WE ARE IN A GOD WAR!

We are indeed in a God war! More than which person is seeking to be the leader in our county we who are aware of such matters, must be aware of the Spirit behind what each candidate stands for. That issue is the real issue! Even if you do not believe in God these principles are worthy of serious consideration.  This should determine whether we will vote for what is biblical or not. The reality is that behind what people do, the essential motivation aligns with God or aligns with the one who is still trying to be God, namely satan, a name which in Hebrew means adversary. And he is always the adversary of all that God is and the goodness and well being that God always intends. It is satan that manages to convince people that God and His ways are not good or good for us and so we must eat the fruit of another tree. 

This election is not about politics, folks. It is a war against the godliness of what America has stood for and what has made us great as a nation. This is a war to determine whether we can justifiably sing "God bless America" or not for God will not continue to bless a nation in continued and may I add, legislated rebellion against His will. Though no doubt you are aware of these issues perhaps I can add a bit more to consider in your choice: 

1) I need not tell you, dear readers, that abortion is murder. When God sent Israel into Canaan to destroy those nations, a good bit of God's motive was to do away with cruel and murderous practices of sacrificing babies, and often virgins, on the altars of their gods. It isn't just the acts but what kind of persons could do such horrendous things and think it's what a god wants. We may not link abortion to worship but what kind of persons are we becoming that literally millions of abortions are condoned or tolerated? 

2) Just as the land of Israel was and still is God's land (and so Canaan's practices and mentality were unsuited for His land), America is the only nation other than Israel to be so dedicated to be His. America was founded on dedicating this land in its entirety to God. He doesn't forget that. No other nation than Israel has such a foundation. Israel went from being a sovereign nation who had defeated all her enemies and stood under David as a nation in peace, to losing her nationhood when under Solomon she began to worship other gods and involve themselves in pagan practices and began to lose her peace and sovereignty. I wonder, will American continue to enjoy the peace we have if we 'constitutionalize' what are pagan practices. To make matters worse, many ways our young generation, as well as many of their parents, are entirely oblivious of the ways of God and are involved in what is ungodly. Could taking God out of schools a generation ago have anything to do with the fact that some young people have no knowledge at all of God's word, let alone His holiness. That puts our values at the mercy of subjectivity.

3) Drugs, for instance, are mentioned in the bible as pharmakia which is an attempt to attain to a feeling or another mindset which, like it or not, makes that person subject to demon influence. How much demon influence is there in our nation today? Do we even recognize it as such. Demons, btw, operate undercover, so to speak, but have their influence on the person nonetheless. 

4)There is more than one mention in Scripture of the plight of children born outside of marriage. In 2014 over 50% of all births were of single mothers. How many of those children are being raised without a father as a protector and a role model for them? Give some thought as to what those consequences might be. One wonders why there is no outcry about the reasons this is happening. Again, could taking God out of the schools have anything to do with it? At a Supreme Court decision, we might add. We've just slid into apathy about it all. That apathy, my friends, is already judgement. 

5) If you were an insightful reader of history you would learn that there is a sociological correlation between certain once powerful nations and their involvement in homosexuality that led to their downfall. One aspect takes place when a significant amount of a population is involved in homosexuality, as was the case in Rome, for instance, which left that nation with a deficit number of people in the next generation. Enough said on that issue. 

6) Note that each of the above issues are about the family which is the foundation of any culture and society. Allow the family to fragment and the cracks will go all through that civilization toward its ultimate destruction. We are at the place in our national history where it is being decided what kind of civilization we will be recorded in history as having become. 

7) Our Constitution was designed by the Founding Fathers on the foundation of the bible, specifically the teachings of Moses. Give thought, for instance, of how just one law - to regard any (and note the emphasis on any person, regardless of gender, color, race or religion) - of any accused person to be considered as innocent until proven guilty. This one edict has set the standard of justice in our nation. The implications of that law alone runs like iron supports through our Justice system. Remove those standards of biblical justice and readjust the Supreme Court decisions to subjective motives (of minority groups, btw) and we jeopardize the very foundation of our nation. Consider also that unborn persons are also among those who are innocent but who are deemed worthy of the death sentence by their own parents.

8) God instituted marriage as the foundation of all that would follow. The command to our first parents was to go forth and multiply, something that can't be done by a same-sex couple so that sanctioning them violates the first commandment of God. Institutionalize the violation of that commandment in the various ways that we are doing now and society begins to crumble from within. We have a chance to rescue this slide into what the bible calls depravity by voting on the biblical issues to align with biblical principles.

It has kept the Jews alive when others sought to destroy them. Don't let sympathies for individuals who are involved with ungodly practices be the motivating factor in your decisions or you will be contributing to the potential demise of America. We are standing at the crossroad of history. This is not a message of hate toward any persons, including either candidate or anyone who has or does practice any of those matters mentioned above. It is the practices and acts we are against because they are ultimately detrimental to our very nation, but we do not condemn the people. 

We are all in this together and to maintain attitudes of judgment or criticism or hatred is to violate the very character and nature of God who loves all persons, though He does seek to bring each person to a knowledge of Himself and His ways. As the bible puts in so many words, hate the sin (for what it does results in) but love the sinner. Put another way, vote for the maintaining of biblical principles but keep a loving heart toward those who don't agree with you. Can I get an amen?

LEPER HUGGING

To recap a little, so far in our study of Mark, we see how Yeshua was first introduced to those reading this Gospel. Paul’s letters had been circulating among the various congregations for some time, as they preceded the writing of the Gospels, and actually provide the first glimpses into the believer communities. Mark’s Gospel is the first written account, though, of Yeshua’s ministry.  Imagine if this was all new to you and you hear about this Man for the first time this way.  He’s not like anyone else you’ve ever heard about or known. He does things no one ever has.  Who exactly is He?

One of the first things He does is stir up a demon who has evidently been resident in a man with this unclean spirit all along but no one knew it. Though I do wonder if that didn’t explain some of this man’s personality quirks. Not only does this demon speak through this man probably for the first time, but the demon knows who Yeshua is – He’s “the holy One of God!” (1:24).  What in the world does that mean to those people witnessing this in the synagogue that day?  Holy One of God? This is a first, for sure.  

Have you ever been somewhere when a demon manifests its presence and starts talking? It’s pretty creepy. But Yeshua calmly takes charge, though nothing like this has ever happened to those folks in the synagogue that day. Having once been an angel before the demon joined Lucifer’s rebellion, he (it) would certainly know Yeshua by His Spirit. (Much to think about there.) As we know, Yeshua tells him (it) to be quiet and leave the man.  No priests or Pharisees were able to do that!    Then He heals Peter’s mother-in-law, so they learn that He also has healing power over sicknesses.  This results in many others in the village showing up at Peter’s front door who were healed as well. 

If that isn’t enough, Yeshua is then encountered by….. a dreaded leper!  This horrendous disease meant excruciating social isolation besides the pain of disfigurement for a victim of the disease. Somehow the news of Yeshua has come to this man of all that He has done and he takes the risk to come to Him with the great hope that he too can be healed.  Can we even imagine what this man must have been through, from the first evidence of the disease and then undoubtedly having to leave his home, and his livelihood, with no one, even his loved ones, wanting to come near him. Was he a poor peasant? Or perhaps he was even a Pharisee. Whatever identity he once had was no longer his. Now he was only a leper.   

The man asks Yeshua, with much trepidation I would think, not really knowing how Yeshua would respond, “If You are willing….”   My bible says, “Yeshua reached out His hand as He touched him and said to him, “I am willing, be cleansed” (1:40-41). Can you just picture the inhaled gasp of those around them when Yeshua reaches out and touches the man, as they all back up together as if it was choreographed?  

Whenever I read that story, I always hear Yeshua kind of choke up a little as He says that He is willing. This poor man would have been relegated to being an “unclean” person by everyone he knows, and certainly by the priests and religious folk.  Was he once maybe even one of them? We don’t know. He certainly couldn’t go near anything having to do with the Temple. 

But this Son of God who is devoid of “religion” in all the ways in which He reveals the true Heart of God, reaches out to the man in what in Hebrew is called Rachamim.  It’s my favorite Hebrew word. Pronounced as rakh-a-meem, it means compassion. 

Despite the fact that at least one of my English translation bibles uses the word pity right there, rachamim  is not pity but compassion.  The difference is that pity looks down on a person with a kind of sad “tsk-tsk, that’s really a shame for them” perspective, while compassion gets down in the mud with the person to help lift them out of it.  Compassion gets in there, wherever there is, to lend a hand, to be there for them, to help. Whoever he was, he was a man whom Yeshua regarded as a man like anyone else in great need, and responded to him with God-like compassion.  Isn't that what Yeshua did for us all ultimately - He got down in the muddy soil of the earth in every sense to lift us out of all that has kept us victimized by the “fall” of mankind into sin and unbelief. 
 
Yeshua wasn’t just feeling sorry for the man, He didn’t have to touch him; He healed others without touching them.  But the touch was part of the healing.  I wonder how long it had been since this man had felt any human touch.  Reaching out and putting His hand on the man was a way of saying “I accept you as the person you are.  I don’t see you as a diseased man, I just see you as a man whom God considers worthy of His love.” A tender touch, as that must have been, means I care about you. Human touch goes a long way to bring comfort and encouragement to any of us.

Needless to say, the man was entirely, completely and immediately healed. Can you picture what it would have been like for that man to be given back his life.  Or to witness all that happening – nothing you would have ever expected. I'm guessing once whole again he gave Yeshua one very big hug and I can just hear Yeshua laughing in delight with him. After all, what would Yeshua have felt in all this? Joy, I would imagine. And a great sense of godly satisfaction to have been able to restore the man to wholeness. He may have been the one who was the most blessed. We’re rarely told of His responses to much of went on. You have to get those insights from the Holy Spirit when you give them some prayerful pondering.  

I wonder, could this now healed person have been the man whose house Yeshua later went to for the famous dinner when He was anointed by a woman who poured a jar of precious oil over His head (Mark 14:3)?  That dinner was held in the home of a man who was obviously healed but, unfortunately, was still identified as “Simon the leper.”  Was that him? If so, did Yeshua remain friends with this man after He healed him? This possible relationship causes me to wonder what other kinds of relationships Yeshua maintained in His travels and experiences. He and His men had to eat somewhere, or rest somewhere. How would you like to have had them drop by for a while when in the area where you lived?  Oh yeah! I often think He was a lot more human than we imagine Him to have been. 

In a sort of related way, this all brings to mind how useless religion can be when it is devoid of the godliness of compassion.  Keeping all those religious rituals which were added to what God gave Israel in the Torah, actually distanced those from God who were seeking God’s approval for their piousness. They entirely missed what God wants for and from His people. Sometimes a simple hug is being Lord-like and pleasing to God. 

Perhaps the Holy Spirit might make you aware of someone who just might need a touch, or a hug and to be told that God knows just what they’re going through and that He’s there with them. I met the sweetest lady in her 70’s in the Dollar Store last week. She was obviously trying to make a decision about what to buy and seemed perplexed. I started to chat with her and soon she told me about her adult son who ill who lives with her and she wasn’t sure what would be a good juice for him as he is now a diabetic. I showed her how to see how much sugar is in the jars of juices and I wound up praying with her about this son she was so concerned about. She was a believer and said she felt like God had sent His love and comfort to her right there in the Dollar Store. What a joy that little encounter was – for both of us. And yes, we did share a hug.

If you’ve done things like that for someone, then you know that the person isn’t the only one to be blessed. The Lord lets us know He’s pleased by sharing a moment of His joy with us. Yeshua who must have had a great many moments like that, just quiet-like inside, just between Him and His Abba.  

ABOUT BEING FAITHFUL

I came upon something in my bible study this morning about faithfulness that impacted me enough to depart from our present study of the Gospel of Mark.  See what you think.  

In 1 Samuel 2 we have the picture of Eli as the high priest whose sons are clearly living unholy lives.  They are meant to be priests as well, but they are far from being priest-worthy.  Eli has rebuked them somewhat but what he didn’t do was take them completely out of any priestly authority. He allowed them to ‘minister’ in the holy place of the tabernacle in outright blatant sin. Evidently, even in those days after Joshua died when Israel spiritually fell apart, there remained a godly remnant for it says, “A man of God came to Eli and said to him….” (2:27) This man is unnamed, but God knew him and gave him a prophetic word to deliver to Eli. 

Among those many words  in 2:27-36, God tells Eli that he has honored his sons above Himself.  Even as a priest, it is possible to not bring a word of correction to one’s children for fear of rejection from them, which allows them to continue in ways that are dishonoring to God. (Selah[1].) This is what brought a catastrophic end to Eli’s family line.  The word to Eli from God went on to say:

“…But I shall honor those who honor Me and those who despise Me will be lightly

esteemed” (:30). Elsewhere God regards disobedience as rebellion and as despising Him.  To despise His rules is to despise Him.  What do you think results when someone is “lightly esteemed” by God? (Selah #2). On the other hand, David was faithful with protecting his sheep from lions and bears as unto the Lord and see how God 'esteemed' him. 

Further on God makes a prophetic statement, saying, “But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul” (:35). Soul is also translated as mind.  So giving some thought to being faithful, I now saw that God considers faithfulness as being related to His heart, meaning His feelings, emotions, what He loves, who He cares for, who He is willing to forgive (e.g. everybody!).  And to His soul or mind which is about His intentions and the ways in which He expects things to be.  We could say, His heart is about His love and His mind is about how we are to live out His love.  We could say the same for His heart of truth and how we are to live accordingly: never lying or flattering or boasting or bearing false witness which gossip often is. None of those is truth!  You could probably come up with some examples of your own (Selah #3). 

Presumably, God meant it would be Samuel who would become His faithful prophet, but as I pondered this connection between God’s heart and His soul or mind, which is to say His thinking, I saw how this word to Eli was also a prophecy referring to Yeshua who was, as we know, His entirely Faithful One,  always and only doing what He knew was consistent with Abba’s heart-felt intentions. There can exist no contradiction between the Lord’s heart and His will which I’m calling intentions here.   As I’m writing, it also occurs to me that what we experience as double-mindedness, is likely the conflict between our own hearts and souls, which is to say, between where God dwells within our hearts and when we’re ‘willing’ something contrary in our thoughts.   Y’think?  

This brought me to another connection:  Yeshua’s last Seder prayer when He prayed to Abba, “That they may be one as you and I are one” (John 17:11). God is one within Himself as He is never conflicted or double-minded. Neither was Yeshua because His was “one” with God. His prayer is that we would be “one” with each other in the oneness They share.   It then became clear to me that the oneness He was speaking of wasn’t that all denominations believe the same doctrines, or that we all get along with one another without conflicts, but that we become one with the Father’s heart.  

Throughout history, the church, not always understanding God’s heart, often misunderstood what His will had been.  If His heart had been known, much bloodshed, excommunication and other ‘church hurt’ would not have happened at the hands or words of those who thought they were doing God’s will, as they took on the task of setting things right according to how they saw them, having missed His heart entirely. 

In being His faithful ones, as we are aware of His heart and His soul generally and specifically, we can assess His intentions and align ourselves with Him accordingly.  That’s where the peace and the grace come in big time.  Each of us must know in our own hearts where and to what He is calling us to be faithful. Have we taken time to ask God about what is on our own minds and hearts or to find out what His response is to something we’re intending?  If not, why not? Not everything that is done for God is of or from God. Remember the old adage about laboring in vain when God isn’t into what we’re doing (See Psalm 127:1) If something doesn’t line up with His Word, forget it.  If your ‘innards’ are disquieted, quit it. 

God’s promises are laced with His truth and His covenant faithfulness. He remains ever faithful, yet not so much to us as to His word that tells us how to avail ourselves of much of His faithfulness.  Sow faithfulness, reap faithfulness.  Of course He is faithful to watch over us all in some measure or the world wouldn’t continue, but those of us who know the security of being ‘one’ with Him, find being faithful to Him is our deepest desire out of our love for Him – and in response to His love for each of us.  

A final word that was actually the inspiration of this article in a response to a ministry email I received today just after my bible study time.  We must beware of being influenced by a man’s promises to be sure they are God’s heart’s desires, not man’s desires, or those meant to maintain our own projects, purposes, or plans. “Unless the Lord builds the house, he labors in vain who builds it” (Psalm 127:1). (Selah #4). 

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[1] Selah means to stop and give thought to what was just said.