Pondering God VIII: God's Omniscience

Knowledge is one of those unique characteristics that isn’t easily verified. We know an intelligent person when we see and hear them. We know knowledgeableness when it is being demonstrated. It is sort of like spirituality. You know it, you can see it and in some cases you can even feel it but it isn’t really tangible. It is a form of observable intangible. Some people are more knowledgeable (and spiritual) and we can gauge it. How? We need to compare it to the benchmark for intelligence and spirituality which is God Himself.

We know Jesus is/was wise and He is God incarnate. Even non-believers acknowledge that He was a wise sage, wise teacher, wise community organizer or wise whatever. It is the divinity thing and the required obedience that comes with the “wise teacher” part that they don’t care for. Not only does God know everything but everything He knows is perfect and perfectly known. He knows all things that have been and will be. He knows what we will do before we do it and He works through our actions to determine the course of things in our lives and other’s lives. So if God knows everything, there is nothing He can learn nor was there ever. This stands in complete contrast to man.

The sad irony in this lies in the fact that man thinks he knows everything. So much so that we feel that we don’t need God. Yet time after time we with our unsurpassed intelligence (sarcasm intended) get ourselves into situations we cannot get ourselves out of. Who do we usually turn to in these times to help us, to save us from ourselves? Who is it that even non-believers call on even when they don’t believe in Him? God knows when we are going to sin before we sin. It is why He sent the law through Moses. It is why He made obedience so important for us. It is so important He associated obedience to love for Him.

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” ~John 14:15

He did this because He knows what’s best for us. It may seem like He is trying to be some cosmic killjoy but what He is really doing is preempting our own stupidity that will hurt or condemned us unless we do what He tells us. We don’t need to know everything, we just need to know who does.

In addtion to God's omniscience it is apropos to speak of His wisdom and His ability to bestow it on His faithful. Wisdom for humans is a form of knowledge that is a “step above”. Wisdom is a preferred type of knowledge that takes time for humans to attain (hard earned) but is inherent in God. The reality is wisdom comes from God as noted in 1 Kings

So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ~1 Kings 3:9-12

God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. ~1 King 4:29

I believe the closer we come to Godly wisdom the more in-line we are with what God wants for us. There is an entire portion of the Bible dedicated to wisdom: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & Song of Solomon. Considering how much significance is given to wisdom and how much space is allotted to it in the Word of God we need to assume it is of supreme importance to God in His relationship with us and for our relationship with Him.

Even His Enemies Didn't Deny His Power

Even Jesus' enemies didn't deny His power. They never disputed whether or not He did miracles...they only disputed where His power came from. That is powerful.

"Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?" ~John 8:46

"Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons." Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. ~Luke 11:14-16

"Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. "What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." ~John 11:47-48

"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." ~Acts 2:22-24



While Jesus was on earth there was much confusion about who He was. Some thought He was a wise man or a great prophet. But Jesus said,

"I and the Father are one" ~John 10:30

He claimed divinity and had the miracles and power from the Father to prove it and this is why they tried to stone Him.

"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." ~John 10:33

Inevitably they managed to get Him crucified (they even had trouble doing this). Most contemporaries did not dispute that Christ died or was resurrected.

"While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day." ~Matthew 28:11-15

There is no mention here that they doubt that he was raised. They were trying to pay the guards off at this point to keep their mouths shut.

Matthew wrote his gospel probably around A.D. 63. So thirty years later the theory that the disciples stole Christ's body was continuing to circulate among the Jewish people. The soldiers knew the truth. They had been at the tomb and experienced the phenomena of the resurrection to some degree, yet they were not believers. To the contrary they become preachers of an anti-gospel. And their lie still exists today.

The narrative regarding the lie concludes in Matthew 28:15. But if we stop there we will miss Matthew's reason for including it. The lie perpetrated by the Jewish leaders supplies convincing proof of the reality of the resurrection. It accomplishes the opposite of what it was intended to accomplish. Most importantly, it is evidence given not by Jesus' friends, but by His enemies... It was impossible for the Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers to deny that Christ left the grave by supernatural means. They saw the evidence. If His body were still in the grave, they would have produced it and proven that the resurrection was a hoax. But the tomb was empty. The earthquake and the angel proved something supernatural had occurred. To deny the resurrection, they had no other choice but to claim that someone took Christ's body.

~John MacArthur-The Lie The Proves the Resurrection

Last but not least we have the Nazareth Inscription (edict of Caesar-Tiberius or of Claudius) which is basically historical comfirmation that something strange or out of the ordinary indeed happened in the area near Israel around the time of Jesus Christ or shortly thereafter. It was a slab of stone found in Nazareth in 1878, inscribed with a decree from the Emperor that no graves should be disturbed or bodies extracted or moved. With the offender being sentenced to Capital punishment on the charge of violation of a sepulcher.

It is my decision [concerning] graves and tombs --whoever has made them for the religious observances of parents, or children, or household members--that these remain undisturbed forever. But if anyone legally charges that another person has destroyed, or has in any manner extracted those who have been buried, or has moved with wicked intent those who have been buried to other places, committing a crime against them, or has moved sepulcher-sealing stones, against such a person I order that a judicial tribunal be created, just as [is done] concerning the gods in human religious observances, even more so will it be obligatory to treat with honor those who have been entombed. You are absolutely not to allow anyone to move [those who have been entombed]. But if [someone does], I wish that [violator] to suffer capital punishment under the title of tomb-breaker.

This edict is not talking about tomb or grave robbing which was common at the time but rather taking the actual entombed dead body from the grave! Needless to say this was not a very common practice even among criminals. The highly unusual imposition of the death penalty for removing dead bodies from tombs supports this interpretation and also strongly suggests that the Nazareth Inscription was issued to deal with what the emperor viewed as a major problem. I believe that this problem was the new sect of the Nazarenes, which taught that Jesus Christ was the King of the Jews and that He had resurrected from the dead.

Christ the Valiant

A word that doesn't always get associated with Jesus Christ: Valiant

We often forget that Jesus was begotten/incarnated in flesh and being so was subject to all the fears and pain of being human. He knew He was going to a slaughter as the sacrifice and the fact that it wasn't easy for Him was evident:

"...And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. ~Luke 22:44

It took prayer to the Father, amazing courage and valiant behavior to walk almost silently to the cross at Golgotha. He didn't do it for Himself either. He was innocent and guilty of no crime. The spotless lamb and the greatest miscarriage of justice in history. Not only did He try to teach petulant children, He was a Father protecting the well-being of His children. The perfect servant leader laying down His life for His sheep.

He was a King that sacrificed His life painfully for His people, Jews and Gentiles alike. We owe Him our praises.

Christ the Valiant

Glorious King, the Truth, Life and the Way
Almighty God, Lord, if it pleases You
Faithful aid to my sanctification
We have not seen Him since the time of His ascension
And soon it will be done…

A peasant’s life of work and toil
Spent in workshops and treading soil
To bring forth humility’s gain
While for Himself only suffering and pain

Masses listened of sweat, torment and blood
Nourished and assured the Divine plan
Unbroken bones fulfilled prophecy
Our faith produces the desired yield
His account spreads far across the land

For He is The Valiant
The Truth of Him equals His fame
Deserving praise and faith
All men shall bow at His name
All knees shall bend at His name

Spending His remaining strength
To carry His own cross to Judean height
He gave His life for
The downtrodden and believer’s right

He Spoke His final words
“It is finished”
Which gave way to a further plan
They buried Him with royal honors full
All of which were earned by this man

To make their hopes high
Like a youthful’s dream
Assuring salvation when we die
Warm as sunlight on Heaven’s streams

Angels & Minstrels will voice praises of Him
Of His Resurrection and His grace
And reverent praise shall always follow Him
When man speaketh out His name

Christ the Valiant

Legalism Is a Dead End

This is one of the better definitions I have read on legalism.

Legalism is the imposition of wrong rules, and particularly more rules than a situation warrants, so that in a maze of minutiae people lose their ability to distinguish the more important from the less important, the principle from the application. Legalism also includes striving for merit in one’s obedience, over against the recognition that obedience is nothing more than one’s duty. The personal dimension of enjoying fellowship with God on the basis of His grace alone is consequently lost.
~Robert Gundry

Inevitably we die physically and spiritually when separated from God so God made laws to get us back to a holy place. He's a Holy God and we are not. We were created to have a dependant relationship with Him but this cannot be done until we are justified. When we accept what Christ did for us at the cross we are justified. To relegate a person to an existence without a relationship with God is to relegate him to Hell. When man trys to make up rules that He thinks will help Him be more holy and get closer to God, he is actually doing just the opposite. He his moving back away from God. The man-made rule kills the man inside until he is totally disconnected from God...and man doesn't even realize it. He thinks he is improving on God's rules (which is impossible). He might as well be dead.

When you get so wrapped up in legalism that you start making your own rules, you've missed the point. When rules are your entire existence it will kill your spirit. God gave us the guidelines in the right measure and frequency, we need not try to improve on them. We'll only end up smothering ourselves in our own stupidity. Elaboration on God's perfect design is a killer. Anything that doesn't impart life will impart death.

Legalism oppresses grace.

Legalism in modern Christian living appears most often in two different ways. First, many Christians try to pursue sanctification (a pursuit of holiness) by trying to keep the Law through their own efforts (works). This avenue openly opposes grace (which is to say it ignores the Holy Spirit). This road usually ends in frustration. Sometimes those that practice this misunderstanding will cause a drift away from the faith in a backsliding condition. The second way it enters a Christian's life in a bogus manner is through "code" or "human-created" criteria of regulation and restriction. The external observance or deeds and vain repetition. A conformity to dead man-made ritual takes the humanity or human out of actions and puts the robotic and near meaninglessness in its place. God wants a relationship with His beloved creation not a distant association with a robot. Paul mentions this is Colossians.

"Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." ~Colossians 2:20-23

What Paul is saying here is that because of the great liberating truth of Jesus' Resurrection and the promise of eternal life, a believer does not have to live like a spiritually dead man but can now live as one alive in Christ, empowered with His resurrection power. Mindlessly going through the motions in an effort to produce our own salvation through works is not possible. It is only through the work of Christ at the Cross that gets us right with the Father.

Not only are we to stand in God's grace...we are to grow in it.

"Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." ~Romans 5:2

"...But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." ~2 Peter 3:18

In the end these types of ascetic restrictions mean you adhere to a man-made religion which will not sanctify you. Some examples of contrast between legalism and grace in the Bible follow.


*Click on window to enlarge*

Wingnut: Postscript

[ Obviously no post like this can be written without a tongue being planted firmly in the cheek and a head nod to C.S. Lewis. So that rattling you hear is my brain bouncing around on the inside of my skull as I vigorously nod my head to Lewis...]

Dear Rivothead,

We have been falling behind on twisting and contorting the Most High God's perfect designs. We need to ramp-up our nefarious shenanigans and start prodding and misleading with more focused effort. Give then more distractions so they don't pay attention to God's Word. Fill their schedule so that they have no downtime to hear "the still small voice". Bombard them with secular music and secular television so they won't spend the time reading the Bible and getting to know God...to know Jesus. Give them more electronic gadgets to tinker with when they could be helping those disenfranchised. Texting when they could be praying. Yapping on phones having pointless conversations when they could be talking with God on a better and more clear line about something that will change their lives today.



Allow them all the pleasures that they can fulfill on a regular basis to keep the Holy Spirit at a distance even though they may have accepted Him. Flood their visual cortex with images of beautiful woman or men on television, magazines, books, web sites and billboards so that their husband or wives look like just another possession. Devalue their perception of the caring relationship in their marriage so they will hopefully throw it away, assure them the grass is greener on the other side. Convince people that having children outside of wedlock is normal and easy on the single parent so marriages seem somehow less appealing. Convince people that if relationships don't work you can just throw them away because they're not that important anyway. Tell them that the little blue pill will help their marriage because it will improve their sex life because everyone knows that the glue that holds any good relationship together solely sensuality.

Make them believe that their work lives are more important than their family life. Make them believe that without work all else fails. Assure them that spending beyond their means is okay because everyone else is doing it. If they get in above their heads and can't pay off their debt but that's okay too because there are plenty of others paying into the world system that can bail you out. Work ,work, work, spend, spend, spend, debt, debt, debt. Tell them a flat screen in the basement and the living room are not enough. Tell them full suspension mountain bikes for riding on paved roads aren't enough. The cars in the garage are not new enough either. They need more bling. Get them to buy diving watches insured to 500ft...that they will never even get wet. Meanwhile there are homeless people living in their own town that haven't had a warm meal in weeks.

Tell them that forsaking responsibility is okay. Nowadays no one really has to grow up and take responsibility for their actions because even if they're wrong there are activist courts that will let them off the hook because they were a victim of being ignored by their father who worked 16 hours a day. Tell them there aren't enough hours in the day or enough days in the week. Speed things up so that no matter how fast they go it isn't fast enough.

Redefine or deconstruct definitions so that words no long have real meaning. Use words in an inappropriate manner so that when they are used in a proper manner no one will know the difference. Tell people that history is all subject to observational filtering so in reality nothing about the past can be known for sure because it has an observational bias. Call light dark and dark light. Evil good and good evil. Let people believe that all religions are really different paths to the same God and that everyone gets to go to heaven as long as they lived a "good" life.

Tell them to try and fit church into their schedule because, as we all know, appearances are important. How you feel isn't as important as how people feel about you. It's okay to blow off church on a Sunday for a football or baseball game down in the city. As long as you make it up later on...all will be fine. Make sure they understand that their religion is more important than the relationship.

Infernally yours,
Wingnut

P.S.

And above all, convince them that they can do anything through their own willpower. That an individualistic spirit and human know-how will get them whatever they want in this life and the next. Through hardworks, their own merits and a can-do mentality they will earn a place in heaven.

Pondering God #7: The Trinity & The Self-Sufficiency of God

I have been stuck on paradoxes lately. Contrary to what people's assumptions are about the definition of a paradox, the correct understanding of what a paradox is:

A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that is or may be true.
-or-
An assertion that is appears self-contradictory, though based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises, is or may be true.

They are not contradictions as is often the assumption.

I wrote this in an earlier blog and it bears repeating because of its importance. People just assume God created man because He was lonely. The Bible tells us that God is self-sufficient and self-existent. It is called "aseity" which is Latin for "from Himself". God does not need us or anything in the creation. The three Persons of the Trinity have existed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit eternally and are fully content and equal and each Person is fully God. There is one God. If He created us because He "needed" us, then we cannot say that God is self-existent or self-sufficient can we? It would imply God could not be happy without man. It would make Him dependant on something outside the Trinity. This idea of God is nonsense and borders on absurdity.

God created the creation and man for His glory. Glorification which had also been taking place between the Persons of the Trinity for eternity past to eternity future. ~John 17:5

Some other things that come to mind about the Trinity is the paradoxical complexity in the nature of their being: Three that are One. To a human being this is counter intuitive. How can God be three separate persons but one God? It isn’t as if this was a creation of man. In man’s logic and mind this seems impossible but there are many things that seem impossible and they only seem that way because humans are not capable of that type of thought. For things to make sense to us we need them totally quantifiable and finite. God is neither in absolute. He is knowable but not to His full extent. As long as God does not act contradictory to His nature (which He cannot) and it is His will to do so…

“…nothing will be impossible with God." ~ Luke 1:37

Since it’s true that God exists as a Trinity; Father, Son, Holy Spirit and there is a high probability that no human mind could’ve perceived this on its own…it suggests that this concept was only knowable through revelation or God revealing to man.

Additionally, when we try to apply loneliness as an attribute to God we are trying to apply a human trait to and omnipotent and omniscient God. It is applying a human shortcoming of loneliness to God. Conversely, I believe one of the main reasons man suffers from loneliness is because he was created to have a relationship with God but in our sinful nature we have been removed from this relationship until we seek justification through Jesus Christ.

There is a profound paradox in that God is self-sufficient but He created a being (man) that is not. This fact exposes itself in stark contrast when a man (like me) tries to discuss a topic about God like this. Because we are not self-sufficient we can only “depend” on God for this truth revealed in His Holy Word otherwise we could never know this for certain about Him.

The end result of our assessment of God is, as soon as we think we figured Him out, we’re wrong. We cannot figure Him out. As soon as we get there…we’re really not there at all. Words, thoughts and ideas fail in this area. What we can be certain of is the terms, words and ideas the Lord himself has revealed to us. On the other hand, God needs no knowledge from us because He is the source of knowledge. He is the source of love, goodness, and even beauty. He doesn’t need the physical universe because he is outside the creation and is a spiritual being. God is the origin of all and being so should be the focus of all that are able to focus on Him which means those that have freewill. When we turn away we are less than we could’ve been. If He turns away from us He is still fully God and always will be (and we would be condemned). One of the greatest things about God being self-sufficient is that ultimately, He is totally dependable. He is guaranteed security and we can rest comfortably in Him.

…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. ~Phil 2:13

Paradoxical Life: Little Is Much

Philemon was free
Onesimus was slave
Paul is prisoner
Paul is in chains literally but is free figuratively
When valuable (Onesimus) was lost they were not quite as valuable
When valuable (Onesimus) was returned they were of unsurpassed value
Loss it gain
Gain is Loss

Philemon lost his property but gained a brother. He lost what was commonplace but gained something in its place of much more value. What was lost monetarily was regained ten fold spiritually. When Onesimus ran away, spiritually he as worth little. When he returned he was priceless. All because of the work of God.

"...no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord." ~Philemon 16

He had to temporarily loose to gain much more in return. A recurrent theme in the Bible. We loose our old lives of sin in exchange for the much more valuable gift from Jesus Christ, eternal life. To loose the world is to gain God, to gain the world is to lose God.

Philemon temporarily lost Onesimus when he ran away from his master. He lost the slave and lost the productivity of the slave in his absence. Runaway slaves in the time of Philemon and Onesimus was essentially a capital offense and worthy of stoning. For Philemon to accept Onesimus back and not punish him would have at least been uncommon but for Philemon to accept him back as a brother in Christ would've been unheard of.

Paul not only encouraged him to do the latter by taking Him back as a brother, Paul also sung the praises of Onesimus and strongly remind Philemeon that if it hadn't been for Paul he really wouldn't even have himself.

Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. ~Philemon 11

I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. ~Philemon 19

Paul is asking essentially for leniency on behalf of Onesimus if not outright freedom now that the former slave is a believer and part of the body. He is also asking on account of Onesimus' utility and usefulness for the Lord. Onesimus initially ran away because his "utility" and "usefulness" were being used and taken for granted as a slave. He is now returning for the exact same reasons he left. The difference is Onesimus left serving as a slave to man, he returns serving as a slave to Christ.

The tremendous irony in the letter is Paul himself. Paul on the other hand being and excellent servant of the Risen Christ, is still a form of slave himself as a prisoner to the world's system for serving Christ.

"I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel." ~Philemon 13

The real truth is neither Paul nor Onesimus was truly guilty of a crime of immorality or moral violation. Paul was preaching the word of the Lord and Onesimus was a slave but according to the world system (which is corrupt), they had violated mans laws.

This entire small letter is riddled with quirks of fate, irony, juxtaposing and is layered thickly with analogies. It is an often overlooked book in the New Testament but it speaks volumes by saying little which is another of its interesting contrasts.

In the end, what looked like a disaster from man's point of view was a great outworking of God's grace and providence. It is also a wonderful example of the Christian's new life and the change it should have on the believer. A small but very mighty book. The longer the letter to Philemon is studied the more value it produces. The return is vastly greater than the time put into it.

They are paradoxes that our day and age have a hard time getting their heads around. Paradoxes are situations or statements that leads to a situation which defies intuition. Our intuitions are often defied because they are flawed. Paradoxes require us to rethink our presuppositions. They are completely counter intuitive to our individualistic me-me-I-I society. The more I see paradoxes like these in the Bible, the more it amazes and astounds me.

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. ~Luke 17:33

And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. ~John 12:23-26

The loss of Jesus' life was necessary for God to grant propitiation for our sins. In allowing Himself to be crucified God highly exalted His name above all names. Jesus Christ. In our humblest service for God and fellow man we exalt Him and He in turn rewards us whether it be in this world or the next. When we exude the "mind of Christ" we best exemplify what it is to be Christian. Serve others and you will be lifted above by God.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ~Matthew 5:3-10

To the world they appear as paradox but they are not so much paradoxes as they are a need to embrace a way of thinking that is not of this world or its system. Where we end, He begins. When we die to this world of sin it is then that we truly live in Christ as it was intended a long time ago. Praise God.

I rarely ever reference Eugene Peterson's "The Message" Bible paraphrase but his paraphrase of this passage is excellent in today's jargon and sums up many of these paradoxes nicely:

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God." ~Paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Little is much when God's in it. We need to realize that there are no paradoxes from God's point of view. He is the source of all knowledge and truth. Being so he knows all and doesn't base His thoughts on intuition or presumptions. He is all, and we should praise and worship Him.

How To Avoid A Code Red

I don't know about others but I don’t like pretending to be in a good mood. First, it isn't authentic and quite frankly, it is a deception in the form of mannerisms. If I am in a good mood I'm in a good mood, if I'm not I'm not. Second, I don't believe the Bible expects us to be perfect components of the body 24/7 and repress our true feelings. I'm not saying we should be all over the place I'm just saying people have their "moments". Pretending they don't happen is ridiculous. There are moments in the Psalms that are examples of righteous anger. In particular Psalms 109. There are intermittent waves of anger and despair from David. David resolves his anger and despair by putting the self in the context of God's power. After he has cursed the wicked and all those who detest him, he returns to plead before God that he not be destroyed with those who vilify him. We are not to conceal these types of emotion nor do we shoot them outward and pepper people in fits of rage, but rather speak the truth of our pain to God and the fellowship.

On the other side of the coin I don’t like being pigeonholed as a downer or a negative person because I occasionally manifest the true nature of my moods or poorness of spirit because I am being oppressed by the world system for days(or weeks). Being in the body and adhering to the Bible and Christ’s teaching encourages certain behaviors and assures us that the overall condition of the believer is to be in accordance with the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). They should be the general behaviors over the long-term but we cannot and are not always perfect. I never claimed to be perfect nor will I. Is my overall demeanor to change in the long haul? Yes. I am to do away with the old me tied to the sins of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). Additionally I am to be hopeful for the eternal life promised through Jesus Christ as stated by Paul when he wrote to the Philippians. A letter written even in the midst of suffering, Paul was joyous that the Gospel was being proclaimed.

"I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice" ~Phil 1:18

He wrote this statement during some very difficult circumstances. Yet in spite of the difficulties, Paul rejoiced in the ministry God had given him.

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~Philippians 1:20-21

Paul understood that it was possible to glorify God through not only his joy but also through his suffering and inevitable death. Things aren’t always going to be easy but we are encouraged to be of good spirit the best we can because of the promise of eternity with Christ.

…but even so…sometimes, I just can’t seem to pull up my collar and face into the storm. I need to turn to God in these situations and pray for endurance and perseverance.

Being part of the body also occasionally subjects us to trials or illnesses(figuratively) that otherwise would’ve had not affected us as single individuals. Disruptions and anomalies sweep through the church that disturbs the equilibrium and balance of the body. Often times they are simple things that at first appear harmless like rumors. They seem so harmless that they are ignored and then they spread and infect and drag down the body for a sustained period of time. Rumors become tumors and unchecked iniquities are detrimental to whole church.

This is where being “real” comes in handy and being “fake” or plastic hurts the entire body. When you act like you are “well” the entire body believes things are well and devote their energy to normal functions. As things continue to spiral downward for you and the mask you have on begins to wear away, your problems are no longer easily hidden. Rumors surface rearing their ugly heads like Piranhas. The need for the body to act becomes obvious because in many cases the problems become runaway and rumor runs rampant. The body then is forced to ramp up into an overreaction and emergency state to fix your issue AND quell the rumor mill. Everything goes *[Code Red]*, lights start flashing, bells, whistles, etc. What should've been a church turns into a circus. The body (church) now has a crisis that usually requires mobilization of more resources from the church than normally would’ve been required to arrest the situation and get it under control. I imagine church leadership would’ve liked to have prevented this calamity altogether. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Preventative rather than reactive is the name of the game. When a system needs to react to an emergency it usually tends to overreact to stabilize the system. Once it has the emergency under control a mop-up operation ensues and a nominal amount of energy is expended as maintenance. Meanwhile the body gets taxed to an extent that makes it unable to do some of what it should be doing which is reaching outward to the community to save the lost. Instead it needs to expend all its energy inward to stem the bleeding that was avoidable.

So how do we avert Def-Con 4 in the body? Be real and stay real! Be authentic even if it means occasionally being miserable. Please notice I said occasionally, if you are perpetually miserable you had better take a closer look at your self and your standing before God. Inevitably Christ gives us our reason for joy and hope but we are still trapped in the fallen creation. Be aware of your own situations too. Use discernment and know when you are being overwhelmed. Each successive wave that breaks on the shore during a rising tide is usaully higher than the last. Lose your foolish pride and know when to look and ask for help. We need to be diligent to stay the course. Jesus never promised a pleasant journey, he promised a pleasant destination if we accept, obey and love God.

The plastic façade endangers the church and yourself. It serves no purpose other than to deceive observers. Whether deception is the intent or not is irrelevant. We need to call on our brothers and sisters in fellowship. No one is capable of walking the road alone. Even Jesus asked the disciples to stay awake and to work in fellowship in prayer in His hour of greatest need. Instead they did not stay vigilant, they fell asleep multiple times. (Matthew 26:36-46)

All Jesus asked them to do is “keep watch with me” and “watch and pray”. He wanted fellowship and support. More specifically He addressed his need beforehand (before going up to Gethsemane). Of course the disciples failed but the thing is… He continued to interact with them. He returned three times to check on them and to wake them. He communicated his true feelings because He understood the limitations of the flesh. We should do the same within the body. Continue to communicate truths even when they aren’t pleasant. We need to understand that all are subject to limitations of the flesh. In these times we turn first to God and second to fellowship with our brethren. I don't believe it is any accident that Jesus told us to:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself" ~Luke 10:27

He knew we needed Him and one another.

We also need to understand that in these situations of pretending most people do not maliciously intend to mislead people, they usually are afraid of pushing others away by exposing their true moods and feelings. This is caused because of a warped twisted and unreasonable expectation that only perfectly unnaturally happy behavior is expected in the body. How silly. Personally, I don't view these unreasonable self-imposed expectations as any different than the unreasonable self-imposed rules and laws the Sadducees and Pharisees imposed on themselves and others. We commit ourselves to our own prisons that God never intended for us. He wanted a relationship with us because He knew we would fail and knew we were human, subject to human shortcomings.

Most people don’t mean to drag other people down when they get in over their heads, they just fail to ask for help. Sometimes there is no sense in stifling the sneeze when you're sick. The quickest way to the cure is to admit you don’t feel well and address the problem. Putting it off makes things worse. Believe it or not when you raise your hand to God or to (true) brethren to get attention and help in these situations it won't be seen as bothersome or an annoyance. Usually true believers will reach back to lend a hand. In the case of God it goes without saying.