The Human Spirit

Proverbs 20: 27

The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one's innermost being.

The spirit in a person is God's lamp--like a prism that directs His light into all the deepest recesses of a person's being. 

I think of the movie, The Dark Crystal; and it occurs to me that as the crystal in that story had been damaged, broken, and was therefore dark; so our spirits are darkened by our broken human nature, and cannot shine out God's light. 

When we are born into God's family, His Holy Spirit comes in and "heals" or "repairs" the "crack" in the crystal to make it whole, and then our spirits can function as God intended them to, in illuminating our whole life to His scrutiny and to our understanding of ourselves. 

My Father, Your Spirit shining through the prism of my spirit has brought light upon what I had formerly ignored in denial. 

O Father, continue to show me my failings, so that I can confess them and forsake them in my life, living a new way day by day, moment by moment--Your way of Truth!

Then my life can be an example for others to follow, as Paul said to follow him as he followed Christ. People tend to follow other people they can see, so let them see Christ in me. 

Then let me hear, "Well done!" when I face my Judge. 

And I will praise and exalt Your holy Name and give You all the worship, glory, honor and blessing throughout all eternity forever and ever!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Eyes Of The Lord

Proverbs 15: 3

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

God is always everywhere, because we are inside Him (Acts 17:28; In Him we live, and move, and have our being). So He is always aware of every person, every word we speak, every thought we think, every molecule that we are made of. He knows our attitudes, our physical and mental health, and every interaction that we have among us and Himself. 

There is nothing that we can hide from Him. So we might as well just be totally honest with Him and admit when we are wrong. When we realize this, we are humble before Him and let Him be God. 

Then we will realize that all His rules and precepts and commandments are all for our own benefit, so we can all get along and enjoy all the prosperity He put into this Earth we live on. 

We will build our World according to His Love, in loving Him back and loving each other as He loves us, and taking care of where He provided for us to live. 

But we as a human race will never do that until Jesus returns and sets up His Kingdom here, and enforces all His rules justly and timely. 

But maybe we can have our own little worlds operate more smoothly, as we live our own lives as an example for others. 

O my Father, I praise You for Your omni-presence, that You do see every detail of each of our lives.

I know that You record every detail of a person's live in the brain of that person, as well as in Your Book.

O Father, I pray for Your peace to be upon my house (my family, wherever they live). Please help us! 

We are all desperate for You, whether we realize it or not. Please open the hearts and minds of each of us to recognize how desperate we are for You! 

Draw us all to Yourself; forgive, strengthen, save, transform. Take us out of darkness into Your glorious Light! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Hatred, Love, And Forgiveness

Proverbs 10: 12

Hatred stirs up dissention, but love covers all wrongs.

________

V. 18

Whoever hides hatred with lying lips ... is a fool.

26: 26

Enemies ... whose hatred is covered by deceit ... 

8: 36

... All they that hate [Wisdom] love death. 

________

I John 4: 10-11

This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning Sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

I Peter 4:8

Above all things, love one another with fervent love, for love covers a multitude of sins. 

Matthew 6: 12, 14-15

And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. 

So what is hatred, what is love, and what's the connection with forgiveness?

Hatred has been called the opposite of love, as they are frequently contrasted. 

But both hatred and love can be very passionate, alive feelings. 

We know what love is by the way God has demonstrated His love for us, in sacrificing His most dear for our benefit; by sending His Son to take our death, individually, so His blood could wash us clean from sin, and God can now forgive us. So Love is sacrificial, to the end of forgiveness. 

God's forgiveness results from our being cleansed from every fault, made perfect, fit to live with Him in His home, Heaven.

So our love for one another must also require that we forgive one another. To refuse to forgive is to carry a grudge, which hurts only ourselves, and projects hatred toward the offender. 

John calls himself, "the disciple Jesus loved," and his letters lay out his understanding of the principle of Love. He says,  

I John 2:9-11

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

So the one who forgives and does not carry that grievance, but lets it go; that one is walking in God's enlightenment. But the one who carries the grudge is still walking in darkness, and doesn't realize what they're doing, or God's great love for them. 

Forgiveness is the test of love. To sacrifice for and forgive is to love as God loves us. Anything else is just human love, or even hatred. 

I think the opposite of both passionate hatred and passionate love is apathy, no passion at all. God noticed that the church in Laodicea was neither cold nor hot: I would rather you be cold or hot. So then, because you are luke-warm (apathetic), I will vomit you up out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:14-16). 

(There's not much that makes God feel an upset stomach, but apathy is one. For other things, just do a search on "abomination.") 

O my Father, thank You so much for Your great Love! You have done everything you possibly could do to show Your Love for us, in drawing us with Your kindness, and sacrificing Your very best and most beloved so that we could be made fit to live with You in Heaven. 

You want us to be with You, as Jesus said in the seventeenth chapter of John: Father, I will that they also, whom You have given to Me, be with Me where I am, that they may see My Glory... (17:24). 

Teach us all how to love one another as You have loved us, Father. Show each one of us how to see one another with Your eyes, to forgive as You have forgiven us, and to celebrate each others' good qualities while forgiving and letting our faults slide into the background. 

Father, You have loved me with such great, passionate Love, that You call me the Bride of Christ, to be Your bride throughout all eternity; to have that tender, close relationship of a Bridegroom and bride on their honeymoon, lasting throughout all eternity, forever and ever! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Let Them Know They Are But Men

Psalm 9: 19-20

Arise, O Lord, let not man triumph; Let the Nations be judged in Your presence. Strike them with terror, O Lord; let the Nations know they are but men.

King David here writes of other Nations around Israel, but today he could have written of the inner machinations of a bureaucracy; extensive tenticles reaching into every part of the citizens' lives. Some of this government is good, but much of it is just to further the politicians' power at the expense of the people. 

Many of these men and women do not admit that they are mere men and women, but consider themselves as gods who are not subject to the same laws and rules as the rest of the people. They promote policies that they claim to be "for the people," but only serve to line the pockets of those promoting them, as they reduce the freedoms that the Constitution grants the populace. And in the process, they are destroying people, Nations, and economies. They are robbing the people, and the people are the frog in the pot that is being heated gradually--and the water is very near boiling, killing the frog as it sits contentedly. 

Wake us up, O Lord! Open our eyes to see what is going on! Raise up men and women who know You and understand Your ways to take over the reins of government and implant the policies that would be for the genuine good for the people, in rightousness and honest judgment! 

And Your Name will be glorified, honored and praised for Your great wisdom, compassion, and power.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

A Little Folding Of The Hands To Rest

Proverbs 6: 9-11

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. 

Proverbs 19: 15

Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.

Proverbs 20: 13

Do not love sleep, lest you become poor; open your eyes and you will be satisfied with food. 

Proverbs 24: 33-34

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. 

As I read 20:13 I was falling asleep in my chair! And God repeats 6:10-11 in 24:33-34, because He knew I needed it reinforced! 

How many times have I sat down just to rest my eyes "for a moment" and fell sound asleep! 

How often have I stayed up too late and had a hard time getting up in the morning! How often have I "slept in" when I didn't have to go anywhere that day! 

How many days have I just schlepped around the house without even getting dressed! 

O my Father, You impressed me with this concept years ago, and I am still working on my ability to have the self-control to maintain some kind of schedule so that I won't waste away the hours and moments and days You give me. 

Father, give me victory over laziness and slothfulness. I seem to get better for a while, then fall back into it again, but not as bad. 

Father, before You came to me and redeemed me, I was trying to be a better person, but each time I fell back then was worse. 

Now I find that my relapses in this matter are not like the other problem I had before, that You healed me of, and I've remained healed. Now when I grow weary and want to sleep in, it's a one-time occurrence, not a continuous habit. 

And the days that happens are getting fewer and farther between. Continue to help me, Father. Show me each day the good work You have for me to do, so that I will be encouraged to be ready each day for whatever You have for me. 

Strengthen me, Father, to accomplish the tasks before me each day, to prepare for what is coming in days to come. Both the work You have for me to do, and also to lean on You when the hard times come. Help me to be fully prepared for both. 

Let my life be a good example to follow, to lead others to You, Father, and into Your ways. Let my walk agree with my words, so that integrity will hold me together. 

And You will receive all the glory, Father. You will be praised and honored and blessed by every tongue in all Creation; in Earth, under the Earth, above the Earth, and in Heaven, and throughout all the New Heaven and New Earth through all eternity, forever and ever!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

"Sin Not To Death"?

I John 5: 16-17

If anyone sees his brother committing sin not to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not to death. There is sin to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not to death.

This has been a very enigmatic puzzle of a verse for me, that I have thought on and prayed about for some time. 

I can only think it means that if a friend has a habitual sin (an addiction), but they haven't died yet, then we are to pray for him. 

But someone who has already died in his addiction will not be resuscitated no matter how hard we pray for him, his earthly life is over. 

Since all sin leads to death, and no one gets out of this life without dying because we've all sinned; then this "sin not to death" must refer to someone who hasn't died yet. There is still hope that they will turn to God and turn their life around. 

I know that had God not found me and rescued me when He did, then I would have died long ago, because my lifestyle at that time was very unhealthy and dangerous. God turned me around completely that day. 

So someone who is continually committing a sin that will lead to an early death still has hope, because they haven't died yet; so we are to pray for that brother and share with him if we have the opportunity to talk to him, and God can rescue him, too. 

I have seen impossible situations miraculously turned around, when there was no Earthly reason it would be, when God stepped in and worked His wonders in the life and situation. So no one is too far gone if they haven't died yet. 

I've even seen an old woman with dementia and no short-term memory finally admit that she deserved death, and let Jesus take her place on the Cross one morning. And that evening, she remembered it as "long ago," because God put that decision directly into her long-term memory.  Nothing is too hard for God.

So as long as someone is breathing, God still has purpose for them, and can even save them. 

Don't write off anyone. Even in a long-term addiction, even having rejected God for many years, even someone with Alzheimers! There's still hope. Do not neglect to pray for them! 

O my Father, I know that You are Almighty God, You can do everything You want to do, no one can hinder you or thwart Your plans. You do everything well, you always finish what you start, and You will receive all the credit when this movie is over. 

You alone deserve all the glory, all the honor; You will be praised and admired throughout all eternity for Your greatness and Your goodness; for Your mercies and grace, for your patience and perseverance and faithfulness. 

Because You alone are God! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 

Snatch Them Out Of Fire

Jude 22-23

And have mercy on [and convince] some who are doubting; save others snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

What are we commanded to do here? Convincing the ones who are doubting and questioning, this is not hard to understand. 

How do we snatch some out of the fire? This seems to involve violence. 

Then on some to have mercy with fear--Zechariah's vision of Joshua the high priest depicted Joshua's sins as filthy garments. Is this hating the sin while loving the sinner? 

We need our thinking clarified on these things, to see with God's eyes to have His perception and gain His understanding of these verses. 

O my Father, how do I obey these commands? Please help me to perceive what You want me to do, and how to do it. 

Enlighten my understanding, Father, to accomplish Your will according to Your plan for me. 

Then You will receive all the credit, all the glory for all that You have accomplished, even in and through me. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!