification. Participation in a ceremony never has justified anyone before God and never will. Only God, by His graciousness, is able [to] justify a person and accept that person.1135
1135 See Genesis 15:6, Ephesians 2:8-9. A person's acceptance of Christ is necessary to be sure. The crucial ingredient to salvation, however, is not that person's acceptance of Christ, but rather, God's acceptance of that person. Only God can make a person acceptable through His Son and has promised to do so for "the one willing." See generally Revelations 22:17, for the phrase ὁ θέλων (o thelown). The phrase is precise: not "Any who might will" but "the one willing."
Sacrifice of the Messiah has been The Plan all along. What God established through Moses in the Wilderness was a foreshadowing of what was to come. Those who acted on faith before the Cross were just as "willing" as those who have more knowledge afterwards.
Based on what I have read of Winters' book (I am about halfway through), he seems to have "faith alone" religious glasses, which comes from the teachings of many Protestant denominations. I agree with what he says here, however. Prior to the Cross, having faith meant following the instructions of Moses with a right heart. After the Cross, having faith means following the example of Jesus and doing what He did, which includes baptism by immersion, receiving the Holy Spirit, and performing miracles under the Father's authority. Doing those things does not earn us salvation. They are evidence that our hearts are right and that we are "willing."
King David's heart was "willing," yet he broke many of the commandments. He suffered loss because of those sins, but his heart always seemed to be right. Jesus will be his judge, not me, but I think David is an Old Covenant example of being right with God.