Sunday, July 12, 2015

Love in the Darkness of Evil


Verse of the Week

So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter! And at the hand of those who oppressed them was power; but there was no comforter to them.

(Ecclesiastes 4:1)

Thought for the Week

          In these oppressive and troubled times it is easy to focus on all that is going wrong. It seems both science and Government are literally Hell bent on enforcing their views. It can be easy to feel so overwhelmed that it seems there is little one can do to combat the evils growing around us. But since the worshippers of YHWH have YHWH’s Holy Spirit to guide, teach, and comfort us; yet, we should not rest in such comfort (except on His seventh day Sabbath) - our true rest will come after the day of Judgment.

One way to deal with the current evil environment we live in is to have a more local perspective. An aspect of Jesus' healing ministry that seems to be often overlooked is that he usually did so one person at a time. How many instances are recorded of him calling get-togethers for mass healings? Jesus did not call together large crowds to demonstrate his gift of healing. Rather he typically went among the people teaching about YHWH and healed when it served a purpose beyond the immediate act of healing. (How different today the acts of those that claim to heal in his name.)

          To live our lives, with Jesus as our example, is to strive to serve YHWH. Like Jesus we can do this by changing the world for the better one person at a time. For most of us this will not include the gift of physical healing but for all of us it should include spiritual healing by acts of charitable kindness. Kindness, like the grace we receive from YHWH, that we give out of love for YHWH and not because it is deserved by the recipient.

          There is an old adage that says the best offense is a strong defense. Martyrs are not remembered for their ability to convert evil people to good people but because they were not overcome by other people’s evil. Start with yourself, and with YHWH’s Holy Spirit, build an impregnable defense. As you continue to grow share that defense with other worshippers of YHWH. Such lights, especially in the darkness of the world today, will stand as a beacon to draw others. Yes, you will surely draw the ire of the evil ones, but, you may also be the tender of a lighthouse that helps guide the lost to the safety YHWH offers.

          There is another old adage that says you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. Modern Science and Government would force us to drink - from poisoned wells. The world is full of people so spiritually thirsty they will drink from any well - even the many poisonous ones. No one but YHWH can eliminate the poisonous wells; but, as worshippers of YHWH we can help light the path to the only safe well - His well of living water.

          It is not enough to say His well is safe. We must show it is so by our actions. The better our spiritual health the better evidence we are for the purity of His well. And to maintain our health we must drink only from His well. We, like YHWH, must be intolerant of the use of any well but His. By our worship of Him we live by His well, by His will, and by His love for us.

This love does not surrender to evil - it overcomes evil. This love does not tolerate or accept evil - in any form - scientific or political: neither should we.

Quote of the Week

It is only in recent times that it has been recognized that a scientific hypothesis may be very useful without being altogether true. -- H Stanley Redgrove, Alchemy: Ancient and Modern (2nd edition, 1922)

Comment: It seems that scientists were a little more honest 100 years ago. Try to get one now to admit that their ideas (i.e. macroevolution, global warming, etc) may not be “altogether true”.

                                                                      Did You Know

We are born with about 300 bones; but, when we reach adulthood we only have about 206. The last to fuse, the collarbone, does so at around age 25. Even the skull, which looks like a single bony structure, is actually composed of 22 different bones - 14 of which form the face.

The skin of an average adult weighs about 10 pounds and is actually three separate layers - the epidermis, the dermis, and the hypodermis.

Owl’s wings, unlike most birds, are not waterproof - so they rarely hunt when it rains. However, owls are almost silent when they fly due to tiny “combs” on their wings to prevent the typical “whoosh” sound. This not only lets them fly down on mice, which have excellent hearing too, but also lets owls hear the mice without their own wing’s noise interfering.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation stating "the historical tradition of ethical values and principles, which have been the bedrock of society from the dawn of civilization when they were known as the Seven Noahide Laws, transmitted through God to Moses on Mount Sinai.” Congress signed a similar proclamation in 1991. COMMENT: Obviously the majority of the US Government, and especially the Supreme Court, is now clueless not only of what is declared in the US Constitution but of the historical foundation upon which it was built.

 

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