Tag Archives: Idolatry

Faith

Spiritual Appraisal – What God Will Not Fix


I HAD BEEN PRAYING FOR WEEKS THAT SOMETHING WOULD PULL ME OUT OF MY WRITER’S BLOCK.  THAT SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED.  I APOLOGIZE THAT THIS POST IS TERSE AND STRONG, AND MAY OFFEND EVERYONE I KNOW.  ASK YOURSELF THIS, THOUGH.  WHY DID IT OFFEND YOU?

WARNING: This blog may contain language that some people will find objectionable and offensive.

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Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same.

He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

 

DEFINITIONS

INIQUITY (n) – immorality, heinousness, evil, injustice, crime, wickedness, sin, vice. (The Antonym of iniquity is: GOODNESS (n) – Virtuous, decency, kindness, honesty, integrity, righteousness.)
From Biblical Research

trouble, wickedness, sorrow, idolatry

STUPID (adj) – foolish, unwise, senseless, ill-advised, imprudent, thoughtless, injudicious, rash, irresponsible, reckless, heedless, fatuous, silly, inane, nonsensical, ludicrous, futile, ridiculous, senseless, absurd, asinine, daft…etc. (The Antonym of Stupid is: WISE (adj) – astute, intelligent, prudent, sensible, judicious, shrewd, learned, informed, artful, cunning, crafty.)
IMMUTABLE (adj) – Unchangeable, absolute, unassailable, Incontrovertible, Final, Unalterable, Permanent, Fixed, Binding, Cannot be forfeited. GOD

THE CIRCUMSTANCE

Someone I love dearly denounced God…Again. I wanted to shout, cry, do something…I don’t know…throttling her would not have represented the Love of Jesus. I have been sitting silently. Watching her. Wondering how she cannot see the trap she has sprung on herself.

For the past several years, life has been rough for her. I cannot give you any details, but believe me, her life has been a roller coaster ride of extremes. She has experienced outcomes she never dreamed were possible, and none of them have been good at all. For all practical purposes, her life has been a living hell.

She will tell anyone who will listen that God is mad at her, is punishing her, and she is done with Him, as He clearly does not care what has been going on in her world. That is her reasoning, such as it is.

Where her smile used to light up a room, her countenance is clearly darkened, and angry. Sadness and bitterness is etched on her face. She cries a lot, and keeps asking “Why, WHY?!?”

The sad things is, no one can tell her why unless they want to have their head torn off. She is very uncomfortable with the truth, no matter how gently and sweetly it is delivered. I know this because every time she has disowned me, it is because I answered her question, “Why?”

HERE’S WHY – And let this be a lesson we all take to heart.

I can answer this question because, for over 20 years, I walked in her very shoes. When a very painful experience happened in the early ’90’s, I blamed God for it. God had even warned me in advance that that pain was on its way, and if I stood faithful to Him, I would come out on the other side purified. The pain was intended to draw me near. Because I was far too religious I didn’t see things the way God did. The God I had fabricated in my mind was supposed to make things better according to what I think is best. He was supposed to wink at my rebellion, all my willful sin, and do things the way I thought they should be done. When things didn’t work out that way, I got mad at God…the real God, not the false idol I had created in my heart. I got mad because the real God did not bow down to the image of the god I had fabricated.

If you read the definitions above, you will see I highlighted the word “idolatry” in bold. That was under the definition of iniquity. Iniquitous acts are what separates us from God. Iniquity stems from the fact that in our self-centered world view, we try to bend God to our will. We create a god in our hearts that lives to serve our whims. That false god is supposed to wink at our willful acts of rebellion and disobedience, and make things right.

When that fails to happen, we blame the real God. When we make god in our image, we have created a flawed and false being; we have made an idol of our opinion of God and worshipped it. Our opinion of things become more important than God’s view of them. When God doesn’t make subservient obeisance to our idol, we get mad at Him. We blame God for our stupidity. We insist that God is judging us, when all that is happening is that we are reaping what we sow.

KARMA IS A BITCH ONLY IF YOU ARE TOO!

Hosea said it best when he said: “They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7a – NLT).

Jesus alluded to this principle when he said:

Matthew 13:18-23

Hear then the parable of the sower. “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

– See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Sowing-And-Reaping#sthash.hbciNPo4.dpuf

We sow what we have first planted in our heart. This is the distinction between someone who is religious, or an idolater, or a non-believer and one who is a genuine believer. What we allow God to sow in our heart are the immutable truths about Jesus Christ and His character. We are to be made into His likeness. What we sow to the world is the result of what we have allowed God to sow in our hearts, or what we have sown in place of what God wanted to give you. If we have ignored God, or fought God, or made an idol of our opinion of God, we cannot let the Holy Spirit break any fertile ground in us. What is sown by God either dies, is stolen, or is destroyed, unless we are tenderhearted toward the things of God. It is only the submitted heart that accepts the seed that the Holy Spirit wants to plant. All other hearts are not able to produce fruit that reveals Christ.

If what you are experiencing is unremitting pain due to the fact that the god you invented is not meeting your needs, perhaps you need to rethink your god. Or, to put it the way it was explained to me some time ago: “Stupid is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.”

If your life isn’t working out, stop blaming the real God, and start blaming the self-centered little god you invented. God does not exist to worship you, you exist to worship God.

There is a reason we are to stop sowing the seeds of sin. When we sow the fruit of bitterness in our hearts, the fruit produced is clamor, wrath, anger, malice and slander. We reveal the fruit of our hearts by the words we speak.  We are snared on the vines of our bitterness, or the fruit of the Spirit.  Everyone who reads your facebook account can tell what fruit has been planted in your heart.

You will always reap what you sow, or as Jesus said it best:

“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full–pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” Luke 6:48 NLT

When you sow the seeds of bitterness, you reap it back in heaps. It multiplies itself. People will always return to you what you give. The universe itself is wired this way. It is the immutability of life. This fact is so obvious that it is the central themes of many religions.

 

GOD’S IMMUTABLE CHARACTER

Gos is perfect in every way. If he had to change, he would cease to be perfect.

His character never changes.

God is always…

Love

Hope

Grace

Mercy

Forgiving

Our Supply

Our Redeemer

Our judge

Our Father

Our provider

Wise

Good

Generous

And His plans never change.

God set things up to run a certain way. It is not God that changed things, it was us. We decided we didn’t need God. We changed as a result of this decision. We brought sin into the world. To sin and expect God to wink at your sin is an act of ego driven stupidity.

If God decided to do that, He would immediately be a liar to His own character. He would cease to be God.

God is unchanging in all His promises. The promise that the wages of sin is death has not changed. The promise of everlasting life to those who believe in Jesus will never change. These facts were determined long before this universe was ever created.

God is forever Holy and righteous. His judgments are eternal as well as is His grace and love and mercy.

God knew that Mankind is ever changing and ever unrighteous. So He made a covenant with Jesus that Jesus will die of the sin of all mankind, and be raised from the dead. That whoever on earth believes and accepts this free gift, and confesses it, will have eternal life. This covenant cannot be broken because Man was not involved in it. It was a promise made between God and Jesus. If you have truly accepted Jesus as your lord and savior, then you are eternally secure in your salvation.

One earmark that sets aside all the Children of God from all the religious people is this, God’s children are ever in pursuit of God. They seek God at every turn. They acknowledge that God is right, and that we need to do things His way. They acknowledge that they are helpless.

 

TIRED OF THE BITTER FRUIT?

 

• Galatians 6:8 (KJV)

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

God is spirit. The Spirit of God is Holy, always, immutably so. If you want the fruit of goodness and holiness and peace, begin to think on the things of God. Persue Him with all your heart.

Start with the confession that you have built an idol you expected Him to bow down to.

Jesus said it best when He said:

“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full–pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” Luke 6:48 NLT

What then shall we give? First, give your life to the Christ who exchanged all your sin for all His glory on the cross. Understand that, on the cross, everything evil, every sin, every heart ache, every act of selfishness, every wayward deed and thought, every act of stupidity, was poured into Him while the wrath of God was poured out on Him.

When you have done this business with God, allow the Spirit of God to dwell in you. The Holy Spirit will lead you to understand the ways of God and His will for you, starting with the fact that it is His will that no one should die. But He is also a God of eternal righteousness, and His judgment stands for eternity. You are already dead if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Evidence that this is not just some religious thing will present itself in the incredible change the Spirit of God has made in your heart. You will have no desire other than the desire to know God in all His entirety. You know this is true because you have personally seen the difference the Spirit of God has made in my own horrible life. I was a monster, and now I am His, and one who loves life, and one who loves humanity, one who gives, and one who blesses others. I could never have done thins myself. You know personally that I was a Pharisee, knowing the scriptures thoroughly, but living as if I were a child of Satan.

Learn the lesson my life can teach you, dear child. You want your life to change, but you do not want to know God the way he really is. You have made an idol of your own imaginations, and worshipped it as God. When your religious imagination did not fulfill all your whims, you blamed the real and eternal living God. That was stupid.

You can produce fruit of the Spirit only when Jesus has really and genuinely become your savior and Lord. You will pursue him, not out of religious obligation, but because God has completely changed you.

Dear heart, stop living the life you are living and getting mad at God because you are reaping what you sow. God will not wink at your sin, if He did, He would cease to be God.

Your life will produce good fruit if you will just stop what you are doing and believe.

I love you. I pray for you. But even God will not change the heart of one who refuses to listen. God cannot honor your rebellion.

Let’s be about it.

I Love You

David G. Perkins

sammy.snardfarkle@gmail.com

 

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Faith, Observations

“…but their hearts are far away”


Luke 6:46 ESV : “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

Luke 6:46 ESV : “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

The pressure to produce, lately, is overwhelming.  I have obligations, and the means to meet them are getting harder to come by.  As I fell into my “Charles In Charge” mode, and prepared to execute an action plan I had devised, I heard the Lord.

I recognize the voice of the Spirit, now that I have ears to hear.

“Come talk with me”, said the Spirit.

I am not used to this gentle Spirit of Love talking to me.

Keeping in mind the Business Model I have learned throughout life, I reminded the Spirit that I have things to accomplish, and I have broken them down into three categories:

1. MUST:   Do the things you MUST do first. KNOW THE MISSION, DO THE MISSION!   I have to accomplish a lot in a very little time if I am going to meet my obligations.  Earn your living, pay your bills, meet your deadlines.  If you have obligations, you MUST meet them, no matter what else is going on.  That is life, and how it is.  As I am running against real deadlines, and everything depends on me to accomplish them, I have to hit the bricks and perform my duties.

2. NEED:  Next, do the things you NEED to do. THESE ITEMS WILL ALWAYS BE HERE IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER.    I need to get the car tuned up, and have the timing belt replaced (It is a Toyota, and has greater than 200,000 miles).  I need to replace the weather-stripping on the back door.  I am not fond of trying to air condition all of Texas.  I need to get braces for Hannah, get my wife knee surgery, glasses, and take her out on a few dates…

3.  WANT:   Finally, do the things you WANT to do.  I want to spend all my time praying and serving God, because of Jesus.  I want to be the best writer that ever walked the face of the earth.  I want to take my family on vacation…I want to show them the places I have been on this planet, so they can see the incredible beauty I have witnessed.  There are a thousand more things I want to do.  And, while stopping to spend time with the Lord would be fabulous, I have obligations that take precedence.

The agony of my obligations have been gnawing at me relentlessly.

“I MUST meet certain obligations…MUST, and do it NOW!!”, I practically shouted that at the Lord.

Did you know that you can actually hear the Lord sigh, and hear (see) Him grin?  It is true…you just have to know how to hear, and know how to see.

“Come talk with me”, said the Spirit. 

I am irresistibly drawn to His voice.

I lay my agenda on my desk…I cannot say “no” to His invitation.  

“Here I am, Lord”

“Hop on your bike and meet me at the third pond.”, He said.  (REALLY, Lord??  It is freaking HOT out here in Pearland.  HOT, and the Sun will melt me before I get out of the driveway!) 

“OK, Lord, I’ll do it.”

A few weeks ago, I decided I need to get back on my bike.  My car was in the shop, and I had obligations.  My bike was my back-up plan.  My first time out was a dismal failure.  I had a flat, and on the return leg, I had a mild heat stroke.  If it weren’t for the concern of two people whom I love very much, mild would have turned in to severe, and I probably would have ended up in the hospital.  After that, and after recovering, I decided I will get back on the bike, and relearn how to ride.  It really is an art, if riding a bike is one of your passions.     I am up to 12 miles, every other day.  I ride outbound 6 miles, to Highway 288, and ride back the same 6 miles.  The body doesn’t forget, and I had adapted to riding in real heat and humidity in decent time.  Perhaps I can lose that next 50 pounds this way.

I looked back at my agenda.  It lay on my desk, accusing me of being a slacker.  I HAVE OBLIGATIONS!!!  

“OK, Lord, I’ll do it.”

The rays of the Sun bore down like fine needles, piercing every part of me.

The 12 mile route includes passing by three water overflow reservoir, or ponds.  When it rains here, (AND IT RAINS HERE), these overflow reservoir collect all the run-off from all the neighborhoods in the area.  Reservoir abound through-out South Texas. Pearland is, after-all, in hurricane alley.    I pass by three reservoir when I ride.

I love to ride fast.  If found, however, that, if I maintain a 9 mile per hour pace, I get enough air flow so I can breathe (The air was just hanging around, not moving.).  I also discovered that, if I go faster than 9 miles per hour, the sapping energy loss of the heat and sun shine would deplete my reserves before I go a mile.  So, I kept the pace at a very leisurely 9 miles per hour.

I discovered that riding this slow gave me the chance to see where I am riding, to absorb the beauty that is Pearland, Texas, to actually look people in the face as I pass them by.  My blood pressure started falling.  The knots in my stomach were coming undone.  I felt a song stirring in my heart, “This IS my Fathers world…” . I hummed the song as I rode my bike. 

Recent heavy rains meant the reservoir were still laden with enough water to support wild life.  I watched the cranes and heron and gulls sitting in shallow water, their wings open, so they could get some natural air conditioning.  “This is my Father’s world,  the birds their carols raise,  the morning light, the lily-white,  declare their maker’s praise.”  The oppressive heat turned into a warm embrace…I caught myself singing out loud.  When did I start doing THAT?

After just a few minutes, I arrived at the third pond.  I walked my bike around the pond until I found some shade trees to rest under.  I drank some water and let the breeze off the pond cool me.  Those birds really knew what they were doing.  I listened to the frogs, and dragonflies, and heard turtles making their way to the water.  I saw snakes hiding in the rush under some trees that had their roots in the pond.  What a good thing it is to sit and watch God at work.  Nature is God’s work.

“How was the ride?”   “Amazing”  

He grinned again.  “I’m glad you came here.”  “Me too, Lord, me too…”  

“What has you so fearful?  “My life just went out of control, Lord.  I don’t know what to do.”  

“What did you learn from your last mission?“, He asked, gentleness soothing my soul.   “I need to keep my eyes on you, Lord.  I got caught up in their religion, and made their 12 commandments more important than the author and creator of those virtues.  I looked to man for approval, not to you.  When I got too caught up in trying to observe the “Law” of the commands, I forgot about the Grace of the Lord.”  “I learned that religious people can hide some pretty intense hate and fear behind their “Positive Attitude”.  I learned that, whether we are in the desert crossing to the promised land, or in Texas, “Living the Dream”, if we turn your virtues into a law, and make the law more important than the Creator, then we have lost sight of what is really important. In the end, we make hypocrites of ourselves.  And we advertise that we follow these virtues when it is apparent to everyone that we don’t.”  “I also learned that when I am keeping my eyes on you, things go really well.  But when I look to myself or others, I fail miserably.”

“That’s was a mouth full!  And I think I hear some judgement encroaching your lessons, too.”  “David, I don’t judge you.  All judgement of all sin and failure was poured out on Jesus at the Cross.  I am here to teach you.  What you said is true, but you didn’t mention THE truth.”

“Lord, please tell me THE truth, then.  What am I to you?  What am I going to do now?  How does this apply to the fact that You sent me here?”

“David, I have called you and Sandy to serve me, and me alone.  I sent you here, and soon, you will know why.  I need you to learn these lessons, as painful as they are.  Keep your eyes on ME, and trust that I know what I am doing.  Stop trying to please man AND serve me at the same time.  That is not possible.  Remember at all times the Love and Grace I have given you.  You are to give generously to all who you meet.  Never take matters into your own hands.  I am your Lord, I care for you, I love you, and there is no condemnation on you because you are in Me.  Seek me first, in all things, in all ways, and all the rest of the things on your list will be taken care of.”   What you experienced at that place was, in fact, exactly what you asked me for.

“What?”  “It’s TRUE.”  “WHEN?” “Remember you prayed to work at a place where My virtues are pointed out, where people are Christians, where ‘Doing the Right Thing’ actually means something?”  “Yes, I do.” “You got what you asked for.  You have no more business judging them for their shortcomings than they do judging you for yours.  I sent you to where you asked to be sent.  But, even so, I always send you where I need you, where you will do the most good, and grow to be like Me.”  “You simply forgot why I sent you, that’s all.  Now that you have learned this lesson, I will send you where you can do some good.  Just remember to keep an eye on Me.  I will meet all your needs.  My promise is not conditional, nor is it based on whether you behave yourself or not.  I always keep my promise.  You will serve me.  The more like me you become, the less you will have to worry about in this world.”

American Christians are not yet at the point where it will cost them their lives for their faith.  We have become complacent, and have turned what God has intended for good into a religion that drives mankind far away from God.  We have fellowships that are more like clubs.  We do not readily accept the unwashed, the sinner, the outsider.  If I don’t think like you, then I am wrong.  The hard truth is, neither of us think like God, nor do we have the mind of Christ.  That is not an accusation, that is a hard-earned observation.  In my anti-religious stance, I have built a new religion.  In your Americanized Christianity, you have built a religion.  Jesus did not come here to build a religion, but a relationship.  Any time we forget that seeking the Kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness is more important than anything else we will do, then we are in error.  We are still saved.  But we are not following God, through Jesus Christ.

Jesus died of all our sin, all our failure, all our fear, all our poverty, all our lack, and anything else that built a wall between us and His kingdom.  In return for this, He gave us eternal life, eternal fellowship with God, and everything that HE inherited as Lord.  We abound in God’s goodness, if only we can remember how to hear and see what God has done for us.  When what we do as Christians drives people away from God, then we are being religious.  When what we do does not bring the lost to the Kingdom of God, and the Saved to be more like Him, then we are practicing a religion.  If we are running a business that touts the virtues of God, but does not actually serve God, then stop saying what you are, and just be what you intend to be.  By seeking God, your business WILL have those virtues, and God will make sure everyone knows it.  Bragging on HIS children is one of the things God LOVES to do.

We still sin, and fail, but God’s promise is eternal.  You are His child.  You will be made in to the image and likeness of His son, Jesus.

Religion worships the idea of God, and the idea of the virtues of God, but the heart of religion is all about lip service to the Creator.  We are more concerned about being right than being like Him.

The Cure for Anxiety

“This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you — you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear? ’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” – Jesus – Matthew 6:25-33

This is why I know that, in spite of any failure on my part, or any judgement of mankind against me, in the end, I will serve the Lord.  He has become my first love, and I desire Him above all else.  My burning desire is to serve Him.  He is using my failures to teach me how to succeed HIS way.  And I love even these hard lessons.  Forgiveness, Love, Grace, Mercy, Service, Giving, are more important than any idolatrous covenant that God never asked you to agree to.  All things that God desires to give you will come to you when you seek Him first.

Let’s Be About It!
I love you.
David G. Perkins

 

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