The Little Things

"And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes more significant than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” With many such parables, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not talk to them without a parable, but privately to his disciples, he explained everything."   Mark 4:30-34 (ESV)

I must watch over the little details of life, for they determine the “issues” of the future. Small seeds placed in an environment that allows them to grow will grow, and will, one day, be beneficial or drain me of time and energy as I try to eliminate the effect they have caused.

Both the seeds and the environment in my life are critical, and I must pay close attention to both.  This does not make one a legalist, but it makes one wise.

Healthy Fear

"And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city."  Mark 11:18-19 (ESV)

We often try to destroy that which we fear. We try to destroy God rather than fear Him. We try and destroy viruses rather than fear them. We try to eradicate poverty rather than fear it. 

Fear can be a good thing, for it makes our actions align with something more powerful than us. We seem to want to eliminate it because we want nothing to be more powerful than ourselves, yet in reality, many things are more powerful than us. 

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Those who recognize that God is almighty must respond to that fact just as I respond to viruses by washing my hands and the thought of poverty by planning, working, and saving. 

Reasonable fear is healthy. The elimination of fear, although a natural desire, disconnects us from reality. 

There is an almighty, all-knowing, ever-present God, and I am not Him. My fear for Him is healthy, and I will not attempt to minimize this truth. 

Do we really know God?

And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”   Mark 3:11 (ESV)

One cannot help but wonder why Satan and the demons would resist God in the first place since whenever they are in God’s presence they fall down, and they acknowledge Him as God.

Think of how powerfully persuasive Satan is. To persuade those who were in the presence of God that God would somehow relinquish his power and authority to Satan is unfathomable.

Satan is so clever that He makes sin look like a good idea, even, perhaps, something God intended us to enjoy. Those who are trapped in sin usually do not know how they got there, and they have no idea how to get out from under its influence.

Many who struggle with sin know God and acknowledge God as God, yet this acknowledgement does nothing to break the power of sin in their lives.

Perhaps they know God like Satan and his demons know God, and therefore remain powerless to overcome the sin that is so natural to the Godless.

A proper relationship with God actually changes our behavior

Religion can be cruel

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.  Mark 3:1-6 (ESV)

It seems as if Jesus was always looking to see if a Pharisee was in the area.  When they were present, Jesus did something kind to expose their evil.

Religion can be cruel and evil, whereas a relationship with God, true Christianity, is kind.

Anger and grief are normal responses to a Godless religious system that uses rather than loves people, and we would be best to have nothing to do with it.

WHAT TO DO WITH WHAT I KNOW

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward the southland; preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”  Ezekiel 20:45-48 (ESV)

Prophets have a tough job, yet it’s really not difficult. The tough part is having to declare the absoluteness of God to people who believe in relative “truth” and values. The tough part is having to call people out on their sin, when all others around them have become comfortable in their sins.

The easy part is knowing what God has said and repeating it. Anybody can do that.

Some things never change. Knowing God and what He says is still simple. Speaking to our people about what He has said can be rough. What will I do with what I know?

When God's Word Is Clear....

And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.  And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 2:6-7 (ESV) It is easy to fear the wrong things in life. Peers can make things pleasant or seemingly impossible. Focusing on the wrong “thing” will discourage us and eventually wear us down. God’s Word has been clear in teaching His children that loving God will be costly, and expressing God’s love to others will often be “offensive.” Yet, the assignment given to us is well within reach as we are told to speak His Words. It is not my job to control the responses. It is my job to be faithful to my God. When I am faithful to Him, I can rest in a job well done, for there is nothing more powerful or effective than obeying Him and representing Him accurately to a world that does not know Him.

What is a citizen to do?

The media age seems to fuel as many problems as it creates opportunities. We seem more interested in "catching" someone doing or saying something noteworthy and seem to evaluate all based on their latest sound byte.

Watching the news make me wonder if anyone can run for a political office who is human. All people make mistakes in speech, conduct, and struggle with inclusion, exclusion, and biases.

We surround our leaders with sound vultures, making them so careful with their word choice that they usually say nothing.

We understand that whoever sits in our oval office will be criticized more than comforted, misunderstood more than realized, used more than loved, and often have his/her patience tried.

Whoever the leader, whenever the time, our ideas will always be better than theirs, and we will listen to newscasters who agree with us and support our agendas while implying that our viewpoint is what is best for the nation.

When a non-political person becomes President, they are relentlessly attacked for challenging the system even though the system seems hopelessly broken.

It seems to me that this broken system benefits members of the system, who also create the rules for the system, causing it to limp along while trying to convince us that limping is normal.

To run for  political office in our country, you need to have a lot of money, a thick skin, and be willing to destroy your enemy (for a noble cause, of course.)

If you are a person who loves God and his/her family and focuses on obeying God and helping others succeed, you seem unqualified.  If you speak against the system, the system will relentlessly attack you.

I think those that are most qualified to hold public office never run for office and for that reason I think we need a change.

I would start by suggesting that we starve the current political candidates for money, so we do not continually hear them attack each other. Let's take any money we would donate to political causes and find a non-profit, non-political organization that is doing what the government should be doing and support them. (Contact me for suggestions.)

Secondly, I would suggest that we all refuse to participate in polls. (At least polls that ask us who were most likely to vote for.) We need those who are running for office to tell us what they are going to do and not spin it to sound like something we want them to do. This would minimize the "bandwagon votes" and force people to vote by their convictions.

Thirdly, let's maximize the time we spend with the people we love. Let's spend time talking, playing games, etc. while minimizing access through various media formats.  We will never build healthy families by having a strong nation. However, we will have a strong nation if we have healthy families.

The newsmedia is hopelessly out of touch with people like myself. We do not care about most of what they report and have grown weary of their agendas and continual "gotcha" stories. The sheer volume of news stories has rendered them meaningless.

I do not want to hear any more debates, so I will not watch any.  I do not want to hear about what the other candidates are thinking or doing. I refuse to give creditability to such nonsense and will use my vote to elect those who give us the best opportunity to once again honor God, the family, and system of law and order.

I am not very important, and my opinions probably matter to very few people. I am OK with that and still enjoy the fact that I live in a nation that allows me to express my viewpoint.