- araratchurch
- Oct 8, 2022
- 3 min read
“Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep— So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.”
Proverbs 6:6-11 NKJV
OK, so I got hooked on them. I was on social media and saw these short videos with a picture of a monkey (I am using the term monkey to apply to any animals that look like a monkey to me, they may be apes, chimps, etc., but to me, they’re all monkeys). I saw the monkey and I did it; I watched that short video. Well, now I see those monkey videos popping up all over! It used to be chihuahuas; but now, it’s monkeys.
Now, as you might suspect, the aforementioned monkey video binging is not the point of today’s exhortation. But what I learned from the monkeys, is.
In one of the videos I saw a monkey, sitting with her baby who was eating a piece of fruit. Nearby, was another mother with her baby. The baby from the one monkey mother went and set in to take the piece of fruit from the other baby monkey, at which point, the mother of the one with the fruit, smacked the would-be thief. She then looked at its mother, as if to say, “You want some of this?” At this point, the mother of the would-be thief, grabbed him up and scurried off.
In another video I saw a baby monkey who fell off a wall into rapidly flowing water. At first you could see him bobbing, but quickly then disappearing under the surface. The mother monkey stretched down over the wall and reached her hand into the water and came up with the baby, just in the nick of time.
I saw another monkey with a baby and it seemed as though she did not really know how to parent. The poor baby was desperately trying to grab on to nurse and she kept pushing it off. Finally, she awkwardly picks the baby up and goes running off with the baby dragging beside her.
First of all, I was reminded that monkeys exhibit startling human qualities and reactions. They are, after all, primates. But, here is what the Spirit taught me as I reflected on those videos.
Some monkeys have what we would call “good” behavior; some monkeys exhibit what we would call “bad” behavior. Now, I know enough about conditioning using reward and punishment to know that— given time—you probably could alter the behavior of these monkeys using positive and negative reinforcement. But, what the monkeys are incapable of, is a “change of heart.” In other words, their encoded behavior will remain the same unless conditioned otherwise. But, even when they do change, the new behavior does not come as the result of a moment of transformative spiritual renewal.
In human beings, although reward and punishment conditioning can affect change, some changes—the most dramatic changes—come as a result of the inner transformation brought by the saving of the soul.
Additionally, the ongoing daily process of spiritual development (maturity) can bring further stunning behavioral change, all by a Force Who cannot be seen.
Now, how could I have gathered all of that from watching monkey videos? I gathered all of that because my spirit is open to hearing from the Lord through whatever He chooses to use.
“Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish in the sea speak to you. For they all know that my disaster has come from the hand of the Lord. For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being.”
Job 12:7-10 NLT
Job, in dealing with his “comforting” friends, informs them that observance of the animals could show them that God is sovereign.
In our opening scripture we see the Proverbial writer telling the sluggard that they could learn something from how the ant operates. Nobody instructs the ant to do what it does, yet it relentlessly works and prepares for its own survival.
Now, it may not be monkeys or ants that take you further into understanding. But, if you are open before the Lord, and sensitive to the leading of His Holy Spirit, you will find that there are “teachers” all around you. You have but to LISTEN.
We light an eighth candle of illumination today by knowing this:
Enlightenment can come from strange sources.
- araratchurch
- Oct 5, 2022
- 4 min read
25 Days of Illumination
Day 7: We may need to ask
“Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand.””
Daniel 2:19-23 NKJV
Once upon a time there was a truck driver who chose to go into a tunnel for which the truck was to tall to clear. However, the driver, not knowing this, went with good speed into the tunnel where his truck became hopelessly stuck.
It wasn’t long before a small crowd gathered to survey the predicament into which the driver had gotten himself. Traffic was building up behind the truck and horns were blowing. The gathered “experts” were taking turns hurling possible solutions, only to be told by one of the others why their plan wouldn’t work.
As the group of men all paused to wipe their brows, still searching for a way to dislodge the truck, a little boy walking by, said, “Why don’t you let the air out of the tires?”
Now, if we were honest, we have all been in situations where we could not figure out how to make something work, or how work something out, and some other person or source comes up with a solution that was totally out of the realm of our thinking.
Some people reference this as putting “fresh eyes” on the situation. The rationale behind this is that after having looked at a problem for a certain length of time, it’s easy to find yourself at a “dead end.” You feel as though there is no other path to try; you’ve exhausted your inner resources. However, someone who hasn’t gotten caught up in the problem, can see a solution from their “fresh” perspective.
Many times in my father‘s life, when he would come up against a conundrum of sorts, and felt that he had come to the end of his resources, he would submit the problem to the Lord before going to bed and the Lord would reveal the answer to him as he slept or as he woke up.
One of these times concerned the problem we had with people falling down a steep ramp while entering into our little sanctuary. The building we had at that time had most recently been used as a restaurant; the ramp was used to go from the kitchen to the serving area.
Time and time again we would watch from the platform as people would come in the door and then disappear as they tumbled down the ramp and behind the back pews. Thankfully, no one was ever seriously hurt; but something had to be done.
Now, my father was one of those who felt that he needed to fix whatever needed to be fixed, a policy reinforced by the fact that we really did not have enough money to have anybody do anything. We certainly couldn’t get a consultant to come out and look at the situation. Trying to tear out the ramp would be laborious and costly. Additionally, the only thing that would be able to replace the ramp would be very steep stairs, as there was not a lot of room between the back pews. We needed those pews and my father did not want to remove them. But, after having “officially” presented the problem to the Lord, he went to sleep and the Lord showed him the plan of how to fix it—something he could do at minimal expense and would actually be beautiful.
The answer was to build out a platform at the height of the top of the ramp and put stairs down either side. We were thrilled with the plan the Lord has shown him.
In our opening scripture we see Daniel giving thanks to the Lord for revealing to him what any of us would think was an impossible answer.
The thing was, King Nebuchadnezzar didn’t just want an interpretation to his dream. You see, he could not remember what the dream was, and wanted someone to tell him what the dream had been and what it meant! But sure enough, when Daniel submitted the conundrum to the Lord, the Lord answered mightily!
Sometimes we want an answer, but have not taken the time to actually submit the problem to the Lord.
Additionally, even when we feel that we have asked the Lord for help, perhaps we haven’t laid aside our own preconceived notions or even our exasperation, to let His light shine in to—what for us is—a dark place.
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.”
James 1:5-8 NLT
So let us not run around like a chicken with our head cut off. If we need to know something, if we need an answer, let us ask the Lord and quit seeking from everything/everyone but the Lord. Let’s make Him our first resource. Only the Lord, by way of His Holy Spirit, is able to give us the fresh eyes we may need.
We light a seventh candle of illumination today by knowing this:
We may need to ask the Lord for “fresh eyes.”
Day 6 of Illumination: Don’t expect to receive anything from the Lord if you have no passion for Him
- araratchurch
- Oct 4, 2022
- 2 min read
“Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.”
Song of Solomon 2:15 NKJV
It all started with reconnecting with an old friend on social media. The two old sweethearts enjoyed reminiscing about the “glory days.” Each of these people was married and neither saw what they were doing as being a threat to their marriage. But somehow or another, the interactions went from being on public display in social media to private messaging, and ultimately sneaking off to make phone calls. But, of course, it didn’t end there. Neither of these individuals was in a “bad” marriage, but the cares of life, the business of keeping a home, caring for children, and so on, had taken the excitement or passion out of their relationships. So, this other person comes on the scene—and not being involved in their daily “drama”—somehow offers an oasis, a place to laugh, and finally, a place for passion.
The scenario I have just described is not an isolated event; it happens all the time. Even in Christian marriages where there is the best of intentions, something can sneak in “under the radar” and destroy the relationship.
Whereas this is the case in romantic relationships, it can also happen in relationship with the Lord.
Many times, the person who has just received the Lord, will be thrilled with the load of sin being lifted off their shoulders. But given time, their passion for the Lord can be replaced by something else. Oddly enough, sometimes that something else can be ministry itself. Sadly, they don’t realize that their passion for the Lord is gone, until one day, they find themselves dry and just “going through the motions.”
The Lord speaking in The Revelation points out that the church at Ephesus—although they were doing good works and refraining from sin—no longer had passion for the Lord.
“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
Revelation 2:4-5 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see that the speaker is warning their beloved against allowing the “little foxes” to spoil the vine. What the speaker is saying is that the couple must not allow anything to sneak in to their relationship and destroy their passion for one another. The metaphor of the “little foxes” is referencing the fact that foxes (which naturally have short legs), in order to reach the ripe grapes, would gnaw the vine off so that it would fall to the ground and they could reach the fruit. This process didn’t just rob the vineyard owner of his grapes, but also robbed him of the vine that produced the fruit.
Remember, if the enemy of your soul cannot reach you one way (like a direct frontal attack), he will try to sneak in and disconnect your passion from the Lord. Don’t let that happen.
We light a sixth candle of illumination today by knowing this:
You can’t expect to receive anything from the Lord if you have no passion for Him.