A Personal Reflection on Ancestral Relationships

Context: Reproduced from a FB post I read 3 years ago.

"I asked an elderly man once what it was like to be old and to know the majority of his life was behind him. He told me that he has been the same age his entire life. He said the voice inside of his head had never aged. He has always just been the same boy. His mother's son. He had always wondered when he would grow up and be an old man. He said he watched his body age and his faculties dull but the person he is inside never got tired. Never aged. Never changed.

Our spirits are eternal. Our souls are forever. The next time you encounter an elderly person, look at them and know they are still a child, just as you are still a child and children will always need love, attention and purpose." Via @lue Ridge Believers

From the author: My comment from a biblical perspective.

I feel the same way. I don´t spend a lot of time in front of the mirror because I know that the man I see in front of me is not who I am. It´s just that younger people have not discovered that yet. It´s a matter of understanding the big things in life, the things that count, the essentials, understanding that often the answers lie in the questions as witnessed in the rearranging of the words in a sentence to transform an affirmative sentence into a interrogative one, in some languages such as French, German and Spanish.

It´s a matter of time and space that matter and for that matter we can add the relationships formed and mantained by a mutual and reciprocal consent and agreement of trust, respect and good will toward others.

In the encounter with Jesus with Mary and Martha we read: "40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!” 41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord replied, “you are worried and upset about many things. 42But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”… Luke 10:40-42

What was Mary doing? She sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. Luke 10:39.

Words have meaning and if we loose the primary meaning that has taken 1000s of years to develop in the communication system with their association, we end up in a confusing, chaotic situation similar to the one in Babel which was initiated by God himself.

It´s uncanny, every time I wander the streets of my city, I see all kind of people, some are scared, others wear their pain, their scars, their deep sadness on their faces, in their eyes. What is refreshing though is to cross path with older people, couples who understand life and living and exchange with you a twinkle in their eyes, sometimes even without saying a good morning, have a good day, or nodding their head because they have perceived the eternal truths that take a life time to fathom, that in spite of everything life can throw at you, in the end there are 3 things that matter the most: faith, hope and love and love is what remains.

The future is in the older generation; Melchizedek and Abraham.

…9And so to speak, Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham. 10For when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the loin of his ancestor. Hebrews 7:10.

Learn from the past and what your elders have to offer you, the stories, the songs, their cherished memories, the treasures they have discovered and are willing to share with you. Take the time to listen and especially ask questions about anything and everything, their inner ears are finely attuned to understand what you are going through, they have been there before in one form or another, in a different country, in a different language and you can form a lasting bond of friendship and closeness that will last into eternity. And remember that we need you as much as you need us.

Jean-Louis

False righteousness and true righteousness. Personal Reflection. Edited and expanded

Written and published by Jean-Louis Mondon

Jesus, talking about the righteousness of the Pharisees: 

"For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20.

How can we exceed the Pharisees´ righteousness? Jesus here I believe is using irony. 

 

The only righteousness the Pharisees had was self-righteousness. Is that what Jesus meant? That we should try to surpass their performing to the minute detail their more than three hundred commands and ordinances. I think not.

What could we do to exceed their own righteousness? Nothing. It would be futile and useless to even try.

Our first parents Adam and Eve tried to hide themselves and their shame by covering their nakedness with fig tree leave that had to be replaced over and over like the works of the Pharisees. What was the remedy provided by the Father/Creator? A hide from an animal sacrifice, a type of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the remission of sin would be enough to cover the sin of disobedience, desire for self-sufficiency, forbidden wisdom and the subsequent shame they felt.

Their webs will not become clothing, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And an act of violence is in their hands. Isaiah 59:6

  
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Isaiah 64:6.

The works that the Pharisees covered their nakedness with are like the figs leaves of the tree of Israel that produced useless leaves and no fruit worthy of repentance and no faith in Jesus-Christ. 

See Matthew 21:19: Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He(the Lord Jesus) came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered.

At this point let me interject something about flowers. The Bible talks about leaves and flowers. But what about flowers? They are beautiful, colorful, fragrant and some are even edible. They fill our life and our house with pleasure.  To join our gratitude and humility to their awe-inspiring qualities we have to recognize the creative hand of our Creator/God that created everything that was good to add a measure of pleasure to the beautiful earth that he created as our temporary home. 

  

To me, flowers represent the fading beauty of the artistic creations of man in all its forms such as painting, music, poetry reflecting the talents given to us by God. Such artistic abilities could be perverted and turn into nightmarish representation of the tormented psyches of man without God or in rebellion against God´s sovereignty. 

One example comes to mind, Alexander Scriabin, a famous and talented Russian pianist and composer (1872-1915) was influenced with mysticism, theosophy and became a delusional megalomaniac who met a tragic end by suicide, drowning in a river.  Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22357678
 

The creation is in constant flux. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8. 

And so it is: the flower must die in order to leave room for the fruit to appear grow and provide food. Holding on the fleeting beauty of the ephemeral flowers, the beauty of creation for one´s own selfish pleasure without recognizing and honoring the source in the God of love is like keeping a song bird in a cage or retaining flowing water in a stagnant pool. We cannot selfishly and endlessly hold on to passing life and beauty.

In I Corinthians 13 Paul declares: But now faith, hope, loves, abide these three; but the ^[f]greatest of these is love.

So let us cultivate and hold on to faith, hope, remembering that love is the ultimate fruit that God grows in us for his purpose and that as I John 4:19 states: “We love because He (Jesus) first loved us”.

The leaves could not cover Adam and Eve, the works the Pharisees perform could not cover them and following their teachings without faith resulted in the putting aside of Israel until the end of the time of the Gentiles in which we are living now. 

What Jesus wanted from the Jews is faith in the living Savior that walked among them, not the dead works that did not please him. What He wants from us when we are seeking salvation is the same thing: faith in His saving power and abandoning any hope of saving ourselves by our good deeds.

John  6:28-29:

Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent; and further in verse 40:  For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

How could it be clearer than that?

               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is an excerpt from the last chapter of an allegory I wrote a few years ago: To read the whole story click Here: http://thelightseed.blogspot.com.br/2011/02/joshua-tree-desert-parable.html

The Tree of Life

Theophilus woke up, with tears of joy flowing from his eyes. He was watching an unforgettable scene.
There in front of him, stood up a Joshua tree, majestic and radiant that bore an uncanny resemblance with the man from his dream whose blood had saved his life. He fell down, prostrate on his face against the hot desert sand. He knew without the shadow of a doubt that he was in the presence of the Master of the Joshua Trees. He didn’t dare move from his position such was the power emanating from the glorious appearance. An indescribable ripple of fear coursed through his being.

"Rise, Theophilus and look at me." The commanding tone of voice was enough to make him obey. He was reluctant at first to lift his gaze directly into the eyes of the Master. Lifting his head up slowly, he saw the pierced feet, then, the pierced wrists. He gathered enough courage to focus on the chest where a scarlet wound in the shape of the tip of a lance or the eye of a needle remained from a cruel wound.
  
"Don’t be afraid, look at me. I am Yeshua, the Master of the Joshua Trees. What is your quest? Why do you want to meet me?"
 
While the Master was asking these questions, his eyes whispered softly words Theophilus never heard before, words of love that penetrated deep in his heart.

"Master, I am looking for the desert exit door. Your trees told me that you possess the keys and that a word from you can set the captives free, can give sight to the blind, make a poor man rich, and heal the afflicted. You can also give knowledge to the ignorant who think they are wise, and you can clothe with your pardon and righteousness the nakedness which I try to cover with my religion and good deeds."
 
'It’s true. But you have too big a notion of yourself to be able to go through this door. First, you must answer a few questions."

"Yes, master, as you wish."
 
"What is your name? Who are you?"
 
"Well, before, they called me Theophilus, but I will accept whatever name you wish to call me. "
 
"Where do you come from?"
 
"From the land of deadly illusions and appearances, a world filled with violence and deception."
  
"Well said! Are you rich, or do you intend to be?"

"Well, before now, I had credit cards, bank accounts, a good and profitable business, cars, a beautiful house, but all that didn’t help me very much. To tell you the truth, I will accept whatever you want to give me."

After these answers, Theophilus was feeling his body shrink little by little. What a strange sensation!

The Master continued:
"What about your reputation?"
 
"Alas, people looked at the appearances. But I can see that you know me and I desire to become what you want me to be."
 
"What do you hope to gain from me?"
 
"Freedom from the chains that keep me tied up and hinders my walk, understanding truth and knowing which way to go."
 
"Good, I can do that for you. But what will do once you are free if I give you the key to the door?"
 
"Master, I want to belong to you and serve you, for you are the one who saved and healed me."

Each of Theophilus’ responses was followed by a change in his size until at last, the Master's stature appeared gigantic in comparison without overwhelming him. Then, the Master bent forward and catching him tenderly in the palm of his right hand, he lifted Theophilus up to his chest and hugged him close against the wound shaped like the tip of a lance or the eye of a big needle.

On his way up, Theophilus was helplessly watching on the screen of his memory the video from his first meeting with the touchstone at the crossroad of his destiny, the first step of a stairway which led to the royal capital of the heavenly kingdom, illumined by the eternal light of the Master.  He possessed a law of gravity defying lightness, with no desire to resist the attraction propelling him towards a universe of unconditional freedom. Being transported on this celestial stairway, this bridge between two worlds without any effort on his part, he was about to enter a territory invisible to the human eye and yet so real.

Instantly, going through the open door at a breathtaking speed, Theophilus found himself standing on the desert floor that he had just left.
 
"Welcome to the kingdom, announced the Master in a warm tone of voice. Open your eyes and look at yourself."

His eyes opened by the voice of his Master, Theophilus looked at his legs, his trunk, his arms and discovered that he had turned into a Joshua tree with soft scars in the place of the usual armor of thorns. Yeshua spoke to him solemnly: 
 
"From now on your name will be Joshua Theophilus O’Call because I called you to my service and you responded with good will."

Tears of joy mixed with gratitude flowing from his eyes, Theophilus answered:
 
"Master, where do you want me to serve you?"
 
"Right here in the desert to guide those who have lost their way or those who have wandered from the way of truth and need help in finding me."
 
"Yes, Master. But I have a question. How do your trees find food and drink? There is nothing but sand in the desert."

Yeshua touched his eyes and now he could very clearly watch a fantastic scene through the desert floor as if it was made of transparent crystal. From the feet of the Master, roots full of a sap that resembled light amber honey extended all the way under the feet of the Joshua trees and fed them constantly night and day.
 
"Please, Master, what do you want me to call you?"
 
"Call me Lord Jesus, for I am both Savior and King."

"Lord, I can see the trees, the roots, the leaves and the cactus flowers, but where are the fruits?"

"Every time one of my servants extended to you love, kindness, goodness, patience, they shared their fruits with you. When you enjoyed their light, their protective and refreshing shade, their peace, their wise words of counsel, comfort or encouragement, those are the fruits that grow from the source of life that I give each one of them."

Read more: http://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2011/07/joshua-tree-desert-parable_15.html#ixzz3fLWh5vlf

Reflection on the rainbow

Reposted from the entry on  Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Written and published by Jean-Louis.
  

I have read several articles in the past few years about Christian businessmen and women who refused to cater to homosexual couples weddings with their services such as baking the wedding cake with a gay theme, providing the photographers or  for a pastor to perform a same sex wedding ceremony.  To read about the baker´s struggle click Two lies our culture has embraced and Christian couple standing firm

They did that not out of hate or lack of love because true Christians do not hate anybody but on the contrary love homosexuals with the love of the Lord Jesus who died for the whole world regardless of what kind of sins they commit. They refused to bend the knee to the Political Correctness relentless pressure of Cesar out of integrity of conscience and their desire to not offend the Holy God that they love and worship.

And for that righteous and courageous stance, they were threatened with heavy fines until they complied with the unjust laws. Some of them ended up losing their family business altogether. After all, why would anyone find a wedding cake offensive when it is a symbol of celebration and of the sharing of the guests, family and friends in the deep love and life commitment of two people who chose to unite their life in the bond of matrimony? 

Usually, I stay out of controversial disputes and arguments. I am a peace maker and try to follow Paul´s admonition to be an ambassador for Christ and bring reconciliation between God and man and between men themselves by proclaiming the good news of the Gospel of Grace and teaching from the Bible.

As you will see, this study is concerned with the rainbow and its significance in the lives of men. 
                                                                  
The rainbow is one of the magnificent signs the Lord God Almighty has placed in the heavens for all of mankind to admire and to worship Him. Characteristic and interesting properties can be deduced from observing this marvelous heavenly phenomenon.

First, a certain amount of clouds, rain and sunlight has to be present in order for us to witness the glorious appearance.

Second, it takes place in the atmosphere which is the sphere of Satan´s spiritual influence and operations.  It helps us understand the reason why God provides  signs visible to all mankind and the lessons we can learn fro watching the heavens especially in these precarious and perilous times in which we live.

Third, like the wind that you cannot take in your hand, that you cannot grab and say that you possess it, so it is with the rainbow, it belongs to God and he uses it as he pleases as a demonstration of his glory and a communication of his faithfulness and his ever present watchfulness over the earth and the lives and affairs of its inhabitants.

Fourth, it appears only as a half a circle as it takes a very precise angle combination of light, water vapor and the location of the observer according to the position and rotation of the earth.

Anyone can observe and marvel at a rainbow without an extensive knowledge of astronomy or the detailed physical, optical properties of light, water, or earthly position of an object.

An interesting detail is that the counterfeit rainbow has 6 colors - 6 being the number of man whereas God´s created rainbow has 7 colors - 7 being the number of complete perfection. And this perfection from a holy God can never be duplicated by sinful man in rebellion against his Creator.

 

It becomes even more interesting when I am on the lookout for some verses  for encouragement, exhortation or discernment about the interaction of the different planes and spheres of influence between our physical domain visible on the earth and atmosphere, and the invisible or spiritual domain 

The first rainbow
The Scriptures interface between these two domains so that we are reminded by our Lord Jesus to consider earthly things as the fields of wheat, the clouds in the sky, the splendor of the lilies and the seasons, and draw spiritual lessons from them that can help us in understanding the spiritual side of life and grow in understanding and depth of knowledge and wisdom.

“Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Luke 12:25-28

He also warned the  people - especially the hypocrites, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law with severe  tongue lashings:

 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is^. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass^. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?" Luke 12:54-56

In Matthew 24:32, the Lord Jesus was answering questions by the apostles  about the signs of his coming and of the end of the age. The parable of the fig tree is one of the best and most important prophetic illustrations of the end times signs given to believers because everybody on planet earth is aware the rapidly succeeding events started by the Jewish people being back in  their land of Israel as a nation in 1948.

I believe as it is written that the rainbow, although only in the half shape is one of those signs that the Lord put in the sky for encouragement since the time he gave it to Noah as a sign of the covenant between him and Noah and his posterity.

 And God said, This is the token (symbol) of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token (symbol) of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.  And God said unto Noah, This is the token (symbol) of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. Genesis 9:12-17.

Now we have to observe the chronological order of the two means of destruction the Lord uses in his punishment of the rebellious and disobedient people on the earth:  first comes the water or the flood, then follows the fire for judgment and cleansing.

These two judgments of God punctuate two events, the first one with Noah when he set his rainbow as a sign of grace, hope and encouragement that he will not destroy the earth completely and the second with Abraham with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah showing Abraham´s requests for mercy and the justice of God even after acceding to the requests of the patriarch for the salvation of the cities.

In I Corinthiens 15: 46, 47 the chapter on the resurrection of the body of the believer, we find Paul very important key argument for what I believe will happen soon,

“ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven”.
 
These verses tie in with the words of warning of Jesus to watch the heavens, be alert, vigilant, in prayer so we will not be deceived and be led astray. The first sign, the magnificent rainbow following the destruction by water is present in the sky to remind us of the general grace and mercy of God who sends the rain and the sunshine to provide all his creatures with all that they need to live and prosper.

God has kept his promise until now but according to the Bible, the second judgment is close to happening, the judgment by fire just as the one happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Now comes the encouraging part that gives me hope and helps me not to get into the trap of discouragement when reading the news of the tide of evil engulfing the nations of the earth and our lives. 

Satan, knowing that his time is short uses the beautiful things of God as weapons against us to try to keep us discouraged and defeated and to keep us apart by dividing us and keeping  us busy and distracted from the main things.

The rainbow, emblem of the LGBT  
Have you ever wondered why the rainbow has become the banner emblem of the LGBT? At first I thought nothing of it, but in the last 10 or more years, its growing popularity worldwide had me thinking more about what it represents and witnessing the growing ensuing ravages in the families and societies all over the world, I concluded that it´s Satan´s stratagem to counterfeit and try stealing the very glory of God,  the reminder of this glorious promise to us.

So instead of being discouraged and giving into the trap of the deceiver, the father of lies, we can choose to use our mind that is protected by the helmet of salvation and reject the notion that the adversary has won the battle first and foremost because he cannot steal what does not belong to him. Try as he may, he will not be able to make the beautiful rainbow of promise from the heavens that God has given us a permanent symbol for his cause and his evil schemes. 
 
He is not a creator, but a poor imitator at best. His followers, most of them unaware of what they are doing and of the spiritual nature of the rainbow will try to rally after a pied piper who is leading them with a false banner that can be burned to ashes just as any man-made flag would.

The symbol of the goodness and promise of God has been turned into a travesty, an idol,  if you will, standing for debauchery, immorality and human depravity parading in the streets of the world cities.

God must be laughing, besides being angry when he sees mere human beings  thinking they can appropriate for themselves a symbol that belongs to God only. Instead, they should be humbling themselves and ask for pardon for their sins of pride, haughtiness, self-sufficiency and rebellion, offending a Holy God and rejecting the only way by which we can be made acceptable to and be reconciled with him, namely His Son Jesus-Christ.

We can choose to not be intimidated by the hordes of people following the devil and not giving in to hate, to vengeance or using the carnal weapons of the world, political scheming and illegitimate alliances that the Lord has forbidden.  Thinking that we can appease the enemy and redress injustice and rule the world in our own strength joining forces with anybody  and preaching peace and unity between light and darkness, good and evil at whatever cost and consequences while ignoring and neglecting the whole counsel of his eternal, immutable, powerful and pure word, is counterproductive and doomed to failure. Sadly, this is what a  majority of churches are choosing to do in their desire to adjust with the changing times and the ways of the world.

The world´s armies might have their banner, and fight for their countries, their beliefs as we now see the black banners of Islamic States unfurl in the wind of conquest in the name of Allah.
 
The cross of Jesus-Christ, our banner
 We believers in and followers of Jesus-Christ have only one: namely the cross of Jesus-Christ on which the Savior of the world hung between two common criminals. This is our banner of his love, a banner that leads us to be overcomers, more than conquerors because our Lord and King Jesus has won the battle against the devil, the world and the grave, giving us peace in this life and the hope of being with him when he comes back to take us to be with him forever.

The Lord Jesus said in John 12:32: "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." 
And to us the Church His bride, the Scripture states what I think as prophetic, the celebration of our wedding feast in heaven: “ He has brought me to his banquet hall, And his banner over me is love."

Have you ever read a book starting with the end because you were anxious to know the denouement (the ending)?

The last rainbow  
We have such a preview at the end of the Bible, Revelation chapter 4: 3, John the Revelator describes the scene around the throne of God: ^3 “And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.”

What an incredible heavenly spectacle! What a privilege to witness the glory and majesty of our God rain and the complete rainbow, perfect circle shining without the incomplete, diminished earthly vision of the atmospheric rainbow depending on the sunshine, the rain and our local position. This ought to stir our heart up into faith, action and obedience to Christ as we see the time of the end approaching. 

To conclude, listen to Peter praising God for the living hope that we, as Christians experience as we patiently wait for our returning Savior.

I Peter 1:3-9: ^“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

If you do not know Jesus-Christ as your Lord and Savior, go to him in prayer and ask him to save you, he promised that anyone who asks will be answered.  He said: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. 
 
John the Apostle writes: "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12.
 
  If you want to receive salvation and the Spirit of Jesus, the living God, humble yourself and ask for his forgiveness. You need him to show to you who you really are, as he sees you, not as what yourself or other people think you are, because he loves you, died for you on the cross and took the penalty for your sins so you would not have to suffer an eternity in hell separated from God. It really is a matter of eternal life or eternal death.

Romans 10:9 states: ^9 [a]that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.

If you want to become born again of the Spirit of God and know  God the Father and Jesus-Christ, click on the following link for a simple explanation of what it means to be saved or born again. Keep it simple 

Waiting for God´s Timing

Written and posted by Jean-Louis. 2/2011
Ex 32:1-10
“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him: “Come, make us a god who will go before us, as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him”.

Obedience not only involves doing the things that God commanded right away, but it also involves waiting on God and His instructions through His spokesman or the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the various means that He has chosen to reveal His will.

This is crucial because the flesh has the tendency to take over with impatience and rash decisions are made against God’s will. Of course, we deceive ourselves by choosing our own sign by which to interpret God’s will. Or we could be deceived by our enemy and falling into the trap of thinking it’s our own thought when in reality it was suggested by the enemy. We then proceed to make things happen in our own strength in order to fulfill our own wishes or desires and when they happen we are so happy and feel so blessed because we feel our prayers have been answered until God opens our eyes to the reality of our condition and the disposition of our hearts.

Of course nothing happens that is out of His sovereign rule, so He will use even our mistakes, our sins, our disobedience to teach us a lesson, discipline us so that we can learn and grow.

The children of Israel knew that it was God who performed the miracles leading them out of bondage in Egypt , but they had to blame Moses because they couldn’t wait.
Aaron had no business making a proclamation about a feast. The Lord had told them in Egypt that He would give them instructions about where, when and how they were to worship the LORD.

The irony is that while they were taking matters into their own hands, God was at work giving the instructions to Moses.

The questions to us is: “Are we going to take God at His word and believe what He says even if it means waiting for His delay in answering our prayers or are we going to act in the flesh and bring about the things that we desire thus worshiping the idols of our hearts in disobedience and rebellion against God”?

Most of the time when we are impatient we don’t realize that God in His loving kindness towards us is working on our behalf to bring things and people in our lives, ordering the circumstances to bless us and do us good because He loves us and knows what is best for us.
Jean-Louis.

Reflection on a classic devotional entry

Reblogged from  The Light Seed
Written and posted by Jean-Louis
 
The entry from   "Streams in the Desert" February 24 entry below and the following poem reminds me of a time of struggle in my life some time ago which was exacerbated by a horrible cold winter weather. Since I was working outside a house washing up the deck with a pressure washer in freezing temperature it was hard for me to muster positive and uplifting thoughts about my life. But God....

It is always when the situation is dire and we feel like giving up and crawl under the blankets of temporary comfort, whatever they happen to be that God, in his mercy and grace shows up (although he is always Jehovah Shamah, the God who is there). Through the Holy Spirit eyes, we see things unseen to us and we hear the Lord talking to us through nature, things that  we were oblivious to because we focused our attention on ourselves and on the raging waves and not on our compassionate Lord and his power to take us through the rough places in life. Read more

A Personal Reflection on Sheep and Goats

Lessons from the farm.

Written and published by Jean-Louis. 12/2012

You can also read a story from the farm in 2 parts  HERE

Becoming a goat farmer
In 1972, I had the privilege and the blessing of living on my brother´s goat farm for 3 years. Being born and raised and having lived all of my life in cities, I hardly could tell the difference between a carrot top and a potato leaf.

The Lord had his reasons to let me take a detour at that point in my life which I was to understand years later. I had strayed away from the Lord, the Bible and the church after graduating from college in the US and was about to experience the unpleasant and painful discipline of my loving Heavenly Father which as all of us former backsliders know is for our own good and in the end bring a harvest of righteousness.

Looking back at the hardships, it feels a little bit like the episode of Jacob working for his uncle Laban. The rewards were not material but the lessons learned, the perspectives and insights gained from the simple life of a shepherd, animal husband, gardener, cheese maker, and all the farm functions and activities taking place around the seasons prove to be an invaluable help in my own and others´spiritual growth.

Having a melancholy nature prone to enjoying solitude and meditating, observing nature, animals and people have always been one of my favorite past time.

So the farm environment was ideal and conducive to my perpetuating the family tradition of farming and raising animals since my French ancestors on my father´s side were farmers in Southern France until they immigrated to Algeria.

When I came to the farm, we had a small herd of goats which grew to a good size of 40 after 2 years of selecting the best milk producers from the kids born on the farm. My brother and I did everything manually, from milking 20 goats each, morning and evening to making the cheeses in the specially air humidity and temperature controlled room whose environment requirements left very little tolerance for errors.

Since we had a lot of additional pasture land that could be rented out to other farmers, we had an agreement with the owner of the land to barter some of the grazing pastures for about his 20 ewes in exchange for some  lambs born the following years.

As it happened most of the births were female twins, so pretty soon we had a sheep herd of our own without any effort on our part since most of the time in the summer they stayed out at night during the good weather. We would bring them into the barn to provide shelter during a storm, examine them for injuries or disease or to fleece them.

I loved my goats. I knew each of them by name since they had to be registered with their pedigree in the official registry. When I called them in the evening they would come in a single file and knew which one of the 2 doors were theirs because the newborns needed to be separated from the mother to be fed separately.

No need to count them, their strong personality was so distinct that I would know which ones were straggling behind and I would go get them.

Nothing to do with hair color

However, there was one ugly all black (the other ones were brown Alpine goats with a black stripe on their back). She was part of the original motley herd that my brother bought initially.

My brother and his wife kept her because they felt sorry for her and were using their emotions and did not want to see that if they kept her, she would ruin their struggling business that was sustaining 7 persons.

Let me explain how bad that goat was! She did not give any milk at all, completely dry and worthless as far as belonging to a milk farm. She would eat the others´ fodder and then lay down on the top of the hay to prevent the other ones, even the small ones from eating. She was also soiling the clean hay.

But that´s just the beginning. My brother has kept her 2 years tolerating that kind of behavior because of his compassion for animals. Our goats were grazing within the perimeters of their fenced pasture. One of their favorite foods was tree leaves that they would reach resting their front hooves on the fence. But then, having eaten all the available leaves, the nameless ugly goat would jump the fence first.  She was the leader of the pack. I don´t know what attracted the buck - she didn´t smell like Channel #5 - but he would follow her and since all the other goats followed him as the alpha billy, soon the whole herd was across the fence in the neighbor´s tree nursery eating the saplings ready for sale.

So the neighbor would come and complain with a bill for damages in his hand.

So after a few convincing arguments, my brother finally gave in to my plea and let me kill the goat. Since we wanted to get something out of her after all that nuisance, I roasted her with spices to at least give her a chance to redeem herself in death.

To our great disappointment, her meat was hard and tasteless and ruined our dinner.

That´s how bad she was!

The other goats were a delight to take care of. They were bounding with energy, funny and mischievous, with an endearing personality especially the little ones who were so affectionate. One of them thought she was my dog or a sheep and kept hanging around with me when the other ones were spread out grazing in the pasture.

When I came aboard, there were few grazing fenced fields . Since we did everything by hand, it took a long time to complete one pasture. After 2 years, we had finally finished a good number of fences so we could rotate and give the grass time to grow till we allowed more animals in.

Don´t get hung up on personality

You might wonder where this is leading to and what it has to do with the spiritual life.

As I mentioned before goats are full of life and fun to be around, they know how to attract attention and bring a smile with their antics. They are very personable and charming. 

By contrast sheep are kind of dull, boring, with not a whole lot of striking personality. They rarely venture out on their own although some of them are known to stray due to some weakness or when their fleece get soggy and heavy or entangled in a fence or shrubbery.  They are for the most part docile and submissive animals in need of a shepherd and feel safe and secure in group sharing the grass and lying down while ruminating.  

In the morning when I led the goats out to graze before they had their own pasture, I observed that the sheep were huddled together in one spot and that they did not move from that one spot before having eaten all the grass down to the ground closest to them.

By contrast, the goats would start munching on one spot and then moving on, literally running to get there first, to another spot in any direction without any sense of a herd moving together. In the process they were soiling the grass for the sheep and complaining with loud bleating that they were ready to enjoy another pasture and if we were a little too slow they would jump the fence and go their own way. No respect for rules, limits or letting others enjoy their meals and no sense of gratitude but complaining and letting you know their impatience by their demanding tone of voice. 

By the way, goats bleat differently than sheep, they say something resembling a self - centered meeee, meeee instead of a cry for help to our Father, Ba, Ba which would be  baby talk from the Hebrew Abba , Father as in English Dada for Dad or in Portuguese Papai for Pai. 

Oh, the things you can learn on a farm!

Back into the sheep flock

A few years later when the Lord helped me to reintegrate the flock, I started observing people in church and some comparisons started emerging that reminded me of the behavior I had witnessed on my brother´s farm among the sheep and the goats.

I know that we are not to judge people lest we be judged by the same standards we judge and that our salvation does not depend on what we do but on our trust in the Lord Jesus finished work for us and that we are kept and sanctified by his grace through faith until the day of redemption of our bodies.

However the word tells us to be wise and prudent, observe our surroundings and take action when necessary.

A lot is being said and written about wolves in sheep´s clothing, false teachers and false prophets, but little is mentioned about sheep and goats.

We know that a judgment will be held and sentence executed between sheep and goats after the tribulation. Matthew 25:31-46.

One thing struck me as evidenced by what I observed on the ground. The sheep in the judgment were not aware of the recipient of their good and benevolent actions. They did that because they had the heart of a sheep. They fed on the Word of God. They rested and meditated on it day and night (Psalm 1), they gave out of what had received by faith and putting their love into actions without expectation of return. What can one expect of a prisoner, or of a hungry man? They gave food and garment which is what the sheep does with its meat and wool.

This is one the mark of a sheep who is so connected with his Shepherd that he is most of the time unaware and consequently doesn´t take the credit and the glory that it is he, himself that is the origin of what he says and does because he acts naturally with the supernatural power of God working through him his will and his purpose. How many times have you said or done something to another person and have heard them asked: How did you know that´s what I needed to hear or the help that I needed? You didn´t know but the Holy Spirit knew and used you when you were obedient and abiding in Him.

On the other hand, the goats were oblivious of the good they withheld because it was not profitable to them.

I also noticed that the sheep huddled together and weren´t too preoccupied with the goats doing their antics. My brother and I were in charge and we had to find a solution as caretakers. That tells you a lot about a great number of so called pastors nowadays who don´t know if they are tending sheep or goats. Pasture hopping is a game that happens when the goats get bored or are not satisfied with the food and spoil it for everybody else, although you can also train a sheep to jump a fence with enough practice and enticement.

We have to ask if the leader himself or to be more up to date herself is a goat in disguise. It is also possible that some goats whether they be leaders or followers don´t even know that they are goats because of satan´s deception.  

The sheep are thorough and careful in their eating and wait until the Shepherd gives them a command to go and lead to another pasture not knowing what to expect but trusting that He will take care of them.

A characteristic of false prophets and false teachers is that their teachings and revelations do not benefit anyone. Instead they seduce and blind their followers with the pernicious errors of their ways and lead them to abandon the way of truth and righteousness and follow after other gods and doctrines of demons.

Like that useless, tasteless, destructive goat they are following their master the goat-head- shaped androgenous hybrid god, named baphomet of the free masons who likes to disguise himself as an angel of light to destroy as many as he can with his illusionist tricks and his snake oil charlatan salesmanship. 

Discerning by the Word

We can learn how to recognize and identify bad shepherds, false prophets and false teachers because the Lord has given us ample instruction in his word concerning them.

Jeremiah 23 speaks of the Lord Jesus our Good Shepherd, the bad shepherds and the false prophets in Israel. Their characteristic features and the way they promote themselves and their agenda that can be applied to the church environment today.

Note the prominence of the word as opposed to the worthlessness of straw.  “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’  How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?  They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship. Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

“Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me^. Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord.

Just as there are tares among the wheat, and as a good tree cannot produce bad fruit and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit and you cannot gather grapes on a thorn bush, we can see that it is an exercise in futility to expect a goat to act like a sheep.

We can ask the question: Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Jeremiah 13:23

Application
Then knowing the answer, what are we to do? Look it up in Paul´s epistles giving instructions on what to do with people who distort the Word of God, who sow discord among the sheep, who act more like goats than sheep.

Don´t be naïve and credulous. Check everything in the word and see if it is in line with what the Scriptures declare. Talk to somebody more knowledgeable that you trust, a bible teacher that believes in the inerrancy of the Scriptures and teaches from the whole counsel of God, prophecy included and belief in the soon return of Christ as prophesied by the OT prophets, Christ himself and the Apostles. 

Keep your eyes and ears opened, feed yourself with the good grain instead of chaff and straw. Don´t spend a lot of money on charismatic apostolic movement conferences in the hope of receiving an impartation, a fresh anointing from somebody who tells you he has the latest authoritative revelation from a spirit who happens to be lying and unholy.

Follow the advice of Isaiah 55:1-3  Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.² Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness^.  Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. (KJV)

Guard you heart for out of it flow the issues of life. Stay in close connection with the people you know you can trust who love the Lord and produce good fruit helping you grow in knowledge and wisdom and a closer communion with the Lord. Hang around, huddle and share with sheep! Remember, goats don´t like to hang around sheep, they are too impatient, that seems to explain why some “sheep” are always looking for the latest dazzling firework and groovy (showing my age!) worship and praise music that will give them warm fuzzies, hypnotize and anesthetize them against the demands of denying ourselves, carrying our cross, following Jesus our Good Shepherd wherever he leads us his sheep. So usually they leave and go somewhere else. 

Conversely, if you find yourself in a congregation whose majority appear to be goats, then you might have to move to a herd of sheep which is harder to find these days. If you are a sheep, you might get a check in your spirit that you are not in the right place and that if you stay there too long your soul will shrivel and your spirit will starve on this kind of diet of pop rock Christian musical entertainment and very little spiritual food from the lack of a steady expository preaching and teaching of the word. 

The only remedy for a goat is to be transformed into a sheep by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, convicting him /her to repent, and receive Christ, for forgiveness by his sufficient grace through faith, be born again of the Spirit, believing that Christ died for their sins and was resurrected to give them the free gift of eternal life.

Summing up
I have been blessed to sit under the leadership and teaching of some pastor/teacher that had a heart of a shepherd and a love for their congregation. It was such a joy, and it gave me a sense of family fellowship and working together serving the Lord and each other and functioning as a body fulfilling the purpose for which we were created anew through the new birth. I remember them with a heart full of love and gratitude for their dedication and abnegation in their service. I am thankful to the Lord that we met and walked together part of the way. They helped me grow and by their example modeled what it is to be a caring, impartial, patient, wise, authentic, hardworking, selfless, a conscientious  student of the word and a persistent, fearless person representing faithfully our Lord to the congregation entrusted to them and a testimony to the world around them.

If you have such a pastor, you are blessed with a shepherd after God´s own heart.    
Then this exhortation from Paul in Hebrews 13:17-20 is for us and together we can say “Amen” to the encouragement of the benediction. 

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon. 

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.