Give It Up

It is the natural inclination of a person to always want to "fix" things, and do so themselves.  The idea of giving up is not really in our nature.  What do the scriptures say?


I Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.


There are a couple things to note here.  One is that there is no promise here of an instant fix, or some sort of miracle as you would think of wanting.   When we humble ourselves and cast our cares upon Him, the promise is that in DUE TIME we may be exalted.  Part of humbling ourselves would be to trust that God knows the DUE TIME and to not fret about those cares.  Our adversary would love to get us all caught up in worry about things of the world and steal away our peace, joy, love, and witness.  We can resist those temptations knowing that even though we do suffer for a while, we will be made perfect, established, strong, and settled.


Jesus says in Mathew 11:
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.


Jesus here hands out an invitation to those who are overcome with the cares of this world and the problems they present.  He says to look to Him, not necessarily to solve all the problems you are worrying about, but that instead of being so stressed about them, so burdened by them, so overwhelmed; you will find rest in Him and through Him.  If we look to Jesus and learn of Him instead of focusing on our problems, we are promised rest for our souls. 


When we take upon the yoke of Jesus, He is leading us.  His ways lead us to peace and rest within our souls, even though all around us chaos may reign.  Through Him we find rest instead of weariness, hope instead of heartbreak, peace instead of tumult, love instead of anger, caring instead of hostility.  He leads us to those good things if we humble ourselves and take His yoke upon us.  Then we need not worry about the other stuff.  Yes, we still have to do things, and bad things will still happen, but we will no longer let those things overwhelm us, or take our focus.  We will remain in peace if we keep our eyes on Jesus.

Ebola and Torah Observance

In the Bible are many rules for how we ought to live our lives.  Some of these rules are extremely practical and were years ahead of science in the effectiveness of what they accomplished.  Many of these rules are forgotten or ignored today.  We are told that we no longer have to follow those old rules because they have been done away with or that we are no longer "under" them.  I say in this time it might be important to look at and consider following some of them.  It may not be for your eternal salvation, but it may be for salvation in this life.


By now, I think most people have heard of Ebola and have seen it spread first in Africa, and now to various other countries including the United States.  This is a very serious deisease and despite the taking of some precautions, has spread to others who have been in contact with still others.  Whatever the reasons given for this spread, and the mutations possible, mistakes, etc... I would argue that it comes down to this, people do not know and are not following the laws of God.


There were many rules about clean and unclean things.  People with diseases were set apart from the camp.  Women when menstruating were unclean.  Anyone who touched a dead person or animal was unclean.  All soldiers had to have a shovel so they could bury their human waste.  Washing of hands, keeping storehouses clean, and other such ideas were all contained in Jewish law and tradition given to them by God.  If we look at how the Ebola and other diseases are spread, following Torah rules would help in preventing the spread.


Isolation seems to be a key ingredient to holding down the spread of disease, biblically.  For many reasons folks would have to separate themselves from the community when they were "unclean".  They would also have to be inspected before they could return to the community as "clean".  We seem to be ignoring this during this Ebola outbreak and have even seen leaders say that such isolation would be "inhumane".  Inhumane?  It only makes sense, but I guess if you do not follow God, anything is OK.


During the middle ages when the black plague pandemic killed of huge populations in Europe, there was one particular group of people who were far less effected by the plague than everyone else.  It was the Jewish people.  It was precisely because of their observance of Torah that allowed them to survive in greater numbers where others perished.  It was their laws of clean living that prevented them from having the conditions present for the spread of the disease in the Jewish communities.  As a result, they became economic powerhouses and gained the wealth that the dying had left.   Because of their survival, the remaining who survived blamed the Jews and accused them of poisoning the water to take control of the countries.  They were then expelled from the nations, or faced death.


If this Ebola grows into a pandemic, it may be those very laws in the Torah that allow you to survive.  Keeping yourself clean, you area clean, and if society won't isolate the sick, we may have to isolate ourselves. 


Even if Ebola does not grow into a pandemic, living this way will certainly keep you healthy and help you to live rather disease free, for the most part.  It is a promise from God.  And if that is not enough, all of it is verified by the science we know about.  While we are not saved spiritually by looking to observance of the law, observing the law can save you.  It might be time to take another look at the law and what it says. 


Exodus 15:26 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 statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.


Psalm 91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.  Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.  Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

When the Going Gets Tough

Have you ever gotten mad at God?  There are times where things just don't seem to fit together like you thought, or you did not get the answer from Him you expected, and life just is not going at all smoothly.  I'm not talking about something superficial like you didn't get that new car you asked for.  I'm talking about gut wrenching issues, agonizing hurt, after long periods of time pleading.  Something that just makes you drop to your knees and scream, Why Lord?

You may be wondering, why Lord. why do the evil succeed?  Why do they get away with it?  How long, oh Lord, must I deal with this or that situation?  Why is it that I never seem to come out on top, Lord?  Why is it that I have been alone so long waiting?  Have you not heard me?  Can't you see that I am hurting?  Why have you not delivered me? 

I think many of us get to these desperate heart aching points in our walk where we just cannot see or understand the plan God is working in or through us.  Times where we almost can't find any words to express the anguish that we are feeling or the desperation that we are experiencing.  What are we supposed to do?  How are we to carry on when it just seems like the world is falling in on top of us and the bottom has dropped away?

I've been facing such situations recently, so as much as this is sharing with others, it is also a little therapy for myself here.  All those types of questions are swirling around in my head, and I am asking and pleading, wondering when is it going to end?  What am I supposed to do?

I got a word before the intensity of the situation I am in ramped up several hundred degrees. 

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

When we are upset and troubled, even wounded deeply to our core, we still need to carry on in a way that is pleasing to God.  He made a promise to us in that verse.  We can't let our pain become so great that we begin hurting others.  We need to keep our focus on God and doing what is right, treating others as we ourselves want to be treated, doing our jobs to the best of our ability, being honest, not being a gossiper, etc etc...  If we do those things, we have a harvest coming.  We might not know when it is or how it is, but we can rest assured that it will come when it is ripe and ready and perfect for us.

I wish I could say that I have been a perfect soldier in this, but really, it is kind of a hard thing to do.  We are hurt and upset and do some things that don't necessarily help, or think we can do something about it and forget that God is the one in control.  We can get caught up in our emotions and reap some consequences we'd rather not.  That is the hard part about the "faint not" in that verse.    We can make things worse when we get like, I got this God.

I think that when we get past the initial "WHY GOD WHY?", we can settle back and look to the word for the practical applications of "how, Lord, how?"  Maybe God will bring some useful verse to remembrance like He did for me with the above verse, or we may stumble upon a teacher on the radio or TV that has a message that speaks to our situation, and we should of course look through the word and meditate upon what it says.  The instructions on what to do can be found there.

Another hard thing that we should be learning to do in tough situations is learning to trust God even more.  It is all well and good to trust God when things are going well, but when things happen and appear to be at their worst, that is when we really need to knuckle down with some serious faith and determined faith that says, despite what I am seeing and feeling, I know that that harvest is out there getting ripe and I have no doubt that if I do as the word says, the blessing is promised to me by God, and God keeps ALL his promises.

Watches and Warnings

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX 
328 PM MDT FRI JUL 18 2014 
 
NMC035-182145- 
/O.CON.KEPZ.SV.W.0065.000000T0000Z-140718T2145Z/ 
OTERO NM- 
328 PM MDT FRI JUL 18 2014 
 
...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL OTERO 
COUNTY UNTIL 345 PM MDT... 
 
AT 322 PM MDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS REPORTED...PRODUCING  
QUARTER SIZE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.  THIS 
STORM WAS LOCATED 17 MILES EAST OF CLOUDCROFT...MOVING SOUTH AT 5  
MPH. THE CORE OF THE STORM WAS PASSING JUST EAST OF MAYHILL. 
 
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... 
  SIXTEEN SPRINGS... 
  WEED... 
  SACRAMENTO... 
  MAYHILL... 
 
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM... PREPARE IMMEDIATELY FOR LARGE 
HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER... 
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING AND AWAY FROM WINDOWS. 


 
The above warning is an actual weather warning from the National weather service as I am typing this article.  The national Weather Service puts out various types of weather related watches and warnings to help protect the public from the danger that are posed from severe weather events.  They are intended to save lives of people in the area from the potential dangers of the incoming severe weather by informing them of the current and future location of the threat and the nature of the threat faced.


Having been involved in the world of weather for many years, I have seen people who continually ignore these watches and warnings.  they don't take them seriously.  They have become complacent because they have not experienced the worst of what they are being warned about.  I've had people tell me in tornado warnings that they did not need to pay attention because the tornado never strikes where they are.  just because it hasn't, does not mean that it won't this time.  Just because it did not strike here, does not mean it did not strike there.


Other people actually get mad at the messengers.  They complain about the weatherman, and about the weather service.  They complain about how they are always wrong and never know what they are talking about.  They then make claims that they think they know more than the weatherman and "prove it" by repeating old false wives tales and such.  It never occurs to them to think that they really could be in harms way and that they really do need to take the watches and warnings seriously.


 I've seen people who are in a panic at the last minute realizing that the storm is actually really heading toward them this time.  Panic and confusion set in.  They are unaware of what to do or where to go because they have never really paid attention to what they were being told in the watches and warnings that were put out to inform them.  Some of them actually further endanger themselves by doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing.


This is exactly what happens with God and the Bible too.  People of God go out and share the word in various ways, warning of various dangers facing people and the possible consequences of those dangers.  They give notice of what one should do to avoid those dangers and be safe from them.  They are words of life when facing death.


People do Gods messengers just like they do the weatherman.  They make fun of them, laugh at them, disrespect their knowledge, and generally think they know better than anyone else.  They come up with all kinds of reasoning to justify why they are right and the messenger of God wrong.  They will arrogantly make false proclamations about the situation when in truth they know nothing about it. 


Unbelievers are often lulled into a false sense of security.  They think that because a particular warning has not come to pass that it isn't ever going to, or that it is even possible.  This false sense of security causes them to become bolder and bolder in their disregard of the warnings provided in scripture.  They will ignorantly put themselves further into harms way being totally oblivious to the dangers.


The weather service and the Christian can only put out the warnings, and pass along information to help people to survive.  Neither can make people heed the warnings or do what it will take to stay alive.  Neither are responsible for those who do not heed the warnings.  The job has been done to sound the alarm.  It is up to the individual to accept the warnings, and heed the advice.   We all hope and pray that people will survive the storms in life and live, both in this life and the next. 

Hurricane Andrew:

Be Prepared

This blog is going to be rather short and to the point.  Folks, be prepared.  

I went to the store this week just before a potential snowstorm.  I went at the last minute, even as the first flakes began falling.  I got off work at midnight and went to my local wal-mart to be sure i had some cat food so I would not run out and have the cat mad at me.  This is what I found.














This was just a simple snow storm.  People ravaged the store of supplies.  What happens if it is a far more serious crises.  Are you prepared for empty store shelves that won't be stocked any time soon?  I was shocked to see this in the midwest, a place known for snow storms.  It is like everyone panicked.  In a REAL national or regional emergency, this is what will happen.  There is no more than a 3 day supply of food connected to grocery stores.  If transport is cut off, there will be problems.  Be prepared.  Learn how to garden, forage naturally, hunt, fish.  Learn how not to be dependent on what a society provides.  Learn to be self sufficient, and in the right ways.  There will be enough marauding bands of starving people willing to take from others.

The Judgment of God

When speaking about the judgment of God, it is always a touchy subject.  Many people, including many Christians, will tend to look at you a bit sideways.  You will be accused of being a lunatic.  You will be accused of being hateful.  Some will use it as an excuse to say the God is wicked.  Be that as it may, the judgment of God is something that is biblical.

Now, most people consider the judgment of God to be a bad thing; that an angry God is set out to destroy people for disobedience.  That really is not the goal of God’s judgment.  What God is trying to do in judgment is to correct; to make people aware the God is God, and it’s usually His followers that He is reminding.

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

One type of judgment that we can face is really one of our own doing.  When we disobey the word of God, one of His commands, there are consequences to our actions.   Many times the consequences are even spelled out.  An easy example is proverbs 10: ⁴ He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.  God tells us that hard work leads to success, and that laziness leads to poverty. 

Now I know most people do not relate consequences with judgment, but indeed it is a type of judgment.  We see this played out again in the story of the prodigal son who took his riches and was not diligent in working but was rather slack and partied his inheritance away and found himself poor and starving.  But, that judgment of consequence woke him up, and he returned to his fathers house.  That is, after all, the real goal in judgment; not punishment, but rather correction.

The kind of judgment most people think of is that of natural disasters and plagues, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and the like.  Yes, God uses these as judgments as well.  These examples are obvious to us as we look through scripture.  The Exodus is probably the supreme example of judgment we find in scripture, or the Flood, or Sodom.  Large scale judgment and destruction of entire populations is what judgment is in many minds.

Another thing about judgment is this, it never comes out of nowhere.  When we get to major judgment, it always comes after a progression and warning.  It starts with the Word.  God says do this and be blessed.  The people do that.  Preachers and prophets say the word says do this or that will happen. The people do that. Consequences happen.  The people continue to ignore the word.  The consequences multiply, and the people still don’t listen.  God lowers His protection and other bad things begin happening, the people don’t listen.  God brings small disaster, the people don’t listen.  Larger disaster, same thing; until finally enough is enough.  All along the way God sent people to proclaim his word.

We see this principle encapsulated in the Exodus where ever increasing judgments were brought every time God’s word from Moses was rejected.  We see it played out in Israeli history where ,more than once the nation defeated and the people enslaved for ignoring God’s word.  Are we seeing this principle being played out today in America?

Since 1963 (and really before) we have rejected God, and His ways that we once embraced.  We have usurped gender roles, embraced child sacrifice, rejected gender identification, embraced materialism, rejected chastity, embraced fornication, rejected truth and exchanged it for lies.  In the 70s we were brought to our knees and turned back to God some, and blessing returned for a short time, but in our prosperity forgot that and returned once again to our wicked ways.  

Since 2000, we have had protection removed.  We were attacked on our soils and been at war.  We have seen major disasters like never before with hurricanes, tornadoes, snowstorms, drought.  Despite all of this, our people are waxing worse.  We have out of control debt and spending that drag on the economy causing misery among the people.  Our borders are being invaded, and our freedoms are being lost, yet we still don’t listen.  We now call evil good and good evil as we further embrace those things that go against God and His word.  All the while, people of God are sent out telling people to repent, change their ways, and return unto the Lord.  When will it be enough and God allows our collapse?

God's Weather, Blessing or Judgment?

 August 25^th, 1814, a tornado struck Washington DC.  It was a rather destructive, deadly, and violent tornado.  There was severe damage throughout the city, trees down, buildings and infrastructure destroyed.  It was a terrible disaster; or was it?

5 days previous, as part of an offensive in the war of 1812, the British landed warships in the Chesapeake Bay and marched on DC.  They overran the city and took it over.  From the White House, the British admiral ordered the city burned and it was set ablaze.   It looked as if he country was defeated, our capital had been captured and was being laid waste.  Surrender seemed imminent and we were to once again become British subjects, no longer an independent nation.  Then God stepped in.

The outer bands of a hurricane came ashore, one storm cell of which produced the violent tornado.  The tornado scattered the ranks of the soldiers, destroyed their weaponry, killed many of the army, and sent them fleeing for their lives out of DC.  As the hurricane spun off shore, 2 days of constant rain fell, putting out all of the fires the British had set.  The storm also severely damaged the ships they had arrived in.

When the American militia returned to retake the city, they found it abandoned, with no resistance.   God himself had single handedly defeated our enemies, and stopped their destruction.  This is just one incident where God has intervened in the events of nations.  There are many others as well. 

In the 148^th Psalm we get a little peak at God’s use of weather in His plan.  In verse 5 it says, Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created.  Following are a list of things that were commanded and created.  In verse 8 we find, “fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!”  So here we have that God indeed created weather to fulfill his word. 

Again we find this principle in the 37^th chapter of Job.  From verse 1 thru verse 12 we get a description of weather God has created, and clues to it’s function.  Verse 13 sums up again the principle of God’s use of weather, “Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen.” 

Most people consider bad weather merely as a punishment and judgment from God.  While it certainly can be, we see that there is far more accomplished in God’s use of weather.  We don’t have the mind of God, nor do we understand all of His ways. Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  We don’t always see the bigger plan of God’s larger purpose.

So, we need to be careful when we as Christians run about declaring God’s judgment for a natural disaster(s).  There may be purposes going on that we do not understand.  The world will accuse us of wearing tin foil hats, decrying mystical conspiracies if we are spouting off continually with one sided messages of doom.  Seek the Lord for wisdom when disastrous weather occurs.  It could be judgment, but, there may be more to the story.