The Leverage of Poverty


English: Poverty Русский: Нищенство

English: Poverty Русский: Нищенство (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There has been active debate regarding the “poor” in America.  The liberals have proposed and instituted social programs which do not help the poor in their plight beyond causing them to survive for the sake of gain by those who have created these programs.  This is not the will of God that we might make widows and orphans of those who are quite well attached to family and bodily able to fend for themselves.

We have become a nation of wicked greed, for those who would translate our language into obscure meanings (as does their father from the beginning), have brought a black corruption to the very fabric of daily life in America.  We now rise from our beds daily to witness the poisonous fruit of their corruption among us.  And though we chide and teach them with all our might they only chase after this putrid religion of man all the more.

Yet, what should we expect from those who do not have the counsel of God among their members?  They are black with sin; darkened in their minds and souls by the greed that has become their clothing.  All the while they are making more dependent on their powers, they chide and rail at God’s people for not taking care of the poor.  How is this unlike Pharoah commanding the Israelites to make the same quota of bricks without their supply of straw?

May we look forward to the redemption that belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ.  There is a place where such things will never live again.  We warn with all our might, for it is our holy duty to speak against the folly of man.  But we also understand that what is unholy will prosper more and more before the coming of our Lord.

There was a letter written from Ignatius of Antioch to Polycarp, in which he addressed the proper way to approach poverty and slavery.  We are to be wise in all our dealings in this matter.  For pride is not singular to the rich.  Pride is the companion of even the starving beggar if wisdom of God does not reside in his bones.

“Despise not slaves, whether men or women. Yet
let not these again be puffed up, but let them serve
the more faithfully to the glory of God, that they may
obtain a better freedom from God. Let them not desire
to be set free at the public cost, lest they be found
slaves of lust.”

How then have the liberals helped the poor by encasing them in luxury?  How have they helped the poor by removing the calluses from their hands?   They have made them an item of profit, both for the sake of greed and of power.  Take note and be wise regarding the call of the liberals for duty regarding the poor.  The Lord’s wisdom does not make such slaves of men.  There is a freedom these power mongers know nothing about.

By His Grace.

Family Matters


Ahnenblatt Family Tree Example

Ahnenblatt Family Tree Example (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In speaking with the Lord about who I have become, by His Grace, He showed me something of great value.  I was frustrated by the limits of righteous behavior I found in myself.  While I thought of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, and how he pleased the Lord so that God took him.  He lived for 365 years on this earth.  And he did not taste death because he lived in such  a way as to please the Holy and living God.

I looked at my life and wondered at my own wickedness.  As the sadness of my utter failure came seeping in, the Lord spoke an idea to me that has helped greatly.  I will try to convey the understanding with as little words as possible.

There are 12 tribes of Israel.  And each tribe has its own clans.  A clan represents a collection of families who trace their history to a common origin.  While they belong to a certain tribe they are identified under certain sub segments of that tribe.

Then the Lord showed me something I had not considered.  The Gentiles, that is those who are not Jews by birth but who belong to the line of  people who do not have the direct blessing under Moses, are divided into clans also.  Let me explain.

There are men who were raised in families who have passed on a love for the things of the Lord.  There are families who have passed on the love for traditions of men.  There are families who promote certain levels of sin in their lives as if it is their right to chase after a limited amount of wickedness.  And then, there is my clan.  Those who have passed on a boundless wickedness to their children.

The Lord in His mercy will judge us from the stock we were raised in.  What were we taught as children that has remained undetected within our memories?  A man who was raised by holy parents (gentiles, none the less) will remember things holy.  A man who was abused sexually and driven from holy behavior since he was old enough to speak will not know how to perform for the Lord like the former family.

But here is the rub.  Have you excelled beyond your clan?  Are you striving to rid yourself of the horrible wickedness that was passed down to you?  This is where He helped me understand.  There is a certain peace involved in understanding these things.  His expectation for those of the lesser clans is not as intense as those who were raised to know better.

There is a whole lot more to say about this.  But I think, for the sake of readability, this is enough to convey the message.

Switch Off the Darkness.


Gods' Creation

Gods' Creation (Photo credit: Kamoteus (A New Beginning))

I walk through the house in the dark, feeling my way through the halls.  Obviously, when the light is on I walk differently because my eyes receive what they need to help me walk without hesitation.  I drive my truck through the night by turning on the headlights.  I look down at the instruments and am able to read them because they are lit.  The moment I turn off the lights I am bound to have trouble.

It comes to mind that God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all.  Therefore He never stumbles.  What is this light of God?  The light of God is righteousness.  We who serve Him have heard of this.  But I see how we often desire the darkness.  I see how we seek out a shadow so we can ponder a return to the land of Egypt.  We are fooled by remembering how sweet the food was there.  But we forget how destructive was the slavery.  We forget how they forced us to kill our children; all the males of the Israelites were to be killed.

Encourage yourself, as even now I remember these things.  Encourage one another, as even now I do to you.  Let us allow the light to enter in.  Let us turn off the darkness.  Let us not look behind and yearn for what was surely to destroy us.  But let us learn to desire the Life of God, that it might appear stronger within us than the darkness that had covered us.  Recall the following scripture and strive to apply it to our every second of time that will be granted to us in this place of testing.

1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and 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.

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.  (Ephesians 5)

Father in Heaven, please grant that I should learn what my heart has known.  It is my fingers which placed these letters in that specific order.  I have understood this.  May You grant that I may know it to the doing.  Amen.

I AM


English: Moses and the Burning Bush, illustrat...

Image via Wikipedia

I have searched out what is true between God and man.  And, from what God has been willing to divulge to man, I understand the reason for life;  To learn to live your life with a reverence and love for God, to do what is right in His Holy eyes, and to refrain from as much evil as you are blessed to refrain from.

I have searched out what is true between God and man.  And from what God has been willing to divulge to man, I understand that our perception of life is not at all what is true.  There is a life more living than we.  This life has been from eternity, is now the same as it was, and will forever be beyond this place of testing.

Man says to himself, “I think.  Therefore I am.”  God has said, “I AM.  Therefore you think.”  The pride of man cannot perceive this truth.  For he thinks to himself that he is the end of his life.  Or that man will be praised for the works he has done in this place of testing.  Yet all his days, the pride of man gives no accounting of the Holy God who was before the first shaft of darkness was created.

Humility, on the other hand, recognizes the plight of our limits.  It keeps in mind the Glory of the Most High God.  And never surrenders to the pride of man.  Humility is prime glory for man.  While pride is the abject loss of glory, humility is the crown on man’s head.

Egypt, Snow, Sea, Headlights.


Screaming down a two lane road in a snow storm.  The road’s edge has melted into white.  Powder rushes like water across the road, causing it to look like the road is moving left.  Headlights blind through tiny wisps of visibility.  And I’ve got my hands on 60,000 pounds of steel and rubber. 

The Lord brought me through without hardly a mentionable experience.  Thus it is for me, by His Grace.  But I thought of the Israelites being chased by the Egyptians.  Certain death was closing in.  The sand drifting all over their bodies and getting into their belongings.  Now the Sea blocks them in.  LOST!  “It would have been better if we had died in Egypt.”

But if they hadn’t left that place, they would never walked on the bottom of the sea.  If I had taken the freeway, I would never have experienced His powerful hand guiding me through the snow.

By His Grace.