Cold hard heart or cold hard steel
Today, as it has been in time memorial, murder or its glorification has permeated our society. TV newscasts, Newspapers, and social media are constantly filled with incidents in every city, town, suburb, or rural community. An ideology or movement attempts to justify murder or mayhem. In biblical times, Cain jealously slew his brother Able with a stone over Cain’s relationship with God. Able set forth a sacrifice acceptable before God, but Cain chose to present a Sacrifice of his design. Moral standards guide us through life. When we establish our Moral guides, we defy the more excellent norm. This veering from the model allows each person to set their standards. Living and the value of life are set aside for revenge, addiction, and greed. The heart of humankind is the center from which many decisions may have their bases. The center of this affliction is the heart. This affliction has overshadowed our society.
Genius 6:5
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Psalm 52:2-3
King James Version
2 The tongue deviseth mischiefs, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 Thou lovest evil more than good and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
Humanity has used every weapon on the face of the earth to kill fellow men or women in the guise of justification or inequality. Whole races have suffered tremendous profound destruction because of misguided and deranged superiority. Power-hungry leaders sacrifice their youth in cruel wars.
Street crime instills fear of the outside world, robbing us of mental security and fear of bodily harm or material loss. Evil flows about and rises like a flood permeating society. The value of life is failing. Losing respect for our fellow men/women gives way to this evil. It may be a simple tool, but the tongue is a mighty and cruel weapon that can be as deadly as any other edged weapon. Sometimes it starts there and escalates into a physical altercation and the taking of a life.
We hear much about gun control in this day and time. This subject is a hot button of discussion in our government and society. The question is whether it is the true answer. We can never achieve equality when we focus on envying what others have acquired. It can be a position, material goods, a relationship, or being made to feel inadequate in society. It starts as an ember and grows into a raging wildfire in the heart. A lust for power over another person, culture, or even whole country pervades—often under the covering of doing what is best in their judgment. Controlling a material weapon is not the cure-all it is the attitude of the heart that initiates action. Wickedness springs out of the spirit (heart) of men/women blurring what is right or wrong. Its justification and vengeance shore up this wickedness/evil.
I saw a sermon given by Billy Graham, a great evangelist and teacher. He stated, “Suffered in the heart are many ungodly attributes.”
The main issue is whether our society suffers from affectation with death. Or the absence of the value of life. Is it a question of a cold hard heart or an inanimate object made of cold hard steel?
Hollywood and many entertainment venue products greatly influence the attitudes and choices of many impressionable minds. Young formative minds or those easily swayed by popular enticements. Easily enticed by the grandeur of impressive computer creations, they live in a false reality. Some have never taught the structure of morality. Many movies, video games, and television series contain, in many cases, the underlying theme of payback, getting even, or the results justifying the means. Just as in politics, you hear it said, get it done by any means possible. As a result, society is becoming void of moral ground and the virtue of respect.
Gang violence is rooted in calming territory and holding it by whatever it takes. But unfortunately, these attitudes bleed over into society and become a mainstay and a weapon to justify one’s manhood or superiority. It may start as an argument over a compromised mate, an insult to one’s integrity, or material possessions. It is then that the heart becomes cold, and injury or murder enters as an option.
Portions of our society have fallen into an attitude of either victim or oppressor. We all are both victims and oppressors in one way or another, apart from moral guides. The world has always been subject to these two influences. We should be viewing life through the lens of respect and how we perceive its effect. Unfortunately, said respect suffers a dwindling existence.
An inanimate object cannot on itself bring harm. However, establishing an attitude or belief in one’s mind can shape the heart and culminate in the action or deed.
Author Archives: beemandjl
The Broken Gear
The broken gear
When I was young, my mother told me about an incident concerning my father at his workplace. My father was a department head and overseer for Burlington Industries, working his whole life in the textile field. My father worked closely with some of the research and development departments. Having a great deal of machinery of numerous types and purposes, he would have machinery breakdowns. These machines were not the kind you could go downtown and pick up a part for it. Some pieces took a lot of time to acquire. Many times, they had to be fabricated by hand. My brother Tim and I worked in the textile industry. I was a supervisor and had to take items down to the maintenance shop and braise or weld parts together enough to make it until we could acquire a new one.
My mother told me of an instance when my father had a crucial machine breakdown. A gear had broken, and they had no spare parts to operate the machine. My father had to get one made. He took it down to Sykes Foundry in Burlington, North Carolina, near the mill (Plaid Mills) in Burlington. He was close friends with Mr. Sykes.
As many may know, foundries were used to make parts in most industrial areas in the past. Nowadays, some fabricators use laser cutters and tig welders to make parts or create new design products.
My father took the broken gear in 4 or 5 pieces wrapped in a shop rag to the foundry. My father asked Mr. Sykes to make him one just like this one as soon as possible. Creating a mold is the first step for casting the part. The mold consists of sand-like fine material. Mr. Sykes was a jokester and thought he would have fun with my father. When my father returned to pick up the part, Mr. Sykes had it in a box. My father opened the box, and there was an identical gear in 4 or 5 pieces. My father laughed and said I wanted a new part, whole and complete.
We sometimes approach God when we are broken physically or do not work the way we intended in our broken lives. We often want a quick fix to overcome discomfort or achieve a goal we have set in life. We are like the parts in the box because we asked amiss. We ask God to make us anew, but we want to remain the same and free from a challenge or life. We must be born again, a new creation molded by the hands of God and completed by the holy spirit. Not just a replacement part identical to the example of our previous form. The scriptures state that we are wonderfully and fearfully made in the image of God. Due to our sinful state, we must be broken for God to perfect us.
When I was young, my mother told me about an incident concerning my father at his workplace. My father was a department head and overseer for Burlington Industries, working his whole life in the textile field. My father worked closely with some of the research and development departments. Having a great deal of machinery of numerous types and purposes, he would have machinery breakdowns. These machines were not the kind you could go downtown and pick up a part for it. Some pieces took a lot of time to acquire. Many times, they had to be fabricated by hand. My brother Tim and I worked in the textile industry. I was a supervisor and had to take items down to the maintenance shop and braise or weld parts together enough to make it until we could acquire a new one.
My mother told me of an instance when my father had a crucial machine breakdown. A gear had broken, and they had no spare parts to operate the machine. My father had to get one made. He took it down to Sykes Foundry in Burlington, North Carolina, near the mill (Plaid Mills) in Burlington. He was close friends with Mr. Sykes.
As many may know, foundries were used to make parts in most industrial areas in the past. Nowadays, some fabricators use laser cutters and tig welders to make parts or create new design products.
My father took the broken gear in 4 or 5 pieces wrapped in a shop rag to the foundry. My father asked Mr. Sykes to make him one just like this one as soon as possible. Creating a mold is the first step for casting the part. The mold consists of sand-like fine material. Mr. Sykes was a jokester and thought he would have fun with my father. When my father returned to pick up the part, Mr. Sykes had it in a box. My father opened the box, and there was an identical gear in 4 or 5 pieces. My father laughed and said I wanted a new part, whole and complete.
We sometimes approach God when we are broken physically or do not work the way we intended in our broken lives. We often want a quick fix to overcome discomfort or achieve a goal we have set in life. We are like the parts in the box because we asked amiss. We ask God to make us anew, but we want to remain the same and free from a challenge or life. We must be born again, a new creation molded by the hands of God and completed by the holy spirit. Not just a replacement part identical to the example of our previous form. The scriptures state that we are wonderfully and fearfully made in the image of God. Due to our sinful state, we must be broken for God to perfect us.
Cannot see the forest for all the trees
Cannot see the forest for all the trees
A wonderful friend and brother in Christ, and his Appalachian Trail experiences inspired me to make this comparison. I believe God established this quest. Brad met many trials and life-threatening situations. As he started his venture, his anticipation was high with a goal. The trail took many twists, uphill struggles, and forks that required many decisions. The travel was grueling for many days and seemed almost endless, taxing his strength and stamina. Brad passed through some of the most beautiful mountainous terrains in the eastern United States. Brad was often just a matter of yards from an open view of God’s handiwork. The trail was pre-prescribed by travelers’ previous plans to seek their goals. We often cannot see the forest for all the trees. Brad was able to share his witness many. God witnessed to him the Grace and mercy provided in any situation.
There are always two choices to achieve an answer to any question or circumstance. In comparison to the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had a choice between two trees. The of life or the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They had the option to rely on God or partake of the forbidden tree and become a god over their own lives. I define circumstances as things that incircle us and take a stance to block our access to God. So many challenges surround us, mental, physical, financial, or family can face us all. I was in the middle of an onslaught of circumstances. Feeling overcome, I prayed to God for help. God spoke to me through his Holy Spirit and said, “Stand upon these circumstances, take the right hand of my righteousness, and use them as a stepping stool to rise above their attack.”
When I was a youngster, my brother and I loved hiking in the woods, sometimes miles away from home. I remember getting lost and feeling afraid. I would climb uphill and look for a tall tree I could climb to see a ridge or valley that I knew gave me a better view of the way back home. It often has been said that the tallest trees grow in the valley. You can ask any farmer where the most fertile crop ground is, and they will tell you the river bottoms. Sometimes, we find ourselves in a deep valley with no way to see ourselves out. But, if we fall upon God and draw strength from him, we can grow by His Grace and see our way out of that valley. God is where our most significant strength resides, or power is not in our skill or craftiness but in simple faith in God and falling back on his provision. A song sung by Brian Free and Assurance titled “If it Takes a Valley” describes this very reliance.
We have plans we have quested after, but without God’s guidance. We often set out but never seek God before committing to any venture or choice in life. I have suffered because I jumped out there and never sought God first. God’s hand was always there, but it had to be my choice to accept his mercy or reject it and be devoured by my choice. Not at that time, being a Christian, I only had one option known to me. Praise God that his Holy Spirit touched my spirit and opened my eyes to God and his love, mercy, and Grace. I went to church, but it was just a function without substance. Until my life was hanging in the balance, I called upon God not in fear but with a soul choice that he would answer. I know God knew me and my heart even though I did not have a personal relationship with him. I plead to him, “Please, Lord Jesus, not now.” God not only saved my life but also saved my soul. I went to church every Sunday and heard some sermons in my youth, but I was too young to understand. God’s grace planted the words in my spirit.
Going to church for the sake of going to church was blocking my relationship with God with a false relationship with him. It was not relying on God but doing what was acceptable to society. It was what I grew up doing, but I never knew why. It was just what you were supposed to do. As a child, I learned the Ten Commandments and tried to live my life accordingly. As a result, I had no genuine relationship with God and his Holy Spirit. I could not see the forest, for all the trees lacked full knowledge of my savior and his sacrifice. The forest is the abundance of God, and the trees are what the world places in our path to block our view. We may be standing on a precept only offering destruction or one that opens our eyes to a picture of the vastness of the kingdom of God and his Grace.
Romans 10:13
12For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemed right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
A wonderful friend and brother in Christ, and his Appalachian Trail experiences inspired me to make this comparison. I believe God established this quest. Brad met many trials and life-threatening situations. As he started his venture, his anticipation was high with a goal. The trail took many twists, uphill struggles, and forks that required many decisions. The travel was grueling for many days and seemed almost endless, taxing his strength and stamina. Brad passed through some of the most beautiful mountainous terrains in the eastern United States. Brad was often just a matter of yards from an open view of God’s handiwork. The trail was pre-prescribed by travelers’ previous plans to seek their goals. We often cannot see the forest for all the trees. Brad was able to share his witness many. God witnessed to him the Grace and mercy provided in any situation.
There are always two choices to achieve an answer to any question or circumstance. In comparison to the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had a choice between two trees. The of life or the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They had the option to rely on God or partake of the forbidden tree and become a god over their own lives. I define circumstances as things that incircle us and take a stance to block our access to God. So many challenges surround us, mental, physical, financial, or family can face us all. I was in the middle of an onslaught of circumstances. Feeling overcome, I prayed to God for help. God spoke to me through his Holy Spirit and said, “Stand upon these circumstances, take the right hand of my righteousness, and use them as a stepping stool to rise above their attack.”
When I was a youngster, my brother and I loved hiking in the woods, sometimes miles away from home. I remember getting lost and feeling afraid. I would climb uphill and look for a tall tree I could climb to see a ridge or valley that I knew gave me a better view of the way back home. It often has been said that the tallest trees grow in the valley. You can ask any farmer where the most fertile crop ground is, and they will tell you the river bottoms. Sometimes, we find ourselves in a deep valley with no way to see ourselves out. But, if we fall upon God and draw strength from him, we can grow by His Grace and see our way out of that valley. God is where our most significant strength resides, or power is not in our skill or craftiness but in simple faith in God and falling back on his provision. A song sung by Brian Free and Assurance titled “If it Takes a Valley” describes this very reliance.
We have plans we have quested after, but without God’s guidance. We often set out but never seek God before committing to any venture or choice in life. I have suffered because I jumped out there and never sought God first. God’s hand was always there, but it had to be my choice to accept his mercy or reject it and be devoured by my choice. Not at that time, being a Christian, I only had one option known to me. Praise God that his Holy Spirit touched my spirit and opened my eyes to God and his love, mercy, and Grace. I went to church, but it was just a function without substance. Until my life was hanging in the balance, I called upon God not in fear but with a soul choice that he would answer. I know God knew me and my heart even though I did not have a personal relationship with him. I plead to him, “Please, Lord Jesus, not now.” God not only saved my life but also saved my soul. I went to church every Sunday and heard some sermons in my youth, but I was too young to understand. God’s grace planted the words in my spirit.
Going to church for the sake of going to church was blocking my relationship with God with a false relationship with him. It was not relying on God but doing what was acceptable to society. It was what I grew up doing, but I never knew why. It was just what you were supposed to do. As a child, I learned the Ten Commandments and tried to live my life accordingly. As a result, I had no genuine relationship with God and his Holy Spirit. I could not see the forest, for all the trees lacked full knowledge of my savior and his sacrifice. The forest is the abundance of God, and the trees are what the world places in our path to block our view. We may be standing on a precept only offering destruction or one that opens our eyes to a picture of the vastness of the kingdom of God and his Grace.
Romans 10:13
12For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemed right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Which road do you choose?
One must take the road to Damascus first to arrive at the road to Emmaus and our destination in the Kingdom of God.
We all have used a GPS app or device to find an out of town location we have never been to before. Our travel called life can take many turns, and some lead to a dead end. Some are uphill, some downhill, most are rough with chuckholes and bumps, but few are on level ground. You have seen signs on a newly opened road that may say unmarked pavement. Our life usually travels on the unmarked pavement with no borders or separations to know where you safely travel. I know men will throw the roadmap in the back seat and say, I got this, I know where I am going, this is a shortcut. Usually, it turns out to take longer and end up somewhere we had not planned.
God had to knock Saul off his high horse to get his attention. Before he could correct his travel, his traveling was not in the right direction to arrive at the destination according to God’s plan and not Saul’s intent. God changed Saul’s nature and his name. Paul was now on the path chosen by God.
There are no shortcuts. We are born into a life and world of crumpled roadmaps devised by man that may not be the latest updates. God must be our GPS, not a human-made device but a trust that God knows how we fit into his plan. He knows the path we must follow to find the level path to the greatest treasure.
On the road to Emmaus, the two met Jesus but did not know him. They had heard of him and his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. They heard of the empty tomb just as many “Christians” have. As it is said, they had a head knowledge but not a heart knowledge of what Jesus did and the magnitude of sacrifice.
Luke 24
16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, what manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?
18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
Our eyes are sometimes holden because we have not yet supped with Jesus. We have heard of him and read about his crucifixion and resurrection but have not realized the empty tomb. Our travel being skewed and lacking a relationship with God. Jesus stated, “I am the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” That is the right narrow path.
As aforementioned, we may rely on a device to get from point A to point B has all the pitfalls of humankind’s hand. We may create something with our mind and is beneficial at a low level. The program has a voice that tells you to turn here or railroad crossing ahead. I have had my GPS send me down a dead-end road with a mountain between me and where the road continues the other side with no road across. I had to call someone at the destination to find out what was wrong. They told me I had put in the address with another city on one side of the mountain. The physical address was on the other side of that mountain.
We must know the address that we desire is the real destination. God supplies that destination, and we can only achieve that destination by his plan for our lives. If we lean to our understanding, which may be following a GPS device, we will not reach the goal we should desire is only achieved with a personal relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
[Pro 3:5-6 NKJV] 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
The cross displays his suffering and sacrifice, fulfilling his gift of Grace. Christ’s tomb borrowed where no man had laid therein is a symbol of Christ’s birth of a Virgin. We must be reborn by the spirit of God. We are a new creation free of the constraints of sin. The stone rolled away, symbolizes our freedom. The Resurrection of Christ to the right hand of God seals our destination to spend eternity with him. No more dead-end roads, no more instruction from a programmed instructor. No matter where one is going, everyone using that GPS will get the same answer and outcome. With God, everyone is different, with different paths to achieve his perfect plan. God directs all in various ways to follow different approaches, but all will be to one destination, being in his presence.
Teaching to the Test
Teaching to the Test
You hear a lot today in the school system about teaching to the test to get the number of graduates up so it makes the school system look like they are doing a good job. They do a disservice to those they are supposed to be teaching. These students do not learn, they are just acquiring enough knowledge to get by and they will not be prepared for life.
By comparison teaching to the test is what is being done in many denominations and churches in this day and age. The young and new Christians are taught enough to pass the test. This is a test by society or other church members to perform in a Christian image. They know what to say or do to be accepted by their piers. Many because of this are cheated of having a close relationship with God they will need to survive in this life. They are taught that this is what you have to do to go to Heaven and for many that is enough. This is a disservice to them. The majority are not being equipped to fight the battle against sin that confronts them every day. They will need a greater strength than themselves to overcome the challenges of life. Some do not even know they are in a battle for their own soul.
God provided us with the power to live life free from the power and bondage of sin. It is not to say I, you or anyone else is a bad person. Whatever weakens our dependence on God or blocks us from doing the will of God and having a one on one relationship with God is sin. Many may not know or have a deep and real understanding of what Jesus did because it is not covered on their test review. The test also does not include an answer concerning a daily relationship with God. This is the answer to all questions. They come to church to feel comfortable and enjoy being entertained by music and songs and seeing their friends. Some think that this is worship and it is not.
There is no test. Jesus came to cancel the test. He freely gave of himself for our sake that we can come in the presence of God free of judgment, and sin. Because he was crucified, dead and arisen the forgiveness of sin is possible. The test was replaced with a testimony proclaiming Jesus as your savior and yielding to the will of God, a daily relationship with God. The Holy Spirit was sent after Jesus ascended into heaven to guide and comfort us through life.
For too long and more so now, in this day of correctness, no one wants to hurt anyone’s feelings or fears the rejection in response to their intervention. God loved us enough to intervene in our lives by removing the veil that separated us from him. This veil was set by the sin of disobedience by Adam and Eve. The veil was set by Adam and Eve wanting to be God over their lives much as we do before we are saved. If there were a test it would rely on our efforts and not the finished work of Jesus the Christ. God wants our testimony that reveals his love, grace and mercy to be shared with other hurting souls and in obedience to his perfect will and plan for us all.
Know God, come into his presence with praise because you know personally his love, have been a recipient of his grace and have experienced his mercy.
Forged in Fire
Forged in Fire, do we pass the test?
Forged in Fire is one of my favorite programs I enjoy watching. It amazes me to see someone take a piece of material entirely out of nature to think it could be used to make a knife. They use bicycle parts, a golf club or even a hand full of nuts and bolts. They combine them using the skills and expertise they have gleaned through years of working with metal. The contestants are challenged to form the metal they have chosen into a fully functioning knife or antique weapon. Many of these weapons are weapons of war and are intended for that purpose. These weapons put through several tests that challenge the sharpness, the ability to function in battle, and test the material for strength. In some cases, they fail by not being forged in a manner that would make it a failure-proof fully functioning tool. The winner receives a sizeable prize.
We as Christians, faced with many threats, temptations, and life challenging issues try relying upon our strength will bring failure. It is not an issue of poor material choice but who the forger is. We must yield ourselves to God and allow him to create a weapon suitable for the challenge. We sometimes resist the process of forging. We are sometimes heated and pounded removing any impurities which would flaw us as a suitable weapon. Our strength comes from our obedience and yielding to God’s will and purpose to bring about our part in his design. God will whet us on the stone of adversity bringing us to a fine edge. Through him, we can cut the cords of bondage that bind us or hinders us. God makes us a weapon to kill the attack of our worst adversary, satan. We too are by the standard of the world, not the material it would have classified as suitable for a weapon. God is our strength, through him we will succeed, we are a weapon of war. We too are strong, sharp and will achieve our intended purpose in his hands according to his perfect will. We are not only a weapon but a winner also. Our prize is the relationship we have with God and knowing him in the fullness of his truth.
God the great recycler
God the great recycler
Back during the war you could get into a movie theater free if you brought an old pot or pan or some metal item. We were in a time of war and it was needed for the war movement. God needs your old sins, pain, sickness or failures to recycle in his war movement.
2 Corinthians 10 3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
I remember when a young boy, a store, the S&H Green Stamp redemption center. My mother would buy groceries and get these green stamps and paste them in booklets. She would pick out an appliance or something in their catalog and send me or my brother down to trade in these booklets for the item. God is the great redeemer and he is waiting for you to paste your needs into your prayer booklet and redeem them at the foot of the cross. He will them give you a new life and a new heart, a heart for him. He also will open himself up to you in a personal relationship and also give you an eternal home in heaven with him.
John 3 1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Allow God to fight your battle turn every care, concern or question of life over to him. Lay them at the foot of the cross and let God redeem that which is burdening you or hinders you from a full relationship with him.
Matthew 11 28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The timing of God’s plan and Will
The timing of God’s plan and Will
God has a time for every event for every individual creation in this world. Everything that is obedient is subject to God’s perfect will and perfect plan. All those things that are disobedient are separated from God and are subject to satan’s plan of destruction and do not fit into God’s perfect plan. God wants all to be in his kingdom and not lost to satan’s deception.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 10 (KJV) 1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 9What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? 10I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
In this day and age of digital clocks and watches many have never seen a clock or watch with a mechanical movement. It was a very intricate and somewhat complex and masterfully designed machine. I see God’s timing in comparison to the movement of a clock. There are many parts to the movement but none can achieve the task apart from the movement and the movement cannot function without all its parts. God’s plan is certainly complex requiring harmony and balance within all its parts working in agreement with one another.
The mainspring drives the whole movement. The movement could be compared to God’s plan. The mainspring could be compared to God’s perfect will. Each and every gear has a direct purpose in the movement all working in consort with one another to achieve the object of the design. Each tick of the clock brings a new event in the movement. The pendulum gives power to the movement, it has an adjustment to bring the pendulum in perfect balance otherwise it would stop short.
God’s plan for our lives and those lives we come in contact with are affected by our speech or actions. God is about balance. Just as the pendulum has to achieve balance to continue our obedience to God’s perfect will brings us into balance with his plan.
Every fine clock movement has what are so called jewels. These jewels are mounted in framework or foundation of the clock movement. The moving parts of the movement are mounted on top of these jewels to glide and not be hindered. I would like to think of these jewels as our prayers of praise to God. Our prayers help us to function in God’s plan without being hindered. When we are not restrictions to God’s plan all works much smoother.
We are all in a hurry in this society. We pray and get discouraged when our prayers are not answered in our time frame and the way we prescribed them. As in a clock movement our lives consist of many parts and also are affected by other lives and circumstances around us. Time may seem to move slowly for us but the outcome is never late or unplanned. If we focused on the beauty of the outcome and how it achieves many things in one movement within God’s plan.
Look at Martha and Mary in relationship to their brother’s sickness and death. They did not understand why Jesus did not come sooner. That was what they focused on. If Jesus had come three days sooner and heal Lazusas or arrived at the allotted time and raise him from the dead. Which of these glorifies the power and love of God? Many miss a true blessing because they thought they knew better than God what they needed. Sometimes God does not answer our prayers because it is not the proper time for it to achieve his perfect will and apply to his plan for all concerned.
James 4:3 (KJV) 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Because of the flesh we are hindered in our prayers. We need the Holy Spirit to comfort us and advise us what to pray. Satan always wants to cripple our prayer life by telling us God will never hear your prayer, you are not good enough. We in ourselves are not good enough but Jesus was and his obedience to God’s will and his death on the cross was enough.
When we FEAR God we have a Fervent, Esteem, Awe, and Respect of him, this is the beginning of knowledge. The knowledge of how much he loves us and how his plan in his time is our greatest treasure. We can focus on his will and plan. We can see the greater glory of his being. We cannot praise him enough and we will not be clock watchers but a part of the movement of God.
David J. Little 1-10-2014
The last breath of the day
The last breath of the day
While I was hunting in South Carolina around 15 years ago I experienced something that touched me deeply. I had hunted in the Chester area for 10 or 15 years prior and had never known the significance of this event. It was on a late fall afternoon while I was up in a portable tree stand on a high ridge overlooking a valley. The sun had already past the tree tops and had broken the horizon, the light had started to dim. Suddenly I felt a breeze that went away from me and then in a second or two the breeze came back straight into my face. It was strange it was like inhaling and exhaling. I hunted that ridge many times and experienced it again and again even the next year. In did not relate it to anything until I was praying as I did while sitting in the woods. It was a time to have everything off my mind and was able to get close to God. I felt the wind pull away and then return back to my face. The woods then got dead silent and not even a leaf or piece of broom sage was moving. You could feel the coolness of the evening setting in as the sky started to dim. I asked God what this was because I knew in my Spirit it had some significance. God spoke to me through his Holy Spirit and he said “this is the last breath of the day”. It was the end of that day that could not be revived or resurrected. In Jewish lore and many others the day begins at the break of day, sunrise and ends at sunset. God was revealing to me the importance of each and every day. After coming close to death several times I know the value of life and tried not to waste it. I am sad to say prior to this time usually most of my days were self-gratifying and not in service.
What have you done with the days that God gave to you? How did you use them to glorify him, share his love and his saving Grace? How did you share his salvation message with others? I think of the opportunities I missed, days and years I have wasted since I came to know Jesus Christ as my savior. This was not to chide myself but to give me a new starting place. We all get tied up in our everyday life and miss the still small voice that can so richly bless us and guide us through his service to fulfill his perfect will and achieve his glorious plan for us and all of mankind. When you have an interest you cherish, a hobby or your children your grandchildren or your spouse. You take every chance you can to share the joy these bring to you with others. The gifts God has blessed us with are wonderful but we are fearful in sharing our most valuable and shareable experiences, even our salvation testimony. These may be the greatest life changing messages you will ever share. Do not let another day pass away without listening for that still quite voice, make yourself open to God’s will and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I have read that “love has no value until it is given away” something hidden away and never openly displayed or shared has not real value. When each and every one of us is gone with these unshared treasures they are lost forever. God shares treasures with us every day in the beauty of his creation physical, natural most of all spiritual.
David J. Little 1-15-2015
Heart Words 