Fan or Follower?

I don't think this video needs any help....



Good vs. Evil?

Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing. Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  - 1 Corinthians 2:6-8

It never really occurred to me until recently that good vs. evil, yin and yang, well ... they really aren't.

We've been duped into thinking that the laws of physics apply to this "battle" between good and evil.  That law that is very true in this physical world that "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" just doesn't apply to the spirit world.

The verse above gives some great insight into the limitations of satan.  This verse makes it very clear that although he has access to the scriptures, he doesn't understand them.  Which makes perfect sense when you think about it because he doesn't have the Holy Spirit to reveal the scripture to him as he studies it.  Christ's sacrifice was very much foretold in the scriptures but satan didn't see it.  If he had seen it he would never have guided the steps of Judas to betray Jesus, he would never have caused the Jewish people to want to crucify Him.  Satan's actions made no sense unless he didn't know about the sacrifice.

Satan simply didn't know God's plan. He can't predict the future.  He is a created being, NOT equal to the Creator!  He does know that he will be defeated in the end, he knows he doesn't win against God, so why is he trying so hard?

I don't believe that he is fighting to win.  It's more like a 3 year old who can't have their way:  They go kicking and screaming all the way to their defeat.  Satan isn't trying to win, he can't. He is trying to take down as many of the creatures that God loves so much with him because he knows that is the only way he can hurt God.

Satan wants us to believe that good vs. evil is an equal fight because it makes it sound like he's got a fighting chance against the Creator.  He's been orchestrating lies that slowly, we as a human race have come to accept as fact.

We need to examine very closely the lies that we are believing that satan has been feeding us and we're buying it!  It's why we're instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to "examine all things; hold fast to what is good.
Stay away from every form of evil."

We need to shake free from the lies we've been believing because once we realize that God is the only one who is in control of EVERYTHING then we can live a life without fear, we can listen to the promptings of His Spirit and act in confidence that what he asks will not bring us into harm but will accomplish His will.  

Even satan himself helped God accomplish His will for His son, so why are we so reluctant to do His will?  It's not an equal battle, and we are on the winning side!  YOU CAN'T LOSE!

If God was a programmer...

I was bored and wondered what Creation would look like as code (sudo-code of course).



 1: //Day 1
 2: 
 3: Earth _myCreation = new Earth();
 4: 
 5: Water formless = new Water();
 6: 
 7: _myCreation.Add(formless); // Need to fill the space for now.
 8: 
 9: Light day = new Light();
10: Darkness night = new Darkness();
11: 
12: _myCreation.Add(day);
13: _myCreation.Add(night);
14: 
15: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
16: 
17: //Day 2
18: 
19: Sky heavens = new Sky(); // This will separate the water from the sky above
20: heavens.Location = Locations.Above; 
21: 
22: _myCreation[formless].Add(heavens);
23: 
24: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
25: 
26: //Day 3
27: 
28: Land dryGround = new Land();
29: 
30: _myCreation[formless].Add(dryGround); //To separate the waters
31: 
32: _myCreation[formless].Name = "seas"; //Thought of a better name for this
33: 
34: Vegetation plants = new Vegetation();
35: 
36: _myCreation[seas].dryGround.Add(plants);
37: 
38: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
39: 
40: //Day 4
41: 
42: Sun dayLight = new Sun();
43: Moon nightLight = new Moon();
44: Stars heavenlySigns = new Stars();
45: 
46: _myCreation[day].Add(dayLight);
47: 
48: _myCreation[night].Add(nightLight);
49: _myCreation[night].Add(heavenlySigns);
50: 
51: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
52: 
53: //Day 5
54: 
55: SkyCreatures birds = new SkyCreatures();
56: 
57: _myCreation[seas].heavens.Add(birds);
58: birds.Multiply();
59: 
60: SeaCreatures fish = new SeaCreatures();
61: 
62: _myCreation[seas].Add(fish);
63: fish.Multiply();
64: 
65: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
66: 
67: //Day 6
68: 
69: LandCreatures livestock = new LandCreatures();
70: 
71: _myCreation[seas].dryGround.Add(livestock);
72: 
73: //Here's the best part:
74: 
75: Mankind humans = God.CloneLikeness();
76: 
77: _myCreation.Add(humans);
78: 
79: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
80: 
81: //Day 7
82: 
83: God.SetAwayStatus ("Resting");

The Power of Testimony

So I threw myself down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “Do not do this! I am only a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” - Revelation 19:10
It's funny how sometimes we tend to overlook the book of Revelation.  Maybe it's because we are scared of it or maybe we just think that we can't understand what it's trying to say.  Who knows, but as part of God's word, it is no doubt important.

This verse, particularly that last part that I have in bold, was brought to my attention during a class that I have started taking on Wednesday nights at church.  The class is called: "The Testimony of Jesus"

There is so much buried in this verse that the teachers of this class have some great insight into.  It helps us to understand the position that Jesus left us with when he left this planet:
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit." - John 20:21-22
Wait a minute, He did what?  He breathed on them?!?  Let's back up a minute and define a few words here...
Spirit (Pneuma) - Breath, like a breeze or blast of air.
Prophecy - Either speaks of a future event or changes the present. 
Keep in mind that our English-translations are a best effort at coming up with words to describe the Greek meaning (or Hebrew in the case of the old testament).

You see, this is why James was so adamant about taming the tongue.  What you speak has the power to change the atmosphere around you, for good or for bad.  Why is this?  Let me explain.

The Testimony:

     In the old testament the Testimony was the Ark of the Covenant.  Why was it called the testimony?  Because it was God's testimony to man during this time, it represented who He is and gave them a tangible way of seeing who God is.  This was accomplished by what God had them place in the Ark and what those items represented:
  1. The ten commandments - Word of God
  2. Manna - The Bread of Life
  3. Arron's Staff - The Power of God
Ok, so here is where this gets cool.  When Jesus came to Earth, He became God's testimony here.  Let's dig:
  1. Word of God - The Word became flesh
  2. The Bread of Life - Jesus said: I Am the Bread of Life
  3. The Power of God - Jesus Said: All power is given to Him
You see, in the old testament the Ark was the dwelling place of God here on Earth.  In the new testament Jesus was God dwelling among us!  He is the word of God, the bread of life and the power of God: God's testimony to man about Himself.

But wait, there's more!  
The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son. - 1 John 5:10
This Testimony (the Word, Life, and Power) is transferred to us when we believe in Jesus (did you catch that?  The same testimony that was in the Ark and embodied in Jesus is inside of you and I!).  So now just as Jesus breathed the Spirit on the disciples and the Spirit moved, we have been given this same power simply by speaking the testimony of Jesus and our personal testimony about Jesus.

How awesome is this truth about how the spoken word breathes forth the Spirit of God!
  • When God created the world he spoke.  God was breathing forth the Spirit who moved on the Earth and creation came to being.
  • When God created man, He breathed life into him.
  • On the day of pentecost, there was the sound of a mighty wind (breath) and it changed the atmosphere in the room.  
You can't see the Spirit, but you can see the evidence of the Spirit moving and we can give testimony to that evidence because we are witnesses!

I leave you with this video that reiterates the points that I'm trying to make here and also gives witness to the power in a testimony.  Don't ever stop telling people what God has done!