Bible – Harbor Lights Ministries

Horseshoes And Hand Grenades

Do we face consequences for our actions? Are punishments given to fit crimes? Does God, Himself, issue forth punishments today? Let’s face it, we can look at the statistics of crime today and see that in most cases the criminals are not getting “what they deserve” anymore. And when it comes to God above handing out punishment, if you listen to the modern Sunday churchianity crowds you would think that grace and mercy are so prevalent since the “new testament” times that everyone is being fast tracked to heaven! But, is this Biblically true? Well…no. It is not.

In a world solely driven by opinions, feelings, perspectives, and personal ideologies, one doesn’t have to look far beyond their day to day encounters with people to be bombarded with a myriad of differences in thought and view. In other words; what’s right to you is not necessarily right to me anymore, and it doesn’t have to be…as long as you agree me in the end…regardless of your views. We hear the phrases “that’s your opinion” or “well, I have a different perspective on that” or “you do you and I’ll do me.” It is becoming harder and harder to get people to all agree on any one topic at any time anymore! Whether or not you and your neighbor see eye to eye on a variety of topics should be irrelevant as to how you get along with each other. Grown adults should have the capacity to appreciate and respect differing opinions without throwing tantrums or inciting violence at those who seemingly “disagree” with you. I mean, small matters that were once never a dividing line between people have now grown to be the most contentious in today’s human behavior. This goes beyond governmental differences around the world these days. This has become neighbor against neighbor, culture against culture, and even dividing once close families!

When it comes to “religion” these days, we find that most outfits can have their differences without a major fear of violence being inflicted upon people who disagree. Of course, with anything, there are always an exception or two of groups that take their ideologies to extremes against those who don’t want to participate in their way of life. The term “proselytize” means to induce someone to convert to one’s faith; to recruit someone to join one’s party, institution, or cause. All religions practice some sort of proselytizing. What sets each of these groups apart is how they go about it. Some religions are very low-key and discreet about sharing their faith with those outside their circles. While others are very forward, even demanding, and push their beliefs with ultimatums attached. I think we can distinguish a who’s who when we look around and pay a little attention. But, I’m not here to criticize or condemn. In actuality, I find that those who do live a particular religious lifestyle and proselytize others are often the ones most guilty of violating their own deity’s rules and guidelines!

I think the term I am looking for here is “hypocrisy”! When a particular set of instructions tell you to do A, B, and C, for example…and yet you ignore B, sometimes practice C, and feel that A doesn’t apply anymore to today’s culture, you have essentially told the author of the instructions that “you know a better way” or that His rules need a re-write, or something. To skip, re-define, alter, or ignore altogether, and yet tell others to “follow the instructions” is what is termed hypocritical. Not only do I see this prevalent in today’s social and governmental practices, but it permeates every fiber of religious institutions that claim themselves to be in the “right.” When it comes to the Word of God contained within the pages of the Scriptures, the Bible, the world has long been teetering at the edge of destruction for its disregard of God’s Words. I don’t mean to say that everyone on the planet is either thumbing their nose at the Bible or that absolutely no one even believes in the Elohim of Scriptures. We know that there are a number of folks who do claim to believe in the Bible or the words within. But…are they practicing what they preach?

History lesson: the nation of Israel came into existence because Adonai instructed Abram to “cross-over” to a new land, that his offspring would spawn a new nation, and that nation would be instructed by God above through His words as to how they are to live and be “set apart”, Holy, so as to be a light, a beacon, to all the other nations of the planet and to point us all to the one true God…YHWH Adonai. Simple. Though this process has taken millennia, it is all within God’s plans. The people of Israel though, like you and I often when it comes to following laws and rules, didn’t always follow the “instructions” that were laid out for them. Many times they strayed, wandered, complained, altered, and even disregarded the rules, so to speak. And, like children who violate the rules, punishments were handed out from their Father above. God would use various nations surrounding the Israelites to wreck havoc on the people because of their grievous defiance to follow Adonai’s instructions. In God’s patience, he always allowed time for His children to repent of their ways and to correct their path, and yet, after a period of time, punishment would eventually be given out. The problem is timing. Many think that if they do something bad and don’t see a negative response to their actions right away that they “got away with it” and there is no consequence for their crime. The Israelites were often warned by the prophets or events to turn back to God and repent. But if nothing happened right away, most would just keep on doing what they were doing.

The United States as well as most of the countries of the western world have all claimed themselves to be “Godly” nations…formed under the banner of being Christian in foundation. And yet, like the nation of Israel throughout history, their walk does not match their talk. In other words, the claims of origin they say they hold true to are yet very different than their actions today. If we hold that the Scriptures are the Words of God, and believe that it is important to follow them…and yet walk a completely different walk in actuality…then we are hypocrites and lying to ourselves and God. Now…I know…there are many who will say “but no one is perfect and can follow everything in the Bible” to which I will agree. Many will even say that “we are under grace and are allowed to deviate and falter.” Again, to some degree, true. But in the same breath you cannot just pick and choose what to follow and what not to follow because grace abounds. His commands are not “let’s see how close you can get.” So many folks have this mentality that if you’re somewhat close and it appears that your trying, that it will all work out in the end anyway. But truly following God and His commands isn’t like horseshoes or hand grenades. Getting it “somewhere in the ballpark” is not obeying the Word of God. And, He doesn’t give prizes out to second place. Remember the words hot, cold, lukewarm?

If you look at chapters 40 through 48 of Ezekiel, you see something very intriguing about God’s words to the prophet regarding the coming millennial reign of Yeshua and the new temple. The author hears the words “and he measured” countless times when describing the dimensions of every wall, gate, doorway, room, and courtyard of the temple. He also spells out very specific details of the sacrifices and offerings and how the attendants are to conduct themselves. What this shows is that God doesn’t generalize. He is very specific and very detailed about what He expects! If God is going to spell out these things with such detail…His commands, instructions, His Torah to the people that He says are applicable and to be followed, not only in the time before, but also the time to come…than you would think that we all would want to make sure that we are following every word, jot, and tittle that He says! Now, I don’t purport to know exactly how and when the temple will be in the future, but for this writing the point is in the details that God above delivers to the people. He gives specifics that are obviously important enough to Him that He wants us to know! Which means that even in the future, before heaven and earth pass away, that “not a jot or tittle will pass from the law, till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18) Thus…His Torah is still intact!

So, punishment? Well, we know from history and His Word that the children of Israel were often in turmoil and even run out of their land because of improprieties with following the commands (Torah). And as Israel continued their downward slide into disfavor with God by taking foreign idols, following and worshiping pagan ways, and incorporating additional customs and practices into the commands of God, so has the many “christian nations” around the world. They have not only defiled the Word of God by twisting, adding, and/or subtracting commands and instructions, but they have even added numerous pagan practices to their worship and created idols. All this is testing and provoking God to anger by our constant defying of His Words of instruction to the World through Israel. And now? Now we are starting to see the rise of other nations coming against not only Israel (more so now than ever), but we are seeing very anti-Jewish, anti-Christian, anti-Messiah groups rising up from outside and within the borders of the so-called free Christian-based nations.

As anti-semitism and violence erupt more and more from people who have invaded these western nations through immigration and border crossings, all with the sole intent of pushing their anti-Biblical agendas, we see how the hand of God is in play. After all, He puts leaders into power and He also removes leaders from power, all to enact His plans and will. He stirred the Babylonians and Assyrians over time to each take captive the people of Israel and Judah because of their flagrant disregard of Torah. Israel has never had rest from outside forces simply because they disobeyed. And now, centuries later, the goyim, the gentile nations, that have seemingly embraced the God of Israel, have also, like the Israelites, continued with their disregard of His commands and instructions. God didn’t write a variety pack of rules and regulations for various groups and cultures. Nor did He put in various clauses and contingencies that allowed these folks to ignore those portions and the other folks to abide by the first half of the rules, but not the second. Nor did He throw up His hands in defeat and start from scratch a new set of instructions for the people on earth because they didn’t obey the first set! If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever…if His Word stands forever…if it is written from Genesis to Revelation by a variety of inspired Godly men that we are to keep His commandments…then who are we to thumb our noses at God and do our own thing?

Just because God hasn’t immediately punished the many nations who claim themselves followers, and yet live life their way, doesn’t mean that it isn’t going to ever happen. We can say that we are in the end times, but that doesn’t mean that things get easier. In fact, our end times might be to the degree (or worse) than the Israelites suffered at the hands of other nations. We in the US of A might think that we are immune to many things, but one thing we are not is the hand of God punishing us for altering and changing and even disregarding His Word! You might run a stop sign 50 times and not get in trouble, but eventually you will have to face the consequences of your actions. God’s grace and mercy is beyond anything we deserve, and yet we continue to test Him which will only result in punishment. God is a jealous God who commands and demands that we follow His instructions, His Torah. Just doing some of it is akin to just following some of the traffic laws. All laws are to be followed, not just what you feel like. All commands have been given to all people of the earth, not some to this group and some to that group. ALL COMMANDS to ALL PEOPLE.

People say that Torah is not in the New Testament, that Christ did away with the law. Yet, how do you account for the fact that He, and His disciples, and Paul all kept the Torah completely…up to their deaths? If we are to emulate the Messiah, then shouldn’t we do as he asked us when He said…”if you love me, keep my commandments.” His commands were those of His father above. His words are from His Scriptures, the TANAHK, our Old Testament. Yeshua/Jesus would often begin His answers to questions with the phrase “It is written,” followed by quotes from His Scriptures. When you read through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John…Yeshua not only emphasizes the Torah teachings to answer questions about holy living, but also explains how the Word of God’s prophecies point to Himself as being the Messiah. At least 16 times he quotes out of the Psalms! Countless times He speaks from Deuteronomy. Multiple prophetic books are spoken from by Yeshua. So, the New Testament is essentially the Torah explained! Messiah points us back to the Old Testament because that is where the Words and instructions of His Father, God above, are written. Yeshua simply wanted to make sure that we stripped away the extra-biblical instructions and rules and interpretations that man had attached, and keeps attaching, to His Father’s words!

The times are drawing close and the end times are going to be turbulent and crazy. We need not fear the ever increasing hostility toward those who hold onto their faith. Like Yeshua, like the apostles, we will be persecuted for His name’s sake, but, we have a hope, as promised in His Word! And, to avoid the wrath to come, it is important now, more than ever, to make sure that we are holding fast to His complete Word! It is written “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.” Deuteronomy 7:9-11.

Don’t go by what everyone else is doing or saying. If you love Him, you will keep all HIS commandments.

Amen

Snowballs to Avalanches

Breaking News Alert! We are ALL victims of a diabolical plan to destroy humanity!

Pretty bold statement! And actually one that is not necessarily too far off from the truth! We are all, in one form or fashion, participants of a plan that was set in motion long ago to bring the fall of mankind and destroy humanity! Now, if you have been reading any of my writings or listening to my podcast “Things I Preach To Myself About” these last few years, you’ll know that this obviously has something to do with God and the Bible and something with spiritual battles. And, I would say you are right…for the most part! Like a snowball that is rolling down hill, the initial attacker of humanity that started this destruction plot long ago really doesn’t have to do much anymore these days. Oh, sure, maybe a little “house-keeping” duties here or there to keep folks in line within the scope of the operation, but, for the most part, he doesn’t have to actually push the snowball anymore. In fact, it is our own power and energy (or, in laymen’s terms: our own naivety and ignorance) that keeps the rolling motion going! As the snowball rolls down, it gathers more snow to it and becomes larger and subsequently its own weight keeps that downward motion happening! Thus, the destruction of humanity is almost running on auto-pilot!

Do you remember the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”? A boy is watching sheep and yells that there is a wolf attacking, though no wolf was involved. The villagers all came running to render aid. No wolf. Later the boy does it again, and the villagers run to help. As before…no wolf. This happens several times with the same “no wolf” results. Eventually a real wolf approaches the boy and he begins to call for help again. But, the villagers are tired of the lies and deceit and do not come. The boy and sheep are attacked and the story ends. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Well, in the grand scheme of our destruction, we are easily fooled and swayed in much the same way as the villagers with repeated lies and deceptions. Growing up, our parents, religious leaders, and to an extension the education system, were supposed to be the primary source of our learning. Learning about life, morals, history, manners and mannerisms, culture, and interactions with people. We learn by seeing, by hearing, and by doing. We ‘trust’ that the information we are being given is the truth and we readily accept it that way. But what happens when we get older and discover that what we were taught, what we were being told all along, was not exactly the truth? What is our reaction, then, to finding out that the very people we held in trust have either twisted the story or flat-out lied to us? The ormal reactions are anger, hurt, sadness, and even despair. But one of the biggest results is causing us to distrust. Like the villagers, we become filled with doubts and suspicions about almost everything we are told and inevitably lose our confidence and faith in the source. Regaining trust is no small task. Once the trust has been broken, it takes a lot of time, effort, and energy in order to gain back even a small amount!

This very thing happens to so many that either grew up in religious families who regularly attended so-called ‘churches’, or became believers in the Bible through a ministry. A person becomes “saved” and begins attending a church group and starts what is called a ‘discipleship’ program. This is essentially an education system to take people with little to no knowledge of the faith and fill them with hopefully Biblical knowledge to strengthen their faith and walk as a believer. The Jewish people in the Tanakh, the Old Testament, would have weekly readings of the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) and would go through the entire Torah once a year. By the time they were adults, they had memorized most of the writings and knew the words intimately. In more modern times people would join Bible studies for a deeper learning of the words they heard weekly from church pulpits. But, as with many subjects, over time, disputes of definition and understandings would arise and people would simply break off and gather with other like-minded people and start their own groups. This would continue through the centuries and even occurs today. This is how we have ended up with so many “denominations” of belief. Group A would believe a particular way about the Bible and group B would think them wrong and start their own group. Before you know it, people in A or B would grow disillusioned with the beliefs and start another group…and so on and so on!

Over time, folks within their respective group would either continue to embrace their understanding or they would discover flaws in the beliefs and leave. But what happens when a person realizes that the lies and deceit actually goes all the way back to the beginning? Before there were “groups” or denominations that had started splintering off from one another? Well…that is where our trust becomes shattered and the damage is done. The enemy’s plan of destruction now gains another victim. Once someone discovers that there is so much misinformation, so many lies believed, so much deception that has just been accepted over the years, that in most cases they just…quit. They toss everything that they once held in high esteem out and close the door. This is how the villagers ended up turning their back on the boy and left him to his doom. Those who completely walk away from God and His Word are now the shattered souls who have become the success story of the devil himself. These are the people who have grown cold and complacent to any and all talk of religion or belief in a higher being. These are the folks who, like the villagers, will not respond anymore to the call of God because their heart and soul have been decimated. And…they are not alone. They were once inside that rolling snowball, that has over time now become an avalanche, with all the others, but have left…preferring to be out in the cold alone, rather than continuing on with the continuing lies and deceptions.

But…there is a remnant. Not all that have jumped out of the rolling, growing avalanche of destruction have given up seeking God above. On the contrary, there are a growing number who have walked away from the mainstream of deceptions and are starting over…but this time from the beginning. They are turning to the real truth, but not man’s version. Many are realizing that the devil has had a plan of destruction since the beginning and he is using man’s great weakness of being easily swayed by the masses as a catalyst to keep his plan ‘rolling’ down hill! Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden and yet were deceived by the devil. How much easier is it to sway people today who don’t walk and seek Him diligently? Instead of believing God’s words, they simply believe what the supposedly learned men tell them. Instead of walking in obedience and spirit, they simply walk the already smooth and paved path that so many others are walking. “Follow the crowd!” It is always so much easier to go with the crowd! The snowball was simply the start…the devil speaking and challenging man to question; ‘did God say…?’ And for most who don’t know what He says…they are easily drawn into the ever-growing avalanche of man’s version of faith! Man’s ego and pride keep the momentum rolling downward.

So the question remains: where are you…right now? Are you part of the avalanche? Did you jump on when it was a smaller snowball and, because all your family and friends are rolling, decide to stay? Do you answer the question “did God say” with answers that have readily been formatted in simple form from a pulpit or do you gather the answer direct from the Word? The devil’s plan to take out humanity is simple: keep people believing lies! After all…the Bible does call him the “father of lies”! And, if someone should happen to look out away from the deception, the devil will create diversions and distractions to keep them from the truth! We are bombarded daily with so many diversions and distractions from the world around…all brought right into our minds, hearts and even souls from our phones, tablets, computers, and television/radio. We see the elevated preachers and teachers that so many readily accept as telling the truth and, because of their position, are never challenged. People strive to live simple, easy beliefs so that they can focus more of their attention on everything else going on. Their priorities are to live their best life now and carry a pocket-sized version of God so that they feel comfortable within their “faith”. After all, everyone else is doing it…right?

Matthew 7, Jesus says: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” It’s obvious that the direction (down hill) that most are on is not the right one. If the right gate is small, it tells me that it is not an easy gate to find in the first place, and that we must be diligent to seek it out ourselves…because most, including the learned leaders, haven’t obviously found it themselves. If they don’t know the right way to enter into the Kingdom, you probably don’t want to be in that group. And the path being narrow means that there isn’t much room for deviations on the journey. In that case, most (again with most) who tell you that there are a lot of “ways” to the Kingdom obviously don’t know the true way. Again, you probably don’t want to be in that group! We might think that what we are being told is truth, because so many are readily buying into their narratives, but just looking at that verse from the Messiah, who came to point people to the “right” way, shows me that the vast majority out there are going the wrong way.

So all that being said, here we are in the beginning of another calendar year…2024. Perhaps it is time to say goodbye to the old and start new. Start from the beginning. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war (live our lives) according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations (cast down imaginations) and every lofty thing that rises up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Messiah…” (2 Cor 10).

We are to put aside man, the flesh, the history, the lies, the deceptions, and all that is currently rolling downhill according to the devil’s plan to destroy humanity, and we are to cling to the truth and hope that God above has given us from the very beginning. We put aside every weight and hinderance…which includes man’s plans, man’s religions…and conform our life to God’s plans…alone! We are not to follow the world (which is currently going downhill in the avalanche to destruction), but God alone! It’s ok to trust and believe again! Just believe in Him and His Word.

Amen