Needling

All things? Really? But doesn’t history repeat itself? Good, bad, indifferent. It really doesn’t matter. You can put on whatever color glasses you prefer and view history from the side of the victors or the spoiled or the jesters. But all throughout, God is weaving His narrative through every person’s heart who wants Him. And when one accepts Jesus on His grounds, the needle is inserted and you become part of His story. His tapestry. As an aside, sticking needles in one’s eye actually happens in ophthalmology clinics. Let it be known.

“And it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?” (Luke 18:25-26)

When I first read that (and was first taught it), I envisioned the infinitesimal hole through which one threads a needle. Opposite the business end, of course. While this is what I saw in my mind’s eye, I’ve also read and heard that Jesus was in fact referring to a gate in Jerusalem through which only camels–unencumbered of course–pass through. Either way, however, the point comes across. It’s impossible for one to “enter into the Kingdom of God” unless they divest and winnow. At least that’s my interpretation. But the question remains. It doesn’t matter what one possesses, God is the one who meets needs. To where, yes, the things you possess are indeed yours, but you’re also willing to give what the Holy Spirit intimates to your heart. Following Him for ourselves allays all the trouble we get vexed with due to too much possession.

“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” (Ephesians 4:28)

On pins and needless

Have you ever lost everything? I can’t say I have. I have, however, felt some deep depths to be sure. My parents divorced in my late teens and suffice it to say, little in my life (as I still had all my stuff) meant anything to me. I remember an inward edict of mine around that time to only want a few but really nice (i.e. meaningful) articles of clothing. Yes, I’m dismayed when things wear down but it’s also the natural order of things. I give it away. And I’m replenished. But it’s from God. I find then that the state of our relationship to God imbues our relationship to our world and our accoutrements. And when God gives you something, it always shines with a beauty and depth and…I’m just going to call it a calm that “stuff” bereft of a story possesses. An eternal “newness” as it were.

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.” (Psalm 68:19)

“But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:18-19)

As my dad would say, there’s a difference between being “spoiled” and being “spoiled rotten”. Nothing wrong with the former because God is the most generous person I know. It’s the hoarding (for lack of a better word) of those things we think add to our life that are indeed holding us down and back. Think about all the camel can hold inside.

Admittedly, the writer of Hebrews prefaces this passage with talk of Heaven and the reward that, there, awaits. He continues in verse 37 with a reminder that Jesus’ imminent return is upon us. So this being said, I am literally taking this passage out of context to make a point about patience in our day to day lives.

“For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”

Touch and go

“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (John 20:17)

You see, there were still things that needed to be done, even though Jesus in the previous chapter declared “it is finished” (19:30). I find that there are times when God sets things in motion that will play out as planned and it is then our job as such to maintain focus on God out of love and trust while the things He did blossom out into our realm. The very moment that Jesus died, everything that God had planned was brought to pass. The devil lost all his power. Jesus completed His mission statement but it wasn’t until three days later, after those closest to Him had thought it was all over and all for nought, that the light began to dawn. Funny thing, Mary was ready. She was waiting and while she was not allowed to physically touch Jesus, she got to see Him and speak with Him. Effectively becoming the very first-ever minister of the new covenant. That’s quite the high honor.

In keeping with the hurried pace of things, I’d like to point out real quick that another name for the flower impatiens is “touch-me-not”. It has a very delicate seed pod that will explode, or dehisce, with a touch. Very cool.

Tried and true

It’s really a great place to be. With reference to the top passage, if you know that God wants you to do something and, after maybe some procrastination and perhaps disobedience in delaying. After working through the slight and petty fears that would in a simple way seek to hinder the act of obedience that God is calling you out for, you actually complete a mission that God has scripted for you (Wow. Congratulations!), what next? Again, it’s an amazing place to be. You’ve wound down your life and God is walking you, hand in His, through some new and uncharted territory and you “buy the field” (see yesterday’s post) or make that call, or speak that word, and you know it was God having you do it. What will you do if the outcome is either different than you expected or takes longer than you thought it would? Would you wait and trust? With so, so many Christians the world over wondering what to do for God, I find that not much is spoken of regarding the calm after the storm. It takes faith to both obey God in the initial act and also to wait out the results. The same faith, applied two different ways.

“Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of Thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.” (Psalm 94:12-13)

See, there are things going on we’re not aware of and, dare I say it, cannot handle should we desire the knowledge. It takes what time it takes to work out the fine details of the will of God for our lives. Keep pressing in to the Father and know that He has your best interests at heart. The outworking of God’s will includes both blessing for His people and also judgment for anything that prevented what He wanted done in the first place. Will you wait to see what it is God wanted to do?

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold thou fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” (Revelation 3:10-11)

To this: “Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:17, 26-27)

Pray, see

But first! A little backstory and context. The verses between the two above statements are Jeremiah testifying to the greatness and grandeur of God. Jeremiah draws a precis on God’s character and His works. He cites the fact that the children of Israel couldn’t do what they were asked by God. Even in spite of having received the blessing of a new land in which to live and stretch their legs: “And they came in, and possessed it; but thy obeyed not Thy voice, neither walked in Thy law; they have done nothing of all that Thou commandedst them to do: therefore Thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:” (32:23, emphasis mine) At present, Jeremiah is imprisoned for speaking out a prophecy that condemned the current King of Judah. Zedekiah didn’t like what he heard from Jeremiah and so he locks him away. A hard word to be sure but wouldn’t you want to know if bad stuff and bad news was on the way? I suppose it all depends upon how deep one is in the tangled forest of their own bad decisions. Sometimes, our hearts get so hard for lack of maintenance that any attempt by God to steer us around is met with harshness and our turning away.

“For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save out God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.” (Psalm 18:31-32)

The question, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Is somewhat rhetorical. It certainly is when asked by God at the end of the passage in Jeremiah. Jeremiah proclaims and God answers. And the answer is no. No circumstance, no relationship, no confusing malady of heart or mind or body is too hard for God to overcome. But it depends on our believing it. Another way of wording the question while maintaining that word would be: “How hard do our hearts have to be before we see how easy everything is for God?” When Jesus tells the disciples to “lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:35), He’s only calling it like He sees it. God sees just the right combination of events and actions and thoughts and deeds to bring someone, provided all key players were in place, back to Him through Jesus. It’s not that hard.

“I have seen an end of all perfection: but Thy commandment is exceeding broad.” (Psalm 119:96)

Pray, tell

I love this declaration of the psalmist. They had so soaked in the desire to see God in the details but yet hadn’t outstrode the beauty of God’s word in lining out the way to go. Jeremiah cites “not walk[ing] in Thy law” as one of the reasons Babylon was allowed to encamp and encroach upon Jerusalem. Real quick: It would seem God wanted Jeremiah to do one thing prior to his imprisonment. He says in verse eight, “buy it for thyself”. This act–of purchasing a field that was rightfully his–says Jeremiah a few verses down, is like a symbolic downpayment on the forthcoming fruitfulness that God promises His people. That is, after they work through the rollercoaster, mountain/valley paradigm of gaining and then losing the blessing. See, there will be a generation that gets it right. One of the things Jeremiah says about God in the verses between the statements is about how not only does God show “lovingkindnesses unto thousands” but that He also “recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them” (32:18). This is referring to generational curses that continue unabated without supernatural intervention. But as Jesus effectively cut off the need to look to ancestry as a means of substantiation, we all can look to God to deal with the hard questions and issues of our lives–for ourselves. I digress.

Jeremiah is still in prison at the end of chapter thirty-two. The next chapter opens very simply, like this.

“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is His name;” (33:2)

Before we go any further, I don’t know how much time Jeremiah spent in prison. I don’t know what it felt like or how miserable and boring it could’ve been there. There have been times in my life where I’ve been so insulated from others in spite of living and moving around them, that I felt inconsolably alone and a loner. But this is a rare place to be and a highly valuable one in God’s estimation I should say. As he sees things from a perfect vantage point, we’d do well to get His opinion on the wide-angle. The crowd that was present for the signing of the papers that proved Jeremiah’s ownership of the field had since dispersed and things have died down. But God is about ready to speak again to Jeremiah. You see, he had fulfilled a few–but very important–things in God’s eyes. And so God checks these things off His list and speaks again:

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (33:3)

One of the most amazing promises ever delivered to an individual. It’s yours, too.

Also this: “For God is not the author of confusion…” (1 Corinthians 14:33a)

Taradiddle

Confusion’s interesting. I mean that literally. When you’re within its swirling mass and unable to make heads or tails of anything, it’s like a void that opens wider and goes down further even as you seek to make sense of where (you can’t seem to) find yourself. But when you’re outside its influence, looking dispassionately at a lump of pure confusion can surely teach you a lot about how the way you’re called plays in to everything else going on in your area. That’s one of the main reasons confusion happens, I should add. A perfectly good and rational desire we try and bring out in our own time and colored with motives that were stirred by those who didn’t have our best interests at heart.

“For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:” (2 Corinthians 12:20)

That word “tumults” is translated in the top verses as “confusion”. Like a demonic party in your house and at your expense. “Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.” (Proverbs 22:10) Sometimes one has to not only work at clearing up their thoughts according to God’s word but also in rebuking anything left over that brought the confusing points of view in the first place. God’s good for it. And it’s usually, usually a very simple hinge that brings a branch or strain of thought that blossoms into full-blown confusion. Like a little lie or the like (that’s what a taradiddle is, by the way). Look for it. As the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, He’ll clear the air.

Flumadiddle

That’s pretty much all it is and it’s what it becomes. And you don’t really care about it after it’s over. When seeking God’s will for your life, I would say that confusion is like the inverse to where you want to be. What I mean is, if you sense confusion, you can be sure that there’s something in the air that was either acted upon out of ignorance. Or else it’s there meant to keep you ignorant. James cites “envy” and “strife” as the two things that are the catalysts to confusion. He says two verses prior that “if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.” The first course of action to clearing up the confusion in your mind and heart is to deal with these two things there, first. One little lie (and the belief therein) can conflagrate into a full-blown flumadiddle. God help you. Paul says “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.” (1 Corinthians 14:38) No one else can clear it up for you but God.

“So it’s my fault?”

“Yes.”

It’s my fault if I’m confused. That’s a good place to start. When I seek to jump ahead and bend situations and circumstances to my favor and my will, effectively employing “envy” and “strife” (strife being the outworking of the desires borne out of envy), things around will cloud and occlude and become obtuse and abstruse. In other words, colored without by my wrong thinking within. And I don’t mean to confuse. God may not be the author of confusion, but I sure have stirred up my fair share for my life.

Paradiddle

If there’s one word I have to describe God’s voice, it would be clear. Lines and structure and rules. Time signatures (a paradiddle is a unique time signature in drumming). These things, while they don’t keep out the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit, certainly need to be in place to clear up the confusion that would keep us from following God’s will for our life.

Impel

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

The implication here is that whatever it is we feel like doing for God is coming from within. The prefix “im-” being essentially the same as “in-” denoting we’re being led of “the Holy Ghost which is given to us.” (Romans 5:5) It really is the best way when you think about it. When you’ve reached a point in your life where you’re–not not submitted to someone else–but free to obey the leading of His Spirit in “whatever thou settest thine hand to.” (Deuteronomy 28:8) It carries with it all the responsibility you’ve been accruing throughout your life. If you’re not sure you’re there but you want to be, let fly. Tell God you want to be submitted to Him only. And He’ll be sure and bring you in and among those from whom you’re destined to take what you need and then be on your way. We all complement one another. And compliment, too.

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”

Compel

“Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.” (Psalm 32:8-9)

Your dictionary pretty much synonimizes the two words. Compel, however, at least to my mind, connotes a more outward exertion toward that which you’re supposed to be doing. And it should go without saying that as God’s kids, we would seek to be doing His will. Getting more and more dialed in as the days go on. Sometimes though, God has to come across as the very thing we’re afraid of in order to show that it’s us who has the misconception. Does this make sense? I find that the very people who show a predilection or tendency to act in the ways that I-do-but-am-blind-to, are the very people that God chooses to speak through and bless me. In spite of my bias to only want to hear from a “me approved” source. And so how do I pay them back? (“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another…” Romans 13:8) By praying for them of course. And God will do the very thing for me that I choose to exert my breath and time and life through prayer–for someone else.

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me…” (2 Corinthians 12:10-11a)

Propel

“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.” St. Francis

The two go hand in hand. When Jesus says “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he (and she) that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.” (Matthew 7:21), He’s levelling a hard statement into the reader. But the thing is, is it hard because we say it is? Or is it stark and dry because we’re used to the other way around? If His statement of making Heaven only by walking in the Will of God sounds harsh, perhaps I should reorient my understanding and opinion of “harsh”. My view of what is “hard” and what is “easy” is colored by my understanding of just how gentle and sweet “Our Father who art in Heaven” is. He’s sweeter and gentler than anyone has ever represented after Christ walked the earth. The key to knowing that you are the will of God, is by taking everything you can to Him for scrutiny and getting His opinion. Don’t worry. He’s not going anywhere. Even as He sends you out to those you’re called to affect, He is always the same, and always in the same place. He is the stillness in the world.

“Therefore I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” (Psalm 119:128)

“And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” (1 Corinthians 12:15, 21)

On our own terms

It isn’t that there’s only one way to do something. There are as many ways to live a life as there are lives. Qualify it how you will. By gender and generation and culture. Okay. Stir in the fact that we are human. Unless you’re an insomniac or night owl, your circadian rhythm is most likely diurnal and you probably live under some sort of economic auspices. All these qualifiers! It’s almost like you have to make time to go to church. And once we get there, we’re going to bicker about office and station and whatnot? I’m grateful (sometimes) for the mere fact that I got off work this afternoon (actually I was off all day today, hee-hee). And failing gratitude for that, at least I have a job right? I’m a bookseller and I’ve been doing it for a long time. Is it what I was called to do? I don’t really think so. I mean, I don’t feel like a bookseller when I step in the sanctuary on Sunday morning. I feel like a human. I feel love and maybe standoffishness. Some of my quirks and peccadilloes begin to tell and unless my friends are there, I tend to close off in the service (yes). I might see the Pastor and say hi. But this is church. It’s far from perfect. I’ve been attending my current church (haven’t had all that many in my lifetime) for about a year now and feel as integrated as when I started. Doesn’t mean I’m going to stop attending or go somewhere else is the point.

I feel that the twelfth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is an exemplary cross-section of a well-oiled, living, inter-church machine. That sounds a little stark. But I think “organic” is too overused to use again. Somewhere in the middle.

“Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:4)

For lack of any better terms…

“And the eye cannot say unto the hand…nor again the head to the feet…”

I believe there is danger in seeking to narrow down too much the specific calling with reference to our brothers and sisters in Christ. As we are meant to complement one another and as we can be as mercurial as quicksilver (same thing), we must stay in the flow of the Holy Spirit. Real quick, another name for a doctor not really doing his job (Merely practicing medicine? Or just not called?) is “quacksalver”. It sounds like “quicksilver”, get it? Point I’m getting at is, if we’re going to prescribe our own opinions as to who people are or are not, we will offend the One who called them in the first place. Paul speaks in his second letter to the Corinthians (13:10), “Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness,” Listen: “according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.” Paul fulfilled his office of apostle with flying colors. He talks about turning the power with which he was gifted against those who should have and would have received it for a blessing. But Paul would have been in the right, in this case. Thing is, I believe we all have that power. To believe in someone–whether silently or no–and ensure they become who God sees them as.

Again, it’s touch and go. Maybe literally. If the Holy Spirit intimates to you that someone would be a blessing doing this thing or that, and He tells you to tell them, go for it. We are gathered here together to bear witness to the God who made us and continues to mold us into His image day by day. And night by night.

“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him.” (1 Corinthians 12:18)

“For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.” (2 Corinthians 13:9)

“Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:34

Hitting the wall

Runners do it. Really, any creative endeavor will hit stone and rock and bricks. Even below that, struggling to get out of bed each morning and live your quotidian life. It would seem “writer’s block” isn’t just reserved for those who try to express through words. I find the best way to overcome writer’s block is to…keep writing. If you have to write about why you can’t write, do it. But there are times though, that God must be the one to remove the wall before you progress. No way around it. From the earliest point in the life of Jesus in us, God removed the wall. It was a thousand feet high and as many deep and that’s just its metaphor. In other words, impossible to surmount. This is why God is good. Because He started us off right. It didn’t matter that it took the breaching of the very body of Jesus in order to let us in and through. The wall seems insurmountable, but God sees it gone.

“And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

Hitting the ground laughing

“For Thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by Thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.” (Psalm 18:29)

And there are times that God would have you scale the wall. To see what it’s like to surmount something that Jesus did already. This is hard work and suffering and perhaps seeing an outcome that’s different than the one you had in mind. David, in the above verse, ran through the troop and over the wall. And it was enough. Because maybe God has called someone to go through what you did–after you? You’ll be the one to pray for them and show them how it’s done.

Another name for a fence or wall or partition that has been recessed into the ground is a “ha-ha”. Its name refers to the sound of surprise when you come upon it, not knowing it was there. Look for God to show you the walls that you may not even have known you were surmounting purely by virtue of keeping your mind and heart and life focused on Him to where you didn’t see the obstacle in the first place. God is distracting that way.

“And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.” (Joshua 6:5)

Whether you’re called to demolish or surmount or merely march around and around, whatever walls you may be facing, God will show you what to do with them.

So that’s not actually a word. The closest to it would be emblematic. My spell check also asks me if it’s not “emblem ism”. It’s like I added a suffix to a word that already has enough. There are rules for these sorts of things you know. Can’t just go around making words up on the fly. I have a friend who dreamed one night about a certain type of hat. In the dream, that style of hat had a name. And so he woke up and ran with it. He went to school and started proclaiming the newfound label for this well-known, if foreign, headgear. I’m not gonna fault him for that. Really, it makes for one awesome inside joke. I had a dream once where I saw a pineapple. I thought about it for years and years and would see pineapples feature in ads and love their taste and after much reflection (to where God showed me why), realized that it makes sense. And so, the pineapple is one of my symbols. My emblems. If I ever had a coat of arms, you can bet it’d be on it.

An emblem, as you may know, is a symbol. It expresses more information than words and letters. An emblem can represent by virtue of symbol, things that aren’t easily defined. Things of complexity and controversy and polarization. Things that will get one person’s blood flowing and stop the heart (figuratively) of another. It’s deep and it’s powerful. Best to stick with letters and words until you know what you’re doing.

Embolism

That one actually is a word. It’s anything that can slow or block or stop blood flow. It can be a solid object or an air bubble. The thing about an embolism is you don’t want it. I don’t have much more to say on the subject because I’m not a medical professional. I know my words though. I know “embolism” is a real thing and so is “emblem” and “ism”. I can also bandy about “emblemism” in my circle but beyond that, I’m likely to get looks of misunderstanding and possibly scorn (I don’t really care). Best to either keep my mouth shut or use the oft-repeated “symbolism” to refer to what I’m…referring to.

Symbolism

Embolus is any unbroken matter in the blood stream. The word gives rise to “embolism”. Symbol comes from the same root: “bolus”. From Latin, meaning “to throw”. The word “parable” is in this family as well. “Parable” literally means “something thrown alongside”. Jesus, many times, spoke to people plainly. Those who endeavored to get as close as they could and ask Him open-ended questions to which He supplied closed-ended answers (Himself). But to those who were on the periphery of His person, those whom He didn’t know personally, He spoke in parables. He used stories and allegories to get His point across. The reason He could do this is He couldn’t but help speak the truth. Anything He said would point back to God the Father, to the source. I find that, the closer I get to God, the more dialed in I get with reference to the kernels of story and such. Some stay. Others have fallen away. I have certain favorite movies that, as I analyze and scrutinize, I begin to understand why they’re speaking to me. Why they take up space on my shelf. They’re like touchpoints for the very real thing I’m living called life. But look what John says: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5:11-12)

See, life is life. That may draw ire and derision and sound pedantic and pathetic but I don’t know how else to say it. God gives life and He does it through Jesus. Spiritually and physically. But the latter doesn’t include the former. If you’re curious to see if maybe, just maybe all this stuff could be pointing to something you don’t see yet, ask Jesus to show you. Ask Him to be Lord of your life. He’ll do it.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

Once removed

I know God is all about unity. I know that He desires that we come together and coalesce as the Body of Christ. This is good. This is essential. The entirety of John, chapter 17 details Jesus’ desire, from His Father, to unite us as one family. “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us…” (verse 21) I know this. There’s a qualifier in here somewhere, I just know it. The qualifier is this: Until you take on the fact that it’s just you and God (one) because of what Jesus did–a world unto yourself, as it were–one cannot be part of something greater. Because even though we inhabit a body of spatial dimensions more-or-less similar to everyone else, we are all over the map, spiritually. It can be gloriously, mind-bendingly difficult to unite with people in this world. This is my experience.

The Cross is the simplest logo I know. From a semiotic standpoint, it is the most powerful symbol ever devised. Something so brilliant and yet so simple had to have come from the mind of God. And even then, citing all the power and influence of two lines–one twice as long as the other, bisected down the middle–it doesn’t do one any good unless they actively press in to the living God by Jesus Christ and realize that They love them. This is what makes one, one. God is about equality (the lines in an equal sign never meet). But first He’s about unity–with Him. Through Jesus’ sacrifice and Resurrection.

Carrying the one

“God setteth the solitary in families: He bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.” (Psalm 86:6)

Have you ever been in a dry land? Have you ever felt parched even as you mingle with those of your demographic? That’s a broad and statistical sounding word. But that’s what so much of society feels like at times. Like numbers. What happens when you find, both God and yourself, wandering through that desert? Well, firstly, God was carrying you all along. That’s why you found Him. You were in His arms and you didn’t know it. But then what about everyone else? What about them? This is where ceteris paribus plays in to what you’re going through (and this is the last part of this series). Until you make that effort to both maintain the unity that God has given you through Jesus, and also treat every single person with whom you interact as God did you, all things won’t be equal. From part one, if you see your life as that statement, that experiment God started ceteris paribus. But is now facing the hurdles and variables you are, only then can you bring those things in line to where you can continue to be what God wanted when He spoke you out.

“Sacrificing and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened…” (Psalm 40:6a)

“And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers into his ears, and He spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to Heaven, He sighed, and and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened…” (Mark 7:33-35a)

The first part of the opening line of the next verse says “And he charged them…” But it’s not talking about money. He tells them not to make it known what He just did. Because, until you’re strong enough to maintain what Jesus gives–and gives freely, I might add–best to keep your mouth shut. Your ears may be open but the only person to speak to about it is God. This is not an uncommon occurrence. As God should be the One with whom we converse and are conversant, everyone else should fall by the wayside until the former is met. With reference to ceteris paribus (all things equal) until the atmosphere abroad is ready, rejoice that you’re able to hear.

“And when He had said these things, He cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And His disciples asked Him, saying, What might these parables be?” (Luke 8:8-9)

Binocular

“And He said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.” (Luke 8:10)

 People see it all. They really do. It’s the condition of our heart that tells whether or not we’re going to be seeing it correctly. The difference between seeing what’s there and missing something is looking. Try this on: Paul says to Titus (1:15), “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” If you couple this with his instruction to “overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21) The way we see things depends on how dialed in we are to God. To where we see Heaven here on earth.

 Binary

 ”Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” (Joel 3:14)

 The Hebrew word for decision is “charuwts“. Strong’s says “properly incised or incisive“. The word (decision) appears twice in the Bible (it’s also translated as “gold” in Psalm 68:13). The Hebrew word for “distinguish”, however, is “biyn“. In Psalm 5:1, David asks God to “consider my meditation”. He’s asking God to sift through his internal processes to where they’re springing from a true source (a true vein as it were). We have no idea the mercy of God expended as a result of wrong thinking and the havoc it wreaks on the world. On, off. Trust and faith and belief. And love. or not. If you believe in God and want to speak on His behalf, you might consider praying this prior to opening your mouth:

 ”Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)