Worship the King!

     Jesus came to us as a helpless baby, and when he grew up he increased in favor with God and men. He walked the countryside, blessing children, preaching uplifting sermons, healing the sick. He called his followers friends. He explained that he had come to lay down his life for us. He welcomes all who will come to him in humility, and his presence is a great comfort to the believer in times of trouble, grief, and sorrow.
Remember, also, that people tried to kill him several times for claiming to be God. Remember his violence in the temple. This same man who is meek and lowly is mighty and holy. Things are not right in this world, and he WILL fix them. I would like to share a few things Jesus said in hopes that you will see him in a different light and give pause to think.
     Remember that John the Baptist introduced Jesus by saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." Jesus himself said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." MT 7:13-14
     In MT 11:20-24, Jesus tells that the day of judgment will be terrible, even worse than it was for Sodom, for the cities of his time because they wouldn't repent at his teaching.
     MT 12:29-42 talks more of judgment for blasphemy and careless words. V.30: "He who is not with me is against me...."
     MT 24;38,9,44 warn us that we will be caught by surprise when Jesus returns, and it won't be a pleasant surprise for everyone.
     When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, escaping their murderous pursuers, they sang, "Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea."
     When Peter and John were persecuted, the believers prayed Psalm 2.
     REV 11:17-18 "We give thanks to you, Lord Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come."
     Look at the parable of the sheep and the goats in Mt 25 this way: the sheep didn't know what they were doing right while the goats didn't know they were doing anything wrong. I sure hope my conscience never breaks down so far I no longer know when I am doing wrong!
     Jesus is asking you a very pointed question. "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division."  LK 12:51   He gets just a bit harsher in 13:5: "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." I don't know about you, but I would rather avoid eternal punishment, fire that is never quenched, and the whole weeping and gnashing of teeth thing. I don't think he was kidding.
     In MT 12:43-45, Jesus describes the spiritual state of Israel. He had come to preach repentance and salvation, and by his power had caused demons to flee. These demons not only fled people, but the land. "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." See, Jesus did the people a favor: while they were powerless to resist the devil, emptied the house of Israel of demons, put it in order and swept it clean, but the people rejected him. The demons came back with a vengeance. Wonder why things are so bad in our own nation? We kicked God out of most of our society, and guess who takes his place?
     Please read LK 20:16 and 21:17.

My prayer is that you will see that Jesus taught many things that we don't hear anymore pertaining to nations, particularly the USA. He came to save sinners, but he also rules over the affairs of men, and this includes nations. After all, in the end he will rule the whole earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Nations rise and fall according to his will. Please continue to follow my blog at http://revelationblog18.blogspot.com/

I have brought some heavy news to your heart. Remember that no matter what happens to the world around you, "we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf." HEB 6:18-19 Right there, seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus, is where I want to stay and where I want to invite others so that they can flee the coming wrath.
     Revelation 22:20 " Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."

Governmental Wisdom from the Bible

I've chosen for this blog post to keep things simple. Much of the greatest wisdom in the realm of human government can be found in the Bible. Our own founding fathers drew much of their guidance from it when they wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Having done some study of the scriptures which deal with government, I will just lay them out before you with the occasional comment. Let the Holy Spirit be your teacher.

First of all, the Bible presents the concept of boundary stones, an important and even sacred ancient tradition whereby stones where placed to mark property lines. They gave physical definition to personal property rights as well as governmental jurisdictions.

DT 19:14 "Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess."

DT 27:17 "Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor's boundary stone." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

Job24:1-3 "Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? Men move boundary stones, they pasture flocks they have stolen. They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge...."

PS 16:5,6 "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

HOS 5:10 "Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water." (presumably not covering the entire earth again)

Now I move on to some other jewels.

Luke 3:12-14 "Tax collectors also came to be baptized. 'Teacher,' they asked, "what should we do?" "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he [Jesus] told them. Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely-be content with your pay." (in those days, soldiers also served the police function)

Acts 17:26-27 "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set before them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."
From this: racism is a lie, evolution is a lie, all of human history has a purpose, borders and nations and Kingdoms and dynasties are under his control. It all rolls back to the truth of the story of Adam and Eve, the creation, the fall, filling the earth, turning to God of our own free will.

To save space, I refrain from copying the entire thirteenth chapter of the book of Romans. Instead, please read it yourself and see how many fundamental governmental principles are hidden there! Couple that with Acts 5:29 "We must obey God rather than men!" and you have grounds for a revolution!

Now, let's look at a couple of the prophets.
From Isaiah 1:
16 "wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."
21, 23 "See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her-but now murderers!

Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them. Therefore,...."
This sounds more like tomorrow's newspaper than Hebrew words on a scroll over 2,700 years old.

Jeremiah 1:
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
10 "See, today I appoint you over nations and Kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
One man CAN make a difference! Especially since the individual is sovereign and can rise up over the power of tyranny, as the American revolutionaries did.

Lamentations 3:34-36
"To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, to deny a man his rights before the Most High, to deprive a man of justice-would not the Lord see such things?"

There is no doubt that the American Revolution was inspired by God's word and achieved by his power, but NEVER forget that this same God has the will and the right to tear down any nation that defies him. He is very patient....

I pray you listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Please look at the many verses below from Proverbs.

8:14... Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power. By me kings reign and rulers make laws that are just; by me princes govern, and all nobles who rule on earth.

11:1 The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.
(read 16:11 also)

16:26 The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on.

17:15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent-the Lord detests them both. (read verse 26 and 18:5 too)

19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will perish.

19:28 A corrupt witness mocks at justice, and the mourn of the wicked gulps down evil.

20:10 Differing weights and differing measures-the Lord detests them both. [By the way, the Constitution requires that honest weights and measures be established.]

21:15 When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

23:10,11 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.

24:21,22 Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious, for these two will send sudden destruction upon then, and who knows what calamities they can bring?

Read 24:23,24,25 and 25:2-10

25:15 Through patience a ruler can be persuaded and a gentle tongue can break a bone. [I think I need to memorize this; can you think of somewhere to use this verse?]

Read 25:18

Just go ahead and read all of chapters 28 and 29; too much good stuff there to pick and choose!

I hope this has blessed you and that God will teach you many great things as you think on his word.

My Own Private God

There is no God like the God of the Bible. He has laid his heart out before all mankind, nakedly describing his love like a mother shielding her chicks, his rage resounding like thunder in the night skies, his crimson passion staining a rugged cross. The Lord welcomes with open arms those who dare to challenge him like Abraham, wear him out with complaints like Job, or drench their couch with tears like David. No one can honestly read the Psalms without knowing that this is a God like no other-open, honest, listening. There is no comfort like he can provide.

And yet, when I open up to the first page, I read "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," and I wonder what else he's not telling me. What happened before that first day of creation? What did Jesus draw in the sand when the woman was caught in adultery and brought before him? What does heaven really look like? What are those mysterious things that Daniel and John were forbidden to tell, that no man can know?

What I am saying is, God cherishes his privacy. Heaven is by invitation only. In the creative genius by which God invented dirt and air and  the entire universe are sacred recipes never to be shared. We'd call that intellectual property in its highest sense, just as the entire universe is property in all its vastness. Of all the worlds in the expanse, God has sublet earth to man. We are to care for the earth and tend it and make it flourish.

Man's authority over the earth has two parts, hand in hand-right and responsibility. He has the right to work the ground, build upon it, improve it and the responsibility to care for it and not cause undue damage to it. It is property. God has seen fit to parcel this property into nations and states and parishes and estates and subdivisions and tribal lands and shopping centers and rights-of-way. At times past and present he has upended leases and driven peoples to flee his wrath, bringing in new tenants. Just like an apartment landlord, God has chosen to take a gamble on various tenants, some who meticulously tend their own plots while others use crayons on the walls.

In this great enterprise called life God has let us buy in. From owning your first baby toy to leading a great superpower nation, we have the right to own, to claim, to protect. Life. Liberty. Property. Pursuit of happiness. "Mine" is not a dirty word. It would be preposterous for God to call us to be generous if he did not first allow us to have things of our own to CHOOSE to share!

Our first, most treasured and inviolate property is our inmost being. Not even God will violate a man's will. We were given the choice in the beginning to love and obey God or eat the forbidden fruit, for love without a choice is no love at all. I say this not to preach the gospel at you, but to point out our first freedom is of the soul. The gospel is offensive because it reaches so deep and so personally, to our most basic right to decide who we are. The man who is free in his mind can never be imprisoned. This extends to religious thoughts, to philosophy, to love, to creative genius and art. This is the pursuit of happiness. One does not need health, sight, hearing, a tongue, or even physical freedom to have liberty in the mind. Indeed, life is most precious to the man who is at liberty in his inner being.

Of course, these freedoms within are useless to a man without a vehicle for the practice of them. Hence God has granted man the right to life, and a strong curse upon those who shed the blood of man. He also has the right to property. Whether it be the justice of his cause to keep the stone knife he has carved with his own hands, or the force of law behind his sale of millions of copies of his invention,  or the right to his own address if he can raise the money, God has blessed man with the rights to a home country, a home, a home appliance.

As I write, the more I understand the miracle which our forefathers wrought upon this new land. They put quill to scroll and crafted a shelter for natural rights. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword, because in our nation the pen was given charge over the sword. The founders included patent rights to protect the property of one's mind, the right to retain one's life and liberty and property, and the right to pursue one's happiness. The shelter they built became the most fertile garden of liberty in all of history.

The freedoms were given by God, but they were first and best protected by the Constitution and Declaration. Suddenly, there was a thinktank a continent wide, property available for anyone willing to work for it, a No Trespassing sign pointed at the government. A church on every corner; something we take for granted. Because this nation was conceived in liberty, with man's highest good in mind, man was able to achieve his greatest accomplishments here. Government, primarily, stayed out of the way and guarded the shelter so the citizens could tend it.

That era is no more.

In the land where freedom fighters crafted the Declaration of Independence, it is now dangerously close to illegal to repeat the process. Most recently, Martin Luther King, Jr. demanded that our nation pay up on the promisory note of unalienable rights. Now is the time, once again.

The US Patent Office was created on Constitutional authority for the purpose of creating a safe deposit box in which a citizen could place their new idea for protection. The inventor could market and sell their product so as to pay for the great investment in creating it without theft, and thereby be encouraged to continue to innovate. It is the closest thing to a security fence for the mind and the pursuit of happiness.

This concept has been replaced by license plate scanners, fingerprinted ID cards, fusion centers, unwarranted surveillance of our computers, nude airport scanners and TSA molesters, and government spies watching us right now, live. If you doubt their malicious intent, remember that there were live feeds of the Bengazi attack and nothing was done to rescue their own.

The problem is not the use of technology by government. I am excited that the US remain the greatest source of invention and advancement the world has ever seen. I wholeheartedly bless any and all efforts to use the greatest technology to perform all the proper roles of government with greatest efficiency and effectiveness. The Constitution and Declaration fully support this action, creating just such the environment to develop these capabilities. However, our founding documents were conceived to restrain government's power.

I said earlier that God cherishes his privacy. He cherishes ours too. He honors the privacy of the marriage bed, the darkest extremes of your inmost thoughts. The Lord grants you solitude in your soul and a sanctuary so you can be free from within. The 4th Amendment says it best: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

To add my inadequate words to those of the founders, the government DOES have the right to do everything in its power to pursue justice and prosecute criminals, even to the point of depriving them of life, liberty, and property through due process of law, as the 5th amendment says. Clearly, though, they must have probable cause. There can be no doubt that the kinds of surveillance activities currently being performed and pursued by the government at all levels are the same as what were called general warrants, performed by the redcoats, and unconstitutional.

From the 5th: ...nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

From the 14th: No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

To our president, governors, mayors, police chiefs, sheriffs, and school officials, I say pursue justice vigorously. You are forbidden to surveil We the People in any way without probable cause and warrant.