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| Distorted! |
Was reading an article yesterday and it reminded me of those few trips to see the Carnival. Now I was never fond of them and we only went when my dad could go with us. On one event though we went without my father to this Carnival and on this specific thought process I thought of the Hall of Mirrors. It was a group of mirrors distorted to make you look somehow different as you stood before them.
You could
start at one end of this great hallway and see yourself as the very tall person
or the very short one. You could see yourself somehow heavy and then very lean
indeed! You could see your head the size of a watermelon or as such and then your
feet could appear as the very big compared to that of a clown’s feet!
Distorted!
Reality is
not seen in the Hall of Mirrors. It is the humorous self-reflections or the
oddity of a person or even the scary of that same one. And what bad picture do
we have of ourselves? I heard this gentleman mention that a friend of his
always had the Judges 2:15 in mind. He believed that it was appropriate to his
life ….”Wherever they went, the hand of
the LORD was against them for evil…”
Now this was
not his life verse, but it certainly impacted his thinking. The truth is that
God can get angry with His people. And it is revealed when they deliberately
and highhandedly disobey him, and not when they struggle.
Psalm
118:6-7 The LORD is for me; I will not fear; what can man do to me? The LORD is
for me among those who help me; therefore I shall look with satisfaction on
those who hate me.”
We are to
remember that God sent the Son of His love in a great love to save the human
race. And not all will receive His Son, but He is ever pleased to make
intercession for those who follow Him. A lady we know who had an accident some
months ago trying to get in her house. She had mis-stepped and found herself on
the floor. And within all the chaos with a trash container she has found God
still loves her. She knows He is looking out for the good for her because she loves
Him. ( her own words) She continues to heal up this day!
A Hall Of Mirrors: seeing oneself in all the different mirrors and so distorted and misshapen, but God’s Word is the perfect law of liberty. James 1:23-27....NKJV.... 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 27 Pure and un-defiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself un-spotted from the world.
Now the
reflection of a mirror will tell you to comb your hair or it might recommend
your getting a quick shave in before leaving for work. ( you can read your face on that mirror for it regards your present look indeed) Reading the Bible is
simple. We read but should know what it speaks to our heart. We should not
quickly forget what we read nor what the pastor taught this last Sunday. Living
as if we are already perfect does not make you perfect. Understanding that you
and I live by His word, to abide in that word and move to be more like His
image propels us in His power, love and peace! I like the perfection mentioned in the new testament. It reveals perfection or perfect as teleios from the numbering 5046 in the Strong's. It is the end, as finished, the complete, perfect. It is applied to a person or persons, signifying it the absolute soundness. It includes the idea of being made whole. For believers, it denotes "maturity".
As the new
man in Christ Jesus, we act like Him, gazing into His result as He lived on
earth but now lives in heaven and our hearts. This is a true freedom. It is far
from human traditions and any carnal reasoning. We benefit from what He spoke
to His disciples and to us! We must look to our spiritual man. We must favor His
outcome to be the image of God Himself. We will never be god, but we are to
imitate Him who CREATED us with and for a purpose.
God planned
for Adam and God saw the glory on him. But Adam decided to listen to others
over God and changed that glory for sin and the devil. So God sent His Son
Jesus, the glory to be presented to mankind and see God’s will on earth as He
planned in heaven.
The Gospel
of Mark emphasizes the servant-hood and the sacrifice of Jesus.
IN Mark He faces those with hardness of
heart and unbelief. All the way to the cross on Calvary, Jesus carried burdens.
He was seen and is seen as the long-suffering servant. The sacrifice presented
by the face of an Ox: Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Knowing Jesus
represented His Father in heaven, the foundation of truth was seen. Seen by
those with a willingness to lay down the world’s demands and receive God’s, we
see Jesus is Identified in His confessions: Man shall not live by bread alone
but by every word of God. “Get behind Me Satan! For it is written you shall
worship the LORD your God & Him only you shall serve.” “It has been said,
You shall not tempt (test) the LORD your God.”
Will we
worship the planks that make-up the platform of that which we want or do we
look for the beams that made up the Cross that held the Man of Sorrows? Many
speak Jesus died on a tree with a small plank at His feet. I believe small
planks would not hold a healthy man in His prime as Jesus was and is!
In the
Gospel of Mark: Jesus emphasized His authority as Teacher: Mark 1:22 &
they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having
authority & not as the scribes. The “scribes” were known for repeating what
others had said. It was both the substance & the manner of the Lord’s
teaching that was different from what the scribes gave or represented! Jesus strongly condemned them: Mark 12:38-40
Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go
around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, 39 “the best seats in
the synagogues, & the best places at feasts, 40 who devour widow’s houses,
& for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater
condemnation."
Jesus Gives
Warning of TRUE Defilement from an Attitude of the heart: Mark 7:14-23 When He had called all the multitude to
Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, & understand: 15 “There is
nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things
which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. 16 “If anyone
has ears to hear, let him hear!” 17 When He had entered a house away from the
crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. 18 So He said to them,
“Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever
enters a man from outside cannot defile him. 19 because it does not enter his
heart but his stomach, & is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” 20 &
He said, “What comes out of man, that defiles a man. 21 “For from within, out
of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders,
22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy,
pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within & defile a
man.”
Jesus was
proclaiming the Kingdom of God: it was the age of salvation and there was no
distortion. Calling the multitude to Himself, he wants to clearly state that it
is the heart and the will where ungodly thoughts, words, desires and motives
spring from and the disciples were to have hearts filled with the words Jesus
gave them. And we know that Jesus pointed to the disciples as those with the
spiritual dullness: Spiritual insensitivity builds through this section of Mark
6:7 to Mark 8:26! Here in Mark 6:7-13
Jesus sends out the Twelve disciples, His instruction to them was concerning
their provisions and their public acceptance or rejection, then sent them on
their mission delegating His power to them.
Mark 6:7-13
NKJV And He called the twelve to Himself
and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean
spirits. 8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a
staff---no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts-----9 but to wear
sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 Also He said to them, “In whatever
place you enter a house, stay there
till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you nor
hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a
testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for
Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” 12 So they went
out and preached that people should repent.
13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and
healed them.
The
disciples imitated John the Baptist and Jesus. They received instruction and
went. They took a money bag. And they had money in the money belts. They always
had what they required when ministering God’s word. Do you?
Distorted!
Do we look to Jesus and see our way? Do we walk in this world and see the end
coming to us? Will we announce who God is to us and move? Or will we cower and
speak nothing to a dying world?
Elohim, the
Creator of heaven and earth…who crowned us with glory and honor. He is might
and strength.
El Shaddai,
the God Almighty of Blessings…who nourishes and supplies. The all-Bountiful One
and the All-Sufficient one, we bless His name.
Adonai, our
Lord and Master, the completely Self-Existing One, always present, revealed in
Jesus Who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hallowed be His name.
Jehovah
Rapha, our Healer, and the One Who makes bitter experiences sweet. He is the
One who sent His Word and healed us. He forgave our iniquities and healed all
our diseases.
Jehovah
Nissi, our Victory and our Banner….our Standard! His banner over us is love.
Jehovah
Shalom, we bless His Name. He is our PEACE. That peace which transcends all
understanding, which garrisons and mounts guard over our heart and mind in
Christ Jesus.
Jehovah
Rohi our Shepherd and we shall not lack any good or beneficial thing.
No
Distortion here: God is Him whom we worship and adore: El-Elyon, the Most High God
Who is the First Cause of everything, the Possessor of the heavens and earth. He
is our Everlasting God, the Great-God, the living God, Faithful God, Merciful
God, Mighty God, Truth, Justice, Righteousness
and Perfection. ( we are made perfect for we are the mature in the Lord.) We are the healed, made whole, with nothing lacking in our
lives, for He loved us first and loved us best of all. Greater is He that is in
us than he that is in the whole world. Amen and Amen.
Hear The Words of His Mouth
