The offsetting reality of intergalactic weirdness Part 22 “Holiday Edition”

The offsetting reality of intergalactic weirdness

Part 22 “Holiday Edition”

PC Holiday greeting: “May you be filled with whatever”

If Christmas is so Merry, why the smack down for the cheap TV

Who delivers more presents, Hanukkah Harry or Santa?

The little lights aren't twinkling Clark!

The Worst Christmas Movie has not been made yet

Worst Christmas song and video: Bob Dylan – “Must Be Santa” 

Worst Christmas Gift: Restaurant that failed inspection Gift Card

Which would you rather be, Happy or Merry?

My greatest no way: Having Christmas Eve off but then having to work on Christmas Day

Do you really have to put the Cabbage Patch Doll in the Manger?

Reflecting on my favorite Holiday e-mail headlines:

Last Chance, Your Time is almost up!

A Good Reminder: What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

Have a great Holiday Season: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Chinese New Year, & Festivus

How to Love and Act in the Midst of Spiritual Darkness

How to Love and Act in the Midst of Spiritual Darkness

Many people associate darkness with evil and light with good. Certainly, we can see this analogy in movies, books, and biblical history. But when it comes to life today we often relate to spiritual darkness in how we see ourselves and others.

The question we should ponder is this: how can we be enlightened to our own depth of unawareness and misunderstanding of real truth and why does it leaves us flailing in spiritual darkness? (answer coming up soon)

First, what is spiritual darkness?

From a Christian World View: Spiritual darkness is the spiritual condition of a person who is living apart from God

Yet, even in the midst of living apart from God, we can be made aware of our need for a Savior to pay for our sins. This process of faith given by God. will open our eyes to our spiritual darkness and cause us to desire spiritual light. Yet, how many times does God try to get our attention and how many times do we ignore what He is trying to tell us? Faith is a supernatural gift but many reject God’s offer of salvation. I suppose many believe they have to earn God’s favor and eternal life through their good works yet we find that the opposite is true.

Ephesians 2:8-9 New International Version (NIV)

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

So, we need something or someone to lift us out of spiritual darkness.

The Bible explains how Jesus is our spiritual light:

(He alone can free us from spiritual darkness)

John 8:12 New International Version (NIV)

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 1:1-13 New International Version (NIV)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

So, through Jesus, a person can not only become part of God's family but can also overcome spiritual darkness. 

Through Jesus comes a spiritual rebirth: A New Creation in Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Colossians 2:13 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹³ You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.

Ephesians 4:22-24 New International Version (NIV)

²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

So, for the follower of Jesus this new rebirth which includes the Holy Spirit re-calibrates their minds and heart attitudes. The Holy Spirit teaches, counsels, guides, transforms and comforts those open to receiving. The Holy Spirit gives them the eternal perspective they need to avoid falling back into a state of spiritual darkness which can cloud their vision, thoughts, purpose, attitude, and the way they treat others. The Christ follower has to daily renew their mind to make sure their impact on the world celebrates their new life in Christ and not their old life which was lived with great spiritual limitation and separation from God. So, how can this be accomplished?

The Bible tells us to do this: 

Romans 12:2 New International Version (NIV)

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We must understand that God's truth is a point of reference to where we can say: I can see where I have not lived in a way that reflects the ideals I adhere to. I can see the great disconnect with what I believe and how I live it out. You see, unawareness and misunderstanding shake the foundation of what is real truth and impacts the way we are supposed to live based on those true beliefs. 

For those who are unbelievers, spiritual darkness affects them in a truly profound way. Many unbelievers are unaware of the consequences of being truly eternally separated spiritually from God if they continue to reject Him. Those who believe their lives here on this planet came about due to an accident of chance and nature, are OK with a life that has no real meaning in eternity or ultimate purpose or consequence. Therefore, spiritual darkness keeps them in blindness and the legacy they leave is one for themselves and others to judge. Their lives will only reflect the kind of success they achieved based on earthly standards.

On the other hand, if you believe God had a say in you being born and that He can determine how He wants you to live, then your spiritual darkness has a lot to do with your will over God's will, your desires over God's desire for your life. If a believer and follower of Christ acts out of fear and emotion only, and disregards essentials truths that define who they say they are, they are triggering a level of hypocrisy that that discredits their identity in Christ and therefore everything they say they believe. This is the essence of spiritual darkness for anyone who claims they are a Christian. It is easy to simply lose perspective on how one’s actions affect their credibility, character and how the consequences of those actions effect how they live and work for God's purpose.

Again, this is a great reason to have a Spirit led renewal of the mind in order to make one aware of how far one has strayed away from God’s plan in favor of their own.  

Ultimately it is God’s desire for us to love Him and others.

Jesus tells us about the 2 greatest commandments: (It’s all about love)

Matthew 22:36-40 New International Version (NIV)

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Jesus displayed His love through sacrifice: (Jesus’ powerful example of love)

Romans 5:8 New International Version (NIV)

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 15:13 New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

God proves His love for us:

John 3:16-17 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Jesus tells us how we can love regardless of our personal level of darkness and light:

1 John 4:19 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.

John 13:34-35 New International Version (NIV)

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Romans 5:2-5 English Standard Version (ESV)

² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Ephesians 5:1-2 New International Version (NIV)

¹Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Romans 13:10 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 12:9-10 New International Version (NIV)

Love in Action

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Followers of Jesus are even commanded to love their enemies:

Luke 6:33-35 New International Version (NIV)

³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

How we are to act based on our new spiritual condition:

Even in the midst of spiritually dark world, God also wants to transform us, so we are Christ-like in every way. He wants us to be a light in a dark world.

Romans 13:12 New International Version (NIV)

¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Matthew 5:14-16 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Here are the Rules to live by: (So others will experience our light in Christ)

Colossians 3:1-17 New International Version (NIV)

Living as Those Made Alive in Christ

3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We must live wisely:

Ephesians 5:15-16 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

It is obvious that these days are evil and there is much darkness in the world.

But that does not mean we have to live as though we are prisoners of that darkness and allow the enemy of our souls to stir us up, distract us and deceive us. We can choose a better way. We can choose to live and do as the Word of God tells us to. We can live abundantly even in a fallen world. We can Trust God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight. 

Let us not allow darkness to overcome the light in our lives. Jesus reminds us that there will be much difficulty living in this fallen world, yet we can be at peace, and live rightly knowing that He has overcome the world. Jesus has defeated sin and death. So, for those who believe and follow Jesus we can be assured that God will keep His promises and know for sure the best is yet to come!

Just Sayin……………………Dave

From Broken To Restored

From Broken To Restored

No, this is not a story about Humpty Dumpty where we experience a fall and then get put back together again. It is a story about being broken even before we are born. It is also a story about God’s restoration process after that fact. Yet, how is it possible that we are not born good? We know from a biblical perspective everything God created was good and when it came to humans, His creation was very good. 

Excerpts from Genesis 1:

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

            ²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,          in the image of God he created them;         male and female he created them. 

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

²⁹ Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

So, somewhere along the way humans went from being very good to being very broken and sinful in the way they thought and acted toward God and others.

In Chapter 3 in the Book of Genesis, Satan convinces Adam & Eve that they needed more than just God and His provision. At the time God provided for everything, including food, companionship, work, pleasure and eternal life. Satan tempted and convinced Adam & Eve that they needed to be like God, having their eyes opened, where they also could know about good and evil. The one tree that God told them not to eat from became the meal that brought sin into the world. Adam and Eve both disobeyed God and ate the fruit and now we and all of God’s creation continue to experience the consequences of that sin.  

Genesis 2:15-17 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when     you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Who would think that from this one event the world would go from paradise to a place where brokenness, sin and death would taint all of God’s creation? Yet, history reflects how God’s creation is breaking down.  History shows how and why a sinful human race continually runs away from God to act on their own sinful desires. History shows people rejecting and even hating God, their Creator, who breathed life into them. What many people don’t realize is that they too have been deceived by the real enemy of humans and God. This enemy is Satan himself.

Not much has changed since the Fall. Only through the recent technological explosion, the internet and social media, have we been able to find more ways to hate God and others.

Each person alive today reflects a broken and sinful nature inherited from the “Fall”, thanks to Adam and Eve’s original sin.

This sinful nature inherited from the Fall affects all that the mind perceives, one’s actions, heart and motivation. The problem is that every person affects every person. It is way too convenient to blame others without owning up to one’s own responsibility for how they speak and act. It is common place to see other people’s broken and sinful nature and point to them as the problem.  Yet, the real problem is us and we have a responsibility to find the right way to counteract the damage from the Fall that has affected our lives.    

The Good News is God has given us the help we need. The Bible helps us see the damage from the Fall and then shows us that Jesus was God’s antidote for the consequences of having this original disease, the sin nature.

The First way Jesus helps us is that He can forgive our sin. Through His work on the Cross, one’s sin has been paid for. Therefore, God no longer finds those who receive Jesus’ work guilty of sin. God invites those who believe and receive this work of Jesus into His eternal family. 

Second, those who are followers and believers in Jesus receive God’s helper, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit plays a powerful role in changing us from the inside out. This supernatural indwelling of the Holy Spirit has the power to conform us into a new creation where the new self is more like that of Jesus. The old self still exists and can rear its ugly head from time to time, but for the most part, those led by the Spirit, are living out the new life God desires for His people. Referred to as the Fruit of the Spirit, those born again reflect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23). Those guided, taught, and counseled by the Holy Spirit lead changed lives and are now more focused on being God-centered over self-centered. God’s people don’t always do a good job in living this out, but it is truly their desire to do so.

Third, those who are followers of Jesus have a new identity and a new purpose, instead of an identity of sin, brokenness and separation from God, Jesus replaces the old self with a new self, an identity affected by supernatural love, grace and hope. God desires to restore His people back to Himself. One’s desire as a follower of Jesus should be to honor and revere God with love, gratitude, and service, all the while reflecting Christ-likeness toward others. Our salvation, our perspective and attitude define who we are and can help others in seeing God for who He really is. The truth about God - He loves His people and wants to rescue then from sin and death. Those restored are God’s people, set apart to Him for His pleasure and good purpose. What followers of Jesus can accomplish with God’s help and power, will have an eternal impact. With a new God given perspective, a follower of Jesus will view everything including eternity in a new and profound vertically focused light. This perspective will affect every aspect of a believer’s life even in the midst of one’s greatest difficulty.

If you are struggling with life join the club. Everyone faces the difficulties and sufferings that can be attributed to the Fall. Jesus never said that life would be free of hardship. He did say that with God’s help we will find a new life, a new hope, a new heart, a new perspective and a new purpose.

Jesus tells us about His role in salvation:

John 14:6 New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The Good news about following Jesus:

John 8:12 New International Version (NIV)

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Jesus refers to the Living Water/Holy Spirit as the one playing the life changing role in one’s new life in Christ:

John 4:14 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 7:38 New International Version (NIV)

³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

The Apostle Paul unpacks a new life in Christ:

Romans 8:1-2: “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

The problem and the solution:

Romans 6:23 New International Version (NIV)

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Proof of God’s love for us:

Romans 5:8 New International Version (NIV)

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The way to be rescued:

Romans 10:9-10 New International Version (NIV)

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Through Jesus, God has the perfect way to take our broken and sinful nature and restore us back to Himself. God, through His amazing love and grace, gives people the gift of faith that rescues us from the consequences of the Fall. This gift from God cannot be earned or purchased.  It is only through Jesus’ work and righteousness that we can be restored back to God and saved from our sin.  

Ephesians 2:8-9 New International Version (NIV)

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

A believer’s life exemplifies a lifelong process called sanctification. This process can be quite painful as one goes through shedding the old self in order to experience the blessing of being a new creation. This process also leads one to be set apart to God for His purpose. If you are truly a believer, the pain you experience from dying to self will ultimately benefit you and others who will notice the beauty of your transformation reflected in your Christ-like humility, heart, mind, words and actions. When God sheds light on one’s sin, that awareness will be painful yet at the same time will begin the road to restoration. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans explains that suffering has a purpose:

Romans 5:1-5 New International Version (NIV)

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

When a believer follows Jesus, they will suffer for the sake of the Gospel (Good News). They will also suffer while dying to their own self-interest. Jesus even told His disciples that they would be persecuted.

John 15:20 New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

But Jesus also said this:

John 16:33 New International Version (NIV)

³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus wants His disciples to know that it is better to desire what He offers which is eternal over what the world offers which ultimately leads to sin and death.

When we truly follow Jesus, we deny ourselves the sinful life which is filled with suffering and brokenness in order to inherit a life of joy and purpose which includes suffering yet filled with God’s good purpose.

Romans 8:28 New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Mark 8:34-37 New International Version (NIV)

³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

When we are in the true broken state, we will experience the eternal consequence of our sin which is eternal separation from God.  When we are restored, eternal life with God begins and everything makes more sense due to God’s love, grace and eternal perspective.  

One always has the opportunity to ask God to change their life.  Beginning with the gift of faith, God will unveil the broken nature of the old self as well as begin the process of restoration back to Himself. Eventually, when one experiences a softening of the heart, they will come to a point where they will ask for God’s forgiveness and receive Jesus’ work on the cross that saves them from sin and death. With Jesus as Lord and Savior, one’s transformed life and new identity in Christ is shaped by the presence and power of God.

Suffering will always play a role in a believer’s life. Yet, at the same time, everlasting joy is the constant in the midst of a follower of Jesus living in a fallen world.

You see, God loves us so much He makes it known that we can find restoration in Christ Jesus while still in our broken and sinful state. We don’t have to search for it. God finds us where we are and presents us with the gift of faith that leads to eternal life. The question is, will we take it? If we do, we will go from broken to restored.

Blessings………………..Dave