second chance – Page 2 – Past the Surface

Between Death and Life

Every day we all find ourselves between things. We are in the middle of
choosing this one or that one. We are always between choices. You and I are always in the middle of something whether we are aware of it or not.

As a child you had to make choices. Some choices were fun and some were no fun at all. Parent(s), siblings, neighbors, teachers, coaches, relatives, and many others put you in a place between choices.

The sad part about choices is once you have decided the results could be bad and you had to find out the hard way it was a bad choice. Good choices have a glow about them with a feeling it was a divine plan that was meant to be falling into your hands.

Some things we are between we have a choice and in others we have NO choice. Having the freedom to choose is great, but you don’t know how great that freedom is until you are between something and the choice lies in others.

The Scene: John Chapter 8

In one country they had strict laws. People were to follow the letter of the
law. If anyone broke the letter of the law they were to be punished according to the level of the law they broke. Husbands and wives were to have intercourse with no one else, but their spouses.

A teacher was born into this country with God anointed understandings of the letter of the law God gave the people. The religious leaders did not like his interpretation of the letter of the law because it was pure and a side they had never seen in the letter of the law.

The God sent teacher was at the temple when a group of religious leaders of men brought a woman throwing her down at the teacher’s feet. The men told the teacher this woman was caught in the act of adultery and the letter of the law says she should be stoned to death for breaking it.

I can see the teacher God sent on one side and the group of men with rocks in their hands on the other side. The woman is the one that got my attention. She was in between them. She had made her choices in life of which side she would choose. She is now in the middle of Death or Life.

Now, she is in between two sides with her choice in their hands. She had
already heard the one side giving their choice of stone her to death according to the letter of the law. She is waiting to hear the response of the God sent teacher.

What they all did not know this teacher from God was the letter of the law in flesh and much more. This man on the other side of this woman was the Word made flesh (Jn. 1:14). He was and is the living letter of the law come to complete the law for mankind. He was and is the Word in the beginning of creation. He was the letter of the law of the order of things here on earth and in the heavens above.

This man teacher in the flesh had the Spirit of the Almighty God that stood on one side of Adam and Eve with the devil on the other side. The Spirit of God was the letter of law of order and protection, if you eat this one particular fruit you will surely die. This man before the woman was the letter of the law with flesh and blood.

The devil was there saying kill them the letter of the law demands it. God
knew it had to be done, but not right at that moment. Death and sin was passed onto all mankind through Adam and Eve, but the execution was not at that very moment. God inserted into the birth channel of mankind a promise of one day returning to fulfill the letter of the law’s requirements for His children.

This is what was on the other side of the woman waiting to be stoned to
death for her guiltiness of adultery. We all have experienced people condemning us and very few seeing past our regrets and wishes we had never done what we had done or said.

She was in the middle of death on one side and unknown of the other side. The teacher/master began to speak as the woman hearing the words pass over her to the men with stones. He said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” The death side had words to think about from the other side, which is revealed to be the side of life for the woman.

She was between the choices of Death or Life with no control on what the
final outcome will be. She was sitting between the letter of the law from the Old Testament and the spirit of the law in the New Testament of God. She was between the devil calling for her death and God saying not death right now, but life.

I see her as I do see us today between the Old Testament of the letter of
the law and the New Testament of Jesus Christ fulfilling the Law for us. All of us are born under the letter of law that demands a payment of death – a letter that killeth if you will, but on the other side of us is the Spirit of Jesus offering the payment in our place through him unto eternal life.

The woman hearing the words of Jesus had to realize no one there was without sin to cast the first stone, but still what choice will they make. Will they defy the words of Jesus, the teacher of God? She hears one stone drop, but there are many men. One stone could still be the death of her. It must be all of them with a unanimous choice for her to live. The stones started dropping one by one from the oldest man in the group down to the youngest.

All was quiet around the woman until she heard the one man who had no sin and the right to through the first stone say to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She looked around to see none of her accusers, only the stones meant for her death on the ground. (11) She
said, “No one, sir“.

The wall of men demanding the letter of the law that killeth to be fulfilled
were gone and the one man from the other side said to her, “Then
neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin“.

I see all of us in the middle between these two eternal forever set in place
laws that will be executed. Adam and Eve’s situation has not changed to this day for the letter of the law of death to be fulfilled, but not right now. We have time to choose the other side with Jesus stepping in our place fulfilling the law through himself setting us free to eternal life.

All we have to do is to leave our life of sin turning against it in a
repentful way, be baptized/submerged in water in Jesus name applying his blood of atonement/forgiveness on us, and receive the power of his Spirit inside of us (Acts 2:38 the plan of salvation). The stones of death will be dropped to the ground around us and we will walk away with life and life more abundantly.

We are free to make choices everyday no matter if they are good or bad. We are in the same position like that woman between death and life, but the difference is we have the choice right now to choose eternal life joining the side of Jesus or wait until death visits us later with an unchanging eternal sentence of death.

Choose Jesus and your accusers have no power to inflict upon you their
decisions and look up to see only Jesus with all the death tools lying on the
ground with no power.

We are all in the middle. I want you to feel the forgiveness I have felt. Whom do you choose?

The Blood of God

“The Blood of God” carries an impossibility having the two in the same sentence. What I have come to cherish and adore about God is what is impossible to man is possible with Him. The greatest exploration any one person could ever dare themselves to take would be with happiness in their heart to feel after God, and find Him because He is not far from anyone of us (Acts 17:27).

He will drop thoughts into your mind and if your heart is brave enough to join into following that thought to the end of the path you may discover something about yourself, others, and God in a more perfect understanding than you had before. This is what I believe makes every one of us unique in how He presents Himself to our different levels of perceiving and understanding. What is really awesome is the different unique way always comes together in oneness with His word and His Spirit.

With me He connects everyday ordinary things with His scriptures in my little mind and the row of street lights come on lighting the path down an area I have not explored before. My hopes are that if I follow him to the end of the path of understanding I may know Him more and help anyone else who may read what He has given me.

“The Blood of God” dropped into my thoughts on the importance of blood. Most people reading or hearing the word “blood” get that grossed out chill in their system. Blood is our life line to live in this world. Without blood in our bodies none of us could exist.

Blood in our bodies goes back to the beginning with Adam and Eve. It really blows up our minds to think of the complexity of our bodies due to the fact they are made in the image and likeness of God if He were to be of solid form. Everything in our bodies is a tiny reflection of understanding aspects of God Himself.

This is cool when God breathed a part of His Spirit into Adam the body made of the dust of the earth was immediately converted into an individual living tissue no longer just dirt. Adam’s individuality as a son of God started a life flowing blood in that body made of clay. The life of the flesh is in the blood and it was given to mankind and other creatures (Lev. 17:11). Simply, the blood is the life to our flesh that houses our spirit allowing us to exist in this world. Blood is the solid form of life.

God is a spirit (Jn. 4:24). It is easy to understand that God is a Spirit being everywhere at once at the same time. An omnipresent spirit could accomplish being in all places at once without diminishing. Mankind was created and all his children having a spirit in one place at one time in a fleshly body with bones made of this earth (Lu. 24:39).

God being a Spirit in all places at once explains why He tells us He is only one God and there is no other beside Him (Is. 45:5). There is no place that is outside of Him that could be counted as two just like we could claim there is only one of us inside our bodies. There is no place inside our bodies that could be counted as a second us. Scientists and doctors could tell you how much like the universe we are inside our own tiny bodies.

Now, let us enter into the “impossibilities” of “The Blood of God” being together in the same sentence. When we sinned against God converting the whole earth and ourselves into death, disease, and the grave God stepped in as a loving Father providing a way of forwarding our sins through the life of the flesh in blood upon the altars making an atonement for our souls (Lev. 17:11) until that day a final atonement would come. God said there would be a seed of mankind that would pay the death penalty mankind incurred from sinning against God.

The Holy Spirit took an egg of a virgin woman named Mary and gave it life (Mtt. 1:18) starting the pregnancy of the promise seed to atone mankind’s sin. This was different than breathing into Adam creating a separate living soul. The egg inside the virgin Mary was given the All present Spirit (Jn. 3:34). The All Present Spirit of God is in all places at once, but can be focused in a single body without diminishing or taking away from other places. Your spirit and my spirit are born into one location of our bodies, but the egg inside of Mary had the present everywhere God. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” (Col. 2:9). This is where the “The Blood of God” impossibilities is explained.

God, the Father of all creations, is an All Present Spirit without blood. His Holy Spirit that gave that single point egg inside of Mary does not have blood, but that egg that was born with the everywhere present God did have blood in its flesh. This egg became the Second Adam of God (1 Cor. 15:45) to save us from death giving us life in its place. God fulfilled His promise of that seed being born to save mankind to Adam and Eve. He fulfilled the words of Abraham that God will provide Himself a sacrifice (Ge. 22:8).

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (Jn.1:1, 14). When Jesus was born he was a man of blood and inside of him was the all present Spirit of God – “The Blood of God“. What is impossible with man is possible with God. God has no other place that He can claim has His own pure (keyword – pure) blood. We were given a separate individual soul life existence of flesh and blood of which was squander away to sin and death.

Now, can you imagine the power of this blood of this man housing the focused fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9), but NOT diminishing God’s presence from everywhere else? This is why when we say, “God” you are speaking about something that is way beyond what mankind can think or imagine. This explains how God can speak from heaven with a voice, descend as like a dove, and be in the water at the same time (Mtt. 3:16, 17). He is not limited .

How high is the level of importance of the blood of this man, Jesus? This man was the egg inside the virgin Mary brought to life by the Holy Spirit of God for the sole purpose of sharing in their humanity as flesh and blood to break the power of death setting free to those he make the choice of wanting freedom from death (Heb. 2:14, 15). This was God partaking in our everyday life living among us providing His blood for our freedom. Is there any blood in the history of mankind, in the present day, or even in the future that can surpass “The Blood of God“?

There is only one place that the All present, All knowing, and All powerful God has His own PURE blood. This one blood is the one human doorway mankind can step through to the protection from death, a second chance, and life eternal. No wonder everyone in the Bible was baptized in water with the name of Jesus pronounced over them. “The Blood of God” is inside the name of Jesus the only place with the power to wash away sins.

I know some have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit in water baptism according to Matthew 28:19. I was baptized in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In walking with God as a human being below His level of understanding we must be willing to evolve into more truth He reveals to us without considering what knowledge we do have as a waste. All knowledge of God no matter the level are building blocks He can work with in bringing us closer to Him more perfectly (Acts 18:26).

Realistically, the Father has no blood bringing back the impossibilities because He is Spirit. The Holy Spirit is obviously also Spirit with no blood bringing back the impossibilities. The Son, Jesus, being born of flesh and blood is the one bring possible back into the picture of “The Blood of God“.

Realistically, you cannot kill the Father nor the Holy Spirit because there is no flesh and blood to kill. The Son, Jesus, is the only one with flesh and blood that could die in our place. Jesus is the one that said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is for our benefit. It is nearly impossible for our minds to wrap around one all present God and to break it down to our understanding the ‘Father’ is a good way to point out creation like being a father of a child; the ‘Son’ as a symbol of atonement/redemption; and the ‘Holy Ghost’ as the indwelling ever-present guide to us into all truth (Jn. 16:13).

After the people asked Peter what they must do to be saved what Peter replied to them explains “The Blood of God“. “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV, ACts 2:38). Our blood is not pure enough to save our own selves. Jesus is the one place “The Blood of God” can be applied to us washing away our sins, covering us with God’s forgiveness and pardons us from the sin debt we owe.

Wow, the only place the All present God has pure blood to help mankind is an awesome revelation. I am so glad to have come to a place that when God shows a more perfect way that matches all of His word that I have no problem of letting go of any man-made traditions for the freedom of God’s Spirit. I hope this has blessed you and causes you to seek out more understandings that are just waiting to share with you. I will do my best to share with you as God shares with me. Have a great day in-spite of what comes your way.

Where Can I Go

“Where Can I Go” has so many different sides to it. You can be suffering physical pain with a despairing cry inside of “Where Can I Go?” You can be going through a relationship breakup with tears inside all the while you have this sinking feeling of “Where Can I Go?” You can be faced with all the voices and the words they piled upon you pushing you to be something that you just need time to sort things out with the pressure of “Where Can I Go?” A dead-end is a place where there are no other options that could cause you to think “Where Can I Go“.

HAVE YOUR EVER EXPERIENCED

Walking along a path in the woods passing by different sizes and types of trees with various heights of vegetation on each side reaching from your ankles to your knees and you come to a place where you can go no further and your mind is busy looking for the answer to “Where Can I Go?“.

You are out with family and friends at a shopping mall, ball game, concert, and any other large crowd you may remember. You and those with you are completely surrounded by other people. As you are moving along a separation occurs whether it was from others walking faster than you or the pressing crowd separates you. You are standing there in a pressing crowd of people wondering where those you know have gone. You cannot see them or hear them. Your realize you are alone with a crowd of people completely around you. You think “Where Can I Go” with no sound in reply as your mind is totally blank.

Out on the bike you are riding along enjoying the freedom to ride. You get an exploring spirit turning down this way and that way as the wind blows past your face. The rolling along on your bike has a mesmerizing feeling as you continue to explore. You make another turn to see what is down this way finding a dead-end with like an ocean wave of a disappointing feeling rolling in upon you. You realize you have been going forward all this time with no turning back or back tracking. At this dead-end you are looking with searching eyes of “Where Can I Go” because right beside that thought is “I don’t want to go back, I want to keep going forward, I have come this far“.

Driving your vehicle in the direction you think will end up going where you are trying to reach only to find out that this road you just tried ends up being a cul-de-sac or a dead-end. “Where Can I Go” now to get back on the right route to my destination is all that your mind is searching. Sitting in your vehicle trying to get somewhere with no answer to “Where Can I Go” is a bad feeling especially if it is a dependency and really important to be there situation.

Relationships from boyfriend/girlfriend, going steady, engaged to be married, and marriage are deep-rooted in our hearts, minds, and even some our souls. We bond with another person in such a way that we have concluded they complete us. They are the answer to you physically and spiritually. When the sour, bitterness, anger, lack of understanding, confusion, jealousy, envy enters between you and them the “Where Can I Go” painfully takes over your entire system with division leaving you in darkness of what seems to an engulfing abyss of emotions. This is one of the hardest times in life facing the breakups, the deceptions, and the betrayals leaving the aftermath of “Where Can I Go” weighing you down.

Some have set out on a quest in life journeying for answers longing for satisfaction. A strong desire of ‘I want to know‘ and ‘I want to understand‘, and ‘I want to see with my own eyes‘ embeds itself deep into their spirit causing a daily hunger and thirst. The days come and go increasing into weeks, months, and then years without finding that satisfying answer. Along life’s journey you accumulate fragments that are alright with you, but they don’t fit together in a wholesome way only to come close to feeding the hunger inside. The “Where Can I Go” drives some into a place they wake up doing a morning routine, work a routine shift, and go home to the routine evening waiting for the cycle to repeat while the hunger and thirst sleeps inside their shell. You are physically moving every day, speaking words in correct response to those you encounter, and doing the functions expected of you all the while you are an empty shell because there is no completion to the inside you no one sees.

PASSAGE OF TIME

Passage of time is something we all face. Time is controlled by no one in this life. Time is constantly in motion going forward. Each second leaves the present and goes into the past. The seconds of our life piles up into minutes. Minutes quickly add together forming into hours. The days, weeks, months, and years from where we stand looking back have moved on to a place we can never change. Our memory only goes back into the past so far and then its a place ‘I don’t remember‘ anymore.

As little children we looked up to the towering people around us. They pick us up with such ease and power that our eyes would light up with excitement. We would watch these people of giants come and go on a daily basis. Sometimes they would bring back food, drinks, clothing, shoes, and other things. Our looking up to them with time becomes a shorter distance. They were not as far away in heights was they were before. Time was ticking by as an unnoticed growth in our body was occurring beneath our own nose while the curiosity of our minds was busy on a quest of life. The accumulation of experiences started to pile up in our storage rooms of life. We were slowly entering into their world were the other giant adults gathered.

We have our childhood memories, teenage memories, young adult memories, and adult memories to call upon anytime for the moments we faced that coming to a dead in life wondering “Where Can I Go” from here. The bad pranks, heart breaks of relationships, the lies, the highs, and the lows coming down upon us like the four seasons. We did not realize the shell of doing the morning routine, work routine, and evening routine we saw in the adults of our childhood days had crept in upon us putting our hunger and thirst to sleep inside us. We became them as they were us once upon a time.

We all have got into the boat of life from the shores of infancy riding towards the waves of time. As we watch ourselves getting farther from the shore of our beginnings. We turn around in this boat of time seeing the horizon not realizing the rut of daily routines were physically being done while our spirit sleeps the sleep of death. We have gone through the storms of being tossed around, the rain pouring down on us, warm sunshine, and the quiet calm times of life. We wake inside the boat being moved by the ocean currents and winds of time beyond our control finding ourselves changing from the little child into the adults around us. We were the children at the shore and now we are the adult captains of our own ships in the ocean of life wondering “Where Can I Go” to fill this empty void. Where did time go?

Simon was a little boy watching his father Jonah happily come home and sadly leave for work every day. When Simon grew older he could go with his dad to work learning his father’s trade and skills. He and his brother would watch as time altered their dad into an aging man. They would step up into their dad’s place as time aged them into young strong adults. Something was missing though their morning routine, their working routine, and their evening routine ran smoothly. They had that feeling there was something more to life than being the physical shells repeating the same functions over and over each day.

As you read this can you see yourself waking up doing a certain physical thing each time, going to work with the like same functions for the same results, and going home with the mind-set of getting things done for the next round? Are you walking and talking with the set parameters of what is considered a normal response keeping people around you pacified? Your spirit is hungry and thirsty while your outward shell is maintaining a sustainable life. What life is being sustained here? Your physical body is aging. You know the truth is no one can stop the body from aging no matter how many products you buy. The shell that holds your spirit will one day stop doing the routines of daily functions, but your spirit is the storehouse of all the things done in your lifetime. Your spirit is a living book that you and others write onto the pages of your eternal life.

The question of “Where Can I Go” will happen for the physical things of this life, but the most important part for this question should be for the non-physical things of this life. We will face the dead-end roads and the bad relationships of this life with physical tears, pains of the heart, and disappointments. Our body will do what needs to be done to sustain itself in this life, but more so our spirit that will keep things beyond the sustainment of this world is far more important. Our physical shell takes into itself the daily routines to continually function, but our spirit on the inside stores the thoughts and actions of those deeds forever (Ps. 40:7, Heb. 10:7).

Our is spirit is an eternal recording device along with the personality it chooses to be. There is a need to ask “Where Can I Go” to help my spirit because the body will return to the dust of the earth releasing the spirit within for its book to be read for the purpose of deciding the location it will stay forever (Eccl. 12:7). Our born physical fleshly body from infancy to childhood to a teenager, a young adult, adulthood, and to the aging elder years is going to release our spirit one day. Just like time that you, I and no one else can control our body will have to let go of our spirit releasing it totally. After this there will be no “Where Can I Go” because the ability to change has left from the temporary physical state of what is being written into the completely finished writing final eternal state. In our body second chances exist after leaving our body there is no more chances.

You and I are in the place where the question of “Where Can I Go” is still an option. We are still inside this time zone to change direction when there is no more roads. After your body and my body gives up to a physical death leaving this time zone our spirit drivers of those bodies go into the place that time and changing directions is no more. What our spirit has recorded is final at this point. Years ago I caught parts of a movie called “Final Fantasy: Spirits Within” (2001) though the majority of it is made up there are parts of a spirit leaving a body that is very real. Also, another interesting movie years ago was “Ghost” (1990), which again mostly made up, but the part of the character at first wanting revenge from the spirit side witnessing the final judgments of another spirit changed him from wanting to see any other spirit sent to the bad place in their final judgment. We will leave these bodies whether we like it or not, but “Where Can I Go” needs to be answered now because we do not know the day nor the hour it is time for us to leave this world. Once we are gone it cannot be changed. We have left our temporary state and have entered our eternal state.

While we are in this physical shell doing our morning routines, work routines, and evening routines there is a chance to answer for our spirit the question of “Where Can I Go” and give the body of this world a life to record good things into our spirit all the way up to the final departure. Every day we are exchanging our life in place of things accountable to us at the end of time.

Simon and his brother knew there were more to this life than their repeated sustaining routines for their families and their physical bodies. One day in the middle of their work routine a man walking by the sea called out to them while they were doing their jobs as fishermen and said to them “Come, follow me and I will send you out to fish for people.” (Mark 1:16-17). Out of curiosity it would not hurt them to take a break to see for themselves and understand what he was talking about. They completely understood how to fish for fish because their physical shells could probably do it in their sleep, but going out fishing for people was a different direction than what they were accustom. They were testing the question of “Where Can I Go” when they started following Jesus.

The answer to ‘there is more to this life‘ than the mundane routines and “Where Can I Go” came quickly after following Jesus. He took them into a church and began teaching. His teachings were not like the other teachers. They too were like shells of routine in their teachings going through the motions. Jesus was not a shell of dried up routine teaching he had authority rising up out of his mouth, which stirred up an evil spirit from the no time zone side (spirit realm). The evil spirit using the fleshly voice of a man who had given up on this life asked Jesus what he wanted with him, have you come to destroy me, and he knew he was the Holy One of God. Simon and the other people could see Jesus and this man talking to each other, but they could not see the controlling evil spirit. When Jesus said to the evil spirit to be quiet and come out of him Simon and the people saw the physical shell of a man become violent, shrieking loudly, and then going calm. Everyone was amazed at the spoken power this man had over the evil spirit. Now, Simon following out of curiosity and wanting to find the answer to “Where Can I Go” for the things more to this life just saw the man who said to him from the shores he would send him out to fish for people command an evil spirit. (Mark 1:21-27).

If you and I were Simon or his brother and witnessed this would you not be curious to see the end of this road? Is this person for real or not? Would you not want to watch and listen before completely accepting him as for real or finding out if he was fake to reject and go home to the morning, work, and evening routine? They know “Where Can I Go” is to follow this man for he offers things no other person has ever offered.

There are so many events that happened to Simon and his brother Andrew it would be too much in this one reading to cover. I will quickly touch on a few more. Jesus asked Simon, known as Peter, who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus told Peter the source of his understanding, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” again the spirit realm (Mtt. 16:16-19) Simon Peter now has a physical shell that is alive inside to where he should go for the answers in life tapping into the rivers of living water flowing inside his spirit. He is no longer a shell of sustaining routine of not knowing “Where Can I Go“. Another time people were leaving Jesus because his words were to hard for them to accept. Jesus turns to Simon Peter asking him did he want to leave also? Simon Peter answered, ‘You have the words of eternal life. Lord, to whom shall we go? You are the Holy One of God.‘ (Jn. 6:68, 69). Simon had found the total answer to “Where Can I Go” satisfying his soul.

You wake up each day starting your morning routine, do your work routine, and return to the evening routine as another day of time passes aging your body closer to shutting down date while your spirit records your words and actions onto eternal pages written of your life. This is an extremely sobering statement of life. All the people in the world far away or right by your side cannot fill this empty room made for God only. Your body has a time limit on it that no one can control, but you can control what is going into your spirit for all eternity.

If you could store things to be preserved eternally what would they be? The things we store eternally in our spirit will be judged by our eternal Father of its worthiness to be allowed or not into His kingdom. Simon Peter found what completely satisfies his soul and God. Simon came to understand of being born again of water and of spirit (Acts 2:38) gave him a place to go to fill his life with faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love was more productive to this life and the life to come (2 Pe. 1:5-15). His body was a tent temporarily housing his spirit that will one day leave it to search no more for the answer of “Where Can I Go“.

2 Cor. 5:1-11 “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.” NIV.

Life’s Lemons

Naaman was a man who rose through the ranks in the army becoming a commander for his king. He was successful in bringing victories to his king and country. The king looked upon Naaman as a great man and was highly regarded. Naaman physically fought his way to the top. He became a man of authority telling other men to go there and they go, to come here and they come, to do this and they do it. Naaman was no longer a follower, but a leader that told others what to do. You could say he was close to the pinnacle in life. You cannot get much higher other than becoming the king yourself.

As this life can throw you a curve or put a wrinkle in your expected plans. Naaman contracted a fatal and horrible disease. All of his authority, fighting skills, and physical might had no power over the disease of death. His favoritism in the king’s sight and the highly regarded had no power over the disease of death that now resides inside his body. He is locked into a waiting around game of watching the disease takes it toll and then finally the death sting. There was no great plan that could be formed to defeat this enemy. This was a battle he found himself kneeling in the field with his head bowed low in defeat before the death commander of this disease. Naaman was on death row in the prison of no pardon.

Expectation has a good side to it, but there is a side to it that is not so good. We all can get our hopes high on things we expect to be a guarantee only to find out later that it can fall apart. We all like Naaman must practice our expectations with the possibility of factors out of our control can occur. The practice is taking the sour lemons of obstacles that life hands us and brainstorm over them converting them into something that can make us better. At this point Naaman has reached a dead-end with no other path before him to try.

Raiders from the same kingdom took captives from Israel. A young Israelite girl was placed in Naaman’s home as his wife’s servant. It is really cool to stop here and see that this Israelite girl was not a coincident, but God multitasking for a reason. If you are facing trouble start looking for what appears to be a coincident headed your way and let the tears flow when you realize God is multitasking just for you. This was a terrible thing that happened to these Israelite parents in losing their daughter to raiders of this country. The depth of their heart-broken state is unfathomable to comprehend of their beautiful daughter has disappeared and possibly never seen again, but she was on a secret missionary mission from God. Rest assured God was multitasking for those parents. This girl went from a child under loving parents to a slave girl to strangers the next. Life handed her some sour lemons and there was a choice to be made on what to do with them. She had to adjust and adapt to her new environment using every ounce of her intelligence and wisdom.

The Israelite girl had to hear about Naaman’s dying situation. This is another cool place to stop and look at her because I can say she has already taken her lemons handed to her and crushed them into lemonade drinking them down into her system as a nutrient to her soul. If she had not crushed the lemons she would be still bitter towards Naaman and his household for slavery and would not have said a word about any cure for Naaman and watch him suffer and die. You and I have things taken from us and we are put into positions we can allow hatred to dominate us, but I see this girl converting the negativity in life back into positiveness inside her heart. Are you not tired of bad things controlling your days? Happiness can be stronger on the inside than the sadness you see on the outside.

After she heard about Naaman’s fatal disease the young Israelite girl knew that God had a man known to them as a prophet in Israel that could cure him. She took Naaman’s lemons into herself and began searching for an answer. She knew there was only one who can stand supremely over all things impossible with man and that was the God of Israel. I can see God looking upon this beautiful girl inside and out with a pride of love. In the midst of the garbage of life she has come forth as a bright red rose with the sweet-smelling savor of hope. Her thoughts of home remained unchanged faith and hope. She told her mistress, If only master Naaman could see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his disease. She spoke in wisdom implying if there were a connection with Israel he could go there and he would be healed. Naaman received word of what the servant girl had said and went to his master, the king, sharing her information. The king did not hesitate in agreeing for Naaman to go and added a personal letter with payment backing Naaman’s trip.

The picture of Naaman in the battle field bowing before the death commander of the disease has changed to Naaman standing and facing to fight one more time against his destined death. This strength to stand one more time came from a once a free daughter of Israel to a forced slave girl to another country. A slave girl’s spoken words to her mistress, the mistress to her husband, and then the husband to the king of that country about the God of Israel, the master of all masters. It was born from the free heart of a physically slave girl in submission, to the wife in submission, to the husband in submission, to the king in submission of the God of Israel. There is nothing standing in the way only submission to whatever it takes for Naaman to be cured and set free.

Naaman journey’s to Israel with horses, chariots, silver, gold, and ten sets of clothes packed away was not an easy trip. The day-to-day travel was far more tiring of that day than in ours. Before arriving at the house of the prophet of God the Israelite slave girl spoke of Naaman had already started imagining what all will take place for his healing to occur. We as mankind tend to create in our own minds the ways we think we should be saved creating traditional forms. We tend to bring God’s way of doing things down to our level of the way we think it should be done. We get carried away with our own thoughts not realizing our thoughts are lower than His thoughts because He is God and we are not. Naaman is a great reflection of all us of getting preconceived ideas of what God should do for us. We sometimes get lost in our way or the highway attitude when it comes to the spiritual side of life. If we truly want to be saved, healed, counseled, touched, blessed, changed…then we will be totally submissive to what God says to achieve our goals like Naaman wants his healing.

Naaman finally arrives pulling up to the house of the prophet of God with his servants, his horses and his chariots. The house door begins to open with Naaman looking steadfastly upon the face he thought he would see once it is fully opened. The person begins to speak to Naaman conveying he is only a messenger and not the Elisha the prophet himself. He tells Naaman this is what Elisha said to do for your healing to go wash yourself seven times in the river Jordan, your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed.

The plan of salvation for your healing is washing yourself in the river Jordan seven times and you will be free to live longer. Naaman you will stand in the battle field and the disease will kneel before you defeated by this battle plan given to you by God through his prophet. All you have to do is submit yourself to follow these words to assure your victory. You have traveled a long journey to win this fight. Everyone back home in your kingdom is supporting you for this victory. You are used to giving commands to others on how to win on the battlefield. You are given the command on what to do to win your personal fight. Men willingly follow your words to the letter. Are you willing to follow the words to whatever it takes to win your fight to the letter?

Naaman’s expectation he had built up in his mind exploded with anger at these words of washing seven times in the river Jordan. He shouted, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.” Naaman had formed in his own mind how he would be saved and nothing less from that would be acceptable. The prophet did not come out personally was strike one to Naaman. Strike two was the prophet not calling out loud before all the name of the Lord his God and strike three was not waving his hand over the diseased area. This is how traditions in churches get started with men forming in their minds of how people would be saved and nothing less from what they are expecting will be accepted. Naaman is thinking this is how I have always seen it done and it shall be the same with me.

The words of the messenger shocked him into thinking well if that is all I need to do washing seven times in a river then why not deviate a little and do the washing in the best rivers of Israel? This is a true picture of our fleshly nature in mankind trying to get God to do things the way we expect Him to do them lowering His standard to ours. Naaman was furiously shouting, Couldn’t I wash in these other rivers and be cleansed? In this moment Naaman had completely forgot about that he was truly dying and he would live no more. In his absolute powerlessness against this disease weak mind he thought his expected plan of salvation was the only way it could be done and with it changing from what he expected he locked onto it cannot happen any other way. He left the house of the prophet of God in such a rage he was not going to submit at all to what was asked of him. He was locked into it is my way or the highway back home.

At this point I am looking to what happen to “submission”? I have experienced rock bottom in different areas in life from relationships, sickness, sins, deaths, and other things I will not bore you with. I cannot speak for you, but if I knew in a guaranteed way from God doing a certain thing would chase away darkness and open the warm sunshine of light upon me I would take it without complaining being grateful for the freedom and the relief. Naaman is dying and he is refusing the treatment because it did not match what he had in mind.

Naaman had some servants to make the trip with him to witness his healing. It is obvious by their words they cared for him because they spoke up to ask him a question about his refusal. They asked him in his moment of rage while riding away, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing would you not have done it? They knew Naaman was a fearless man and would tackle anything monumental in life. Naaman had their words in his mind in one side of the scales of reason and then they added to the other side of the scales “How much more, then, when he tells you, “Wash and be cleansed’!” In Naaman’s mind he had to agree that he would do something great if he was asked. Submission re-enters the picture of yes, I would do what I am told and why not just wash and be cleansed. Naaman unlocked himself from his man-made thinking of the traditional because he was willing to do something great beyond traditional methods and why not do something simple. He realize though this is a small thing to do it is still outside of the traditional and why would I not do it for the sake of saving my life from a horrible diseased death.

Naaman made his way to the river Jordan and dipped himself seven times as the man of God had told him. After the seventh dip he came up out of the water his flesh was restored and clean like as a young boy. His choice of God’s way made him brand new like a young boy instead of returning home locked into traditional way of thinking maintaining the death sentence in his body. His choice of trusting God’s way saved his life physically, but also saved his soul in meeting the one true God in the entire world. He trusted the words of a servant girl all the way to trusting the words of the God of Israel.

Naaman now with a born again second chance in life returns to the man of God proclaiming that he now knows that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Naaman has not only a new body free from the disease of death, but a new mind opened to seeing the one and true God. He continued to say that he would not offer any burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god, but the Lord and to please forgive him in bowing back in his home country in their temple because of his master’s bowing. (2 Kings 5:1-19).

Tradition is not God’s way of doing things. God’s way of doing things is a set living purpose for an absolute result. Tradition is man’s thinking of how God should do things that fits man’s mold. If Naaman had stayed with his way of thinking he would have died a horrible death, but by trusting God’s way he received restored and fresh skin as like a young boy. God’s chosen servants will say and do things that do not match mankind’s traditions, but will match God’s word perfectly. Man’s chosen servants to represent God will say and do things that pleases mankind’s traditions and ways of thinking. This is why broad is the way that leads to destruction and many enter through it (majority is doing it). Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it (Mtt. 7:13, 14). Religious organizations must be careful not choose the road of Naaman’s first way of thinking deceiving themselves and those that hear them, but the second choice to simply obey with trust God’s plan of redemption.

APOLLOS

Apollos was a well-educated and learned man of the knowledge of the scriptures. His mind was well equipped with keeping the scriptures in proper context. He was not a man who could easily tricked into man-made traditions based on connecting scriptures for their cause. Apollos was a man who had encountered what John preached about water baptism for repentance and the coming after him the savior from our sins. Apollos took in John’s preaching finding his words matched with scriptures without controversy. Man’s traditions and teachings that do not match with God’s word will have conflict. Apollos was convinced of the absolute connection of truth in John’s preaching he also began to try to show people the same way John did to repent, be baptized and believe on the Lord Jesus.

Apollos was about to face a similar situation like Naaman did in the past. Apollos has set himself in a direction of what John preached and nothing else. For some unknown reason Apollos has missed out on the understanding and meaning of Jesus being crucified, buried, and resurrected on the third day. He was still preaching what John had said after Jesus went up in the sky disappearing into heaven in front of the disciples. He was still preaching John’s message after God poured out His spirit with the evidence of speaking another language they had not learned praising God and being baptized in Jesus name for the remission of their sins (Acts 2).

Apollos believed in repentance, water baptism, and in Jesus, but he did not know the rest of the story. This is where Apollos could lock onto John’s preaching as the only way to be saved like Naaman locked onto meeting the man of God, him calling on the name of his God, and waving his hand over the disease area for the healing to happen. We must take everything that people tells us to what we trust the most and that should be God Himself and His word.

Apollos was speaking boldly one day about Jesus being scriptural accurate and the baptism of repentance John when in the audience sat two people who knew the rest of the story. They invited Apollos to their home and began to tell him the part he had not heard about. They completed Apollos understanding of God’s way more perfectly. They knew nobody’s faith in Jesus was wasted, but that there is a way of God that is more perfect and adequate. They knew it was not a fault or failure of faith, but a few more pieces to the puzzle to make the picture complete (Acts 18:24-26).

Apollos is now facing what Naaman did with a choice of do I lock down to my way of thinking or do I open up to the possibility of God’s way is higher than my traditional way. We all will be in both of their shoes with different versions of life. We all will be handed the words that may not match our way of thinking, but did we come this far to turn our backs on the possible greatest thing we could ever experience because of our pride and preconceived ideas?

I will give you an example: I was baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mtt. 28:19) as a profession of my faith in God after a repeating a prayer from the pastor in the altar. I had someone tell me later in life that there is no record of anyone in the Bible of being baptized in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit for the purpose of professing faith in God. Of course this put me in the place of Naaman and Apollos with the ways I had always heard it was to be done. I could have gone into a rage like Naaman or use my intellect of Apollos and try to argue my way out, but I did neither. I told them I would look into it.

I went home to what I trusted over and above people’s words and search the Bible myself. I found it to be true no one in the entire Bible was baptized using the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit over them in water baptism for the profession of their faith. What I did find was people were baptized with Jesus name being said over them for the purpose of washing away their sins. The disciple baptized people in Jesus name for the remission of their sins. Wow! I kept studying and found that Jesus is the name of the Father because he said I have come in my Father’s name (Jn. 5:43). This made sense to me because I know no other name for Jesus, but to be Jesus so if he came in his Father’s name then Jesus must be the Father’s name. It was obvious Jesus was the name of the Son. I found also that Jesus is the name of the Holy Spirit because it comes to us in his name (Jn. 14:26). Water baptism is not for professing God publicly, but it was for applying the blood Jesus shed for us as the Lamb of God to wash away our sins. It made total sense to me and completely connected with the word of God from Old to New testament. You cannot kill the Father or the Holy Spirit, but you could the Son because the blood of forgiveness was in his body. I did this study alone with my friend the Bible and God.

Like Naaman’s servants asking him questions the Bible asked me questions of what am I to do now? As with Apollos lining up with the scriptures and what God’s word says what choice am I to make? Do I turn away with rage or do I use my intellect to talk myself out of it?

I did like Naaman I went to the water in baptism and like Apollos accepting the way of God more perfectly scripturally and was baptized in Jesus name applying the blood of the Lamb of God washing away my sins and receiving the Holy Spirit like they did in Acts chapter two because God did not change the out poring of His Spirit as man’s tradition has diverted with his teachings. The lemons of the life of sin have been converted by the truth and power of God. I am a new creature in Christ like Naaman and Apollos.

I encourage you do not take my word for it. Go after God yourself and His word like Naaman went after the river Jordan himself obeying the words of a slave girl to the man of God. As Apollos take your well learned educated mind to the scriptures and find for yourself what He found when challenged with this different from traditional way.

The Should Have Been

We all have things in our life that we have encountered that the thoughts of “The Should Have Been” has crossed our minds. We have things like vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, guns, knives, chainsaw, skill Saws, various tools, boats, swimming, sports and so forth that we have had some close calls to cause the thoughts “The Should Have Been” worse than what happened.

God gave Adam and Eve only one rule in the beginning to obey and everything else was free to do, but if the one rule was disobeyed the penalty would be death. When Adam and eve sinned against God, disobeying the one rule, I am sure they thought it was completely over. Death was now unleashed upon all the earth because Adam and Eve were held responsible for the earth that is why everyone and everything was affected.

(This is for a another topic, but death was not free until Adam and Eve sinned against God; in other words Death was bound, chained up, and NOT free to roam)

Ge. 3:11-15 is where God begins to confront breaking the one rule and the details of the death, which was put under a time-table (Adam and Eve did not die right away). God began to tell Adam and Eve because they chose to break the one and only rule (Not God’s fault – our free will ) the things of the earth will now have curses and bitterness on them. God speaking to the devil in verse 15 in Genesis “… he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” This where the “should have been” is revealed to all. Death is totally upon all of mankind from our flesh to our eternal spirit. We are all born into this world with this destined Death sentence of flesh and of spirit. God put a clause of possible escape for His children (mankind). God said ” he will crush your head “, “he” being a promised child of mankind providing the redemption escape clause paying the sin debt and judgment in full. God removed what “should have been” a total loss for mankind.

GOD CAME TO US

God our Father in His Spirit form took the “Should Have Been” total death sentence on us and saw a way He could destroy him who had the power of death, save us, and still fulfill His unchangeable eternal Word. God, Father of all creation, decided to put Himself (His Spirit/Word form) inside the blood line of His children (mankind) to be born at a prophesied date inside flesh and blood with His fullness inside that body (Col. 2:9) to share in our humanity so by his death the “Should Have Been” total death now has a clause of escape for our eternal spirit (Heb. 2:14), which we live forever somewhere. Now, we have a choice again to die in body and spirit or live in His Spirit with a new body in heaven with Him.

The “Should Have Been” room of complete death for us has a created door from God’s love and sacrifice that we can place our hand upon the door knob with our free will of choice turning it in faith stepping through it into His marvelous light, forgive of all our sins, and returning to His fellowship born again as a new creature in Christ old things passed away behold all things are made new (2 Cor. 5:17).

When death comes to visit you I hope the death angel is disappointed saying as you and I are leaving this world that “Should Have Been” the soul I take with me to hell.

INSIDE THE BODY OF JESUS

Salvation is the same as God entered into a flesh and blood body born into this world we are to be born again like fashion as him, but our second birth for a second chance to live is a birth of water and spirit (Jn. 3:5) entering into the body of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the building in which is our refuge and joining place of our spirit and God’s Spirit unite as one.

We cannot be born again from our mother as a very scripture intelligent man asked Jesus (Jn. 3:4). Jesus answered him that is a birth of the flesh and this is a birth of the spirit that comes by water and spirit. The only way we can invoke the “Should Have Been” me die physically and spiritually is to be reborn following God’s example. God was inside the body of Jesus Christ at birth, up to death on the cross for our sins, and returned to the body bringing it back to life after three days. We have to be born again into the body of Jesus Christ by water and spirit (Jn. 3:5).

GOT TO HAVE THE WANT TO

It all starts with a “want to be” a new creature and all old things passed away. I wanted to be born again. I’ve had enough of the lying, backstabbing, stealing, using people, hurting good people (parents and others who were innocent), drugs, alcohol … to the point I wanted it no more, but the opposite. This is a made up mind that I have repented of those things with all of my heart, mind, and soul. Keep in mind if a person can talk you into repenting another person talk you out of it, but if you decide inside yourself this is what you want you are standing yourself on a rock solid foundation that nothing can keep you from God. This is the “I want to change” section walking towards the born again of the water part. I “should have been” killed, buried by now, and gone, but I am still here because an invisible hand of mercy is holding back the “should have been” allowing me time to make a choice.

BORN OF WATER

The first part of being spiritually born again of the water is entering into the body of Jesus through his name in full immersion of water baptism. When your whole body is baptized, fully under water, with someone saying over you in the name of Jesus Christ they are speaking the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross invoking the blood power of the name washing away ALL your sins placing the mercy of forgiveness upon you with the “should have been” buried in the ground dead only to be in water rising up from the symbol of the grave Jesus faced into the new light of life. This water baptism places us inside the body of Christ, which is one part of the second birth.

BORN OF THE SPIRIT

The second part of being born again is the promised birth of our spirit. We have been tainted, taunted, abused, brainwashed by the fleshly things of this world. Our spirit has adapted to being earthly minded and blinded spiritual things.

The first evidence of the second part of the birth of the Spirit happened in an upper room (Acts 2). The people were praying and seeking this freedom from the “should have been” the end. God’s Spirit came into that room and He wanted them to see and feel His mighty rushing wind with what looked like tongues of fire settling upon each of them. As His Spirit settled upon them they began to feel the joy unspeakable by their fleshly thinking and fullness of God’s glory going inside them, all over them, and coming back out of their mouths (Jn. 4:14, Acts 2:4) speaking a language they did not naturally (fleshly) know, fully surrendering to God allowing His Spirit the freedom to speak through them, which Peter explained these are the signs of God’s will and prophecy. The “should have been” dead to God’s Spirit fellowship with our spirit was removed. We all can become one with God. Our bodies should have been the tomb in which our spirit dies eternally, but God removed it by the blood of Jesus Christ and filled it (our fleshly apartment) with His Spirit transforming our spirit into a born again spirit. God is not dead He is alive.

The “should have been” total death for us was removed by God’s love wrapped inside the body of Jesus Christ providing a second chance birth of water and spirit. Water baptism washes us completely clean of sins preparing our bodies as a livable temple for God’s Spirit to come inside and dwell with our spirit.

I am forgiven and my sins are washed away. I am no longer alone inside this body. God has moved inside my fleshly apartment, but it is up to me to fellowship everyday with my new roommate. He will never force you. He absolutely loves the freedom of choice. I choose God’s way of life and not the “should have been” the way of eternal death and misery.

Angels are eternal beings through and through. Unlike us with a fleshly body and inside an eternal spirit that will live forever somewhere. They, angels, desire to look into this we have in salvation, a way of escape from the “should have been” 1 Peter 1:10-12). Accept the grace of “should have been” as your chance to reunite with your heavenly Father inside of Jesus Christ. May God shower you as He did in that upper room. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.