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Freedolatry!

FREEDOLATRY
~ When Freedom Becomes an Idol
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A teenager can no longer stand living under her parents' roof because of their restrictive rules and so she runs off and moves in with her boyfriend; a college couple decides that now is just not the right time to have a child and so both parties agree that the mother should have an abortion; a group of states and colonies decide they no longer want to pay high taxes and be part of a unified government and so they form an army to fight and kill in the name of their individual rights. - What do all of these have in common?

All of these situations involve clear violations of the Ten Commandments of YHVH and are classic examples of what I call “Freedolatry”. Any time something becomes so valuable to us to the point where we are willing to pursue it at all costs, rather than obey the One True God…that is idolatry. And in America, freedom is chief among this list of misguided pursuits. In truth, any supposed "freedom" outside of the laws of God is no freedom at all. It’s actually bondage. The Apostle Paul wrote:

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
– Romans 6:16 (NKJV)
Although many overlook this, it is terribly fitting that one of the chief symbols of America’s craving for independence, the graven image of the Roman goddess Libertas, is in itself a violation of God’s command. The 2nd of the Ten Commandments reads:

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.”
- Exodus 20:4&5a (NLT)

At this point you might be thinking as I did long ago: “That’s silly, we don’t bow down or worship any idols or graven images today. And surely no one worships the Statue of Liberty!”

Well, pretending that actual idol worship does not still exist in various places in the world today, let’s take a quick look at the definition of “worship” found at dictionary.com. Worship is defined as…

“reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage,
or to any object regarded as sacred”
You can be certain that around the world and definitely in the United States, the goddess Libertas and her graven image is most definitely honored and paid homage. It is reported in a NYC tour guide (nyctourist.com) that an estimated 3.2 million people go to the expense of visiting the giant-sized image of the goddess in New York each year. This same goddess is featured as an icon on coins, flags, and many other items of everyday life.

You see, the U.S. nation was founded on the notion of freedom first, at all costs. My particular high school was named after Patrick Henry who is famous for stating “Give me liberty or given me death!” This is the spirit of independence on which America was founded and it still reigns in this nation today. I myself, over an eight year period, proudly served in two different branches of the United States armed forces. This was all in the name of freedom and independence. In reality, I had sworn an oath of allegiance to be willing to kill or be killed, all in service to the false gods in my life; gods such Libertas. Contrarily, in both Old and New Testaments, the One True God instructs me to love my neighbor which now specifically includes my enemy. I’m not to murder my neighbor with guns or grenades. Nor am I to support the killing of babies while in the wombs of mothers; or violently rebel against my government because I don’t agree with its policies.

Does all of this make political sense? – Not necessarily. It’s not intended to…just as the Son of God did not come in the flesh with the intention of fixing the Roman government. As a saint, politics are not to be my primary concern. My primary concern is to be modeling my life after my savior Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and serving Him and His Kingdom, no matter the earthly consequence. Rather than follow the ways of this world, Yeshua obeyed the will of the Eternal Father and all saints are to faithfully do the same.

- Amen

Charge & Recharge

CHARGE & RECHARGE
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I've owned and used three different types of weed whackers in my time. I’ve had the cordless kind which call for a battery pack, the gas-powered type, and then the electric version which has a cord you have to plug in to an outlet. I’ve learned the hard way that each type of weed eater comes with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. All said and done, my personal preference is the cordless electric version. However, its primary weakness is the fact that it inevitably runs out of power before the whole job is done. This then becomes a time to go get another battery pack, move on to another job, or simply take a break.

With a fully charged battery, you can set out to accomplish a whole week’s worth of edging and trimming in one shot but most likely, that battery is going to run out well before you’ve gotten even half of your job done. At some point, you’re going to have to recharge and then go back to get the job done correctly. Even if you have multiple battery packs, at some point they will all need recharged.

I guess in theory, you could go out with a weed whacker which doesn’t have any power at all and try to trim things that way. You might actually be able to accomplish some results. Odds are though, those results are going to be pretty messy and your initial goal was to make your lawn neater, not messier.

One day it hit me that all of this is much like our spiritual walk with our Creator, the One who made the heavens and the Earth. With our personal actions as well as our corporate governments, it’s no question that we as mankind have made a mess of things. And the minute we solve one problem, it seems like we create another. I’m thinking this is primarily because on both local and global scales, we typically do not make decisions while being charged and led by the Holy Spirit of YHVH; nor do we regularly seek His divine counsel. Proverbs 3:5&6 reads:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Later, in the Book of John, we read where Yeshua said,

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me,
and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
– John 15:5 (NKJV)
So name the problem in the world – unless we the created ones are seeking Holy Spirit input and energy from our Creator, our resolve will always be shortsighted, short-lived, and ultimately a failure.

Now let’s say you did seek the LORD on a matter; something such as a conflict you were dealing with or a major life decision you had to make. From there, it is vitally important that you keep seeking the LORD on a regular basis and remain in Him so that He will remain in you. You need to live in such a way that you continually seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. You need to keep getting recharged. A one-time filling is not going to get the job done...just like charging a battery pack once will not last a lifetime. This is evident in the Apostle Paul’s instruction in Ephesians where he writes:

“Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit.”
– Ephesians 5:18 (NCV)
Though it would sound a bit funny in English, the Greek word (i.e. plerousthe) here translated as “be filled” would more accurately be rendered as “be being kept filled”. In other words, it’s a continual process. A careful reading of the Book of Acts will show you that the disciples were seeking more and more filling of the Holy Spirit well after the initial outpouring which occurred during the feast of Pentecost (e.g. Acts 4:23-31; 13:52). Again, we must abide in the LORD and get our ideas, energy, desires, hope, and ultimately our lives from Him. There really is no other way!


In closing I leave you with this quote to chew on:

“If you believe you can coast into tomorrow with yesterday’s filling
of the Spirit, then there is a lesson you need to learn today!”
- Clay Vessel

Oldest Trick in the Book (LITERALLY!)

THE OLDEST TRICK IN THE BOOK!
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Most all supremacists do this; employees can do it when it comes to their employers; employers with their employees. Children might do this with their parents; wives when it comes to their husbands. Mankind sadly does it when it comes to God Himself. What am I talking about? – I’m talking about doing and falling for the oldest trick in the book; the book we call the Christian Bible which provides us the [true] story of man’s beginning. The name of this trick is: Vilify to Validate!

VILIFY TO VALIDATE
Whether it’s obtaining something we want or avoiding doing something we know we ought to do, one trick the devil, the Enemy of our souls, has been to get us to vilify our fellow person or the authority in our lives in order to validate our own negative words and actions against them.

You see, most all of us have what is called a conscience. This built-in mechanism helps to keep us from hurting others as well as ourselves [when we end up paying for our own harmful words or actions]. Now, it seems that the easiest bypass and workaround for this defense system is condemnation and projection of guilt. That is – if we can make the source of the true standard something substandard, then we feel more justified in doing our own thing.

For example: If in my mind, I make the company I work for a bad company, then I feel a little better about myself when I secretly leave work early or show up late.
If I paint my parents as only being mean and unfair, then I don’t feel bad when I disobey them and do what I want when they're not around. This list of scenarios could go on and on and unfortunately, they happen every day!

People of the planet, understand that we’re all connected and any negative action committed by any one of us, ultimately creates negative ripples that affect all of us. I won’t get into the details of that in this short video article but just think about it.

Meanwhile, be aware that there is a serpent, the “prince & power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), who does not have you or your wellbeing in mind at all. In fact, he seeks to destroy you. Please learn to be aware of the evil thoughts the Enemy quickly tries to plant in your mind against other people and institutions. Once those thoughts are planted, you have to decide if you’re going to give them a place in your heart or cast them out. Now, in some cases a person or institution may in fact do evil things but we must still guard our hearts against a spirit of hatred and condemnation.

Titus 3:1-5 (NIV) reads:

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient,
to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit…”
So we have here the antidote for the oldest trick in the book. To avoid vilifying to validate, we should aim to be humble, obedient, peaceable, and most importantly…renewed by the Holy Spirit of God. Without God’s Spirit, we will continue to be tuned in to the frequency of the Evil One, listening to how he would have us view YHVH and all He created.

Do me a favor – Chew on all of this!

Are You a Celestial Celebrity?

ARE YOU A CELESTIAL CELEBRITY?
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Perhaps you were a star athlete in high school or growing up and now you’re a "Custodial Engineer", also known as a janitor. Or maybe you spent tens of thousands of dollars on a 4 to 6 year college degree and now you’re a "Family Relations Manager", also known as a stay-at-home parent.

Maybe...just maybe, you actually made it BIG in this life! Perhaps you’re the real deal – a walking talking celebrity. Well, regardless of your history or current occupation, the one question I have for you is:

Q: Are you a “Celestial Celebrity”?
There are at least three types of Celestial Celebrities found in Scripture. – Daniel 12:3 reads,

“Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens,
and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”
This goes out to all the teachers, preachers, and evangelists out there who have done an outstanding job and gone through much turmoil to share the Good News of the Kingdom. This verse and others (e.g. Luke 6:22&23) indicate that a great heritage awaits those who have labored well for the cause of Christ.

Another type of celestial celebrity can be found at Proverbs 19:17 (NIV) which declares,

“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD,
and He will reward them for what they have done.”
Elsewhere we read:

“Yeshua said to him, ‘If you are serious about reaching the goal, go and sell your possessions, give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven.
Then come, follow me!’”

- Matthew 19:21 (CJB)
So we see here that kind deeds done for others (especially those done privately) help boost our celestial "bank account". If you have tended to the needs of others, then you have tended to extensions of the LORD Himself and He will reward you for this!

Finally, we have what I think is my personal favorite among the different kinds of celestial celebrities. At Luke 15:7 we see Yeshua preaching:

“I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to God from his sins than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.”

If you were living for this world, your flesh, and the devil one day but then “unplugged” from that matrix and started living for God; you then became famous among the angels in heaven. That’s the clout I’d be concerned about. Those are the Likes I’d be trying to receive. And so, back to you the reader. Q: Are you rich and famous where it really matters? The life in this age is but a vapor (e.g. James 4:14). Life in the next age on the New Earth is never-ending!

- Amen.