Foolishness!

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah. Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work.Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah. At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people. 2 Chronicles 16:1-10 NIV

Does anyone see the parallels from the past to the present other than me?

No matter how hard we try to leave God or His Word out of what unfolds on a daily basis, when we look–diligently–we find there truly is nothing new under the sun. The same wicked attitudes that prevailed in the hearts of those who turned from God (or never knew Him) exist today.

Despots–never have enough and are also willing to make deals with the devil. They don’t care about ruining a nation’s resources as long as they get what they want–attention and praise–but it all fails and God’s truth reigns.

Let’s see:

Who’s building a wall and is the wall to keep others out or us in?

Who owes megabucks to another despot who has no qualms in oppressing or killing people?

Who has incited provocation by another despot simply to create a distraction from an investigation in their involvement with the 2016 Election fiasco?

Who will not listen to those who present truth and instead relies upon those who will only tell him what he wants to hear?

God is not fooled by any of the nonsense and when it is all said and done–the truth will be revealed and those who dare to defy God and mistreat and misuse His children, will get their just reward. For The Word tells, “we will reap what we sow.”

For all the falsehoods and lies proclaimed against Hillary–we see now that the #WHidiot was merely projecting onto her that which resided in him.

He is the corrupt one.

He is the liar.

He is the warhawk.

He is the one who made money from the masqueraded attack on Syria that accomplished nothing.

He is the unstable one and unfit to serve the United States in any capacity unless he’s serving time in prison for all the heinous acts he’s committed.

He’s also the one who lacks stamina (a claim he constantly lodged at Hillary) and can’t get through a month without retreating to one of his golf clubs.

And with all the negative “Tweets” lodged at President Obama, we see further evidence of what he projected about himself. Yeah, he’s very “instinctual.” He’s not very “presidential” and no matter what he does–he won’t be.

But foolishness doesn’t stop with him–it continues on the back of those who supported him in the election and those who refuse to uphold their oaths in Congress. They, too shall know the wrath of God when they are “unseated” never to be seen in a public office ever again.  His base supporters will discover they voted against their own interests, if they have not figured that out, yet. The biggest losers will be those who believed the pathological liar about–non-existing good jobs with good pay, repealing ACA (hatefully known as Obamacare), re-opening coal mines and lowering taxes. Instead we get the decimation of everything established to protect the consumer.

If taxes are lowered–there will be no funding for schools, the poor, the undereducated, the veterans who served this country well, the seniors who worked most of their lives to support the governmental path, and the military will suffer when taxes don’t exist to pay for the costly results of an idiot. The only way, our country survives and thrives is for the most wealthy to pay more taxes so the needs of every citizen are met.

To do things any other way would be pure foolishness. But then–that’s what fools do. But don’t believe the one telling the truth–like Asa did and got angry instead. Anger will not repel God’s truth or prevent the inevitable from disobeying.

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Is Everything Meaningless?

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.  What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:2-9 NIV 

Unless a person understands the stage of life Solomon was in, one could think that Solomon was decreeing that life was not worth living. But that is far from the case and since his proclamation came before Christ arrived, we know that every moment of life is precious in His sight and when we accept His gift of salvation–everything has meaning.

Having received the gift of wisdom–beyond measure of any other mortal–Solomon lived according to God’s Word until he connected with many women who did not know God and in fact worshiped other gods. Gradually, he began practicing some of the forbidden rituals (the danger of being unequally yoked in faith and beliefs) and by the time he realized he fallen far from where God desired him to be, he realized he had wasted the gift given to him. Wisdom without knowledge produces disasters. Knowledge without wisdom is just as catastrophic. This is why we’re told, “Wisdom is the principle thing, and in all our getting, get understanding.”

Giving a teenager a car when they don’t know how to drive usually has negative consequences. They know what the car is, but they do not know the details of how the car functions and without instruction, the car may never move and doesn’t benefit them. However, with instruction and knowledge of not just how the car functions, but also the laws pertaining to legally driving, and understanding consideration on the roads, the car benefits them.

We have been given a great gift–salvation–and until we know what it means and begin to practice the instructions in The Word–we may never benefit from the gift. If we never understand the benefit of salvation, life really is meaningless.

With the abundance of grace we’ve also been given, we learn from our mistakes and commit to doing better and as we continue in life, we’ll see just how great our God is and how wonderful life can be–even when we miss the mark–as long as we get back on the path.

There are valuable lessons living provides for us, so let’s live to the glory of God and learn how we please Him and be a blessing to others. Living for Him, gives life meaning that is sometimes difficult to understand and express, but so worthwhile.

Whatever Our Battle Is, God’s Word Wins!!

He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’ ” 2 Chronicles 20:15-17 NIV

When the Spirit of The Lord comes upon us–like it did when Jahaziel, we should listen and not concern ourselves with the battles of life.

Our position in these battles–when we are fully suited up-as Paul tells to be–is to keep on the whole armor–wearing our offensive protection because God is our defensive protection.

One of the reasons so many people fall prey to depression is the oppression felt about things going on around them in which they have no control. They are constantly (they think) in a battle and most of the battle they feel is actually a battle taking place in the mind–where the enemy attacks. And when the enemy attacks, we need to be fully armed and ready with The Word to fight back.

When the enemy tells us we’ll never amount to anything, we need to tell the enemy that everything God made was good and so are we.

When the enemy tells us our bodies are disease-ridden, we need to tell the enemy that we are healed by the Blood of the lamb and made whole in His love.

When the enemy tells us that no one cares about us, we need to tell the enemy that we are never alone because Jesus is always with us and loves us, unconditionally.

When the enemy tells us what we can’t do, we remind the enemy that we can do all things through Christ Jesus.

When the enemy tells us that our ideas are stupid, we remind the enemy that with God, all things are possible.

When the enemy tells us we don’t have a future worth anything, we remind the enemy that God designed our future and planned it for our success so we would have hope.

When the enemy attempts to tell us we’re not worth looking at, we remind the enemy that we are wonderfully and uniquely created by God and lovely in His sight.

We can respond to the enemy’s attack with God’s Word and know victory, but first we must know His Word to in order to know–there is victory with Jesus on our side!

We must remember that we are not in a battle against flesh and blood, but against the influence of the enemy and his attack on our minds. We can know peace with the Prince of Peace and when we remember that the Joy of the Lord is our strength, we can endure the enemy’s attacks until victory is won.

Every time we rise in the morning, the enemy should quake in fear at what we’ll do, not us fearing what may happen to us. We can have that kind of confidence when we know that God’s Word is our guiding light every day of our lives.

 

The “Light” Message!

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:”(1 John 1:5,6)

If God is light–everything can be “seen” by everyone at the same time, and there is no “darkness” in Him, then we can conclude that all darkness is from the one who operates in the dark and attempts to hide evil deeds.

When the atmospheric “sun” shines brightly–everyone can see the light and many, become so enamored of that light that their stay leads to damaged skin from the ultraviolet rays (over exposure). But forgetting for a moment–the damage that the sun can cause to a person’s skin, most people are more cheerful when they see the light, are better behaved in the light, and know that not much can be hidden in full view of the light.

One of the reasons people suffer from depression is because of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). During gloomy winter months when they it mostly cloudy and the sun is hidden from view, people become as gloomy as the day, but when the seasons change and the sun is seen more, their lives brighten, considerably.

When we have received, “The Son” who is The Light, we no longer walk in darkness and try to hide our deeds, but want everyone to see how God is operating in our lives. Every morning when we rise, we can rise knowing that He rises within us and all of our days are “bright” and He chases away the gloom because darkness cannot abide in The Light! Glory to God! This is why–when people are depressed, their thoughts become dark and gloomy and their is hidden in the darkness. With Jesus, there is always hope and a future that awaits us–keeping us in the light and no matter what the season is–winter, fall, spring, or summer–our light can shine so brightly that darkness and hopelessness, and feelings of defeat–flee in our presence! And in His light–no skin damage ever occurs, but healing in all areas of our lives–takes place!

This is the light message. We are to let our lights (fueled by The Light) shine so brightly that darkness never has a chance to operate and all mankind will see our good deeds and glorify God! Hallelujah for The Light!