Feet

I was thinking about that scripture this morning that says, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” (Proverbs 27:17) and about how I have been lately enjoying the give and take between my brothers in the Lord as we discuss the scriptures. I started thinking of iron in the context of its properties. If the Bible compares men to iron, what kind of Iron am I?

Iron is probably the strongest and most useful of metals today. Another name for it is steel. Although it is made out of the same kind of stuff, depending on how it is tempered (heated and cooled) and mixed, it can be used for very different purposes. This makes me think of how our different backgrounds produce different results that can be used for different purposes in God’s kingdom. We don’t have to be exactly same or see eye-to eye on everything, we each have different purposes and different jobs. One is not better than the other because of the things that made him who he is.
1 Corinthians 12:21

Reading information in Wikipedia on iron makes me think what a wise and wondrous God we have to make all the correlations between the natural and the spiritual. He probably did this even before creating iron. After all, He had no beginning… that’s a long time He had to think about things and how he wanted them before He spoke the first word of creation.

Wikipedia

"Iron is the most common element (by mass) forming the planet Earth as a whole. Iron's very common presence in rocky planets like Earth is due to its abundant production as a result of fusion in high-mass stars, where the production of nickel-56 (which decays to the most common isotope of iron) is the last nuclear fusion reaction that is exothermic. This causes radioactive nickel to become the last element to be produced before collapse of a supernova leads to the explosive events."


In other words, God made it to be the last thing that is formed before “explosive events” of great magnitude happen.  Is it a coincidence that the feet in Daniel 2:34 were made of IRON mixed with clay?  I think not.

The supernova that results from iron under fusion makes me think differently about how the stone cut out of the mountain without hands struck the image (the image of man that was worshiped instead of God) on the feet.  Perhaps the results of smiting the image on the feet were understated. A supernova would seem to explain the next verse, Daniel 2:35 pretty well.

Most christians today look at iron and clay mixed as a bad thing, but is it really? I think it depends on your perspective. Does our perspective line up with God's?

Before you go on, please read:
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.


In God's perspective, I think it is a good thing we are made of iron and clay. Both iron and clay are good things. Proverbs 27:17 refers to iron in the positive, man was made out of the dust of the earth, clay if you will, and God declared it as not just "good", but "very good". God wants us us to be iron that sharpens iron, and as clay, moldable to His will. How long has He worked with people through history to bring them to this point? Where they are both iron and clay mixed?


God created both iron and clay for a reason, for different purposes. They are good things, just incompatible when mixed as a foundation for evil. The composition of the feet was just a statement of fact. Will we try and pretend we are not a people, comprised of both iron and clay because our perspective makes us think it is evil? God forbid.



As a supporting structure, these feet, are a composition inherantly unstable to what God hates, idolatry. Being both iron and clay allows Jesus to obliterate the idol of man, reducing the nations to "people" that will become part of the mountain that fills the whole earth. The project He has been working on since the Curse of Cain will come to fruition and He will have a people that will become one with Him. Acts 15:14  A people that will have Christ as their head instead of man. 1 Corinthians 11:3

Food for thought…

(Thanks Mark for finding this poem and posting it.)

The Potter and the Clay

In joy I remember the potter’s first touch
I was young at the time, but his presence meant much
But the clay I was formed of was stubborn and stiff
But I thought I was good clay; He’d be done in a jiff

Through most of the night He worked with my clay
Forming and shaping, but I would not stay
A little more water, and working it deep
He again formed that shape that I would not keep

Slowly He straightened and set me aside
“He knows I’m perfect!” inside me I cried
I thought I was special; why, He’d set me alone
High on a shelf that was mine all alone

As He worked with others I lived in my cloud
And He set them lower; I stood there so proud
Then taking the others, He opened the door
And placing them inside, He went back for more

Then, counting, He said, “I’m short only one
And my work must be finished before morning sun”
Quickly He looked to His clay bowl so bare
Then slowly He turned and gave me a long stare

I stood there so haughty; I knew He would come
I was that special one that He had done
He picked me down gently, and looking me o’er
He shook His head slowly, then opened that door

Why, hundreds of others! We all looked the same!
Then the heat came on quickly; I screamed out in pain
Heat, white-hot, with flames rising high
The others stood watching, but I started to cry

I looked for the potter, with eyes full of tears
“Why can’t He see me? Why isn’t He here?”
Fear swallowed me up, like dark in a cave
I could think of but one thing, and that was escape!

Squirming and turning, no more could I take
I felt myself falling; I heard something break

When I woke, I was sitting alone on that shelf
Where I thought to be special, so proud of myself
“I’m alright!” I cried out, to suddenly stop
A long, jagged crack ran from bottom to top

I was perfect, I thought; I was the best
‘Cause He’d taken more time with me than the rest
I tried to call out, but my voice wasn’t clear
So distorted and weak that He couldn’t hear

He looked not around; He never looked higher
Than to see all the others that still stood in the fire
How could they stand it down there in that kiln?
To take all that heat and stay perfectly still

I heard Him exclaim and give a great shout
And raising His hand, He turned the flame out
Then the oven door opened and I saw them again
They stood there in beauty, who started so plain

The fire had done it, I now understood
That the heat I had fled from was just for my good
But, too late for me, I was broken and marred
My own will had set up and left me too hard

The potter kept searching, as He muttered low
“I’m all out of clay and there’s one more to go!”
Then He looked over to where I still lay
And shaking His head, He started my way

Quickly He walked to where He’d put me down
He picked me up gently and looked all around
As He held me I cried out with all of my soul
“Potter, don’t scrap me! Make me again whole!”

Then, smiling, He took and He broke me apart
And back toward the potter’s wheel I saw Him start
Then slowly and surely He softened the clay
And working with water, kneaded the stiffness away

On the wheel where He’d placed me I held very still
As deftly He worked and shaped me to His will
As He worked on, His eyes shone and His touch was so cool
So intensely He watched as I turned on His tool

Suddenly His shaping had come to an end
And I knew that the real test was about to begin
This was the test I had failed once before
And my heart almost stopped as He opened the door

Then setting me gently, He turned on the fire
And watching me closer, He turned it up higher
He stood watching closely to see how I would fare
But this time I took it; I knew He was there

And as the heat tempered me there in that kiln
He knew I had yielded to His perfect will
“A little while longer in heat like the sun”
I heard Him exclaim, “and then you’ll be done”

When the heat died, I knew it was o’er
I stood there rejoicing and watching the door
Quickly it opened, and His hand I could see
And grasping me firmly, it lifted me free

He turned me and squeezed me and struck me as well
But the sound I gave off was as clear as a bell
He placed me with others who had passed His inspection
Who had come, just as I had, through the fire to perfection

And as He placed me with others who had waited so long
From thousands of voices there burst a new song
It’s what they’ll be used for that’s caused them to sing
They are vessels of honor in the house of the King

(Copyright 1974 by Robert Caldwell)

A Total Eclipse of the Heart

I woke up this morning with 2 things on my mind, one was a thought, the other was a song. It was kind of weird because it is considered a non-religious song and I have never been much into words. I felt it was important though, so I decided to pursue it and find out what the words were. Who am I to question the tools God uses?


Before you go on, please read:
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.


Very simply, Jesus said, “Be ye perfect even AS my Father in heaven is perfect”. God wants us to be like Him! Linking this back to Adam and Eve in the garden, man was made in the image and likeness of God, perhaps we really were supposed to become AS Gods. The serpent did not lie to Eve, it told the truth; it just hid something from her and that is why it was called more subtil than any beast of the field.

Adam and Eve just got the cart before the horse, they got it out of order when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and tried to take a shortcut to be as God. They had not yet what we now call "growing up into Christ in all things" and therefore they were not prepared to handle the responsibility of knowing good and evil. Like a child that takes on too much responsibility, they did not yet have wisdom to deal with it maturely. Adam jumped the gun and "eclipsed his heart".

I wonder what Adam's emotions and thoughts were after the fall. Adam once had a special relationship with God. Adam had walked with God every day since the day he was created and we don’t know how long that was. He was the only man that probably actually SAW God and that relationship was GONE. Adam was closer to God than he was to his spouse, so the emotions of losing a spouse could not even compare. Adam had to live an additional 930 years with that loss. Genesis 5:5

It’s hard to imagine the heartache Adam must have felt to be cut off from the Creator of the Universe, the lover of his soul.

Today we are in the same situation. Mankind, being in a fallen state longs for something deep in their soul. The closest we can get to identifying this feeling is "an absence of love", if filled, something we instinctively know should satisfy. Our poor attempt at replacement is romantic love, but we are disappointed because we want it to fulfill us and be enduring like God's love. It isn't. Because of Adam's sin, God had to turn his back on a relationship that could have been. Adam knew God still loved him, and when he looked it in the face, had confidence that God still had a wonderful plan for mankind. 

The song, Total Eclipse of the Heart sung by Bonnie Tyler, seemed to be a perfect picture of what Adam’s emotions towards God might have been, and what the longing and hope of mankind is for this kind of relationship again. This song resonates to that God shaped hole inside all of us.


Total Eclipse of the Heart - Look at these words as Adam talking to God after the fall, like our hearts crying out to God today. Imagine yourself as Adam singing this to God and the emotions he must have had, a voice begging God for a second chance with the realization he earned this punishment. He lost that close relationship of walking with God in the cool of the evening.

Turn around. Every now and then I get a
little bit lonely and you're never coming around

Turn around. Every now and then I get a
little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears

Turn around, Every now and then I get a
little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by.

Turn around, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes. (The look of God's love to Adam and the confidence God still had a plan for mankind)

Turn around bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart. (Adam pleading with God to change His mind, but then realizing God would never have that same relationship with him again)
Turn around bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart.

Turn around, Every now and then I get a
little bit restless and I dream of something wild.

Turn around, Every now and then I get a
little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms.

Turn around, Every now and then I get a
little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry.

Turn around, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes.

Turn around bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart.
Turn around bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart.


And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
[You can't get away from your shadow]

I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight


Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart


Turn around bright eyes
Turn around bright eyes

Turn around, every now and then I know
you'll never be the boy [God] you always wanted to be [to me]

Turn around, every now and then I know
you'll always be the only boy [One] who wanted me the way that I am
[We look at this now as "Just as I am without one plea"]

Turn around, every now and then I know
there's no one in the universe as magical and wondrous as you

Turn around, every now and then I know
there's nothing any better and there's nothing I just wouldn't do

Turn around bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turn around bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart


And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight

Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart

Once upon a time there was light in my life
but now there's only love in the dark


Nothing I can say…
A total eclipse of the heart

Click on the button in the middle to hear the music.

The First Battle For Our Promised Land (Part One)

What is an Amorite?

The first battle in the Promised Land was with the Amorite, that proud look of self-love and self-importance that separates one group from another and is the basis for one man to hate another.

Before you go on, please read:
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.


In Joshua 5:13 the Bible talks about Joshua meeting with a "man with a drawn sword" before the battle for Jericho. The use of the sword was contingent on Joshua’s attitude, the sword was drawn and the angel was ready to use it. Joshua asked, “are you with my group or theirs?" Joshua had that “Better than thou” spirit (the Amorite) that still needed to be conquered inside him. What did the angel say in reply to “are you for us or against us”? He simply said “No”. He didn’t even bother to answer the question. “Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come”.


Perspective

So, why wouldn’t the angel have been on Joshua’s side? It was because Israel should have been on the Lord’s side, not the other way around; it was a matter of perspective.


God cannot ally Himself with an Amorite spirit, something that He hates. Joshua had to fall on his face and give up… give up his Amorite point of view, loose his shoes and get back to the basics, re-evaluate his belief system, his own understanding of what God was doing and submit to God’s plan. I believe the angel would have had to kill Joshua if he hadn’t submitted (fallen on his face). God does not give idle threats.


Leadership

Joshua was the leader of Israel at the time, so how does this relate to the leadership in the Body of Christ today? What will happen when they meet the angel before our battle with the Amorites for Jericho… the beginning of taking the Promised Land? What will the leadership do?


Will they think the giants are too big, choose to keep things the same, run back and wander in the desert another 40 years? Will they die spiritually from the sword the angel is ready to use, or will they utterly give up to the Creator of the universe and to His plan; forsaking their idea of what God's plan might be? What if their idea is wrong? How real will they let God become to others? To themselves?


God is interested in a people; a people that will take His name (nature), His Bride; a people made up of individuals who will become one with Him. God knows who are his. Who are we in our arrogance to think we can choose for Him? Are we lined up with God? Do we love our brother? Jesus said that this was important! 


Matthew 22:36-40 "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."


Will the leadership love their neighbor and consider them of equal value and allow them become equally important to God as they think they are themselves? How about those in a different church that might believe differently?


I cannot ignore our brothers and sisters in religion with the self righteousness of an Amorite and think I am superior, they are also of the household of faith. Biblical relationship comes from the Father and it is immature for me to think of my brothers and sisters as opponents. God does not enjoy seeing his children squabble.


My brother in Christ is not the Amorite I must face, he is fighting the good fight alongside me. MY Amorite is inside MY Promised Land that God gave ME. It is MY responsibility to take MY land. It is time to "put the knife in our fat man".
Judges 3:15-30


How they defeated the Amorite

The first battle in the Promised Land was for Jericho, a city whose king was an Amorite. Not only did Israel have to sanctify themselves and become circumcised, but to defeat Jericho, they had to defeat the Amorite in themselves. The Bible shows us how they did this in 


Joshua 6:10 "And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout."


They overcame the Amorite by not saying anything. As one they had to shut their mouths and not say one word for 7 days. They had to depend on God to fight the battle for them, Jericho was too strong a city for them to defeat in their own strength.


The ram’s horns were blowing continually but that’s not what I’m talking about when I say God told them not to toot their own horns. It seems that tooting is still going on when we say “We are special, God’s chosen ones on the earth” excluding our brothers. “You have to come to my church to reach your full potential in Christ”. This is the sin of pride, the first thing God hates and an abomination to Him. 


Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."


God must have REALLY HATED the Amorite nature. After it was all done, Joshua said “Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho”. It was to be UTTERLY destroyed.


Joshua 6:21 "And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword."


Utterly destroyed with two exceptions

When Jericho was taken, everything had to be destroyed, but for a two things.

          1. Rahab and her family
          2. Vessels 


Joshua 6:17-19 "And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD."


People...it's what's important

We know that vessels are types of people. Once again we see that that people belong to the Lord and are important. Verse 19 gives us an additional clue. Where else do we see this combination of metals? 


We see this in Daniel 2:31-45 in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image of a man made of these types of metals. Starting in verse 39, Daniel explains to the king that these different metals are kingdoms that will arise one after another. Kingdoms are made up of people. (As a sidelight, this gives new meaning to the word "mettle" or determining someone’s "mettle", perhaps it started out as “metal”.)  ;o)


Verse 35 says that all of the metals were broken to pieces together (mixed), became like chaff and the wind carried them away and there was no place found for them. This doesn’t mean that they disappeared, it just means that there was no one gathering place. If people are the pieces and are scattered all over the face of the earth, doesn’t it go to show that the only one that has any control over them is God and not man?


This stone that struck the image in Daniel grew to become a great mountain and fill the whole earth. It consumed all of the scattered pieces and they became part of it. 


I sometimes feel like one of the scattered pieces because the Lord has not allowed me to become a part of any group. I kind of feel like Jesus did when the Bible says there was no place to lie his head. It’s hard to break the conditioning of being part of a group. I’ve got to face it, belonging to a group produces pride in my life and this is the first thing God hates in Proverbs 6:16-19. Pride promotes self-love or the Amorite spirit and that’s what God's people were trying to defeat. 


The Amorite is the first giant in OUR land, the land God has given US.
Numbers 13:30

Division and Unity

John Wayne - The Hyphen

Click on the picture to play the video 

Before you go on, please read:
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.

When WE choose to divide, we usurp God's authority, put ourselves in His place, and become as "gods" (Genesis 3:5). Our decisions come from our knowledge, the knowledge we inherited from Adam; the knowledge of good and evil without God's wisdom or discernment to know the difference. God is not above using a man's weakness to further His goals. Man is His creation and He has the right as God.

 I wondered why God would allow the division of my church to happen; I knew there must have been a reason, so I started looking. I discovered that “division and unity” are tools that God has used throughout history to further HIS plan.

A carpenter also has tools, tools of destruction and construction; some tools can even be used for both. At times, the Carpenter must build a scaffolding, something that is incredibly important so that His intended plan can be accomplished, the scaffolding may be strong and have the shape of the final product, but it is not the real thing. There comes a time to tear down the scaffolding, when its purpose is fulfilled. Good scaffolding does not get thrown away, but is many times used as part of the final project.

Sometimes I can be as "dumb as a two-by-four", a piece of wood used in construction. When I think myself more important than I ought to think, or become inflexible, this is probably when God is using me as scaffolding. Ultimately, I must submit to the will of the Carpenter. I want to become part of God’s plan, not what I think His plan is. If He wants to use me as scaffolding for a while, I am willing. It is His right as God.

Division and unity; when the Bible talks about refining, the refining is something God does, not us. It was His plan to split my church for His purpose.

Zechariah 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.  

God is the only one who is really in control, it’s just hard for us to understand that we don’t have as much influence as we think we do. Division is HIS domain, not ours and it always has been. 

Think back to the beginning of time when GOD divided the light from the darkness, the sea from dry land. HE separated Adam & Eve from the Garden of Eden, HE separated Cain from the rest of humanity by putting a mark on him when Cain hated his brother so much that he slew him. HE separated the animals 2 by 2 and HE saved Noah and his family from among the rest of the world that perished. HE divided the people at the Tower of Babel and HE separated Abraham from his homeland and as God’s friend, instructed Abraham how to divide sacrifices. HE divided the people of Goshen from the Egyptians when the Angel of Death came to call, HE divided the waters of the Red Sea and caused the Children of Israel to come to the Promised Land. HE was the one that caused all sorts of miracles to happen showing the contrast of before and after and HE was the One who rent the veil in two at Jesus’ death. HE used all these things and many many more for HIS reason, not ours. Division is the tool HE uses when something is not right. We have no choice in HIS judgment. It is HIS right as God.

It may seem grevious at the time, but dividing is not a bad thing as God sees it. God keeps dividing and we keep getting another chance to get things right. Look in more, modern-day history and see God’s hand. History repeats itself because God is refining His people. Yes, we can learn from history.

When the Church of England became corrupt, it eventually split into 3 groups (like my church did).

     1. The Church of England – Power hungry and abusive.

     2. The Puritans– Separated themselves within the  Church of England because they wanted to purify, but not leave the church.

     3. The Separatists (Pilgrims) – Saw corruption in the Church of England and disconnected themselves entirely. They didn’t want anything to do with the church.

After even more fragmentation, George Whitfield came along and preached to the different factions that Christ was not divided. George preached UNITY. George was a special individual in history, a tool God used to bring together the different factions under Christianity… he was the instrument God used to unite the country right before the Revolutionary War.

The people had begun to discover a basic truth which would be a major foundation stone of God’s new nation, and which by 1776 would be declared self-evident: that in the eyes of their Creator, "all men were of equal value". Does this sound familiar? It ought to... this phrase comes straight from the Declaration of Independence.  It was the message George Whitfield preached.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Wikipedia states that "This has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language"^[4], containing "the most potent and consequential words in American history."^[5] The passage came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive."

It was imperative that this unity happen for the United States to win the War for Independence.

Men started to forget this point by the Civil War. Pride and arrogance in men's hearts caused them to undervalue their brother, it made them think their brother was inferior. Division over slavery pitted North against South, even dividing families. The resulting "brotherly hate" of the Civil War caused more men to die than in all wars fought by this country in combined history. Both sides were American.

Pride is the first thing listed in Proverbs 6:16-19 that God hates. Our arrogance causes us to undervalue others. Why should we each think that we are better than our neighbor?

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18.

I remember people in the church I used to attend coming back from church conventions and saying, “Thank God I am from this church”. This always made me cringe.

I believe the breakup of my old church was God showing His love to us, giving us another chance to get it right through division.

Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby”.

Even Abraham had a rough time of it when God had him do some dividing in Genesis 21:12.

 “And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called”. 

I think division is so hard on us because deep down, people don’t believe God is real enough to be involved in their personal lives, that God is more like a "good coincidence", it's really a lack of faith. We experience tough times because we don't believe God has our best interests at heart. We don't trust him enough to look forward with anticipation to His next move. It makes you wonder how Isaiah must have felt when he wrote Isaiah 64. He wanted people to know how REAL God is. You can see how strong of an emotion he felt when he wrote them; I can imagine him groaning as he speaks to God.


¹Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,

²As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!

³When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.

⁴For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

⁵Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.

⁶But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

⁷And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

⁸But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

⁹Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

¹⁰Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

¹¹Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

¹²Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

The Bible shows that God is in a continual state of refining, threshing and culling. He breaks or divides, and then re-opens the playing field to “whosoever will” to become more like Him and He continues His plan. Division and unity, division and unity…

Ezekiel 34:16 "I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment."

Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound".

These are just a few of the many scriptures dealing with division and unity - breaking apart and healing.

It can be painful, but pain is not what we should be focusing on. Division is the tool HE uses when something is not ONE with Him. GOD is the only thing eternal, so we must learn His wisdom to see things the way that He does, change and become one with Him. We must be on His side, not the other way around. He wants to bring us all together, He wants to become one with us. In the end, we will be one, but it will take time.

John 17:20-23 "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new".


God has given us a guidebook of His plan through history that parallels our spiritual journey. To become a new creature, one with God the Father and Jesus, we must have divine help in replacing our human nature with His; replace the seven abominations He sees in all humanity with His characteristics, the seven spirits of God.

The abominations are listed out in the Old Testament as those nations we are to overcome when we take the Promised Land, a personal and spiritual correlation to conquering evil and its influence in our lives. There ARE giants in the land. Don't be afraid, God is BIGGER!

We have only just begun our battle for the Promised Land.