- araratchurch
- Aug 20, 2022
- 3 min read
“Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.”
Exodus 34:29-30 NKJV
The Great Fire of Rome happened during the reign of Nero in 64 AD. People still debate the cause of the fire that resulted in a nearly complete destruction of the city. Seeking someone on whom to to place the blame, Nero found the Christians an easy target. Therefore, he tortured and killed many Christians in a variety of horrendous ways. One of the particularly heinous torturous executions involved affixing Christians to poles and covering their bodies with highly flammable materials. They would then set them on fire at the level of their toes, beginning a very slow and torturous death. It is said that Nero used these Christian “candles” to light his imperial garden during some of his festivities.
We can Hardly imagine such atrocities committed against fellow human beings. Sadly, the fact is that atrocities of all sorts have continued to this day to be perpetrated against people for the cause of Christ.
While people all over the world are suffering unspeakable hardship for their faith, many “modern” Christians find it difficult to make it to church on any sort of a regular basis. And, for those who do attend church, many find it difficult to express their faith in front of coworkers, friends, even family members.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16 NKJV
Jesus told us that we are to be the light of the world; yet often we shirk from doing what is inconvenient or what might make us “conspicuous” among those who give full vent to their lustful desires, never taking a second thought of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
“In [connection with] all this, they [the unbelievers] are resentful and surprised that you do not [think like them, value their values and] run [hand in hand] with them into the same excesses of dissipation and immoral freedom, and they criticize and abuse and ridicule you and make fun of your values. But they will [have to] give an account to Him who is ready to judge and pass sentence on the living and the dead.”
1 Peter 4:4-5 AMP
In times of pressure or stress, it may become even more difficult to be the one who “shines” by going contrary to the group’s response.
Today we see that Moses, having been in the presence of the Lord, has developed a literal glow or light in his facial appearance. This glow was so prominent that the people were afraid of his appearance.
I don’t think we see many cases where people go around literally glowing or being sources of physical light; but we can and must bring the light of God into all situations. We can’t allow the pressure of any sort of crisis or calamity to render the light that is in us as darkness.
Thanks be to God, we aren’t currently being called on to endure the type of torture we saw handed out by Nero. But, we are called on to allow the light of God to be shown through us, even in situations where it would be easier just to blend in. But make no mistake, the kind of light we are called to be still only comes from time spent in the presence of the Lord.
So, if you feel that your light is flickering, almost ready to succumb to the surrounding darkness, get before the Lord. Take time to talk to Him, to read His word, and to meditate on His goodness. In so doing, you will find that the light of the Lord will become manifested in your life and your living, producing a beacon in a dark world.
For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:
Don’t be afraid to shine.
- araratchurch
- Aug 19, 2022
- 3 min read
“Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),”
Exodus 34:12-14 NKJV
In 1939, agents of the German government broadcasted anti-German statements from a radio station near the Polish border. They also murdered some civilians and dressed them in Polish military uniforms to make it look like Poland was aggressing against Germany. This was used as the pretext for Germany to invade Poland. In fact, it is believed that Nazi Germany used several “false flag” operations to create a pretext for already planned invasions of other countries.
But make no mistake, Nazi Germany wasn’t the first or last to use false flag operations toward a desired objective.
It is said that in same year that Germany did the above described operation, Soviet Russia bombed themselves on the border of Finland so as to be able to Invade that country.
Basically, a false flag operation is where one entity, does something against another entity, making it look like it was done by a third entity, for some desired end. Or, as we have seen above, an entity perpetrates something against its own interests to justify some sort of action against the “framed” entity. Whatever the case, the false flag operation works through deception.
It is said that the term, “false flag,” originated with the practice of pirates flying friendly (false) flags to lure other ships close enough to be attacked. It is that original application of the term which best suits our purposes for today.
You see, the devil is the father of deception and he well knows how to lure souls into very dangerous territory. Often, he even makes himself look like he’s on the side of light!
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.”
II Corinthians 11:13-14 NKJV
Jesus, when questioned about the Last Days, immediately responded with a warning about deception.
“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
Matthew 24:3-5 NKJV
The New Testament church leaders often spoke of deception or subterfuge being used to lure people away from the truth.
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
Galatians 1:6-8 NKJV
Here, we basically see the apostle Paul telling the church at Galatia that if what is being taught, does not comport with the gospel that had already been preached, then they are being deceived.
Today we find the children of Israel being warned by the Lord not to follow after the gods of the countries into which they would be going. To do so, would be tantamount to aligning themselves with the enemies of God. The Lord also instructs that such alliances would bring a snare (a trap) just like the ships that unknowingly sailed toward a pirate ship to be plundered or worse!
Deception and false flags are a threat in any situation, but never more so than in a crisis situation, or a pressurized circumstance.
While navigating the wilderness of this world, we must never forget that any alignment with the kingdom of darkness, only serves to set a trap, putting us off course, ultimately leading us to destruction.
For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:
Don’t be fooled by the enemy’s false flag.
- araratchurch
- Aug 18, 2022
- 3 min read
“And the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain.”
Exodus 34:1-2 NKJV
There is a legend that goes that a Japanese warrior had broken his favorite bowl and sent it to be repaired. When it came back it was repaired; but it was now very ugly. Not wanting to leave his favorite bowl looking like this, he took it to a craftsman and asked him to make the repairs beautiful. The craftsman came up with a unique technique in which he mixed a resin with gold. When the bowl was repaired it was now more beautiful than before it was broken. This repair technique came to be known as “Kintsugi.” Kintsugi means something like, “golden joining.”
Sometimes children will break something and—in a desperate attempt not to be found out—they will make a very clumsy attempt at repairing the object, making it worse and basically impossible to repair.
Sometimes we break things; and we do it up good. We may look at what we have broken and have shame for what we have done. That shame may lead us to do something drastic, totally rendering what was broken even worse.
Yesterday we talked about the fact that pressure can lead us to break something precious. And, whereas it is much better not to break something, if we do break it, we need to know how to fix it the right way.
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
I John 2:1-2 NKJV
In this scripture John is urging us not to sin, but reminding us that when it does happen, when we do mess things up, we have Someone who is able and willing to help us make it right again.
Now, what does all this have to do with Kintsugi? Well, when we try to fix what we’ve broken, it’s like the first attempt at fixing the bowl in the legend: you may get it back together; but it will never be beautiful. However, if we repent to the Lord and ask Him to help us, He will! You see, it’s like our repentance is the gold and His forgiveness is the resin, that coming together, make a beautiful “repair.”
Yesterday we found Moses breaking the tablets of The Law. His moment of anger and frustration ended with tablets of stone, personally hewn by the Lord and written by His hand, being destroyed.
However, today we see that the Lord is giving Moses a way to participate in making what was wrong, right again. Now Moses would go and cut new tablets of stone on which the Lord would again write His Law.
“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.’ “So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me.”
Deuteronomy 10:1-4 NKJV
So we see the miracle of repentance, being combined with the mercy of the Lord, producing something beautiful.
You may feel that you have broken something; you’ve messed something up; and indeed, you may have. Take it now, take it immediately, to the Lord. Repent before Him and allow Him to put the glue of His mercy together with the gold of your repentance, making what was broken, into something beautiful.
For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:
Fix what you have broken the right way.