Sunday's Coming!

A Great Delusion

A friend sent me a forwarded email. It was an article written by Paul McGuire NewsWithViews about the possibility of chip implantation as mandated by the Affordable Health Care Law. The article was intelligently written and, reading between the lines, was more about the real and present danger of how easy it is to fool and enslave an entire nation with carefully worded, ambiguous language embedded deeply in a law that no one fully read before they voted it into law.

It was a startling article and apparently there has been quite a buzz of Net conversation about this topic. Snopes refutes it as do many other liberal sites. It’s labeled as just more nutcase conspiracy theory.

My thoughts are: the man and woman behind Snopes are decidedly liberal. Being a critical thinker I tend to look deeper and wider for motive and hidden agenda in all things, regardless of leanings, right or left. But I have to say, even before radical liberalism came out of the shadows and into center stage I weighed things carefully when seeking information in Snopes. 

Snopes aside, using nothing but discernment, I can come to several conclusions. First, from a Christian’s perspective, there is nothing good to come out of the new health law. All of it is designed to transform and conform us inside out. Much, if not most, of it has nothing to do with our health and well being, but rather government building itself into a monster overseer of everything we do, eat, think. Conspiracy theories aside, there are many mover-groover elitists on both sides of the political aisle who proudly and seriously proclaim that this world would be paradise if only people could be programed to behave and think properly. Therefore, interpreting this particular vaguely constructed language in the Affordable Heath Care Bill to mean that the chip is going to be a law is not all that big of a stretch. Will it be by March 2013? I don’t know. Stranger things have happened of late. All I am saying is, the obstacles are being removed one by one daily.

My point is that we have Scripture that warns us something will be put before us to choose. “Those who do not take the mark of the beast” implies there is a choice. The Rapture doctrine followers always proclaim the “mark” won’t be a problem for them because they will be gone. And this is one of the reasons why believing error is dangerous. If you do not believe you will have to make the choice, you do whatever you are persuaded to do because you do not see the choice. 

And perhaps that is what I have been given to understand recently. If we choose to believe error, then, in fact, at some point of no return we are given over to the delusion and we no longer have a choice, we are blinded so that we cannot see. 

(Matthew 24:24) For there shall arise false Christ’s, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

The chip has been around for a long time. The very first time I saw it spoken about was in 1996 or 1997. I was sitting at my desk downstairs working on the computer. A morning talk show was on the TV. A movie star, Stefanie Powers, was being interviewed about a new technology that had been developed that was being used to help keep track of dog ownership; implanted chips that contained information that was maintained in a data base by the AKC. I was only half listening but what they were saying and their enthusiasm about it made me turn around to watch and I said out loud, “that is the beginning of the mark”. This was long before I ever read anything about chip technology or conspiracy theories. My spirit knew long before my brain had information. 

Just a little history, millions of Christians have been martyred over the past two thousand years for choosing Christ over government, whether secular or religious. Of course, prior to the 1700s they didn’t know anything about the Rapture doctrine, so their choices were clear for them. They chose Christ and suffered great tribulation for it.

Recently my daughter was having a chat with a Christian friend of hers who was at odds with another person over the Rapture. My daughter’s friend commented that “she believed in the Rapture so she would get to go.”  Let that soak in - she believed she would be raptured because she believed in rapture. Do you see the scary fine print in this contract? Believing on Christ has taken a back seat to believing in a false doctrine.

So here it is: can I deny what my spirit knew sixteen years ago? The chip is about as worldly and ungodly as anything can be. Fast forward from 1996 to a few years ago when I read that some states were considering mandated chipping for newborns and it reinforces that what was clear for me about the animal chipping that eventually it was going to be implemented for humans. Will it be a choice until it evolves into a mandate? Is it a mandate to have a social security card? Some believe that was actually the very beginning of the mark. My great-grandfather thought that. Perhaps he wasn't wrong. We are always so programed to think everything happens in a flash, when historically speaking most of the decline of any system, whether secular or religious, developed in small increments over long periods. 

Perhaps this urgency that I feel in my spirit to warn the Remnant to wake up and smell the coffee is about reexamining our focus, re-prioritizing and reevaluating where we stand with Christ. Are we lukewarm? Are we more concerned about worldly things than filling our lamps with truth? 

I am not the only one feeling this stirring in my spirit, so I have to conclude there is something afoot and we better get a grip. I keep hearing, “get it or don’t” and I do not feel it proper to rephrase this but if I did, perhaps it might be restated, “get it before you are given over to your delusion and no longer allowed to get it."

For Christ,

Meema

What Is God's Will?

(Romans 1:18) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness;  (1:19) because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them.  (1:20) For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, [even] his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse:  (1:21) because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.  (1:22) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 

The Greeks were well known for their penchant for pondering great thoughts. Philosophy as a category of human conceptualization is attributed to having  begun with the Greeks. The Pharisees loved nothing better than to sit around and debate the intricate complexities of the Law. But mankind, in general, has always been bent toward considering, compartmentalizing, theorizing, and attempting to define oblique abstractions. Personally I have come to see this as just a way to make the mysteries of the universe less mysterious and therefore console those who place human intelligence in high regard that they are indeed intelligent. Intelligence hates admitting that it simply cannot know a thing.

I am a thinker as well. I am hard-wired to do and love studying and researching, especially history. Mostly I am interested in balanced perspective though, more than absolute answers. For example, I am willing to concede that God is not understandable by the human brain so I give Him more latitude than one who insists that if God cannot be defined by human measurement then it is not possible for Him to exist. Really?

I have been asked a question: what is God’s will? Simple as it sounds, it is not unlike asking for absolute definitions of concepts like, love, good, fair. Ask ten people, you’ll get ten answers. The problem is not that we desire to know these things, it is how we approach the question, not with open minds, and more importantly spirit, but with hidden and fixed perceptions that become walls to a box we can then use to confine the answer that we already sort of formulated when we asked the question. 

When I started this blog, I purposefully chose not to post my profile, testimony, experience, human and spiritual credentials, because I believe that I am just a vessel like anyone else, desiring only to be usable as often as possible. Testimonies have their place but, most particularly online, they are just nice words unless you can see the fruit. I trust what someone does more than what they say. I also carefully avoid using the buzz words, such as “God told me” because that puts focus on me. All I claim is that I am surrendered, which means, I just do and then expect God to use or NOT (and that’s a big or not) because I refuse to fall into the quagmire of spiritual arrogance determined that I know all because God speaks to me. He speaks to many, some hear, some don’t. Some hear some of the time but not always. Many hear and then go off on their own tangents, puffing themselves up and claiming to be all that and a bag of chips. I try to be cognizant of that trap and avoid it as much as possible.  We are, in the end, humans and all are subject to being sifted now and again, even the most surrendered, faithful among us.

To answer the question, “what is God’s will?” I offer the only answer that satisfies me. It won’t work for others, I understand. But I post it, revealing what I have held in my heart for a long time, praying that, if it comforts someone else, if it gives peace and a place where the noise is turned off, to be able to rest in Him, He will use it to His good purpose.

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(John 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. 

FOR GOD,  Holy, Sovereign, Mysterious, Unfathomable Creator of all things, the earth, the heavens, and the Rules, even if we don’t agree with or like them. What child likes his/her parent’s rules?

SO LOVED THE WORLD, all mankind, as any father loves his creations (children).

THAT HE GAVE, He devised the only way the sins of man (as defined by His Rules) could be erased, opening the way for a fallen, reprobated mankind to be reconciled to Himself and then He offered The Way as a gift without price.

HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON,  the Lamb of God, the Word, the Messiah, the Alpha and Omega, the Savior, The Redeemer, The Light of the world, the Bread of Life. The only One worthy, blameless, sinless, to be the final sacrifice for man’s sins.

THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ON HIM, whosoever, anyone, (Romans 1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  (1:17) For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith. True faith asks few questions.

SHOULD NOT PERISH, should (auxiliary verb qualified by whosoever makes the free will choice to believe) not come to an end, die (away), disappear, vanish, fade, dissolve, evaporate, melt away, wither.

BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, (Romans 10:6) But the righteousness which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:)  (10:7) or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)  (10:8) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:  (10:9) because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

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Again, the ongoing problem is not that we ask questions but rather that we ask the wrong questions. If we do not ask correctly, how can we expect to be answered correctly? Instead of asking what is God’s will, which is loaded with presumption, perhaps we should ask, “What is Your will for me, Father? How can I be Your will today, right now, without questioning why?” 

(Romans 9:20) Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?  (9:21) Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? 

For Christ,

Meema

What if...

(Matthew 25:11) Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.  (25:12) But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.  (25:13) Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.  

         

I’m not a prophet or a watchman but sometimes I am compelled to say hard words that no one wants to hear. This usually gets me in trouble. In the past, much less often nowadays, I have made the mistake of pointing out the simple fact-based truth about popular End Days doctrines to some earnestly devoted believers. For my effort, I was rewarded with the unpleasant lesson that spitting in the wind results in spit on your face. So, I rationalized, well, what difference does it make what people believe so long as they profess Jesus as Christ; time will tell, I reasoned. But this never quite sat right and it poked at me so I postulated that perhaps it did matter a little because, if for no other reason, when things don’t happen as expected, they might lose their faith. Perhaps some would be disappointed but not devastated?  I hoped.

But, in time, this also presented as a weak position as well. At its core, this perspective is skewed because it ignores what Scripture tells us over and over that what Christ wants from us is abiding faith, even in the clinches.  (Matthew 24:13) But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.  God doesn’t interfere or manipulate whether or not we have faith; that is up to us. In fact, we get lots of testings to prove our faith. Crisis, tribulation, temptations. While salvation is a free gift, sanctification is entirely our responsibility. We choose how and whether we will grow or not, learn, mature, and share, multiply what we have been given by giving it away in order to further the cause of Christ.  So, using that reasoning, why would He make allowances for anyone who loses his/her faith because he/she chose to believe a “safe” doctrine that had been made up to further a specific agenda a mere three hundred years ago? 

  

More importantly, are we really willing to test how long He will strive with those who are determined to turn doctrine, of any kind, into an idol, choosing, instead, to honor the doctrine more than the Savior?

With that in mind I took it to the next level and considered, okay, what if it does matter what we choose to believe? What if, when the worst happens, there are those who might be able to hang onto their faith anyway but the door is shut and qualified faith (the I’ll-have-it-when-I-need-it kind) is rejected? Those who have always called themselves Christians, snug in their religiosity and devotion to doctrine, might be likened to the five unprepared virgins who knock on the closed door crying, “Lord, Lord!”  What if they are unprepared not only because their lamps were low on oil (TRUTH) but also because they never desired to fill up on the truth to begin with?  

What if the foolish virgins not only don’t know that they are foolish, at some point, they are actually blinded so that they aren’t able to wise up in time?  But if their eyes are blinded and their ears closed are they still accountable? Will He say, “I know you not” and thus they will be “ ... punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thes. 1:9). Talk about hard words. Can this mean what it says? What if being a Christian is not looking like one outwardly but being one inwardly? What if the foolish virgins were only pseudo-saved and that’s what He meant by “I know you not”? 

What if a little errant belief is more than enough to destroy all ability to discern truth? A little leaven does leaven the whole lump. Granted, it is easier to acquiesce to something that has been neatly laid out for us rather than simply read the Word, praying to be filled and guided by the Holy Spirit and follow the clear, simple gospel of Jesus Christ even if it requires the sticky business of acknowledgement of sin and repentance on our part and having to endure...until the end.  

After pondering all this I have to admit I am left with two strong emotions. First, I struggle with not wanting to believe that there is a door closing, an ending to a grace period because I have loved ones who aren’t there yet. I can’t want to accept that because their hearts are disinterested in the things of the Kingdom today that they might be hardened at some designated moment so they then are not allowed to see. Second, I don’t want to consider that if this scenario is a reality, the time for this metaphorical door to shut has either already come or is close at hand. 

So many what ifs.

Regardless my personal concerns, if this is true, what if there is no great END DAYS REVIVAL either? Though I can’t find this event in the book of Revelation, I’ve been given to believe all my life there would be one and then we’d know for sure it is the end. But what if the last two thousands years has been all there is going to be? Isn’t Christ our First-Fruits and Latter Day Rain as the original church fathers believed? Did He not fulfill those prophecies for us already? Are expectations of one last glorious chance to be called merely diversions to lull us into thinking that we have plenty of time before we have to get serious? If we are busy doing anything and everything but filling our lamps because we are depending on and giving credence to expected signs and wonders are we not actually fulfilling Matthew 25:1-13?

We have always been taught that we can be reconciled to God if we exercise the faith to believe on and follow the gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ. We have also always been taught that one day Christ will return and this heaven and earth will pass away. You cannot accept this without also agreeing that this means time is indeed finite and thus there is an end when, by default, it will be too late to get it. 

Here’s a sobering what if...What if the beginning of eternal torment and everlasting destruction is kicked off by seeing the truth too late?

Whew! I don’t know about you but just the possibility of this “what if” is enough to send me to my knees.

For Christ,

Meema

 (2 Peter 3:17) Ye therefore, beloved, knowing [these things] beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness.  (3:18) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him [be] the glory both now and for ever. Amen. 

Dear Jesus...

Reprinted by permission. Blog posted on July 6 Homeward Bound by Michael Boldea

FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2012

Freeform Friday Week 6

Letter from an unrepentant generation:

Dear Jesus, 

Sorry for not talking in so long a time, but Your love being compulsory, You’ll just have to understand. We the people of planet earth have gotten together and have agreed upon some things, which we thought fitting to pass along. 

We think it only right we have a say, and even if You disagree, we demand it, and as such You have to do it. 

First off, we believe there has been some sort of miscommunication, because a handful of your representatives still seem to think we are in need of forgiveness, and keep throwing around words like repentance, self-denial, and self-renunciation. We are not looking for forgiveness since forgiveness implies wrongdoing, what we are looking for from You is validation more than anything. 

We don’t believe we’ve done anything wrong since sin is relative and subject to individual interpretation. As such, we no longer believe in the existence of sin, or consequence, justice, or hell for that matter. 

Just tell us we’re okay and heaven-bound no matter what we do and no matter what we allow to nest in our hearts, and we can continue having as amicable a coexistence as we have enjoyed thus far. 

Since certain things in Your Book were offensive to us, we decided to change the parts we didn’t like. At first we thought you might disapprove, but what You have to understand is that by changing a few things, and tweaking a few others, coming to church has become attractive to more people, and this translates into more revenue. In the end, isn’t revenue what it’s all about? 

Trust us, we know business, and keeping the Book the way it was, was cutting into the bottom line. Make people feel at ease, make them feel comfortable, do not challenge their lifestyle, and you’ll have faithful and loyal givers that will put you over the top with every offering.

When you really think about it, it was only a matter of time anyway. Can You really expect those of this generation to prefer You over their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, wives and husbands, when they don’t even prefer You over their possessions, positions, and proclivities? 

Since you’ve likely seen what is happening on this planet, we were also wondering why you were late in returning. What’s keeping you? By our estimation You should have been here by now, and we should all be in heaven feasting and attending a wedding…at least that’s what our guest speaker said last Sunday. 

Need we remind you this isn’t what we signed up for? The Apostles of old, and those of the primary church might have been foolish enough to sign on the dotted line, but we read the fine print, and made our own amendments before signing. We hope you honor those amendments, even though we didn’t run them by you. 

So just to set the record straight, our amendments include but are not limited to, no persecution, no hardship, and no tribulation. We’ve all agreed we don’t have what it takes to endure to the end, so please come sooner than you’d intended, just to make sure we’re not scarred – emotionally or otherwise – by what we’re starting to see taking shape all around us. 

Although we do not intend any offense, we are firm concerning the aforementioned issues, and even most preachers, evangelists, and pastors agree with us on our points. 

Sincerely, 

An Unrepentant Generation