God’s Green Earth

NOTE: The following are thoughts put together by Jan (my husband). I think they are so important I am saving them here for consideration. Please understand that this is NOT being presented as doctrine; rather, it is shared with the intent of being worthy of thought and pondering — of presenting a different take on the entire cultural issue.
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God may have shown me an excellent subject with which to highlight the difference between His perspectives and good intentioned, but human, perspectives. The subject in this case is specifically related to environmental issues but I am hoping to establish in it a somewhat generic spiritual approach for most social/political issues of the day: meaning that with all issues, the spiritual solution is so supernatural that it is incomprehensible from a natural perspective. I am frequently frustrated for allowing myself to get drawn into political discussions that never get past a natural logic level just because the allure of logic is so tempting.

So, regardless of your political/spiritual posture, the common consensus is that the environment is suffering from some degree of contamination that has resulted in some degree of impurities in the water/air/food chain, etc. The degree and level of corruption (i.e. has it been raped, ransacked, and pillaged, or just somewhat abused?) is hotly debated. Just how much is the earth groaning and longing to be freed from man’s destructive affects on it? All proposed solutions are obviously linked to the proposer’s theory of the root causes of the destruction, so there should be no surprise that God’s solution is directly linked to His view of the cause. (All bold emphases that follow are mine.)

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Isa 55:7-13

Why does God lump all this together? Wicked and unrighteous men whose thoughts and ways are far from his – He will abundantly pardon – rain and water refreshing the land – the whole of creation soaking it up and breaking into rejoicing before these redeemed sons.

As revealed in Romans 8, He is promising a pouring rain of forgiveness, healing, and restoration of man to the place of sonship. This results in the deliverance of creation from the chains of corruption. These two passages (previous and below) are virtually synonymous.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Rom 8:19-22

Who said one can be so spiritually-minded they are of no earthly good? The earth is groaning for us to become spiritually-minded sons of God. According to God, creation is not groaning over chemical spills and litter, it is groaning over our spiritual condition. We need to be abundantly pardoned because we are abundantly flawed in our ways and thinking.

The thinking and ways of Him who “destroyed” the earth in the days of Noah are not those of a modern day environmentalist. But it did temporarily rid the earth of the destructive force of wickedness. It would appear that the purpose of preserving Noah was for a lineage to Jesus. And Jesus, through his spirit, will ultimately produce the remnant the creation is waiting for. The final outcome of this process is addressed in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Please read this chapter carefully, especially verses 33 thru 52, pondering it in the following sequence:

· Verse 50 – corruption is a hopeless condition that cannot inherit (become) incorruption
· Verse 45 – The reversal of corruption can only be done through the last Adam who is a quickening spirit
· Verses 51 & 52 – with believers, dead or alive, corruption (death) will be reversed
· Verses 39 & 40 – this pertains to all bodily forms – plants, men, beasts, terrestrial, celestial, et al
· Verse 33 &34 – this dialogue is prefaced with forsaking wickedness and awakening to righteousness

God’s word is full of references to the condition of the earth but never ties the causes and solutions to anything but the condition of the hearts of His people. It is thoughtful and considerate (natural outcomes of a Godly heart) to remove litter and assist with oil spill cleanup, etc., for the temporal enjoyment of it. But…do not confuse that with saving the planet.

(Don’t distort this concept of dominion with pride and boasting. Good grief, all we have to do is look around us and in our mirrors. Don’t let’s forget what manner of man we are without His workmanship. It is absolutely amazing and bizarre to think that God will get any of us wretched specimens to such a place. But, He is God. We need to look in the mirror of the Word, be doers of the Word, and not forget what manner of man the Word sees us as [James 1:21-25].)

I long to see us shift the dialogue from natural causes and solutions of environmental issues to the more difficult subject of how one becomes a healing force with Godly impact (dominion). Scripture indicates His plan is to unleash His sanctified ones as quickening spirits before whose presence all of God’s green earth bursts forth in delight. Selah.

A Devastating Moment of Truth

First, please don’t say I don’t know what I’m talking about with this post, which is about marijuana. I do. My husband was pretty seriously into drugs of most kinds back in the 60’s and 70’s before he became a Christian, after which point he has never used any since. And most of my kids have/did/do smoke it. So, yeah, while I personally don’t have a drug background, I am married to someone with one and he’s the first to tell you that to say there’s nothing mind altering about marijuana is to simply deny the truth — as are two of my kids who did succeed in breaking their addictions. And who will argue you down that yes, it IS addicting.

I am heartbroken to have just recently learned that an older adult I love dearly is a regular pot smoker. I am stunned to realize how many adults even in their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s smoke pot regularly. And it explains a lot of things that have puzzled me. Erratic behavior and thinking. Poverty as a lack of rational decision making. And yes, it breaks my heart.

I think I’ve just had a Moment of Truth in realizing truly the extent that smoking pot is now a normal part of our society and culture, with even believers living in a state of denial that there is nothing wrong with it. Anything that alters your mind is dangerous, I don’t care what it is. If it’s so non-addictive why don’t people give it up?

Drunkenness is not just a result of excessive alcoholic consumption; it’s a state of not being able to think clearly and rationally, directly as a result of something you have put in your body — and for Christians, scripture very specifically speaks against it. We really are a culture that is choosing to live in a state of denial about many, many things, and this is one of them. And yeah…………. it really does break my little ole heart. I feel like I’ve just been totally blindsided by a semi……………….

Egomania

What I am about to write may sound like just a bunch of hot air and maybe it is…..but actually I think it is incredibly important. Christianity is not about hating and condemning other people. It’s actually about doing what Jesus said: taking his yoke (which involves trust if you are attached to someone) and learning about him for he is meek and lowly in heart. We spend so much time elevating ourselves and who we are and our accomplishments — our importance.

We’re a bunch of egomaniacs trying to be better than each other and it’s sad. When a person’s focus is on himself and how great he is, others suffer. And from my observation, that’s the heart of what’s wrong with the world and what so many Christians either have forgotten or simply never knew. Jesus lived a life of sacrifice, not self-realization, and He is our model.

The Pattern of Crosses

I have been working on a cross-stitch quilted bedspread for many years. Like many things in life that have the potential to be beautiful, but that take a lot of effort, I find that I actually work on it in spurts. In fact, I’m afraid the truth is that the work spurts are often years apart.

I got on a roll recently. I love watching the neatness of the stitches and the various colors of thread unfold the beautiful pattern another artist created for me to work out. However, a few days ago I discovered a terrible mistake.

At some point I had let another person help me with it. The spread is large and there is plenty of material for two of us to work on, so I put another section in the wooden hoop and we sat and stitched and visited and had a wonderful afternoon. After she left, I decided to continue working on the section she had stitched and over the weeks had stitched a fairly substantial section. Thing is, though, recently I realized I was having trouble seeing the crosses that are stamped on the material. I put it down to poor lighting, but it was really a bummer. I mean, I could see the pattern and worked quietly and steadfastly, but it was always nagging at me that the pattern was faded and not clear anymore.

Well, a few days ago I decided to go back and work on the original section I had previously been working on. And I discovered THOSE crosses were much clearer and easier to see. So, suddenly I had a terrible thought. Was it possible….maybe just possible….that when I had set up the material for her to stitch I had put it in the hoop on the wrong side? That is, that this whole time she, and then I, had stitched the beautiful threads on the wrong side of the spread? And, as you have probably guessed, the answer was yes.

So, now I was faced with a dilemma. I actually had two sections of the same piece that had been stitched. One, rather small, one, rather large. Obviously one would have to be removed, but which one? It made sense to re-do the smaller section, but the problem was then I would have to continue sewing it on the wrong side with a faded pattern that was actually difficult to see. Or I could un-do all the work my friend and I had done on the larger area and re-do it correctly. And trust me, un-doing all those stitches was not going to be an easy task.

Well, thankfully for me, I eventually realized that the pattern was not reversible and actually, if I was going to have the bedspread I had set out to make, then yes, all the work would have to be re-done.

So, now I was presented with another problem. How to undo the work I had done incorrectly so that I could proceed correctly. There were actually two ways of doing it that I could see. One would be to use a seam ripper and cut through all the threads, then pull the small pieces out, bit by bit. Or, pick the various ends of stitching in each small design and literally un-do each section, stitch by stich. Pull out each stitch by hand.

Wow. Both were daunting in sound to me, but after a few minutes of working through the sick feeling in my stomach, I began. First, because I really wanted to re-use the thread, I tried it stitch by stich. And it mainly worked ok, but I ran into a few bumps along the way, and it was obviously quite tedious. Besides, I soon realized the thread was not going to be re-usable. So I tried doing it by cutting through the fibers. Actually, a friend was with me and she began doing the cutting. Both of us worked on then pulling the small pieces, but I could see pretty quickly it, too, was going to be time-consuming. I soon realized that the best way, painful as it would be, was going to be undoing it stitch-by-stitch. There would be no shortcut.

When I was finally finished, there were many small holes left from the needle entries, but I realized that when I re-did it on the correct side (which I now saw was clearly marked and not faded), the holes would disappear into the new stitches and the spread would still be the beautiful covering it was designed to be.

As I ponder over this event, I see a truth begin to emerge, worth my consideration. I could actually draw several different parallels, but the one I am going to focus on is that of a believer, working on the tapestry of her life. She recognizes the necessity of the cross and is working the stitches correctly at first. Then something else presents itself, she goes on a different course, and at some point she realizes that now the going is a bit more difficult. That she is not seeing the pattern as clearly. That something is simply not right. But she is seeing something and so continues to stitch away oblivious to the sad reality that she is now working on the wrong side of the pattern…not on the side it was designed to be. The crosses are not clear any longer. She has the aha moment and wrestles through the gut-wrenching reality that what she has put much effort into must not only be re-done, but must first be undone. In a sense, she must now renounce a great deal of what she has put herself into before she can actually proceed forward, once again following the crosses that had been stamped for her to see.

The analogy ends when we understand the incredible and awesome truth that in our lives it is Jesus who unravels the wrong stitches, not us. Many times we try to use the ripper and cut through sections at a time, but trust me, pulling those teeny bits of thread is a lot harder that it appears.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for giving us the pattern of the cross. Please help us stay on the right side of the fabric and not let other things take us to the faded side. It looks the same on the surface, but a little bit of stitching soon begins to show us that something is wrong. Thank you for being the Redeemer who then comes in and undoes all the wrong we did, turns the fabric over, and then continues to give us the true pattern to follow.

Easter or Resurrection Sunday?

I once again feel like I’m standing alone on something, but here it is. I love my Lord and I know that Easter is really all about His resurrection, but I just can’t get into this latest trend of calling what I have known all my life as Easter, “Resurrection Sunday.”

Why? Not sure. Well, yes, I am sure from one aspect. When I think of the word “Easter,” I see pastels — pink and yellow and light blue and green and white — happy, soft, cheerful colors, all representing to me the love of my Lord. Yes, I also see Easter bunnies and baskets and colored eggs. I know they are supposedly pagan in origin, but that doesn’t bother me. I also see a cross rising on the hill with a background of a beautiful sunrise. I see them all as representing life. And my Lord is Life. So for me, that is not a conflict.

Unfortunately, the word “Resurrection” just doesn’t bring forth the same images. It brings forth the solemnity of what He did, so probably I am sounding sacrilegious to say this, but there is a subtlety of joy He gives that is absent and that I miss.

However, I think more than all of this is the in-my-face awareness of the Christian community’s pandering once more time to the world, even in their “fighting” back against the secularization of the event. Yes, to the world, it is Easter bunnies and Easter egg hunts, but that doesn’t bother me. It bothers me that I am letting the world once again rob me of something precious; the whole ambiance of what the word “Easter” represents.

So…….friends, you are free to change it all to Resurrection Sunday. But I still see My Lord Jesus as having come forth out of that tomb early on Easter morning, with the beauty of the early dawn and mists, clearing up into a beautiful clear spring day, full of promise and hope and the Life He gives.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Easter morning and the empty tomb. And all you accomplished on the cross for me.

True Christianity vs New Age

Please NOTE:  In my blogs, when I use the word “Lord,” I am meaning Jesus.

We must be careful to not let church attendance and involvement interfere with our relationship with the Lord. I think for many it has become a substitute.

This was never meant to be.

I say we have substituted church attendance for taking time to know Jesus and letting Him change our lives. Which means yielding to Him. “No thank, you, I will hang on to my Self and who I am. ” And this is the lure of New Age. Self. Worship of Self.

Every day I see friends leaving Christianity because they feel like it let them down. The reality is that the “church” they were a part of and the people in it let them down. But because the way they lived out their Christianity was by attending church (and maybe even being more involved) , they did not realize they had substituted their church for the Lord. So as long as they went to church, they expected the Lord to take of them and meet all their needs. And so, they were hurt, let down, disappointed, and eventually turned their back “on the Lord,” not realizing their real Lord was the church. They never knew Jesus.

And often these now-professed non-believers turn to and embrace New Age gurus and concepts. Why? Because they are hungering for the depth of spirituality that they did not find in the “church.” The tragedy is that true Christianity offers everything the New Age movement does. We have lost the spirituality of it and substituted church attendance (and “fellowship”).

You can read ANY guru’s postings and 99% of what is written is true Christianity. (See link below, beginning at paragraph 4.) The last 1% leaves Jesus out and puts one’s Self in. And therein lies the deception. We are a New Creation, hidden in Him, and it is He that lives in us, to do all the changing that New Age says we can do for ourselves. We can’t.

The Shaman — or Jesus?

Fears

Ah…the tragedy of fear. It enslaves.

Are Meds Really the Answer (or Maybe the Problem)?

My observation as both a participant in severe depression at times and as an onlooker into the lives of loved ones has convinced me that we are too quick to categorize behavior that really was considered normal 50 years ago. We all have moods, mood swings, and ups and downs, but today’s billion dollar medical industry needs to keep us convinced there is something wrong with us and we buy (literally) right in to it. It’s like we are not allowed to experience grief or any other number of emotions that once were considered normal and something to be weathered through. Nor are we willing to standby and help one another through these times.

Two excellent books for those interested in the medical profession’s approach to mental conditions are “Medication Madness” by Peter Breggin, M.D.(a licensed psychiatrist) and “Psychiatry, the Ultimate Betrayal” by Bruce Wiseman. Though Wiseman is a layman, the book is incredibly researched and documented with an exhaustive reference section in the back o footnotes in the book.

More and more research questions the “good” meds do as opposed to the horror stories linked to them.

http://breggin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=79

The Fires of Purification

A young woman I am very close to has recently been laid off unjustly from a career job and I am really struggling with this. She recently got her masters in her field and was on track for a reliable way to support herself and take care of herself, which, being single, she needs to be able to do.

She simply made a clerical error which her boss incorrectly thought was grounds for termination. Later it turns out that it was not, but by then the damage was done and the large corp was not about to do an aboutface and correct an injustice done on their part. Her supervisor, a young, insecure woman, has tunnel vision and will not admit her own malfeasance in this awful situation.

I am really struggling with this. And, as much as I am going through, I know it isn’t a fraction of what my friend is having to deal with. The real bottom line here which we both are having to remember is God’s faithfulness to her. She is a believer and has a mental grasp of trusting Him for all her provision, but she has never had to go through anything like this. After a month of interviews she still has no job and is not eligible for unemployment due to a lie being perpetrated by her former supervisor. Forgiveness is essential, but I admit to really struggling through this.

Yesterday our Lord sent me a clear and substantive reminder of his faithfulness, and I am doing my best to walk in it. This is a clear case of the world’s way being to sue the corp of wrongful loss of job, but we both know deep down this is not God’s way. And yesterday’s gift from our Lord helped drive that home to me. But it is still something I am having to walk in minute by minute.

I know the Lord is growing my friend up in some very difficult ways and molding her further into being the fine young woman she is. But such fires are painful and I pray for her not losing heart or growing bitter. It would be very easy to do.

Psalm 37: ,3  Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity….Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily though shalt be fed.

Psalm 34:17  The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

We both have the choice of going forth in the way of the world, or trusting God. Lord Jesus, please help us continue to choose You.

The Just Shall Live by Faith

When I was a young woman, I met for the first time a group of people who were serious about their walks with the Lord. I did not know how to handle this relationship, but kept returning to their friendship, intrigued by what I saw and heard. One phrase kept coming up over and over and ultimately challenged me. The just shall live by faith. “The just.” “Just” as a noun. Such as “the secretary” or “the mayor.” The “just.” But who were they?

In my own way, I wanted to be “just” before the Lord but had not known of this scripture nor its concept. It would not go away. It kept coming up over and over during the months I so fought for my own self-righteousness and agony. To hang on to my life, even though I was miserable and had made such a complete shambles of everything I longed for.

I have found it in four places in the scriptures. It might be in more. Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Habakkuk 2:4, Hebrews 10:38.

A friend asked me to break it down by word and explain what I meant by each word. Here are my short explanations. It was so very clear and direct and simple to me.

Just – To me that meant clean, acceptable, right, worthy. I was cheap, immoral, an adulteress in heart, completely self-centered and independent…none of those things. On the outside I looked good; on the inside I was rotten and knew it.

Live – This meant my lifestyle, how I made decisions on what I would and would not do, how my life was lived out on a daily basis.

Faith – This meant trust. Not “faith” as a religious creed, but rather faith as something to trust in. One has faith (or doesn’t have faith!) in his weatherman to accurately forecast the weather. Mine would be in Jesus.Trusting Him for my needs and to take care of me. Fully. Letting go of My Plans and schemes. Totally. Being brutally honest with myself about this.

Faith (a belief, a trust) that God would take care of my life – my needs. Not necessarily my desires but rather that He had the very best in mind for me and would bring that to pass in my life if I yielded by thoughts, actions, trust to Him. Leaning on anyone (even God) was totally foreign to me. The first decision I made (the night I surrendered) was to never date again. I would trust Him to provide a husband for me if He wanted me to marry. And I did not date again, and He gave me a wonderful husband two years later who had never held my hand when he asked me to marry him. 36 years ago.

Ironically, the second way this manifest itself in my life was that I quit my job two days later. It was a horrible job that I hated. I was executive secretary to the president of a medium-sized construction company (around 30 employees, around 10 in the office). Up to that point, I would never have dreamed of quitting a job unless I had another one in place, for I had no money in the bank or means of supporting myself. However, I acted out my faith by trusting Him to take care of me. It was a very conscious decision on my part. And He did so.

I was willing to work and expected to work; I simply expected Him to bring along the right work for me. I was not too proud to do anything – clean houses, mow grass, babysit, temp work through Manpower – it didn’t matter. I was not holding out for a “good job” or one that I felt paid me what I thought “I was worth.” I would do whatever would earn honest money, but trusting that He would provide my needs. He did. And more.

And thus began an incredible journey with Jesus, learning to trust Him, listen for His voice and obey (Jesus said His sheep would hear his voice), and laying down my own works and stuff that made me, “Me,” yielding instead to His ways. Even trusting Him to redeem the times I made mistakes and did not hear Him correctly or selfishly simply refused to do what I knew He wanted me to do. I will say that this process meant I had to learn to be brutally honest with myself, examining myself and my motives in anything that was of any significance, especially if it was for something that would benefit me and meant sacrifices I did not want to take on my part. An incredibly exciting journey, not without pain, but so rewarding.

Would I do it again, even knowing all the pain and heartache and agony that also were a part of this incredible journey? In a heartbeat. Nothing else in life would hold a candle in value to what He has done in my life and heart. People say they want to be free; I know what freedom is. And thank God for it.