Those that
don't learn
from history
are destined
to repeat it!
You see
things that
are spiritually
TRUE,
tend to repeat
and to ring
throughout
history,
like a bell
getting ever
louder!
RECENT BLOG POSTINGS
APR 8, 2024: FORGIVENESS – THE POWER This is a subtle one that most of you have never thought of, requiring an understanding of both Blood Covenant, AND that the Spirit is a gentleman. He is limited by humans to the extent they refuse His interaction in their lives.
Many of you have heard me tell of being conned out of a significant amount of money. It took a number of days before I stopped seething, feeling raped, violated, and ripped off (my wife tearing into me didn't exactly help either). I wanted to tear the guy apart, but. But I knew I had to forgive him. So here comes the part you need to focus on.
I didn't JUST forgive; I intentionally took all the hurt, loss, shame, emotional turmoil, EVERYTHING, and carefully listed it and put it ALL into the Lord's hands. All that debt against me now legally belonged to the Lord. It was owed to Him NOT to me; and I could legally do that with the Lord because I am in Covenant with Him! So, to the very degree of that debt I legally increased the Lord's RIGHT to have the Holy Spirit (who is a gentleman and normally limited on how much He can interfere in the lives of those not yielded to the Lord) step into the life of that con man. I made it as if the con man messed directly with God. YOU CAN DO THE SAME with those that wrongly hurt you!
I fully expect to see that guy in heaven because he messed with a child of the King! One who knows who he is and how to –
"Spend Hurt Wisely"
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APR 1, 2024: UNFORGIVENESS - DEEPLY HIDDEN I know of one person who was talked into "How can you ever forgive THAT." It led to a divorce, and became a sore spot buried so deep and so hidden that it was sealed off. On the one hand that was perhaps good because it didn't seem to poison anything else (unforgiveness typically DOES creep into other areas AND into relationships with other people); but on the other hand this one sat there like a bomb that four decades later got bumped, went off, and was still devastating.
So, you will need the Lord to help you with this. Do you have any deeply hidden depth-charges, land-mines, or pools of puss hidden away? The wounds caused by the "biggies" like adultery, divorce, rape, abuse, abandonment, loss of a child or mate? You see, these can be so bad and so deep that you think Matthew 6:14,15 somehow doesn't apply! These are not the little cuts and scratches you can throw a Band-Aid on. But these are the exact things a very compassionate Lord wants to slowly work through with you. You want to avoid them, but He wants you WHOLE!
Any wound nurse will tell you "whole" means any major infected wound MUST be opened, cleaned, disinfected, and then heal from the inside. It must regrow properly. Do you trust the Lord to do that with you? Even if it hurts at first? Remember He was there with you, feeling it with you as it happened.
Hidden BOOM! things tend to get more dangerous with age.
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MAR 25, 2024: FORGIVENESS - BLOCKED In Matthew 6:14,15 Jesus says, "For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." Man! That is SCARY! These verses should be figuratively tattooed on the inside of every Christian eyelids. Forgiveness is mandatory!
Unforgiveness is the biggest block to having peace in your life that I know of, and much of the time here is how it works. We normally have to justify unforgiveness by holding on to being wronged (which may indeed be very real and huge), and we thereby claim a certain "self-rightness". Then holding on to what actually belongs to God:
1. Binds it firmly around YOUR heart;
2. Entrenches it firmly in the neurons of your brain (including ALL the feelings and agitation that go with it), it actually changes your wiring;
3. Desensitizes you to your own neediness, their "sin" seems so big you forget about how dirty your feet get each day;
4. Unforgiveness is an antidote to the humble, yielding attitude necessary for you to ask for and receive forgiveness. You are effectively saying, "God leave me alone, this is MINE to hold on to." SO HE DOES. And you have blocked you from receiving forgiveness.
Those are some serious stumbling blocks you have just put in front of YOU! This is not about anybody being repentant or not. It isn't even about anybody deserving anything! This is about you! You really do NOT want to block within you what God has already paid for.
You can block YOU from forgiveness!
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MAR 18, 2024: FORGIVENESS - OTHERS I now start with you forgiving others. This type of forgiveness looks deceptively easy. Somebody comes to you and says, "I'm sorry, forgive me". Simple. You have to, and not just seven times but 70 times seven! So, what's the problem?
It's your heart, you sneaky little critter you! Do you keep count? Do you forgive grudgingly? Do they have to come crawling to you first? Do you feel superior? Do you think, "Man, it sure took you long enough!" Do you doubt their sincerity? Are you going to make them pay? Come on now, let's be honest!
There are so many ways to screw forgiveness up that I can't fit the answers into one short little post. Let me instead try to sum them up this way; I am convinced that to the Lord us forgiving is more about getting
YOU also are a sinner in need of grace.
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MAR 11, 2024: FORGIVENESS - YOU 2 This is an add-on to the previous post. There are some things that God says zero about, but the society you are embedded in has pounded into you - this is wrong, you are guilty. And Satan sure wants to help you feel that shame. There are other things God is real clear about, there ARE wrong, you ARE guilty, but this time society has so ignored God for so long that almost everyone's conscience is hardened over to feel absolutely zero guilt. Satan likes that too!
Now, as humans we are stupid enough to not always know which is which, or even recognize some of the other rather weird possibilities. So, remember that under covenant you can take the whole mess to the Lord and let Him sort it out! Lord, if I'm guilty and don't know it, forgive me and show me. Lord, if I'm not guilty but feel guilt anyways (perhaps like a young woman feeling the guilt or shame of being raped or even at being molested as a child) I still hand it over to You to forgive, cover, and heal!
He has big shoulders and can handle the junk and the "feelings" no matter where they are coming from! He paid! They ARE His and He knows all about all of them (even the deeply hidden ones you haven't been honest about yet), AND ONES YOU HAVEN'T EVEN DONE YET! He didn't die to have you mope!
It is Satan who rubs your nose in anything he can, guilty or not. Satan wants double jeopardy, triple even; he wants you to keeeeeeep trying to pay in remorse for what is already paid for. Oy vey, what a sleazy con-man. Do not argue with him. Tell him to go talk to your boss! I'm serious, tell him! Out loud!
"GO TALK TO JESUS!"
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MAR 4, 2024: FORGIVENESS - WHY YOU? There are at least three things I need to cover about the danger of you as a Christian not forgiving yourself. The First is that you are robbing God of something He now owns and has personally paid for in blood! And if you have been around a while you should now know that robbing God is a really bad idea; so I will jump to the other two.
Second, Christ needs you to not be crippled up by guilt so that He can work with you on the things that are really more important. Guilt blocks that! The requirements in Leviticus that lead to "you will be forgiven"; His death and resurrection; and even 1 John are all there so "that you may know" you are forgiven and have eternal life. He does not want you to wallow in either guilt or in denial of weak spots that need work. This is subtle, the ideal is a humble realization of your weakness that draws you to His strength, not prompts you to hide from Him or be shamed by Satan. That clean forgiven humility invites God in to work.
Third, people seem to have no idea just how much God Almighty is on our side and longs for us to succeed! I can't fully explain it here, but His very Image in Genesis projected onto Adam included that: it was not good for Him to be alone; that there were things in the heavens that did not "fit" Him; that He wants a special companion who will be a "second perspective" for Him; and that He would build that companion on and around a portion, part, side, of Him we call the Christ. He is one VERY motivated God, who really desires us to succeed!!!
I asked God once how many people were saved. His answer surprised me, but it shouldn't have. It was, and I quote,
"More than you think, less than I want."
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FEB 26, 2024: FORGIVENESS - INTRO Forgiveness is one very huge subject. It is going to require perhaps ten separate Blogs to cover. It is: inextricably tied to Blood Covenant; is a reason for Christ's coming; and is the under current behind most of the Levitical laws (agree with God by bringing exactly what He says and you will be forgiven). It sets a huge 70 times seven hurtle in front of you; contains amazing power; and when
I would like to start with you forgiving YOU, but I need to first explain at least a bit about Blood Covenant. I will jump right to the punch line. ALL those scriptures about joint heirs, brother, first of many, faith in Jesus, right to be called sons, adoption, my body, my blood, yes and Amen, etc., ALL point to one truth! When you accepted Jesus as your savior and Lord, when you put YOU into His hands out of need and sin, and trust Him - you entered into a Blood Covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ! Exactly like Abraham with the Father!
So, guess what!?! Every single thing you have or are, good AND bad, now legally belongs to Him; and every single thing He has is now available to you.
It is indeed like a marriage, including all the nitty gritty details you and He will need to work through together. But, He loves you, YOU ARE FORGIVEN, and He will not let go! Period! Until my next BLOG, chew on this. Your sin, every bit of it, especially the one Satan tries to beat you over the head with -
- legally belongs to the LORD!
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FEB 19, 2024: WHAT'S NEXT? Over the decades, while attending various churches across the denominational spectrum, and even teaching series in a various of them, I have observed that there are a number of subjects that seem to generally be be given a certain "lack of emphasis." I have just finished a series of BLOGs covering being BROKEN before the Lord (part of one of the subjects lacking), and am wondering what to cover next.
So, what I think I am going to try is to give you all a voice. What basic teaching is lacking in the church that YOU would like me to cover??? Tell you what, I will even give you a list. It might help encourage you to speak up, but don't be limited by it. What are Christians missing?
Blood Covenant, the root of Christianity and every God-Man interaction.
Jewish concrete thinking, how the Bible was really written.
God's Image, what He really wanted to show us from the beginning.
What is almost never taught about you consuming part of the Tithe.
Salvation is not the MAIN thing for why we are here.
Fear of God, an aspect of being broken before Him.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
There is more, but you get the idea....
So, What Is Nex!?!
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FEB 12, 2024: BROKEN - A HILL TO CLIMB This last post on brokenness (unless there are questions, which I will certainly try to answer) is going to take a lot of maturity to grasp; especially if you are in the midst of something nasty or abusive. And I admit this is at times more than I can comprehend. Let's start with something like what Hitler did to Jews and to Christians who hid or supported the Jews. It was so revoltingly evil, twisted, satanic, and inhumane that nobody in their right mind can label it as anything but the atrocity that it was.
But yet! Even in the midst of Ravensbrück there were people like Betsie and Corrie Ten Boom who would tell you there were lessons learned about God that could be learned in no other place. Unreal! Could I do that? Maybe not, and I do NOT want to find out.
Should you escape the atrocity situations if you can? ABSOLUTELY! But yet, there are these people who have the guts to tell us that if we can't escape but give the whole thing to God, live or die, He will take responsibility for using even the very worst that Satan can dish out for our eternal good. That is a lot to chew on, and probably is more easily understood by Christians in North Korea, Nigeria, Sudan, or Syria than here in the USA.
But I think it is coming.
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FEB 5, 2024: BROKEN - CRUTCHES This almost doesn't fit with this series on BROKEN, but this is something that can happen in the process of the Lord's good kind of broken/healing, so I need to mention it.
Remember I said that God will often allow a specific defense mechanism, crutch, or friend into your life: for a while; to fill a specific need; to come along side of you; to help you survive. Or even to be a crutch while a specific area heals (God is not against crutches, as long as they aren't destructive). But here is what I have noticed. When He knows you are ready to walk without the crutch, probably long before you think you are ready, He does something to remove the crutch, that person or thing, from your life.
"God, how can you be so mean?" "God, that isn't fair!" "God, please don't do that to me!!!!" “God, I need it/them!” "God, why???" I have seen people so devastated by that loss coming in the middle of what already hurts, that they temporarily try to walk away from God.
So, why does He do it? I mean He loves you, right? It seems that some of the time it is so you do not make the crutch, or wall, or person, into an idol. He loves you enough to even let you be totally ticked at Him while you take the next few steps --- seemingly on your own, but with His hands secretly a few inches from your shoulders, ready to steady you. I'll tell you another secret.
He is incredibly proud of you taking those few steps by yourself!
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JAN 29, 2024: BROKEN - MORE DIFFERENCES I guess the bottom line of good versus bad BROKEN is found in purpose, degree, and result, not in the feelings. Hurt hurts either way. The following four examples are for a woman under a father or husband, but remember the same is true for a man under whoever the Lord puts over him with only slight modifications. I will use this format: The bad. * * * The good.
The bad kind crushes a woman's spirit to make her compliant, to build a sense of fault into her, and to facilitate the husband over her to temporarily feel power and control. * * * The good kind wants to break her INDEPENDENT spirit, and the Lord does NOT do it to feel good, instead He feels the hurt with her! (Notice I purposely stuck the Lord in there? He is there even if the father or husband is the tool.) The purpose is to have her realize she is not your own god, and a defensive, independent, spirit can not flow or exist with Christ in eternity.
The bad kind invalidates her wishes and desires, the man desires control, "you will do it my way"! Your desires are totally unimportant. * * * The good kind is a never ending balancing act for a husband. He should have a vision given to him by God for his wife's eternal good. This WILL mean trimming, pruning, as well as cultivating and encouraging. Some desires that correspond to God's desire for her are a big, YES! Others that would hurt the wife in eternity must be a firm no. Many don't matter so it can be, "I relish the uniqueness of you!" The husband is responsible before God to at least try to "husband".
The bad kind forces and manipulates the relinquishing of power to a fallible human man just so he can feel the power. It is exactly like witchcraft, all about control. * * * The good kind is subtle. It is the Lord trying to show you that YOU holding too tightly to power is ALSO a form of witchcraft. The Lord is trying to work within you the same Spirit as was in Him towards His Father! (Philippians 2:5-11.) And the subtlest part is that it IS to a fallible human man, but, BUT, at the same time "as unto" the Lord.
The bad kind disallows disagreement, don't question me. Control again. * * * The good kind? God has some really big shoulders. He can take you hating Him and still feel for you in the middle of your worst hissy-fit. And guess what? He is trying to build that into your husband too! The ideal is you should always be listened to, BUT not always automatically "hearkened" to. Your job scripturally is to present to your husband a second perspective, a second way of looking at things to help him make godly choices for both of you.
Some women think any breaking, good or bad, relegates her to the position of "junior partner" (said in a very negative way). But guess what? We ARE the junior partner to the King of Kings. We ARE slowly being raised to His side. We will be the companion the Father desires. And here and now you get to practice -
— with who or whatever God has put over you.
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JAN 22, 2024: BROKEN - THE DIFFERENCE So, what's the problem? Simple! The Good and Necessary type of broken FEELS almost identical to the start of the Bad type of broken! AND if we don't see God behind it, that boss or husband or parent really does look to us a lot like the bad-ass who would wrongly try to break us to make themselves feel good! Our soulishness and our defensive "feelings" can indeed fight tooth and nail against the very thing God knows we may need!
How do you tell the difference? It is NOT easy, so you may disagree with or modify some of my suggestions. Most are based on the premise that God wants you to know when He is behind trying to help you.
One hint is in the scriptures. Annoying little things you don't want to hear will keep popping up in the Bible (that can't apply to me). Two, is a multitude of witnesses. Perhaps parents (maybe even the not so good kind) point to a particular characteristic you know is also listed in the Bible. Or Christian friends, in trying to be honest, have all hinted at the exact same trait as needing work (take the trait to the Lord for His clarification). Three, the Spirit within you is nudging at the exact same soft spot (yes, you know). Fourth, is circumstances. Do you keep running into different bosses, jobs, relationships, etc. where the exact same trigger keeps sticking up like a sore thumb? Fifth, and this is a very very hard one, do you still carry unforgivenes (for self or others) for the original wound under all the walls, crutches, addictions, whatever? Sixth, if you can, compare yourself to Jesus. What did He do that sort of grates on your nerves?
Warning! Rationalizing or ignoring too much, for too long, can lead to heart hardening.
Like Pharaoh?
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JAN 15, 2024: BROKEN - GOOD EXAMPLES 3 This last example of the good kind of BROKEN is from the Bible, and it is one of my favorites! Mephobosheth! 2 Samuel 9:1-13. It was the custom of the day when a king was killed in war, that the new king would kill every heir that could possibly come against him and claim the throne. Saul and Jonathan are killed, Jonathan's son Mephibosheth with a claim to kingship is now supposedly on king David's hit list, so his nursemaid flees with the 5 year old boy, accidentally causing him to fall and probably break his ankles, making him lame.
So there the kid sits in Lo-debar (literally the son of nothing, the boonies!) being brainwashed! You should be king. It is your right. David was responsible for the death of your father and grandfather! David would kill you if he knew where you were. (Sound like the crud Satan feeds you about your wounds, walls, and rights?)
David, BECAUSE OF A BLOOD COVENANT with Jonathan decides he WILL show Covenant "Kindness" to Mephibosheth! So, Mephibosheth winds up on his face before David expecting to be killed and David says,
Do you realize that right there Mephibosheth had before him exactly the same choice I faced, every Christian MUST face, and even what every deeply wounded and walled in cripple has before them!?! WE are ALL cripples. We are all wounded. We are all brainwashed about our "rights." So, do YOU choose to yield your rights and accept the Lord's magnificent Covenant provision; OR do you choose to hold to your right to go back to Lo-debar and brood about being a victim who should-a been king?
Do NOT choose L O - D E B A R !
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JAN 8, 2024: BROKEN - GOOD EXAMPLES 2 That wrong attitude toward my bosses I just mentioned is worth looking at more closely. Please understand I'm NOT talking about things where God has clearly told us to obey Him and not man. My defensive wall of "rightness" was built a long way from God's absolutes. Just as today, most wives built their "last-straw" or "cut-n-run" wall a lot closer to their line of skirmish than to God's absolutes. And sadly many walls are built against someone God has specifically placed over them to help them. (Was my boss godly, was the corporation godly, did it have my eternal interests at heart, no, no, and No! BUT God wanted to use even the wrong or worldly to help me understand His perspective on: yield, submit, BROKEN.)
I also found my whole wall was way too big and interconnected to attack all at once! But, that actually DOING one single act of obedience as a purposeful, symbolic, breaking, let the Lord in to work from the inside! Doing that one single thing I least wanted to do with as much enthusiasm and skill as I could muster
Now, listen very carefully. In retrospect I see that being broken toward my boss
We ARE all in the same boat!
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