Spirit of Truth/The Bible on Trial

Reign Reign Go Away . . . We have all sung this nursery rhyme, either having heard it from our parents, or in early education environments. It is a cute song, easy to learn, and often modified to include a different child's name other than 'Johnny' to personalize the song. Recently the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II ended with her death. She had 'served' as Queen for 70 years, longer than any monarch in English history. The pomp and circumstance of her funeral reflected the love and devotion her people indicating that she was well loved and admired. With her passing the English monarchy while not coming to an end, has certainly been deminished, and there are those in England that believe that the monarchy as a whole have become a burden on society, rather than a strength. So the referenced nursery rhyme as a homophone could well apply here, where the word 'rain' is changed to reign (sovereign rule), and would refer to the demise of the English Monarchy. This concept is also seen in Christianity with the apparent identity of the church changing from the Sovereign rule of Jesus into the idea that Jesus is our buddy and friend, and really doesn't mind not being the King of the Kingdom of God, just someone that came to die for our sins. This was started shortly after a usurper took over dominion of the earth that had minutes before belonged to the Creator, when Adam and Eve turned rulership of the earth over to the Enemy/Satan. This was stengthend when shortly after Jesus left the earth when the 'apostle' Paul came along and changed the teachings of the Son of God, the process of Sanctification, into an identity that was totally opposite, salvation by grace through faith.  With this change (recognized and approved by the 'church') Jesus was no longer soverign, and His Reign went away. His Kingship will be returned when His Kingdom appears, as has now happened.

Learn Truth, or Learn Lies~ How do children learn about Truth and Lies? Having been a parent of young children, and remembering how my parents trained me, I realized that a common thread from my parents that I passed on to my children was the phrase, 'Don't lie, always tell the truth'! I was taught thay lying was bad, and that telling the truth was good, and that doing the first was punished, and doing the second was rewarded. However, I also learned early on that this was not alway the case. Parents want to believe that their children as pure as the wind driven snow, and would rather not have to deal with the alternative. Because of this I learned that getting out of trouble often involved telling a 'little white lie', and was very often rewarded by my parents (and me with my children) because they/we believed the lie was easier to deal with than if I had told the truth, admitted the mistake, taken my punishment, and got on with life. The problem with doing this often is that you have to remember the lie, otherwise you could get caught down the road when you forgot you lied and were caught in it. Lying for me, as it turned out at the time, was easier and more simple than telling the truth.  Parents consentrate on teaching children how to 'learn to not tell lies', instead of teaching them to learn the truth and watch the lies go away. Lying is easy, learning and practicing the Truth is difficult. Yet when we learn the truth about anything it automatically precludes having to tell lies about it. Lying is a cover for not knowing the truth. When you believe a lie as if it is the truth you don't know what you don't know; and not knowing the truth is not a sin. But when you are confronted with the idea that what you believe to be true might be a lie, and you refuse to learn the truth, this now becomes a big problem. To stop having to lie, learn the Truth!

Is it possible for physical human beings that are flesh and blood, that live in the physical world, to be able to see the spiritual realm?  When God created human kind (males and females) on the 5th day of creation (Gen. 1: 27-28), were these people able to see spiritual beings? There are references to God having sent angels (lead by Lucifer-The Light Bearer) to teach these newly minted physical human beings how to live and be productive in this brand new world. Angels are light beings, but the people of the earth after the appeared on earth all at once did not know anything about how to manage this new world. They had to be taught.  When Adam was Formed from the dust of the ground, long after this first creation had been declared (Gen. 2:1), and he had then been placed in a location separated from the world know as The Garden in Eden, a specific 'gated' location where the now fallen beings of earth could not enter. It is assumed that because God spoke to the man, and gave him instructions as to what he was to do in the Garden, that God met face to face with his creation, indicating God took a form that Adam could actually see.  And here is where the physical and spiritual realm coincide; because Adam (at this point) had not yet sinned, he was able to see God and not die. It was only after Adam and his wife Eve willfully disobeyed their Creator that they were no longer able to be in His/Their presence and not be instantly vaporized. People pray that they will be able to 'see' God, but at the same time continue to maintain a sinful nature (Christianity). This is not, and has NEVER been true. To see God a person must have eyes that are spiritual, and wholly righteous. This righteousness is not granted, it is earned by learning and practicing the Truth.  To see God and not die we must be righteous IN FACT. This is the Truth that Jesus taught.

reSTART

The Day Before Tomorrow~ When a disaster hits, such the recent Hurricane Ian in Florida, the people that lived through it will never forget where they were and what they were doing on that day. It is imbeded in their emotions such that they will never forget where they wer and what they were doing, and who they were with. Those of us that are old enough, remember where we were on November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas TX. Or what we were doing on July 16, 1969 when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the Moon. These kinds of events are 'Watershed' moments in history and in our lives, that if you were alive and old enough you never forget. And just like Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941),  or September 11, 2001, the days after these events ring down through history to this day.  But how often to we remember what was going on in our lives the day before an event such a these takes place? Life tends to go along apace, with no significant interruptions from day to day. No one EXPECTS something to happen to them that is 'out of the ordinary'. Even when we are told that 'something is up', and that it would be a good idea if we became ready, most of us are of the mind set that "I will believe it when I see it"! So as an experiment, today October 7, 2022, put in your memory three things from today that you will/can remember should something significant happen tomorrow. Today is the Day before Tomorrow, and if tomorrow turns out to be a significant day in the history of the world, the history of the Kingdom of God, wouldn't it be wonderful to have memories of what you did, who you were with, and what your life was like BEFORE everything changed - if it does? IF October 8, 2022 turns out to be a 'Watershed' moment in time, you will be able to remember who you were and the Truth you  believed on the day before, and be open to a Truth you never knew.

Hold On~ How many times have you experienced a situation where you are waiting with hopeful expectation for something you really want to happen, and you decide to stop waiting, and take another path, only to finded a few minutes, or days, or months, or years later you see someone else reaping the reward for waiting that you could have had if you had only held on longer? If this has happened only once it is one too many. This is expecially true if you KNOW that you are on the correct path, but someone in your family or circle of friends slips in and convinces you that you are wrong. Can an expected outcome be a 'pipe dream'? Of course. But in that case is simply means that you did not due your due-diligence sufficient to show you that what you were waiting for was not real. BUT IF you have done your research, and you know for a fact that what you believe to be true IS true, and you stop holding on to that truth, then it is possible for you to experience the vast disappointment of knowing that is you had just held on a little longer you would have fulfilled your dream. ''But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time" (Matt, 24:48), the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know (Matt. 24:50). If you do not KNOW THE TRUTH, then you won't have the will to HOLD ON. This is why knowing the truth is so important to not only your life here and now, but also your eternal life there and then.  'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you." Rev. 3:3. You can't hold on to something you don't know you need. So take the opportunity to learn the Truth, and then you can HOLD ON to the end.

Wake Up - See the Light~ 'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you." Rev.3:3. "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into." Matt. 24:43. Jesus often spoke using words or phrases such as light, darkness, time of night, being blind, seeing, sleeping, waking up, being alert, being dead.  He had a very difficult time getting across to people, including His own disciples, that in all of His teaching He was not speaking of 'oursight', as in seeing and interacting with and in the physical world, but 'INSIGHT', the seeing and understanding of  the spiritual world wherein dwells both lies and truth.  And as then, today most (if not all) Christians, and those that say they love Jesus, still don't understand the true meaning of what Jesus taught in-so-far as what our relationship with the spiritual world needs to be in order to be 'saved'. They believe a huge lie as if it is the truth, because that lie appears to them as being the light that has guided them to 'salvation by grace through faith', which assures them of eternal life in spite of and even IN their sin. They have substituted the words of an imposter for the words that Jesus himself brought from the Father, and believe them because they beautiful, lovely, pure, and sweet to the ear, but are not any of these things. Waking up and opening your eyes to a Truth that is totally different than what you already know is very difficult to do, so much so that when you hear the Truth through to the words of Jesus that He gave His own disciples they sound odd, and false.

The Time is NOW! Before you say "Don't be a nervous Nelly", let me make something crystal clear; we ARE, right now today, in a time when you will remember  where you were when the events that are just about to take place actually happen. I still remember where I was on November 22, 1963. I was in Chicago with my mom and dad where my dad was attending a medical convention. when Walter Cronkite announced that John F. Kennedy had been assasinated. I was 13 years of age, and old enough to know why my mom was weeping. World news is looking very scary, what with events in China and the Ukraine heading the list. Everyone that i know that has been keeping track of the news from Washington is disturbed by what our goverment has been doing to the Constitution and the Bill or Rights. And I want to remind you of what Jesus said to His disciples from time to time, as they felt pressure from being in uncomfortable situations with their Master; He said to them:  "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." John 14:27. In modern speak this would be; "Hey guys, relax, I've got this!" The 'Enemy' is pulling out all the stops (a pipe organ reference) in order to get as many people to join his side as possible before he 'faces the music' of what he has done to the world. Satan is trying his best to try to convince the good people of the world that they are in a Time of Trouble, such as has never been on earth. He will try to make people believe that it is NOT God that will win, but that 'he' will win permanent rulership of the world. This is a scary thought, but it WILL NEVER HAPPEN. That is because the time in which this could happen is alreay in the past. Whatever happens, God Wins!

Match Play~ The President's Cup is now being played at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC. This is where players from the USA compete against International players in a team event. The only reason I mention this is that the format used in this tournament is not a traditional individual stroke play event, where the player with the lowest total score over 4 days wins. Like the Ryder Cup, this tourament is played using the Match Play format. And without going any deeper into the 'why', the difference is that Match play is a team event where the side that wins the most holes over it's opponent wins the tournament. It is not just a game of tactics of one player playing better that another, it is a strategic game where the Captain of the Team (not a player) must choose which players to put against an opposing players in four different formats in order to get the best result; and then those players must execute that strategy with tactics that get the better of, and often demoralize the opposition, such that they cannot recover from their mistakes. The winning side must score 15 1/2 points out of 30 points total to win. The difference between winning and losing can be on 1/2 point. The winning team has only to be 'good enough' to win the day. We are today in this world in a similar 'match play' event, only this time is for the side and the Captain that will ultimately be the ruler of the world. This event has been going on since the God of Creation lost rulership of the world to Satan in the Garden of Eden. The final result of this 'match' is either eternal life or eternal death. And though the outcome has already been decided, and truth wins, the opposing force of Satan is trying their best (or worst) to overcome Truth using the strategy that mankind will always love lies over truth. Conditions in the world look bleak, yet God will have people that are righteous enough to win the match for LIFE.

No Truth, No Excuse~ "But where there is no law, there also is no violation." Rom. 4:15. What will happen to you if you fail to take the opportunity to learn the Truth about Salvation? I don't mean to be a 'Debbie Downer', yet as we have seen with Adam and Eve in the Garden there are both consequences and punishments for disobeying the Commandments of God. Revelation 12:17 states that there are two requirements for entry into the Kingdom of God; 1) keep the Commandments of God, and 2) hold to the testimony of Jesus. In reality you can't have one without the other, and just saying, "I love Jesus, and He loves me" won't cut it when it comes to the one thng everyone that wishes to be 'SAVED' must do to achieve that goal - and that is enter the Kingdom of God. What Paul describes in the Romans 4 is his attempt to set aside the LAW, because we are 'saved by grace through faith', and that the Law actually promotes sinning, so if you get rid of the Law and believe you are saved by faith then you enter the Kingdom of God by His grace. Jesus NEVER taught this. And even if you insist on still believing that Paul was an officialy designated Apostle of Jesus Christ, then you have to decide if the words of Paul take precedence over the words of Jesus that He brought from the Father. Paul said that they do, Jesus said that they don't (look it up). And many scholars say that because Paul's words came after Jesus left earth that his words take precedents over Jesus because they came after HIS. In other words, Jesus changed His mind about how salvation works, and really, how likely is that, especially since Revelation was laid down long after Paul was dead. Jesus brought the testimony of the Father to the earth. He even told this to Pilate at the end of His ministry (John 18:36-37). Not being willing to learn Truth puts salvetion in jeopardy.