How to Accept God’s Grace

The notion common to most Christians is that you accept God’s grace by declaring your belief in Him. This comes from Romans 10:9 which says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (KJV)

My understanding of grace is that it is applied by a loving God universally to his children in the form of a full restitution of the physical body after death, a full restitution of broken hearts and (conditional upon repentance) a full restitution of sin.

I believe that in order to accept God’s grace I have to do more than say “I do” but I have to “do what I say.”

What you send out will come back to you

The Author of Salvation

Jesus Christ introduced the sacrament of bread and wine/water at the Last Supper in preparation for his great atoning gift to the world.

In the sacrament he gave two great symbolic elements, bread and water, to help the people understand his gift. The bread was likely unleavened because the Last Supper was a Passover meal. Because unleavened bread does not have yeast, it has less moisture and is less prone to decay. The bread represented the purity of Christ’s body and the incorruptibility of his gift.

The Israelites ate manna in the wilderness with Moses. The manna was a gift from God at a time when other food was not available. This taught them to depend physically on God before introducing the idea of relying spiritually on God. When Christ came he expanded the metaphor of manna when he said, “This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” (John 6:58) Christ was the bread from heaven. He was the epitome of the symbol from the Old Testament.

The sacrament at the Last Supper used wine but water has been used interchangeably for this symbol. Christ declared, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14) The water is a symbol of the blood which Christ was about to give in his atoning gift to the world.

Christ was the lamb of God. His death was a fulfillment of a symbolic ritual of animal sacrifice in the Old Testament where a lamb was sacrificed for the sins of the people. (see 1 Pet 1:18-19) “In Leviticus the sacrificial offerings for sin fall into two categories, those designed to atone for unintentional transgressions and those that atoned for willful sins.” (Stephen Ricks, Source) Under the law of Moses unintentional sins were paid for by the transgressor himself. Willful sins cannot be redeemed by the transgressor and require an intercessor. Intercession by Christ on our behalf is necessary because no unclean thing can dwell with God and all of us are unclean due to our intentional sinning. 

While observing the Mosaic law of sacrifice, as we understand now from Christ’s own teachings, was not fully effective in perfecting the people.  It was part of the author’s plan to show his people where to look for their salvation. Jesus Christ, the author of salvation, uses imagery, symbolism and poetic words to explain his great gift. The gift of salvation has much deeper levels of meaning which are understood after we participate in and ponder the physical representations of bread and water, lambs and sacrifice, the cross and the garden.

In the garden and on the cross, Jesus Christ experienced personally and individually every pain and sorrow from every sin committed and all it’s repercussion for each and every person who has lived on earth before and after his life on earth. Peter thought Jesus should flee the evil men who wanted to kill him. Jesus knew that the pain was necessary. He said to his Father, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matt 26:42) He showed perfect submission to the will of God in the way that we all must submit both to God’s laws and to his punishments. During this time of intercession, the pain caused Jesus Christ to sweat drops of blood from every pore. (Luke 22:44) The blood sanctified us his people.

If we are sanctified by his blood, why must we appeal to him via repentance to have mercy on us? Jesus Christ became the one to hold the key of salvation because he broke the confining bands of death and sin. Only through him can we be saved. This means that he sets the terms and conditions of the salvation that he offers. 

Because Christ is the author of the terms and conditions, we have no right to demand his grace. As we submit to his authority and guidance, we begin to understand what our role is in turning away from sin and what his role is in finishing our faith. The first condition of salvation is baptism by an authorized servant of God. John the apostle taught, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) Being born of water is baptism. Being born of the Spirit is a process of sanctification that must occur during this mortal life through the obedience and direction of God’s emissary, the Holy Spirit. The remaining terms and conditions are spelled out in scripture and in the divine tutelage that the Spirit gives. 

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Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen?

God is aware of each one of us and the experiences we have here on Earth are timely in duration and intensity to be a perfect trial of our faith. “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor 10:13).

He has prepared this life to test us. “To be tested, we must have the agency to choose between alternatives. To provide alternatives on which to exercise our agency, we must have opposition.” (Dallin H Oaks) The ability to choose is held inviolate. God will not take away the ability to choose from anyone of us before our appointed hour to die. He does expect us to self govern and temporarily take away the agency of those who break the laws and contracts of our governments. The final judgement of what a just consequence should be he reserves for himself.

God gave his son to atone for our sins so that even the justice of God could be counteracted with mercy if we believe in Him and have faith in his son’s atoning power. In this way, he prepares “a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell” (2 Ne 9:10).

And so good and bad continue to coexist in this world. How does God react to this without intervening unjustly before the appointed time? Sometimes he eases the burdens of those who are suffering so that they can bear up under the conditions in which they find themselves. Sometimes he turns aside disasters (without stopping them) so that they do not affect the faithful as severely. Sometimes he blunts the effect of an evil act so that the lives of his children are spared when they might have been killed. Sometimes he lets us see evil to teach us what we do not ever want to repeat.

God’s assurance is that He will “consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain” (2 Nephi 2:2).

Source: 

Oaks, Dallin H. “Opposition In All Things.” Ensign. May 2016.

Comfort in the Promises of the Last Days

“Despite the lack of righteousness in the world today, we live in a sacred, holy time. Prophets, with loving and longing hearts, have described our day for centuries.” (Cook)

Jeremiah said, “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt…but this shall be my covenant…I will put my law in their inward parts…” (Jer 31:31-33)

Ezekiel said, “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.” (Ezek 37:26) “And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” (Ezek 44:23)

When God Seems Distant

God is omnipresent, yet sometimes he seems far away. If you’ve ever thought about that deeply, you might have assumed that he is immediately available and wondered why you can’t feel or sense his presence. I can believe that you might even race ahead to the next logical conclusion that either you must then be of no value to him (since he isn’t there) or alternately that he does not exist.

Believing in God requires walking this life without seeing everything. That’s faith. 

You Can Have What You Want or You Can Have Something Better

This post is about the Ten Commandments.  Each item corresponds to one of the ten in order as described by Moses in Exodus 20.

1. You can believe in many gods or no god at all; you can look to horoscopes and scientific hypotheses for explanations or — you can have something better: a rock solid belief in God and trust that He will explain everything in his own due time.
2. You can have your big house, fast car, and all the distractions of life or — you can have something better: a relationship with God.
3. You can make your point with profanity or — you can have something better: reverence for the source of true power in the universe.
4. You can vacation, work, wash your car and a hundred other things on the Sundays of your life — or you can have something better: nourishment that comes from worshipping in church and studying God’s word privately.
5. You can harbor hatred towards your parents for all the mistakes they made — or you can accept their gift of life and the things they did right as the gift they truly are.
6. You can take your frustrations to the extreme and kill either yourself or someone else or — you can learn to be happy by dealing with your emotions.
7. You can have an affair, an open relationship or experiment with same gender attractions or — you can have something better: a marriage to someone who also keeps the law of chastity.
8. You can take what you want or think you deserve with no thought for the consequences to others or — you can earn your daily bread through honest labor and gain the satisfaction that comes from a job well done.
9. You can pretend to be who you aren’t, offer what you can’t deliver, and say what you don’t mean, but there is something better: one heart and one mind at peace with yourself and others.
10. You can have a negative perspective preferring to focus on all the things you don’t have — a house as big as your neighbor’s, a husband or wife as good as someone else, a lack of health, wealth or talents and you can become bitter and resentful of God — or you can have something better: faith in His purposes for your life, hope in a brighter tomorrow, love for your neighbor and yourself and a sense of contentment and happiness.

Life is undoubtedly hard.  The trials we face force us to use all our resources, develop resources we never had and discover our own grit and stick-to-it-ness.  These Ten Commandments (as with all commandments) point the way to happiness.

This video is an excellent speech given to an audience of young BYU students but with a timeless message of hope and encouragement.

The title comes from Jeffrey R Holland as quoted here.

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The Bride

I went to a wedding reception at the Paloma Pachanga, a ranch in Texas.  The bride was beautiful and beaming.  The groom was impeccably dressed and very suave.  The parents graciously greeted the guests and provided the feast.  All the guests celebrated the auspicious beginning of this couple’s new life.  It was all very traditional.

John the Revelator saw a wedding…

“The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white…” Rev 19:7-8

Join me as I explore the details of this wedding.  John said that the holy city, New Jerusalem, descends out of heaven like a bride. Rev 21:2

This is no ordinary wedding.  The groom is called “The Lamb.”  The bride is called, “New Jerusalem.”  New Jerusalem is a literal place and a gathering of saints. Isaiah speaks of a land that “shall be married” and that God will “rejoice” over it the way a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.  Isa 62:4-5

So is this wedding really an event?  If Jesus hadn’t told so many wedding stories, I might say no.  I think this is an event at the second coming that we need to watch for and prepare to attend.  Allow me to summarize briefly the stories Jesus told.  

• The Ten Virgins:  Ten women wait at the gate to be admitted to a wedding.  Five leave to replace oil in their lamps and when they return, the gate is shut and they are not admitted. (Matt 25:1-13)
• Men with Lights Waiting For Their Lord:  The Lord returns from a wedding and when he knocks, they open immediately because they have been watching. (Luke 12:35-48)
• Great Supper with Guests who Wouldn’t Come:  The invited guests wouldn’t come so the poor and later the destitute were compelled to come. (Luke 14:16-24)
• The Master Who has Shut the Door:  The dialogue that happens after the bridegroom has come, let the guests in, shut the door, and more come. (Luke 13:25-30)
• When You Go to a Wedding:  Instruction to sit in the lowest seat, and how to invite guests (Luke 14:7-15)

All these stories talk about getting in to the event, not the actual ceremony or the feast thereafter.  Have you ever heard of a wedding where the invited guests weren’t allowed to enter?  I haven’t.  These stories emphasize being ready and waiting.

Why doesn’t John’s narrative include the feast?  Isaiah talks about a glorious feast when he says, “And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.” (Isa 25:6)  He talks about the people who waited for the Lord, but doesn’t mention that the Lord is the bridegroom.  The picture becomes clearer as the details are gathered from various locations in the Bible.

The bride wears a white dress as noted above.  Her skirts are symbolic of the gathering of people who come to her. (Isa 49:18) Unfortunately, the skirt is soiled with the blood of the innocents, which is why the Last Days will begin with destruction and end with a wedding. (Jer 2:32-36)  It is the peril of destruction that compels the destitute as mentioned in Luke 14.  When the Lord returns to the Earth at the second coming, those that are waiting for him will be invited into the marriage supper…and there’s going to be a rush for the lowest seats.

postscript:

So if the bride is the church as clarified by Joseph Smith in D&C 109:73-75, and the church is a collection of saints as described by the Revelator in Rev 3:13-22, then here’s a proposition that requires some stretching.  There may be a correlation between the church as Grecian cities and the revelation Daniel saw of an entity called Grecia in Dan 8:5-8, 21.  If there is a positive correlation, then the collective “church” is going down because of the blood of the innocents.  Yet, individually, the saints will be saved as stated by Jeremiah, “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

"And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Jer 3:14-15  I truly believe that biblical prophets wrote so extensively about the Last Days to prepare us to weather great losses and still be found waiting for the bridegroom when he comes.

Image credit:  Wedding Reception In Gold - Flickr/Flower Factor

The Revelation: Part 3

John Sees Destruction

To put what John saw in context, he begins by describing the epochs or “seals” led by a prophet.  This helps the reader to understand that what he is about to describe occurs in the seventh seal which prepares the world for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Very briefly,  the first epoch is described as a man on a white horse. One interpretation is that this prophet is Enoch.  The second epoch is described as a man on a red horse.  This prophet is Noah.  The third epoch is described as a man on a black horse.  This prophet is Abraham.  Next, a pale horse symbolizes Moses’ epoch.  Then the martyrs are mentioned referring to the epoch when Jesus Christ walked among men.  Lastly, the sixth seal is a day of preparation when people of all the tribes of Israel are gathered and arrayed in white robes. The  gathering of Israel is an oft-mentioned theme in the Old Testament. The seventh seal begins with destruction in preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ.  The first six epochs are described in Rev 6-7 and Zech 6:1-8 gives additional insight.

First I want to summarize briefly what John saw happening in the seventh seal.  He saw seven angels orchestrate the powers of heaven and earth to cause disasters that would humble all people and call them to repentance.  After this first set of disasters, a separation occurs.  Zion, or the believers gather in opposition to Babylon or the remaining unrighteous unbelievers.  Amidst the believers a special rescue force of 144,000 is prepared.  They help believers gather to safety.  A second set of seven angels orchestrates a second wave of disasters.  This time, the disasters target Babylon who represents all those who chose not to gather to safety.  The power of the global government of Babylon is described.  A last call goes out for any remaining “people” who may not be believers but who want to gather to safety.  A group of ten kings topple the global government of Babylon but many people remain who do not repent.  Jesus Christ, riding a white horse, and accompanied by a heavenly army captures the False Prophet and fights the final battle with Babylon.  With the forces of evil in a state of impotence due to the strength of believers to resist all temptations, the the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ commences.  A few events happen on Earth after the Millennium, most notably the Battle of Gog and Magog, after which the Earth is renewed and receives a state of glory suitable to be the habitation of and location of the throne of Jesus Christ.  This is a summary of Rev 8-22.

The Revelation gives a lot of information on the descriptive characteristics and actions of Babylon so that it will be recognized for what it is.  The Revelation does not describe proprietary information on the divine rescue plan of God to protect and promote Zion or the believers while all the destruction is going on.  Wouldn’t God want people to recognize Zion and get to safety?  He does plan to save Zion but he isn’t telling his plan of action because that would allow others to thwart it.  Believers have been taught all through the Bible how to listen and recognize his voice and in this time their ability to do that will be a matter of life and death.  However, death as an outcome is not necessarily bad for believers because if they die in Christ they will be ok.

So, with that summary, lets go into detail on the first set of disasters found in Revelation 8-10.  These disasters may have a physical and a spiritual fulfillment.  I cannot interpret these words, but I can summarize what is found there and you can ponder it.  

First Disaster:  hail, fire mingled with blood and a third part of trees and green grass is burnt up.  I found that Isaiah mentioned grass being burnt in Isa 40:5-8.  He said all flesh is grass.  So if this were physically fulfilled as written trees and grass would burn.  If it were spiritually fulfilled maybe the burning is like a refiner’s fire which is mentioned multiple times in the Bible.

Second Disaster: a great mountain burning with fire and a third part of sea creatures and ships die. I think that only a volcano would burn with fire but a volcano would be a physical fulfillment. One other reference to a volcano is in Isa 34:9. The idea of a third may have something to do with purification as referenced in Numbers 19:12.  It’s mentioned in the first, second and third, fourth and sixth disasters.  I don’t know if it is literal.  One other Old Testament prophet spoke of a destruction by thirds in Ezekiel 5:2.

Third Disaster:  a great star turns all the water bitter via Wormwood/Artemisia.  There are a few references to Wormwood in scripture but the one that struck me was in Lamentations 3:18-20 where the bitter water was such a potent reminder of God’s power that just the memory of it humbled the prophet.

Fourth Disaster: a third part of the sun, moon and stars was darkened.  This idea is repeated in many Last Days prophecies.  If it were fulfilled physically there would be darkness covering the daylight.  I have thought about this prophecy and my personal interpretation is more symbolic.  I think the sun is like first world countries, the moon like second world countries and the stars are all the other countries.  I think this verse could be fulfilled by an economic disaster that shuts down trade in many but not all countries.

Fifth Disaster:  a star falls and a key is given to the “bottomless pit” or heaven.  In this disaster a creature like a locust torments men for five months.  A physical fulfillment would be actual locusts infesting the land.  A spiritual fulfillment might be that tanks reminiscent of locusts cause destruction through warfare.

Sixth Disaster:  four angels are loosed to kill a third part of men by fire, smoke and brimstone. I don’t know how this will be fulfilled but Isaiah used the idea of brimstone to talk about a day of vengeance in Isa 34. When I see the word brimstone used in scripture I usually think of nuclear bombs but that is my own interpretation.

Seventh Disaster:  this "Mystery" disaster is divided into three “woes.”  The first woe is that two witnesses will prophesy for 3.5 years.  They will be killed and their bodies lie in the streets until they are spontaneously resurrected.  The second woe is a great earthquake.  The third woe is lightening, thunder, an earthquake and great hail.

What is the reason for these disasters and the second set of disasters John saw?  When I read The Revelation, I see that they are followed by a call to separate from Babylon.  The disasters motivate people to put aside their pride and unite against evil. The disasters motivate people to repent of sins they would otherwise not acknowledge.  There will always be some who won’t repent. Jeremiah says that dishonesty before God is one of the biggest reasons people will be destroyed.  They won’t acknowledge their sins, or the effects of their sins on others and they “hold fast to deceit and refuse to return.” Jer 8:5

Read The Revelation: Part 1
or The Revelation: Part 2

Interesting news items:
Did you know that there are 1,700 seed banks in the world to preserve seed in case of widespread disaster?  LINK

If you liked this post you might like Last Days Parables

Image credit:  The Pale Horse by Gustave Dore - Flickr/Waiting For the Word

The Revelation: Part 2

John Sees Believers

John depicted with a Church leader

In my last post, I explained how John the Revelator saw God and the glory of Heaven.  This post will cover the part of John’s vision concerning the variety of believers at the time of global destruction before the second coming of Jesus Christ.  What he saw is hard to understand because he spoke of the believers using geography words reflective of the church in his day.  Today believers are sprinkled among every nation.  Some live in poverty under the thumb of a ruthless dictator.  Some live in freedom.  While John did not judge believers based on what he saw, his vision shows that God is aware of the many who believe and the circumstances in which they live.

This post is only about the believers John saw. I’m going to assume that most are Christians.  However, based on the words in this chapter, I think Jews are considered believers even though they only believe half of the Christian Bible.

The first group of believers John names “Ephesus.”  You can substitute any nation, creed or minority group.  I won’t speculate on who John saw.  This group has leaders who have lied to them.  These believer have not fainted but they are weak.  They have left their “first love.”  I’m going to take a guess at what their first love was:  The Bible.  In taking that guess, I’m assuming that these believers are in an area that was founded on Biblical principles and virtues making it their “first love” or founding principles.

The second group of believers John names “Smyrna.”  This group has corrupt leaders.  John calls them Jews.  My guess is that they are Jews.  They live in poverty and tribulation.  John counsels them to fear not the suffering of the body because the “second death” or suffering of the soul after the final judgement is worse.

The third group of believers John names “Pergamos.”  These believer live “where Satan’s seat is.”  The clues to these believers circumstances are in the doctrine of Balaam expounded in 2 Peter 2:10-22 and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.  The Nicolaitans were a mafia-like group.  In some countries this looks more like a drug cartel.

The fourth group of believers John names “Thyatira.”  These believers are full of good works, faith and charity.  That’s good!  However, they have allowed adultery to continue among them unchecked.  John foretells great tribulation and death among them in the last days.

The fifth group of believers John names “Sardis.”  These believers are spiritually dead.  To understand what he means by “spiritually dead” I found a few other contemporaries who used similar language.  James says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:26)  Paul says, “purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Heb 9:14) I wonder if being spiritually dead means that faith is dead, works are dead or both faith and works are dead among these believers.  John counsels this group to strengthen the believers who “remain.”  This leads me to suppose that many of these believers no longer believe.

The sixth group of believers John names “Philadelphia.”  These believers have the Key of David.  They are weak but they are promised protection in the hour of tribulation.  The Key of David is a heaven-bestowed priesthood authority to act in God’s name.  These believers are the Latter-day Saints because we definitely have the Key of David.

The seventh group of believers John names “Laodiceans.”  These believers are neither hot nor cold.  They are rich in terms of money but poor in terms of spirituality.  John counsels them to buy “gold tried in the fire” and to overcome their spiritual blindness.

All groups of believers will go through the Last Days.  John sees that the believers in all categories who “overcome” or endure the destruction with their faith intact will be blessed in the next life. John counsels us all to “hold fast” to that truth which you have.  If what John saw is all fulfilled, and I think it will be, we’re in for a rough ride.

This post references the Revelation of John chapters 2-3  In my next post I will discuss the destructions John saw before the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Read The Revelation: Part 1 here

Image credit: Flickr/psyberartist

The Revelation: Part 1

John Sees Heavenly Glory

I have not seen heaven, but John did.  When I read John’s Revelation, I see many interesting details about heaven.

First there is a description of a glorified being who is later identified as Jesus Christ.  He has white hair, bright eyes, and a bright countenance.  The number one characteristic mentioned is light.  He has no darkness in him.  We learn that he is the “first begotten of the dead” which means he is the first to overcome death and be resurrected.  He “washed us from our sins in his blood” which means that his blood was spilt to ransom us from the just effects of our sinful actions.  He will come again to this Earth in glory. (Revelation 1)

John describes a throne (presumably God’s). (Rev 4:2-5,10)  Around the throne are seated 24 elders.  In front of the throne is a “sea of glass,” and an altar where the prayers of sins rise like incense before God’s face. (Rev 4:6, 8:3)  Many angels are around the throne worshiping God.  (Rev 5:11-12) Heaven is also filled with many people of all nations and peoples dressed in white robes. (Rev 7:9)  They serve God day and night in a heavenly temple.  (Rev 7:15)

While John’s Revelation gives more details than any other prophet on the beauty of heaven, he was not the only one to see this realm.  Every age has had a prophet to lead them who was given a vision of God and a mission to convey that knowledge to others.  Adam led his children with the knowledge of God he had from the Garden of Eden.  Enoch led his people and their faith was so great that their city was taken to heaven.  Noah led his children after the flood to believe in God.  Abraham and Moses both recorded part of their great visions of God.  The age known as the “meridian of time” was when Jesus Christ himself walked among men and taught them of God, our Father.  After Christ’s death, believers were hunted and killed, which led them to “hide in the wilderness.” (Rev 12:6) As leaders of nations became more tolerant, Christians worshiped more openly while continuing to suffer persecution at the hands of others during the Middle Ages in Europe.

In 1820, a boy named Joseph Smith, received a vision of God the Father and his son Jesus Christ when he knelt in prayer to ask what church he should join.  His vision included a mission to convey his knowledge of God to others in preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ.  He began to tell people about what he had seen and was immediately reproached.  During his life he was taught incrementally what God wanted him to do and how to organize a body of saints.  He was killed by opponents while imprisoned in a jail on false charges.  For more: click here.  Joseph is the prophet called to lead people in this the last dispensation before the second coming of Jesus Christ. If you are ever in New York, you can stop by his home and see the forest where he had his first vision. There is a holiness about that forest to this day.

Joseph’s visions of heavenly glory are recorded here:

First Vision

Vision of Heavenly Glory

Vision of Jesus Christ at dedication of the first modern temple

John in his Revelation describes many events of the “last days” before the second coming.  His witness warns all who read his words of the destructions planned and promises the eventual return the Jesus Christ.  In my next post, I will explain the part of John’s vision where he saw the believers.

Image credit:  painting by Carlo Innocenzo Carloni

The Battle of Jericho Revisited

Joshua led the Israelites in a decisive battle against the walled city Jericho.  After sending spies in to scope it out, he received divine help in overthrowing it.  His instructions were to march with the Ark of the Covenant around the city once a day for six days.  On the seventh day he was to march around the city with the Ark of the Covenant seven times and on the seventh time, the shofar (ram’s-horn trumpet) was to be blown and the people were to yell loudly.  Miraculously the walls fell down.  This event became memorialized in the Jewish calendar as the Feast of Trumpets.

I want to explore how this story could be applied allegorically to other situations.  There are many kinds of walls.  We build them to protect ourselves.  (See Hiding from Love by John Townsend).  Sometimes the walls we build end up inhibiting our freedom to move forward in life.  

For example: I have a fear of being abandoned.  So when I meet a new person that I’d like to have for a friend, I experience anxiety at the thought of rejection.  I approach friendship tentatively.  If there is any competition, I withdraw.  This fear has become ridiculous in that it prevents me from present happiness.

In order to break down the wall of fear, I might need to circle the problem.  I might read a book on the subject.  And reading can give essential insights into difficult problems, but it might take more circling.  I might need to consider my self-defeating thoughts.  I might need to accept my characteristics which are off-putting and decide that whatever others think, I love myself.  I might need to set some goals for meeting people and learning to be vulnerable (See Daring Greatly by Brene Brown).  And still, the walls may not come down.  

How many of us give up when one or two of our solutions are unsuccessful?

And what about that going seven times on the seventh day around the wall?  As we become more and more focused on a problem, we begin to gain emotional momentum.  This momentum is in the faith and hope needed to overcome the wall (See Getting Unstuck by Pema Chodron).  When we yell, with God’s help, the wall will come down.  

I think that often we have conflicting motives.  We want something but another desire conflicts with it in some way.  The yell that brings down walls comes from the unified voices of all our desires.  No longer are we conflicted.  No longer is there anything else that we want.  

God works miracles when we are finally ready.

Image credit:  By the Providence Lithograph Company [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

You Know It's Love When...

What all kinds of love have in common 

From 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; 

This story was written by a family member and read by Laura Schlessinger on her radio show:

“When I was growing up, I used to wish my parents would divorce, and we would go live with my dad.  My mother was manic depressive schizophrenic, so she was not mentally capable of raising my brothers and sisters (six in all)….My father played both mother and father.  He would go to work, come home, fix dinner, clean the house and then play with us.  I never heard him complain about his life.  She was extremely hard to live with and unrelenting because of her disease.  She had very few good days (as we called them) but my father always treated her with love and respect.  Everyone who know our situation said he was a saint.

“I once asked my father why he didn’t leave her because of all the pain she caused all of us.  He expressed the following: that she, before her illness, was an amazing woman whom he loved dearly.  When she was at her worst he thought very hard about leaving (this was about 1961), but decided he couldn’t because we would all be put in foster care and no one would take care of her.  He said he put his trust in God to help out on the bad days.  It was truly for better or for worse….

“My mother in the last few years of her life had mellowed more and had more better days than bad.  They lived in an assisted living facility for the last two years of their lives.  The nurses told us they had never seen a more loving couple than my parents.  When the nurses woke them up each morning, they were cuddled together.  My mother worried about my dad as much as he worried about her.  They were married 55 years until they both passed away within two months of each other.”

charity envieth not; 

You cannot make someone love you, make them change, or control what others say and do.  Envy can come into play when you see something someone else has that you want.  Envy is also when you want someone to do something different or love you differently.  Loving relationships are full of contentment and approval.

~

charity vaunteth not itself, 

Some kinds of love have strings attached.  If there is an expectation of appreciation, admiration or attention, the kind or loving action is being used to elevate the giver.  It is also not loving to expect a loving action in return.  Love should not be used to buy, manipulate or form friendships or alliances.

Real love doesn’t debase the self either.  If the love given to others means neglecting yourself, the gift is not good.  Love comes from the overflow of good things not from emotional poverty.

Comfort for Believers with Wayward Children

After my last post on Shepherds, I couldn’t help but take interest in an Isaiah chapter written to the scattered sheep.  This post is about the prophesies of Isaiah to them.  

Sheep are humble, followers of Jesus Christ.  Many of the “sheep” are “lost.”  Isaiah defines being lost:  “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light?” (Isa 50:10)

Most people assume that unbelievers are lost.  In the Old Testament, “Gentiles,” were any of a whole host of people who didn’t believe in God.  These days, even believers are lost.  Isaiah starts out the chapter, “Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people…” (Isa 49/1 Ne 21)

So the sheep are lost.  But, believing in Christ, they know that He will find them and lead them to safety.  But what about their children?  In this chapter, the sheep are not worried about themselves; they are worried about their children.  “Then shalt thou say in thine heart: Who has begotten me these…I have lost my children…who hath brought up these?”  Mothers of wayward children often wonder how it happened that they “lost” their children.