One of the tests of being a disciple is the follower's divine-given gift to love and do good to his enemies. On this, the Law of Christ surpasses that of Moshe's Law. It does not mean though that we turn a blind eye to those who oppose us and allow ourselves to fall into their traps--no, for sure, if we are truly following Christ in the world, those who become our enemies are those who have already thrown in their lot with the world, the flesh and the devil. And so we will have enemies; His presence in us is the instigator, even without us knowing it or attempting to aggress.
Prophet David was chosen to be the righteous ancestor of Messiah because of the above. Countless times he showed mercy to his pursuer, King Shaul, who set himself up as David's enemy because Shaul had forfeited his anointing as King. David trusted in the Name; he trusted in the Living God to do the work of subjecting Shaul, David's enemy, under him. For even though Shaul had lost the blessing and was not given the promise, David would still not manipulate the situation, nor undertake to dethrone Shaul by his own power. And the love of David for his enemy-master became a diadem of burning coals on top of the rejected king.
...despised and rejected by men...
Messiah is the righteous fulfillment of the promise given to David; that the son of Yishai would have a son to rule in David's house eternally. Christ Jesus also had His enemies, yet it was not His Father's will to rescue Him from them; eventually they overtook Him. But this was to fulfill a requirement; Messiah had to taste everything so that He could be elected to the high-priesthood of Melchi-Tzedek and truly be a perfect and righteous interceding King-Priest.
In Hebrew, the word for pauper is evyon (אֶבְיֹ֑ון); the word for most high is elyon (עֶלְיֹֽון). And so the God-man is both natures. Coming at first in poverty with the body of a frail man, but leaving in richness as the glorified Son of Man. And so that which remains is His appearing again, once His enemies (those of His own race) have repented and made themselves His subjects. For Christ's patience in love means salvation for many and an elyon appearing--likewise, those who oppose us (or better the Son of God in us) are granted a time of repentance. If that is so, then we, like Him will receive the promise of sharing His elyon appearing.
'...Give ear, O Shepherd of Yisrael, You Who leads Yosef like a flock; appear, O You Who is enthroned on the cherubim...' Psalm 80:2
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sit at My right hand...
True humiliation exists. But the pattern it comes by is the template of Christ, the Bridegroom, who suffered humiliation for the sake of the world and Yisrael, and those out of the two who would become His bride.
Christ Jesus was rejected by His generation. The leaders of His people made the decision that it would be better that He, a king appearing as pauper, suffer for the people than Rome come and stamp out any rebellion springing from His right to the Davidic line as King. The consequence was that the Son of Man face humiliation; Adon kol hash-shamayim v'ha-aretz, the Lord of all the heavens and the earth, descended to baseness, cloaking all His majestic glory so that the words of the prophets would be fulfilled to the 'T'. And that 'T' became the tool to destroy that very cloak, so that the surpassing glory would then manifest, at His resurrection. This glory becomes greater than the former; it is the everlasting one.
Because of His obedience, forfeiting temporarily His right to His father David's throne, and because His people chose to become His temporary enemies, He was given the honor highest of all; '...Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.' Only a king, equal to and visiting that of another king's domain, was ever granted the right, in the ancient world, to be seated in the place of honor--the king's right hand.
Because we trail after the Son of Man, we must also don humiliation as a cloak; if we do not, are we truly following after Him? For surely, men suffer humiliation because of their sins. But that is not the humiliation we are called to and which is worthy and becomes transfigured into glory.
Because of our testimony and witness, if we are plunged into the crevice of humiliation, we know then that we are following the divine pattern of the Son of Man. And after staying the test, what remains? For His true Father says, '...Wait at My right...' and if we are in Christ, where then are we abiding and enthroned?
'...Let your strong arm protect the man acquired by Your right hand; the Son of Man whom You strengthed for Yourself...' Psalm 80:18
Christ Jesus was rejected by His generation. The leaders of His people made the decision that it would be better that He, a king appearing as pauper, suffer for the people than Rome come and stamp out any rebellion springing from His right to the Davidic line as King. The consequence was that the Son of Man face humiliation; Adon kol hash-shamayim v'ha-aretz, the Lord of all the heavens and the earth, descended to baseness, cloaking all His majestic glory so that the words of the prophets would be fulfilled to the 'T'. And that 'T' became the tool to destroy that very cloak, so that the surpassing glory would then manifest, at His resurrection. This glory becomes greater than the former; it is the everlasting one.
Because of His obedience, forfeiting temporarily His right to His father David's throne, and because His people chose to become His temporary enemies, He was given the honor highest of all; '...Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.' Only a king, equal to and visiting that of another king's domain, was ever granted the right, in the ancient world, to be seated in the place of honor--the king's right hand.
Because we trail after the Son of Man, we must also don humiliation as a cloak; if we do not, are we truly following after Him? For surely, men suffer humiliation because of their sins. But that is not the humiliation we are called to and which is worthy and becomes transfigured into glory.
Because of our testimony and witness, if we are plunged into the crevice of humiliation, we know then that we are following the divine pattern of the Son of Man. And after staying the test, what remains? For His true Father says, '...Wait at My right...' and if we are in Christ, where then are we abiding and enthroned?
'...Let your strong arm protect the man acquired by Your right hand; the Son of Man whom You strengthed for Yourself...' Psalm 80:18
Friday, July 24, 2009
Saints and Martyrs: Ri Hyon Ok
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32116646/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
Listen! You can almost hear her singing beneath the altar...
"When he (*the lamb) opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed."
-Apo. 6:9-11
*emphasis added for continuity & understanding
Listen! You can almost hear her singing beneath the altar...
"When he (*the lamb) opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed."
-Apo. 6:9-11
*emphasis added for continuity & understanding
Sunday, July 12, 2009
This Experience Must Come
"And he saw him no more." 2 Kings 2:12
It is not wrong to depend upon Elijah as long as God gives him to you, but remember the time will come when he will have to go; when he stands no more to you as your guide and leader, because God does not intend he should. You say - "I cannot go on without Elijah." God says you must.
Alone at your Jordan. v.14.
Jordan is the type of separation where there is no fellowship with anyone else, and where no one can take the responsibility for you. You have to put to the test now what you learned when you were with your Elijah. You have been to Jordan over and over again with Elijah, but now you are up against it alone. It is no use saying you cannot go; this experience has come, and you must go. If you want to know whether God is the God you have faith to believe Him to be, then go through your Jordan alone.
Alone at your Jericho. v.15.
Jericho is the place where you have seen your Elijah do great things. When you come to your Jericho you have a strong disinclination to take the initiative and trust in God, you want someone else to take it for you. If you remain true to what you learned with Elijah, you will get the sign that God is with you.
Alone at your Bethel. v.23.
At your Bethel you will find yourself at your wits' end and at the beginning of God's wisdom. When you get to your wits' end and feel inclined to succumb to panic, don't; stand true to God and He will bring His truth out in a way that will make your life a sacrament. Put into practice what you learned with your Elijah, use his cloak and pray. Determine to trust in God and do not look for Elijah any more.
-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, August 11th
It is not wrong to depend upon Elijah as long as God gives him to you, but remember the time will come when he will have to go; when he stands no more to you as your guide and leader, because God does not intend he should. You say - "I cannot go on without Elijah." God says you must.
Alone at your Jordan. v.14.
Jordan is the type of separation where there is no fellowship with anyone else, and where no one can take the responsibility for you. You have to put to the test now what you learned when you were with your Elijah. You have been to Jordan over and over again with Elijah, but now you are up against it alone. It is no use saying you cannot go; this experience has come, and you must go. If you want to know whether God is the God you have faith to believe Him to be, then go through your Jordan alone.
Alone at your Jericho. v.15.
Jericho is the place where you have seen your Elijah do great things. When you come to your Jericho you have a strong disinclination to take the initiative and trust in God, you want someone else to take it for you. If you remain true to what you learned with Elijah, you will get the sign that God is with you.
Alone at your Bethel. v.23.
At your Bethel you will find yourself at your wits' end and at the beginning of God's wisdom. When you get to your wits' end and feel inclined to succumb to panic, don't; stand true to God and He will bring His truth out in a way that will make your life a sacrament. Put into practice what you learned with your Elijah, use his cloak and pray. Determine to trust in God and do not look for Elijah any more.
-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, August 11th
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Woes (Pt. 2)
Oh that my eyes were a cloud of water that I might weep over you, and rain down my tears as a cloud of water: So that I may rest from my troubled heart!
Who has permitted you to practice reproaches and wickedness? And so judgment shall overtake you, sinners.
Do not fear the sinners, righteous ones; for again the Lord will deliver them into your hands, that you may execute judgment on them according to your desires.
Woe to you who detonate curses which cannot be reversed: Healing will therefore be far from you because of your sins.
Woe to you who compensate your neighbor with evil; for you will be compensated according to your deeds.
Woe to you, lying witnesses, and to those who weigh out injustice, for suddenly you will perish.
Woe to you, sinners, for you persecute the righteous; therefore, you will be delivered up and persecuted because of injustice, and its load will be heavy upon you.
Enoch 95: 1-7
Who has permitted you to practice reproaches and wickedness? And so judgment shall overtake you, sinners.
Do not fear the sinners, righteous ones; for again the Lord will deliver them into your hands, that you may execute judgment on them according to your desires.
Woe to you who detonate curses which cannot be reversed: Healing will therefore be far from you because of your sins.
Woe to you who compensate your neighbor with evil; for you will be compensated according to your deeds.
Woe to you, lying witnesses, and to those who weigh out injustice, for suddenly you will perish.
Woe to you, sinners, for you persecute the righteous; therefore, you will be delivered up and persecuted because of injustice, and its load will be heavy upon you.
Enoch 95: 1-7
Woes (Pt. 1)
And now I say to you, my sons: Love righteousness and walk in it; for the paths of righteousness are worthy of acceptance, but the paths of unrighteousness shall suddenly be destroyed and vanish.
And to certain men of such a generation shall the paths of violence and of death be revealed, and they shall hold themselves afar from them, and shall not follow them.
And now I say to you, the righteous: Do not walk in the paths of wickedness, nor on the paths of death, and draw not close to them, in order to avoid being destroyed.
But seek and choose for yourselves righteousness and an elect life, and walk in the paths of peace, and you shall live and prosper.
And hold fast my words in the thoughts of your hearts, and do not allow them to be deleted from your hearts. For know this: Sinners will tempt men to plague wisdom with evil, so that no place may be found for her, and of all these temptations, none will diminish.
Woe to those who build unrighteousness and oppression and lay deceit as a foundation; for they will be suddenly overthrown, and they shall have no peace.
Woe to those who build their houses with sin; for they shall be overthrown from all their foundations, and they will fall by the sword. And those who acquire gold and silver through judging shall suddenly perish.
Woe to you, you rich, for you have trusted in your riches, yet from your riches shall you depart, because you have not remembered Elyon in the days of your riches. You have committed blasphemy and unrighteousness, and have prepared yourself for the day of slaughter, and the day of darkness and the day of the great judgement.
Therefore, I speak and declare this to you: He who has created you will overthrow you, and there will be no compassion on that day that you fall, and your Creator will rejoice at your destruction. And His righteous ones in those days will be a reproach to the sinners and the godless.
Enoch 94:1-11
And to certain men of such a generation shall the paths of violence and of death be revealed, and they shall hold themselves afar from them, and shall not follow them.
And now I say to you, the righteous: Do not walk in the paths of wickedness, nor on the paths of death, and draw not close to them, in order to avoid being destroyed.
But seek and choose for yourselves righteousness and an elect life, and walk in the paths of peace, and you shall live and prosper.
And hold fast my words in the thoughts of your hearts, and do not allow them to be deleted from your hearts. For know this: Sinners will tempt men to plague wisdom with evil, so that no place may be found for her, and of all these temptations, none will diminish.
Woe to those who build unrighteousness and oppression and lay deceit as a foundation; for they will be suddenly overthrown, and they shall have no peace.
Woe to those who build their houses with sin; for they shall be overthrown from all their foundations, and they will fall by the sword. And those who acquire gold and silver through judging shall suddenly perish.
Woe to you, you rich, for you have trusted in your riches, yet from your riches shall you depart, because you have not remembered Elyon in the days of your riches. You have committed blasphemy and unrighteousness, and have prepared yourself for the day of slaughter, and the day of darkness and the day of the great judgement.
Therefore, I speak and declare this to you: He who has created you will overthrow you, and there will be no compassion on that day that you fall, and your Creator will rejoice at your destruction. And His righteous ones in those days will be a reproach to the sinners and the godless.
Enoch 94:1-11
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Bread & Circuses
Bread & Circuses (or panem et circenses) is a governing concept 'created' by the Roman Empire to control the mass population, mostly am ha'aretz.
A form of welfare, in a sense, it was used by the governing elite as a mollifier for the people, caging them into submission. 'Free wheat for the poor!', or the minimum needs of the citizens of the empire being met, while at the same time providing entertainment through the games, and thus the free time of the citizens being completely swallowed up through a brutal de-edifier that would hack away at their conscience bit by bit, quenching any spark of reason, intelligence or inspiration, to cause numb gray matter, so that the axe of removal can continue to fell the tree of heart, soul and spirit, and in the end, replace it all with an ancient form of A.I. that is a mockery of true existence.
Bread & Circuses is still here. America is the kardia of it. And as our laws and freedoms seem to be changing at a great speed now, we are quickly delaminating into the archaic and crude foundation of what we truly are--an extention and vestige of the Roman Empire.
Americans (though not poor by world citizen standards) have been subjected to an imposed poverty, in which little is expected and much given, and thus as a consequence, much money taken to support the cycle. In return, that which is given by the rulers are panem et circenses--the outcome being a nation of battery citizens, that in their natural state, differ not from the cows and bulls of Bashan. Do we really just want panem from the government's hand? Is the only thing worthwhile various circenses of entertainment that, in the end, can keep us from repentance to life?
Our higher calling as individuals cannot be found in nation or government; they can only be found in the Son of Man, who comes to take the harvest that belongs to Him. Staying on the above path will lead to world transformation, and the final stages of the kingdom of earth. Unfortunately, this will not be prevented, for it has already been prophesied.
But as this happens, the sons of men will appear, become visible and reject the ulitimate in panem et circenses, throwing in their lot with those who, for all time, have been seen as rebels--those unfit for world glory, used only for slaughter; for though the Second Temple was destroyed, since then, the world's denizens have been continually offering up new sacrifices from the fold of lambs and sheep of the Good Shepherd, to atone for their rebellion so that they might yet sin a little longer. Oh, denizens, what will you use once you have offered up all His lambs and sheep!? The sons of men will then manifest like the 'one like a Son of Man'. These, who truly hold to the testimony of Jesus, have never been seated in the stadium, but have been in the arena, being clubbed by gladiators and mauled by animals.
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great—and for destroying those who destroy the earth."
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm. Apo. 11:15-19
A form of welfare, in a sense, it was used by the governing elite as a mollifier for the people, caging them into submission. 'Free wheat for the poor!', or the minimum needs of the citizens of the empire being met, while at the same time providing entertainment through the games, and thus the free time of the citizens being completely swallowed up through a brutal de-edifier that would hack away at their conscience bit by bit, quenching any spark of reason, intelligence or inspiration, to cause numb gray matter, so that the axe of removal can continue to fell the tree of heart, soul and spirit, and in the end, replace it all with an ancient form of A.I. that is a mockery of true existence.
Bread & Circuses is still here. America is the kardia of it. And as our laws and freedoms seem to be changing at a great speed now, we are quickly delaminating into the archaic and crude foundation of what we truly are--an extention and vestige of the Roman Empire.
Americans (though not poor by world citizen standards) have been subjected to an imposed poverty, in which little is expected and much given, and thus as a consequence, much money taken to support the cycle. In return, that which is given by the rulers are panem et circenses--the outcome being a nation of battery citizens, that in their natural state, differ not from the cows and bulls of Bashan. Do we really just want panem from the government's hand? Is the only thing worthwhile various circenses of entertainment that, in the end, can keep us from repentance to life?
Our higher calling as individuals cannot be found in nation or government; they can only be found in the Son of Man, who comes to take the harvest that belongs to Him. Staying on the above path will lead to world transformation, and the final stages of the kingdom of earth. Unfortunately, this will not be prevented, for it has already been prophesied.
But as this happens, the sons of men will appear, become visible and reject the ulitimate in panem et circenses, throwing in their lot with those who, for all time, have been seen as rebels--those unfit for world glory, used only for slaughter; for though the Second Temple was destroyed, since then, the world's denizens have been continually offering up new sacrifices from the fold of lambs and sheep of the Good Shepherd, to atone for their rebellion so that they might yet sin a little longer. Oh, denizens, what will you use once you have offered up all His lambs and sheep!? The sons of men will then manifest like the 'one like a Son of Man'. These, who truly hold to the testimony of Jesus, have never been seated in the stadium, but have been in the arena, being clubbed by gladiators and mauled by animals.
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great—and for destroying those who destroy the earth."
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm. Apo. 11:15-19
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