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Monday, December 27, 2021

Legislating Immortality – Fearful New World – Purity 612


Legislating Immortality – Fearful New World  – Purity 612

Purity 612 12/27/2021  Purity 612 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the sun blazing through an ice covered forest comes to us from yours truly as I took a canine friend for a walk down Waite Road in Easton NY yesterday afternoon and had the presence of mind to bring my phone to capture some scenes along the way on what was a sunny and pleasant Boxing Day.

It's Monday again. So it’s back to life and back to reality for most of us as the Christmas holiday is over and it’s time to make the donuts again as we return to work today.  For many of us that will mean having to secure our face coverings as we will be subtly forced to comply with mask mandates that are designed to stop the spread of the flu and common cold… I mean the deadly viruses Covid-19, and its hosts of variants. I know there was a Delta variant that the news tried to terrify us with a few months ago and now we apparently on Omnicron. 

Assuming Covid 19 was Alpha, I guess Beta, and Gamma must have been pretty lame and likewise Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Mu, Nu and Xi  must have been relatively harmless as they didn’t make the news.  To be honest, I don’t watch the news so they could have.  I would apologize for my ignorance in regards to current events but there doesn’t seem to be a very large concern with the truth in general so I choose to not subscribe to a media stream that may knowingly or unknowingly be propagating a fraud or a false narrative.   

The idea of mandatory vaccines that don’t prevent the disease they are designed to prevent and the wearing of masks that likewise will not prevent the spread of the same disease shows us that we are not content with the truth as we are with feeding the culture of fear as the objects of concern shift to a new supposed menace every few weeks to keep the measures of control in place and to keep a steady stream of income into the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies and the industries that profit on keeping the pandemic alive. 

With the abandonment of Afghanistan the war on global terrorism was lost or is over, instead those in charge are declaring a war on disease as cold and flu season has begun and the response is to reinstitute mask mandates and to demand that a round of “vaccine booster” shots be given.  

New Hampshire’s state motto is “live free or die” and I think I choose that option rather than to get a “booster” of a shot with questionable ingredients and limited effectiveness.  And as for the masks, unless you are in a Hazmat suit we are all vulnerable to  the spread of diseases. 

So I will take every opportunity to gain permission to remove my mask, as the vast majority of us – either don’t believe the hype, feel secure with our own immunity systems, or know that there is a sovereign God who chooses when each one of us will be called into eternity in spite our personal efforts to stay alive at all costs.  

The inconsistencies of our attitudes regarding society’s concerns over the sanctity of life and compassion highlight the madness of our age and the heights of hypocrisy that would have even the most carnal of sinners in a Christian house of prayer balk and point a retaliatory finger of accusation towards all the hypocrites outside of the church.

The lifestyles and attitudes that are perverse and contribute to the spread STD’s, the continuation of addiction, and encourage the termination of life in the womb as well as the elderly are “deemed” an expression of our liberty and are beyond reproach.  But the decision to refuse medical treatments and forced codes of dress, because that’s all it is, are villainized as ignorant, uncompassionate, and dangerous. 

The powers that be have stirred the pot of fear and enough of the populace is scarred enough to agree with just about anything to avoid death, or chastisement.    

I fear the opinion of God more men and I know my life is secured in Christ so I don’t fear death.  My assurance is as absolute as you can get. I know God has purposes for us that go beyond eternity and I know that God will be faithful to those who put their faith in His Son.

We don’t know when we are going to die but those who put their faith in Jesus don’t have to worry about a disease or some other sudden calamity that will usher us into eternity.  The grim reaper isn’t so grim for the Christian.  We have the assurance of everlasting life. 

When Covid-19 dropped in 2020 and the uncertainty and fear was at its zenith, essential workers had to make the decision to stay at home with the masses or to just go on and live. In the early days, there was no PPE to be found and as we know, the vast majority of it is less than 100% effective, proving that the proliferation of a “hope so” faith, that something was better than nothing, would be the soup du jour for all of 2020. And that dish of “hope so faith” that was more superstition than science is still being served up and forced fed to us in 2021.  Essential workers were, and still are at risk and vast majority of them lived and still live.  

But a new season for the flu is upon us and we now supposedly can track every new variant of disease and will demand that people keep their “hope so faith” alive, creating new fear evangelists that push a new “booster gospel” as the original vaccines weren’t the scientific messiah that we were hoping for.  

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t want anyone to get sick and die.  Life is precious and we should take measures to protect it and let it thrive by making good choices.  

But regardless of boosters, your disinfectants, and your governmental pressures to comply, death will not be stopped.

Death is God’s means for taking people into eternity.  No one dies early according the God’s timetable.  Regardless of what the coroner puts down as the cause of death, the ultimate truth is that God reclaimed the life that he created and the only hope for our lives is to make peace with the God who made us.  

We can’t prevent physical death. But we can experience a thriving life of peace, love, and joy will on earth and prevent spiritual death by putting our faith in Jesus Christ.  

I would love to put laws in effect to make Christianity the state religion and have everyone pledge allegiance and their souls to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  But God doesn’t want forced love and obedience.  He invites us all to choose life and life everlasting through faith in Jesus Christ but that is an invitation that we all must individually choose to accept and reject.

You can’t legislate immortality. But I can “hope so” that more people will seek the Lord and find life everlasting in Jesus and have the assurance of a “know so” faith in the One sent to save us.      

So as we go towards the end of this year, I encourage us to be compassionate with one another and obey the mandates, when necessary.

As much as our freedom is being restricted we still have the freedom to speak and instead of proliferating the “hope so” gospel of masks and vaccines, let’s remind people of the “know so” faith and assurance of life everlasting that comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.   

If we are living separated from God, we really should expect his protection.

The harsh lesson of life that the world teaches us is that we will all die one day and nothing will prevent that. 

But God tells us of life beyond this world, and His word repeatedly tells us that He is sovereign and that we are to not fear. 

So fight power of fear and take responsibility for the life you have.  Putting your trust in man and science is a “hope so” faith that offers nothing but a steady stream of fear and panic. 

Putting your faith in Jesus Christ gives you the assurance of eternal life and the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, and self-control . 

So as you head out for work today put on the protection that will save you: faith in Jesus Christ. This world needs to know that God is real and cares about us. This world needs the hope of the light that outshines the darkness and the fear. This world needs Jesus and it needs someone to deliver the message of His truth.  

So keep walking and talking with God. Walk in the Spirit of peace and love and assure those who are afraid that there is safety in Christ alone.  


Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Jeremiah 31:35 (NLT2)
35  It is the LORD who provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night, and who stirs the sea into roaring waves. His name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, and this is what he says:

Today’s verse is as provided by “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men” as an answer for the contemplation for “When you wish you could see Jesus at work in the world today”.

The idea from the authors of The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men is that “Jesus’ work in the world today is evidenced by the continuous miracle of God’s creation.  God provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night every day, and He also is the one who stirs the seas. 

In my short stint as teacher in jail ministry, I developed a quick apologetic for the existence of God in which I presented the three evidence for God as:

1.    God’s creation – Existence itself points to the God who made all things.

2.    Our Consciences – God wrote His law upon our hearts – we all know when we have done wrong

3.    Transformed Lives – Some people who have made Jesus their Lord and Savior were one way before coming to Christ and afterwards were set free of the former lives that were defined by sin.  Their changed lives are evidence of His power and His reality. 

So the evidence for God is all around us.  And the really great news about that is we as Christians are a part of that evidence and we get to present ourselves to the unbelieving world to prove that God is real and active in this world.  

Yes, we can point to the rising sun each day as proof that God is at work in the world today but if we are growing in our relationship with God, we can also point to ourselves and reflect on the work that He has done and is continuing to do in us.

So open your eyes to see the goodness of God and Him actively working but also know that your contemplation of Him and the things of God are evidence that He is already working in you.

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

 

Today we continue to share from Dr. Neil Anderson’s . “Restored: Experience Life with Jesus”. Today, we begin sharing from Chapter 1.    

 

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Neil Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work.

CHAPTER ONE

REDEMPTION HISTORY

We have learned from history that most people haven’t learned much from history. Those who don’t learn are doomed to repeat the same failures over and over again. Those who have learned the truth from their forefathers know that history is His-story of unfolding grace and love for all humanity. In order to understand what His plan is for you, we need to start at the beginning of human history.

THE CREATION

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,”5 are the first words in the Bible. God is a Spirit and is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His wisdom, power and holiness. He existed when the physical world was just an idea. There was a beginning in time when He  created all physical matter and all living creatures. Then God created Adam in His image, and together with Eve they were to rule over the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, and the fish of the sea.6 They had dominion over the rest of creation and were to be fruitful in order to multiply and fill the earth. They were physically alive, which means their souls were in union with their bodies. They were spiritually alive; therefore their souls were in union with God. Because they were created in the image of God, they could think, feel, and make choices, unlike all the other creatures that are physically alive, which function by divine instinct.

Adam and Eve were safe, secure, and significant. They had a sense of belonging to God and to each other. They were naked and unashamed because they had nothing to hide and therefore no need to cover up. Adam and Eve were welcomed to eat from the Tree of Life and live forever by remaining in union with God.

Prior to the creation of humanity, a magnificent angel named Lucifer  rebelled against the Creator God and fell from heaven, taking a third of the angels with him. Lucifer means light bearer, but he no longer reflected the glory of God. He became Satan, or the devil, and ruled over his brood of fallen angels, known in the Bible as demons. Jealous for the significant position Adam and Eve were given, Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. She in turn persuaded Adam to do so, and together they sinned by rebelling against God.

THE FALL

The consequences were immediate. Adam and Eve died spiritually. Sin had separated them from God. Their souls were no longer in union with their Heavenly Father. They remained physically alive, but physical death would be a consequence of their sin as well.

Adam and Eve were left to make a name for themselves and to find their purpose and meaning in life independent of their Heavenly Father. They had to rely on their own strength and resources because the life of God was no longer within them. They were like cars without gas and struggled to find purpose and meaning in life in their natural state, which is still true to this day for those who don’t have a relationship with God.

Every car has a battery that provides a spark of life, so the natural person tries to find their purpose in the beauty of the car, or the comfort of the seats, or the sound of the stereo, or the lights, or the noise of the horn, but that is not what the car was created for. The purpose of automobiles is to supply transportation. Without gas they may look, sound, smell, and feel good, but they cannot fulfill their purpose for which they were created, and neither can we unless we have the life of Christ within us.

As a consequence of the fall, every natural descendant of Adam and Eve is born physically alive, but spiritually dead.7 In addition, the whole world was affected by their rebellion, and all creation is groaning and looking forward to a day of redemption.8 That day is coming because God immediately cursed the devil and promised that a descendent of Eve would bring forth a Savior that would crush the head of Satan.9

God’s plan was to first show all humanity their need for a Savior. He revealed our need by instituting a sacrificial system to show us that somebody had to pay the penalty for our sins, and through Moses God gave us a moral law to govern our behavior. However, no animal sacrifice could give us spiritual life, and nobody could live according to the law. So He sent prophets encouraging His people to live righteously according to the laws of God. These prophets also revealed God’s word to us and recorded the history of God’s redemptive plan. There are 39 books in the Old Testament that record the history of creation and the fall of Adam and Eve. They reveal humanity’s futile attempts to find purpose and meaning in life and live independently of God.

God called Abraham out of the Land of Ur, which is the land of present day Iraq, and into the promised land of Israel. With Abraham, God made an unconditional covenant, promising that through him and his descendants all the nations of the earth would be blessed. The Messiah would come from one of His descendants. Through the prophet Moses, God made a conditional covenant of law, promising to bless those who kept it, but none could. For centuries God’s chosen people tried unsuccessfully to live under the law, which proved to be a taskmaster that was intended by God to lead us to Christ,10 the promised Messiah.

THE GOSPEL

When it looked like there was no hope for humanity, and when the time was just right, God sent Jesus His Son. Jesus was supernaturally born of the Virgin Mary and, like Adam, was born both physically and spiritually alive. Jesus is the pre-existent Word of God who became flesh and dwelt amongst us. Jesus is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and together they make up the One true God. While on this earth Jesus remained fully God, but He was also fully human. No person can become God, but God can and did manifest Himself in human form. Jesus came for three primary reasons.

First, He came to give us an example to follow in His steps. Jesus showed us how a spiritually alive person could live a righteous life. He did so by demonstrating a life totally dependent upon His Heavenly Father.11 All temptation is an attempt to get us to live our lives independently of God. Jesus was tempted in all ways, but unlike Adam, He never sinned. His sinless perfection was what made Jesus the only possible sacrifice for our sins. No other animal or human sacrifice could accomplish that.

Sin had separated all humanity from God, and the wages of sin is death.12 So Jesus went to the cross to die for our sins in order that we may be forgiven. According to the Old Testament Law, there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.13  In dying and shedding His blood, Jesus removed the enmity that existed between God and all humanity. “He [God the Father] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God.”14 However, knowing that our sins are forgiven is not enough.

Second, Jesus came not only to die on the cross for  our sins, but also to be resurrected in order that we may  have new eternal, i.e. spiritual, life in Christ. That means  our souls are again in union with God. What Adam and `Eve lost in the fall was life, and what Jesus came to give  us was life.15 “Jesus is the bread of life.”16 He is “the way, the truth and the life.”17 He is the only path back to God. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.18 “Jesus is the truth and if you know the truth, the truth will set you free.”19 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live [spiritually] even if he dies [physically], and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die [spiritually]. 20

 

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship


 

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