Safe for Confiding

I am once again startled at the ways of God in my mind. Even though this happens almost on a regular basis it still impresses me with the way God chooses to relate to me sometimes. Once again this morning as I was trying to read at the beginning of my intimate time with God I felt an almost overwhelming compulsion to write down the thoughts springing up in my mind. The main reason I usually go ahead and get them written down, at least in brief notes until I have more time to expand on them, is because if I don't capture them immediately they will have evaporated when I go to look for them later.

Sometimes I am tempted to view these urges as distractions that are meant to get me off track or to get focused on myself more than on God. I do have to be careful about that and for that reason I sometimes simply try to capture the essence of what I am thinking until later. But then it is sometimes difficult when later comes to recapture the fullness of what was originally in my heart and I have to wait until it comes around again and I feel the inspiration of the idea so I can explore it again.

I do want to make sure that I spend some time listening carefully for any messages or impressions from God in the context of meditating in the Bible. But occasionally I am so carried away in trying to write out what seems to be pouring into my mind that I run out of time. At these times I am tempted to feel guilty for not finishing my usual routine, but then I am reminded that the routine itself is not to become my god, but my attention and value needs to be constantly directed toward knowing and experiencing God Himself; and whatever means He may choose to reach my soul I need to be open to relating to.

Yes, the issue of time can be a sticky one as well. It comes down to the issue of how to set priorities and what that reflects about my big picture. I don't want to live in constant guilt or become unbalanced in my life, but I have to constantly re-evaluate what is most important and be willing to make adjustments as I feel is necessary.

Feeling satisfied that I had written enough to be able to come back after listening to God in various books that I use in the morning, I laid aside the computer and read through the two devotionals that I am using this year. As I finished reading the second one, My Utmost for His Highest, I was once again surprised that the very questions I had just written were directly addressed in today's reading.

Every time this happens I get something like a warm feeling in my heart, a feeling of appreciation, a tangible sense that I am valuable enough to God that He would surprise me this way even though I obviously don't deserve His attention through my own merits. Once again I get to see grace on display and up close.

So here are the questions that I put down before reading this morning. These come on the wake of thoughts discussed both during and after the men's group last night which was very enlightening and stimulating for me.

I don't feel completely safe with anyone.

Maybe we aren't safe for God when He doesn't show up.

What does safe mean?

What happens when we confide when it is not safe?

Why would God not trust His “confiding” to ones who are not safe?

What would “safe” look like for me?

What would “safe” look like for God? How can I find out?

Why do we want to confide in another?

Why do we want to be confided in?

What can I do or be to make myself safe for God to confide in and trust?

Why do I want to be that person?

What would it take for me to really be able to confide in God, to totally abandon myself to Him?

What does this text mean and does it have anything to do with this subject?

“But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:24-25)

The thoughts presented in My Utmost today are phrase by phrase exposition on Galatians 2:20. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

The last paragraph is what really got my attention. “'And the life which I now live in the flesh...,' not the life which I long to live and pray to live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh, the life which men can see, 'I live by the faith of the Son of God.' This faith is not Paul's faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith that the Son of God has imparted to him – 'the faith of the Son of God.' It is no longer faith in faith, but faith which has overleapt all conscious bounds, the identical faith of the Son of God.”

Pulling Weeds

I had a good talk with someone very close to me last night. She related that while enjoying a Christian concert she was musing over the dissonance between what was being sung and her own feelings. She has believed for a long time that life was not worth living really and has struggled with negative feelings for much of her life. Suddenly she felt a strong impression that simply said, “You know that's a lie, don't you?”

She was caught by surprise by this thought, partly because she has known that intellectually for a very long time but has been unable to believe it with her heart. I am praising God for this evidence of His work in her heart that is in part His answer to my many prayers for her. I suppose that this discussion brought back to my mind the issue of lies embedded deep within us that form the basis for the false gods that operate in our heads.

As I pondered about this concept this morning another idea came into my thinking that may seem to many to be a misapplication of Scripture, but it may contain a lot more truth than first thought if it is considered without prejudice.

First it would probably do well to very briefly review a little of what I have been learning about this over the past few years from various sources. In summary, I have learned that demonic influences, whether possession, harassment, or just false gods (don't make me define and discriminate between all of these just yet) all derive their access to our minds by one door only – lies within us that give them permission to operate.

When this very important principle is understood it radically changes the way we may approach dealing with them and even threatens to unravel many large ministries oriented around their focus on demons and different methods of deliverance. When it is seen that the real problem is the inner lies more than the presence of demons then, for effective ministry, we can shift our focus to dealing with the foundational problems and begin to see permanent freedom and victory.

There is a certain stigma associated with demons and their influence or control in a person's life. Many do not even want to acknowledge their existence because of this and others, while admitting that it may be a problem somewhere else or at a different time in history choose to believe that people today in a more enlightened society are generally not bothered by such uncivilized notions.

On the other hand I have seen others who seem to see demons everywhere they look and are eager to “exercise their gifts” to perform all sorts of rituals or methods to cast them out every chance they get. However, it has seemed to me that very often these people appear to be trying to draw more attention to themselves and their abilities to fight the supernatural than they are bringing glory to God's reputation, even though they claim to operate in His name. (see Matt. 7:21-23)

The important point is that it is the lies that we still believe in our HEARTS that allow these various problems to continue to thrive and exist within our minds. It is not so much the intellectual lies we may believe, although they can be a contributing factor, but it is the lies we received during experiences particularly in our formative years that have the most affect on us. These lies cannot be simply dispensed by confronting ourselves or each other with factual truth. Fact-based truth may be ever so true, but it is primarily left-brain, intellectual truth and does not register in the right brain where the real problem lies remain embedded. Those lies were received usually during times of trauma or intense emotion and can only be addressed effectively by the Spirit of God speaking to our soul directly.

Sometimes I believe He uses new experiences that find access through emotional channels to reopen to parts of our memory to expose these lies and challenge them. Sometimes He may speak directly to those memories and speak the truth into them. Whatever happens, we are faced with a choice in a moment of truth to decide whether we will cling to those lies as being the true definition of our identity or whether we will release them in exchange for real truth and embrace the real identity that God has in mind for us.

Now that I have attempted to lay the background for my understanding in this area I will share the idea that came to me this morning. It has to do with one of the parables of Jesus found in Matthew 13.

“Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?” And he said to them, “An enemy has done this!” The slaves said to him, “Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?” But he said, “No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.'”'” (Matthew 13:24-30)

I am well aware of the normal understanding and interpretation of this parable and in no way am trying to challenge that. At the same time I believe that many parables as well as prophecies have more than one application. I wonder if this parable may have application in the area of an individual person's mind as well as the larger application to the church as a whole? As I observe my own life and how God seems to be working with me, I see great significance in this story in my experience.

The field represents my heart, part of my mind, where, especially during my growing up years “His men were sleeping” on the job as far as protecting my heart from damage. During some of the abuse and neglect done to my spirit during those days the enemy implanted seeds of lies deep into my soul that caused me to believe they were my identity. These seeds appeared, in the early stages of growth and in an externals-emphasized religious atmosphere, to be quite similar to true religion and were usually affirmed as such. I could itemize these various seeds but right now I haven't taken the time to identify them in particular though I can generally see many of them. They have to do with fitting in to church life and looking good and conforming so that others praise me for being a “good Christian”. But they were springing out of the seeds of lies about myself and about God that had been planted in my “field”. It is now becoming more evident that indeed “an enemy has done this!”

Then comes the time when the differences start to become more noticeable. What used to appear very pious and righteous now starts to appear in its true light, full of pride, fear, low self esteem and secretly trying to appease an angry or temperamental God. This may sound harsh, but it is the reality for many of us now discovering the roots of our life-long religious activities and behaviors. Now comes the time when we have to decide what we are going to do about these deeply embedded lies and the resulting “weeds” that they have produced in our lives.

Our first impulse is to take strong action and uproot these weeds from our souls. We are ashamed of what they have done in our hearts and are afraid of what others will think of us if they discover all these problems in us. We are afraid of being exposed and even enter into some confusion as to who we really are. Viewing our “field” within us we wonder sometimes if we are really Christians or are we just pretenders with a lot of nice fruit mixed in with a lot of hypocrisy and evil character traits. We are tempted to give up in despair and believe yet another lie of the enemy that there is no hope for us or that we are not good enough to be a Christian.

But those who determine to continue the struggle and want to have a clean field with only plants of true quality in them find themselves in a dilemma. They discover that uprooting these lies can create real upheaval in their hearts as the lies have strong roots intertwined with the roots of truth in their hearts. As we try to forceably remove these lies from the outside either in ourselves or in others, we find that often we cause more damage than success. It is now that we need to consider the wisdom of the counsel from the Master, “Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.'”

What does this mean in our experience? I cannot give a complete answer right now. I am still in the process of processing this. But I sense that there is a great deal to learn here in how to effectively deal with hearts, both others and our own. Some things seem to be evident here though. Allowing the lies to mature to the point that they become obvious before they are dealt with may have some benefit, whatever that may be. Secondly, it may be important to involve God's agents under His direct supervision to deal with these at the right time. From what I have observed this may be simply God speaking directly to our heart at a unique time when I least expect it. Or it may mean an intense ministry session with a person or group of people who are simply there to facilitate an atmosphere where God has freedom to work without coercion. It may happen during times of personal prayer or public worship or a concert that touches our emotions and releases the grip of the roots. Whatever form it takes, it must be in God's timing Who knows our hearts and when the weeds are ripe for removal.

This may help me in my own struggle as I have wondered what I am supposed to do as I recognize the various false gods circulating in my own mind. I accept that it is important to first recognize them and maybe even identify them, especially to distinguish them as not really being my true identity as they have always asserted. But many of them still remain, and I am sometimes tempted to wonder if it is wrong for me to still find myself in this condition. This parable reminds me that while I am impatient to uproot these false gods that are becoming more and more evident in my life, that God has His plan for my complete deliverance at the right times and by the right means. This does not mean I can sit back and continue to embrace the lies and allow them to flourish. I will continue to challenge them and pray for deliverance and resist they lying voices inside of me. I must continue to discover my true identity in Christ and who I really was created to be. I continue to crave more blessing and more truth and want to strengthen the legitimate plants growing in my soul. And when God shows up to pull up another weed I want to fully cooperate no matter how painful the uprooting may feel. I want to see the joy on His face as He looks into my soul and sees His reflection that most often I cannot yet see there. I choose to let Him do what He does best in His time.

Is God Really Fair?

(Romans 3:5-6) But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? (NAS95)

Does God inflict wrath? Why is this associated with the reasonable possibility that people might assume that in so doing He would be unfair? And why, if the first question is true, might it affect His ability to “judge” the world?

The word translated as “wrath” here is the same word that keeps showing up all through the New Testament, orge. In Strong's dictionary it is defined as “orge, properly, desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind), i.e. (by analogy), violent passion (ire, or (justifiable) abhorrence); by implication punishment:--anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath.”

Obviously there are some serious variations of options from which to choose from here when translating into English. And it certainly cannot be overlooked that the belief systems of the translators themselves will always play a major role in determining which words to choose depending on their view of God and His character.

For my part, I believe it is far more accurate and consistent with the rest of Scripture to understand this word in the context of the first few definitions rather than the last. And I believe that the verses quoted above bring pressure to do just that.

The context of these verses in Romans is a discussion of people who want to rationalize their sinning by using some convoluted reasoning. They arrive at the conclusion that because their sin makes God's righteousness look better by contrast then they should get some kind of credit for making Him look good. This implies that in “the judgment” they should receive some kind of favor from the judge for enhancing His reputation. This of course, reveals the human penchant to pervert justice by trying to somehow “bribe” the judge.

I also believe this passage is presenting the usual view of “wrath” in the context of these false arguments. People are trying to imply that if God can get away with arbitrarily condemning them to be lost in a fit of His anger, He cannot at the same time still be a righteous God. Notice that Paul here takes pains to remind us that he is speaking in human terms. I believe he notes this partly because he is referring to the human version and experience of "wrath" in contrast to a more correct view from God's perspective. If this claim against God is true, and many even today subtly believe there is some truth to it, then it makes for a strong case that God seems to be disqualified to be a fair and just judge over the world. Today, just as all throughout history, most people assume that God is Judge primarily because He is the strongest Being in the universe and therefore no one can resist His determinations; everyone is simply forced to accept His claim of being just even though deep inside we still have nagging doubts about it.

But Paul is addressing this very issue by the way he brings these questions out into the light and challenges us to consider them. While we may brush aside the assertion that we should get some kind of favorable consideration in the judgment for our sins making God look more righteous, the more serious charge of God's perceived qualifications to be an unbiased, totally honest and fair judge while at the same time inflicting “wrath” (as it is usually understood) still remains an issue that must be addressed.

The underlying issue discussed in this whole section of Romans is the fairness of God. And this question lies at the very base of all of Satan's accusations and charges against God upon which his counterfeit kingdom is founded. It is of utmost importance that we seriously consider this issue and come to terms with it; for the conclusions that we come to are both influenced and have influence on all our other beliefs and doctrines.

To put it more succinctly, the charge is that if God can indulge in a temporary and even slight loss of patience in His intense passion and anger about sin and sinners, then He can be validly charged with being unfit to pass sentence on others, even though they cannot resist or question His decisions. This is the great lie that Satan has sought to infuse and reinforce in every intelligent being willing to listen and sympathize with him. And sadly most Christians have bought into this lie to some extent or another. We may not state it that plainly, but deep inside the question continues to arise on occasion and assert itself into our consciousness. It is a troubling but valid question and should not be once again suppressed, ignored or piously disposed of with a lot of religious double-talk. Either God is absolutely fair, just, good, righteous and consistently compassionate and loving, or there is a fault in His character that will give Satan a foothold in the mind of reasoning, thinking minds unwilling to accept pious arguments in God's defense.

The one doctrine that lies at the heart of the consideration of this important point about God and that has wreaked the most havoc in distorting human perceptions about God's character is the various beliefs about how God will bring about an end to the problem of sin. Many people strongly believe in an eternally, ongoing existence of supreme torture and pain imposed on everyone who rejects God's offer of mercy. Many others after carefully considering this disastrous lie about God have rejected the existence of God altogether rather than embracing belief in such a monstrous, diabolic two-faced Being. There are still others who insist that the torture does not last throughout all eternity but only for a predetermined time during which God's vents His anger and frustration and indignation on those so crass as to resist His loving advances toward them in their former life. These piously feel that their doctrine of limited “punishment” is far more favorable to God's reputation than the eternally tortured version of hell put forward by the others. But they miss the point that belief in any amount of arbitrary torture, punishment or deliberate infliction of pain on rejectors of love still betrays and undermines many of God's claims about Himself put forward throughout all of Scripture. Again, this thinking about God has created more confusion, hostility and animosity against God than any other scheme Satan has put forward. And tragically it is promoted and supported by millions who still claim to believe in a perfect God of love and mercy and Who never changes.

Paul presents a compelling question that must rise in the hearts of sinners if the above assertions are assumed to be true. “But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?” (Romans 3:7)

(next in series)

The Elijah Syndrome

I have once again fallen victim to what I call the “Elijah syndrome”. No, I have not been full of boldness and stood valiantly for God against great odds and received wonderful confirmation of His power and presence. I am referring to what happened not long after that event on Mt. Carmel when Elijah was exhausted and succumbed to the temptation to be afraid and subsequently ran for his life like a scared little rabbit. This must have greatly amused the woman who threatened him and brought her a great deal of satisfaction. (reference 1 Kings 17,18)

The syndrome I have observed over the years is this: very frequently after a spiritual high moment there almost inevitably follows a particularly powerful temptation aimed at our most vulnerable weakness. It is crass and vicious on the part of the tempter, but then that is what he is like. He is cruel, completely heartless and he is ruthless in pursuit of shaming us, defaming us and destroying us. His real goal is to defame God's reputation and he stops short of absolutely nothing to accomplish this. He particularly enjoys causing a public failure of consistency, a poisoning of the spirit that reflects his own evil and selfish attributes to be revealed in the life of a saint-in-process. Then he quickly broadcasts this failure, greatly exaggerating its extent and implications, and masking over the truth of the person's real, inward identity. Once again Satan vindicates himself in his charges and lies against God.

This sequence creates a great deal of tension, remorse and confusion within the person thus attacked and tripped up. Many times he wonders what his true, God-implanted identity really is as he is led to question and understand his own inconsistency. Sometimes he falls into deep discouragement and is blinded to the causes of his catastrophic failure and shame. Shame becomes the primary feeling that swallows him up and may even drive him into hopeless despair.

This is where the story of Elijah is such a powerful encouragement to remember in the midst of the confusion and shame. While Elijah ran for his life making God look weak and helpless to protect him, God still had His hand around Elijah waiting for him to slow down enough to come back to his senses and receive the gifts of life from His hand. It really confirms the fact in salvation that all righteousness comes from God and that we have absolutely none of our own. We can only receive it, cooperate with Him in the transaction and then live out the righteousness that God implants in us.

However, there seems to be certain conditions that tend to create the opportunity for this syndrome to be triggered. First of all, it happens to a person who is learning to depend more and more totally on God and not on themselves. This enrages the enemy because it exposes the falseness of the lies with which he has blanketed the world and threatens to greatly weaken his despotic control over souls.

Secondly it often comes on the heels of a spiritual event that creates an emotional high in the life of the believer. Sometimes people are led to conclude from this that we should avoid spiritual highs so we won't be so liable for a crash. But if that logic were true then we might not today have one of the most telling stories in the Bible contrasting the character of God against the evil of false gods. There is nothing at all wrong with experiencing spiritual highs, though we are not expected to live there all the time. These events are given to remind us of the ideal that is in God's presence. But we must also return to the everyday world and live out the vision and remember inside the inspiration that received on the mountain. (see My Utmost for His Highest 10/1) The disciples also experienced this when they came down off the Mount of Transfiguration.

Lastly this vicious attack usually arrives in a period of physical weakness and/or emotional exhaustion. Elijah had just run an incredible distance leading Ahab's chariot (his wicked opponent) through driving, blinding rain so he could get back home safely without receiving the slightest kindness in return. There was certainly nothing wrong with his actions and choices. Indeed, he was exhibiting an amazing affinity to God's own heart of compassion and love by blessing his enemy while spending himself to exhaustion. But this situation set him up for the attack that followed because the enemy loves to exploit our weaknesses, both spiritually and physically. Elijah was drenched, unbelievably tired and emotionally drained. He was the perfect target for a savage assault by by the ultimate aggressor. And Satan chose to launch his attack through the wicked wife of the very man Elijah had just poured himself out to bless.

This is the story of the Elijah syndrome. It is given not only as a warning to alert us that our archenemy will use every such opportunity to launch a sneak attack on our souls; but is also given particularly to remind us that God has not forsaken or forgotten us when we have played the fool and been unwittingly participant in smearing His reputation once again through our dysfunction. What amazes me the most in this story is the consideration that God never once reprimanded Elijah for his failure to trust Him in the face of this simple threat. Many of us have been tempted to castigate Elijah and wonder how he could be so bold in front of overwhelming opposition just hours before and yet fall into paralyzing fear from the threat from a single woman. Where had his confident faith gone? Why not exercise holy boldness and confiding trust, particularly after such tremendous affirmation and public success at the hand of God?

But Elijah was human and subject to the same blind spots and weaknesses that we all have to deal with. (James 5:16,17) And God demonstrated His character of kindness, grace and sympathy and simply sent an angel to supply what Elijah needed most – food, water and lots of rest.

But I'm sure Elijah was thinking very much about what had just happened and God did not leave him to figure it all out on his own. When God took him through the series of powerful events on Mt. Horeb (Sinai), they were specifically calculated to answer the troubling questions that must have been tormenting Elijah on the inside. They reminded him of the primary way that God communicates to us as well as contrasting that with the ways we often expect or desire God to communicate with us. It was a powerful reminder to Elijah as well as to all of us that even the fire that fell on Mt. Carmel just prior to this was not nearly so important as remembering to listen to the inaudible voice of God within our soul. God is there all the time; but when we allow distractions, whether positive or negative, to drown out His voice, then we are in danger of making decisions or reacting to temptations or threats in a way that is inconsistent with the Spirit of God within us. But this does not mean that God has forsaken us, no matter ugly things now appear or how our feelings and emotions clamor and accuse. We have the assurance from this example in the life of Elijah that we can trust in a God who supersedes our emotions and perceptions and who is faithful to us even when we have been unfaithful and shamed before all the world.

The Outrage of Death

Seemingly strange – but then again, not really.

That's how I felt yesterday as I mingled with other mourners in a funeral home who were there for the remembering of my son-in-law's father who died in a drowning accident last week. At first it did not seem logically explainable to me why I was feeling such strong sadness as I held my son-in-law (or now son) close to me and began to cry myself nearly as if I really had known his father well. But I did not know him. After hearing about his life and his interests during the service I began to really wish I had known him, but I didn't. So what could account for such strong emotions welling up from deep within me?

Some might say that it was stirring up memories of my own similar experiences over the past 3-4 years laying to rest both of my own parents. That could indeed explain some of this feeling, but I didn't really believe that was necessarily most of it. The intense sadness inside of me was not really connected to those events as I thought back on them now. So my mind and heart struggled to find an answer that would make more sense of what I was experiencing here.

Then, almost surprisingly, as I walked around the room and observed the various emotions being displayed and looked at the one lying in the coffin at the front of the room, a feeling of anger began to stir within me. And at this point it really started to make sense to me. My sadness that was now intensifying into occasional flashes of anger was not connected to a lost relationship with a person that I had known well but was aroused and directed toward the very enemy of death itself. This anger resonated in the distressed words of my wife who exclaimed, “This was never supposed to happen!”

Death – and the fallen angel who started this whole catastrophe – was the real villain that aroused my intense wrath and passion at the overwhelming injustice that sin has perpetrated on all of us causing all this unnecessary pain and grief that torments and racks our souls. Yes, death itself in all its forms is the real enemy here and I was feeling just a a very small taste of the “wrath” that God is feeling about this horrendous injustice as He works to bring it all to a final conclusion. He is eagerly looking forward to the glorious day when all of us together will be able to shout with joy the victory cry that will shake every corner and reverberate into every chasm of the universe, “Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory?”

Later as the crowd of grieving friends gathered among the hard tombstones and braced themselves against the cold wind sweeping over the hill, I looked around at the symbols of pain and ruin sitting stark and mute over the graves of hundreds of victims of this terrible experiment gone mad. Once again the anger welled up within me as I watched helplessly during the final moments of truth as the stark realization of presence of death pierced our hearts. I watched the pain intensify on the countenances of those slowly walking away from the graveside showing the inner struggle to fight off this last assault. “It's not right!! It's unfair! It was never supposed to be this way!” I screamed inside.

But good news trumps this overwhelming evil pain and the fight is not over yet. God has not lost, though He suffers the same pain we attempt to fight off at a level exponentially greater than we could ever imagine. Yes – God is very angry and full of intense wrath! But we must learn and remember that His wrath is not directed at people, but at the injustice and terrible consequences that this stupid idea of sin has wreaked throughout all of His perfect creation. His wrath is not understood or reflected in the way we experience wrath, for in our fallen condition we cannot help but feel intense resentment and desire for revenge on those who cause us pain. But God is not subject or party to these distorted, sinful emotions and His ways are not our ways. He has a perfect solution rooted in perfect love that will bring an end to all suffering, all abuse, all injustice and all pain. It is a plan that most of us are, in reality, very unfamiliar with though many claim to understand it and teach it. It is a plan of restoration to perfect love and totally unselfish relationships in a recreated world restored to its original design.

God has no intention of taking our political designs and schemes and massaging them into a supernatural kingdom on earth like many evangelicals teach and believe today. I am appalled at many of the messages I hear emanating from Christian teachers and leaders leading millions to believe that God is working toward an earthly, politically-oriented kingdom set up in conjunction with Christians and Jews to physically fight unbelievers and subject them to coercive rule and power.

These ideas, if properly seen in the light of true reality, proper reading of the Scriptures and the real character of the true God who rules in love over the universe, would be seen to be blasphemy and treasonous against the principles of God's kingdom of love and freedom. God never uses force to accomplish His ends like humans so desire to do. And the true God of heaven is not planning to use threats, intimidation and torture to drive humans into conforming to His desires. These are the methods of the enemy and God will never stoop to employ these weapons of death to accomplish His ends of life.

It is true that He has the amazing capability to use tragic events when thrown at us by the enemy and turn things around for the ultimate good of those who trust Him and respond to His love, but that never should be confused with the belief that God originates these evil schemes.

Jesus stated the real truth about God unequivocally and plainly when He said clearly, “The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10. God operates from an exhaustless resource of life and He never needs to employ any other means to bring about our salvation and display His glory. He is faithful and perfect in all His ways. The more we learn the truth about Him the more our hearts will flash in resonance with His true selfless passion and love.

The thief struck again this last week. He stole a father, a son, a husband that we gathered to lay in the ground until Jesus comes to wake him up for the victory parade. He killed a life that was never supposed to be taken, for he has no rights to kill that which he cannot create. And he destroyed the peace and the close attachments of love and support that a family needed to survive, to mature and to be blessed in this world. Yes, the thief has struck again and his satanic leer casts a shadow over our hearts and lives. But there is Another who is stronger than the thief that will restore justice and peace and joy, One who is fully capable, ready and eager to bring life, comfort, joy and hope to hearts ripped open by the thief's cruel attack.

“Jesus, come very close to each of us who have been once again damaged and wounded by the enemy. Show us the real truth about you and dispel the lies that cause us to be afraid of you and your ways. Show us your face and wrap your arms around those who are hurting and confused in a strong, heartfelt embrace of reassurance and blessing. I praise you for your true goodness, your covenant lovingkindness that can never be defeated or diminished. You alone are truly worthy of our adoration and honor. Reveal yourself to us in fresh new ways and revive our spirits with your Spirit to face the days ahead of us. Thank-you for being faithful even when we fail. Thank-you for your perfect, passionate love even though we mistake it for tainted human-type wrath. Thank-you that your ways are not our ways and your thoughts are not like our thoughts. Lift us higher in our perceptions of your truth and your ways and mentor our hearts to burn with the same passion that flows from your heart. Thank-you for life, for family, for bonds of love that draw us to you and connect us with each other.”

Even so, come Lord Jesus!