Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Monday, April 1, 2019

AFib


AFib (def.) – “Atrial fibrillation (also called AFib or AF) is a quivering or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. At least 2.7 million Americans are living with AFib” (1).

A Fib (MW Thesaurus) – untruth, lie, falsehood, sham, pretense, deceive, misrepresentation, fake, pull the wool over somebody, fantasy.

Combining the two together, this would be a deception, an irregularity, a lie said persistently within the heart of someone, which then can lead to heart failure or heart complications. And, the heart is the core, the center of our being. It is our mind, soul, spirit and nature. So, this is about the impact that persistent lies, lies that deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ over one’s life, have on individuals’ lives, which can lead to spiritual and physical death. And, a large number of Americans, too, are living with a fib.

Psalm 14 ESV

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
    there is none who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,
    who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
    who eat up my people as they eat bread
    and do not call upon the Lord?

There they are in great terror,
    for God is with the generation of the righteous.
You would shame the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is his refuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

An Allegory

So, you and Henry got married. After a couple of days, he pulled out a chair for you at the table for you to sit on. For all appearances, he was being nice, a gentleman. But, just as you got ready to sit down, he pulled the chair out from underneath you, so you fell to the floor. But, he said he was sorry, so you forgave him.

Maybe a week later the same thing happened, but again, you forgave him. But, this kept going on for years, and quite consistently. But, every time you forgave him, and you trusted him again, but again he did the same thing.

Now this had been going on for 40 years, and for all 40 years you took his abuse, you forgave him, and you trusted him again, and you put your life in his hands, and you loved him, and nurtured him, and gave your life up for him in hopes that one day he would stop pulling that chair out from underneath you. But, he didn’t.

So, you cried out for help, only the help never came. No one would come to the rescue. No one would be willing to take your word for what was going on. No one would gather together a group of people to sit down with Henry and to speak truth to his heart and to hold him accountable for his actions. So, they either did nothing, or they took his side, and they treated you as though you were the one at fault, instead.

After all, it was your word against his. There were no witnesses, and even though you had been injured by this over and over again, it did not leave any visible marks to where you could prove that you were being abused. So, you clammed up, and you stopped trying to tell anyone you were being abused because they were not listening, and they would not reach out to help.

The Analogy

There are parallels in this allegory both to God’s relationship with man, and to the Lord’s servants’ relationship with humankind, as well. So, this is not going to be a literal word-for-word translation of this allegory, but rather it will be more of a paraphrase of the general thought, the general principle at work here, both in God’s relationship to humans, and to the saints of God’s relationship to their fellow humans, too.

**

God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. But, man sinned against God, and in doing so he circumvented the authority of God over his life, and he took advantage of God’s love relationship with him, i.e. he abused God’s grace. But, God forgave him. But, he disciplined him, too.

Then, Adam had two sons, Cain and Abel, and Cain became jealous of Abel, his brother, because God approved of Abel’s sacrifice to him, but he did not approve of Cain’s. So, Cain was very angry with God. But…

The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” (Gen. 4:6-7)

But, Cain disregarded God’s counsel to him, and he allowed his anger to turn to bitterness, and that bitterness turned to hatred, and then Cain killed his brother because his hatred for his brother consumed him.

And, mankind continued to sin against God, symbolized here by the 40 years that God’s people wandered in the wilderness, most of whom died in the wilderness and did not get to go into the Promised Land, because of their disbelief in God and their refusal to obey him, and their continual pursuit of foreign gods and what was immoral, wicked and vile.

But, in all of this, God continued to reach out to humankind, to forgive them of their sins if they would only repent, and to love them, nurture them, and then eventually to give his life up for them on a cross so that they would go free from their slavery to sin, and so they would stop circumventing God’s authority over their lives. But, even with that, humans still denied the authority of God over their lives by refusing to believe in Jesus Christ.

For, Jesus was delivered over to death by the betrayal of one of his own disciples, one of his companions. Yet, the other disciples did not understand, although Jesus told them, for their eyes were blinded to the truth. And, so they all deserted him, and one of them denied him three times when he was falsely arrested, and falsely accused, and given a mock trial, and put to death on a cross. All those who participated in his crucifixion were all blinded to the truth. They did not see! They did not grasp the magnitude of it all.

So, humans persecuted Jesus Christ, God the Son, and they treated him as though he was a common criminal, when he had done no wrong. At his mock trial, he said little to defend himself, though, because the people weren’t listening. But, through his death on a cross, the work of our redemption was completed so that, through faith in Jesus Christ, we might be delivered out of our bondage to sin, and so we might walk in Christ’s righteousness.

And, after he died and rose again, and he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell the lives of his followers. Then humans treated God’s servants, his messengers, the same as they had treated Jesus, and they are still doing that today.

Persecution of Christ/Christians

They are still circumventing the authority of God over their lives. They are still believing the lies of Satan over the Word of God. They are still trying to win God’s approval by their fleshly sacrifices while they refuse to obey the Lord in what he wants for their lives.

And, then they are resentful of those who do have God’s approval, and so they persecute them and they injure them, intentionally, fully meaning to cause them harm, and they even put some of them to death, or they murder them in their hearts.

They are still blaming others for their sins, too, including blaming Satan for tempting them and for tricking them, even though many of them have known the Word of God for forever, and they know better, and they should have been prepared, and they should have fled the temptation rather than remained in the throes of it so that they did give in to it.

They are still ignoring God’s counsel to them that they must obey the Lord and do what he says if they are to overcome their sinful practices, and to rule over them. And, they are ignoring his counsel which tells them that if they walk in disobedience to the Lord, and they continue to go their own way, that they will not have victory over the flesh, but it will rule their hearts.

They are still choosing to follow after false gods created in the minds of humans rather than to submit to the Lordship of Christ. They are still engaging in wicked and immoral deeds, in sexual immorality, slander, lying, gossip, and evil plots against others intended to destroy them, etc. They are still wandering in the wilderness, going around and round in circles, because they refuse to obey the Lord and do what he says.

And, they are still denying Jesus Christ by their lifestyles, and are closing their eyes and their ears to the truth, because the truth interferes with their lifestyles or their comfort, and they just want life to be fun and entertaining.

They are still betraying Jesus Christ by the words they speak and by the things that they do, and they are still persecuting his servants and his messengers, too, telling them to stop confronting them with the Holy One of Israel, and to get off that straight path, and to tell them pleasant things, things which will make them feel good, even in their sins.

And, yet some or many of these, which I have described above, claim to be followers of Jesus. Yet, they want God’s approval of their lives while they still continue in their sinful addictions. They want God to believe that they love him, and that they are really trying to do what he says, and that their hearts really are surrendered to the Lord. But, by their lifestyles, they deny him.

Oh, that this generation would turn their hearts over to the Lord Jesus and make him truly Lord (owner-master) of their lives, instead of them ruling their own lives, and expecting God to approve them. Lord, send a revival!

Gift of God 

An Original Work / October 25, 2016
Based off Various Scriptures

Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Died for us on a cross;
Conquered death, sin, and hell,
So, with Him, we would dwell.

For, by His grace, we are saved.
He set us free from all sin.
Thanks be to God for His Gift.
Through faith in Him, we’re forgiven.

Holy Spirit of God,
Given to us who believe,
Gives us new life in Christ;
Made to be just like Him.

We died with Christ to our sin.
New lives in Him we begin,
Walking with Christ day by day.
We read His Word, and we pray.

Jesus, He is our Lord.
Follow Him where He leads.
Tell the world of His grace.
We’ll see Christ face to face.

Soon He is coming again.
We’ll be forever with Him.
He’ll wipe our tears all away.
Oh, what a wonderful day!


Monday, April 1, 2019



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