The second book in line on FishHawk Droppings is [The Minister & The Crackerhead], and it is a fictitious account of an encounter between a more devoutly religious person (The Minister) and myself (The Crackerhead), based upon real events. This series will be just like it—only these encounters will be real. Granted, some of the text will have been changed in an effort to protect both the innocent and the guilty, but none of that will change anything about what was being conveyed. No, none of this is meant to cast aspersions towards anyone, nor to make myself good. In fact, be assured that I have been made all too painfully aware of the fact that most will not get the point of any of this. For only those who have been allowed and enabled to understand can, but just how many who can will want to? Therefore, if you have a question or an observation, please speak up—even if you sincerely believe that I may very well be one of Satan’s worst.
The Minister: Beloved, you should deal with the oppressing spirit called evil pain. If you know the Lord has been passing you through fire, water and storm in order to remold your life, or he has been putting his fingers on your pressure point and is giving you pain that pain is a good one. But if you don’t want pain God’s way, you will get it the devil’s way which is very terrible and can lead to destruction.
The Crackerhead: Regardless of the reason, pain gives us opportunities to give our Heavenly Father the full benefit of our doubts. For would a good earthly father throw their child into an open fire in order to teach them about being burned? No, I wouldn't think so.
Therefore, unless we are willing to conclude that there is surely nothing that He can do in order to prevent us from experiencing any pain, it must be accepted that it is for our ultimate benefit and His glory. That is, unless we are willing to accept that He must not be nearly as good of a father as He claims to be, of course.
Therefore, unless we are willing to conclude that there is surely nothing that He can do in order to prevent us from experiencing any pain, it must be accepted that it is for our ultimate benefit and His glory. That is, unless we are willing to accept that He must not be nearly as good of a father as He claims to be, of course.
Yes, many (if not most) find it absolutely ridiculous to even attempt an explanation. It is, after all, a great mystery that cannot be explained to them, but the absolute truth of the matter is actually quite simple. For we (as in all of mankind) are created to be our Heavenly Father's children by faith in order to give Him opportunities to receive a very special kind of love, and it is for this purpose that we are born into this world as we naturally are.
Just look at our own relationships—especially the more intimate ones. For it is relatively easy to love someone who always meets or exceeds our own expectations, but it takes a very special kind of love to want to stay with someone who seldom does.
Just look at our own relationships—especially the more intimate ones. For it is relatively easy to love someone who always meets or exceeds our own expectations, but it takes a very special kind of love to want to stay with someone who seldom does.
The Minister: I understand.
The Crackerhead: Good. Please spread the word. For this is something that our Heavenly Father wants His more mature children to understand. For when one is child, they do not really care why their parents do what they do, but then there comes a time when an understanding of what has been done is necessary in order for their relationship to grow deeper. That is, unless they do not appreciate what their parents did, nor the reasons why they did it, or course.
I suppose it is problematic to compare our Heavenly Father's ways unto those of our earthly parents. For His ways are perfect. Whereas, our parents are not.
The Minister: Very well said. One thing I have found out in life is that age sometimes is not a factor to understanding the ways of God. What I know is that most times when am sad and down I just cry to God and remind Him of my many enemies and how they are waiting to laugh at me and with that my mind is reassured in the trust I have on my God. For He will never leave me nor forsake me.
The Crackerhead: You are exactly right about Spiritual maturity not being based upon physical age, nor even upon how long someone has been a “Christian.” For it all depends upon what our Heavenly Father wants to accomplish in and through someone that determines when (and to what extent) He will allow and enable them to enter into His absolute truth [1 Corinthians 2:6-16], and in many cases, mere children in physical age have more Spiritual maturity than those who have spent their entire lives in service to the "church", such as in the case of the Prophet Jeremiah [Jeremiah 1:4-10]. Speaking of Jeremiah, check-out [Jeremiah 20:7-18], and compare that to how you feel sometimes. That passage certainly applies to me a lot.
The Minister: I will do that. Have you been getting a lot of emails with offers to help someone invest millions of dollars? I get dozens of these scam offers every week.
The Crackerhead: This speaks to the really hard part of accepting what our Heavenly Father wants us to know and understand about His sovereignty. For if it is true that He really is in full-control of all that happens in this world, then it must be accepted that He is ultimately responsible for even these scams, and that means that we should be willing to give those who are participating the benefit of our doubts about them maybe not knowing what they are doing. No, this is not to say that we should be willing to accept their actions. For if I knew of someone who was doing such a thing, I would do everything I could to stop them, but that is different than condemning them to Hell (so to speak).
The Minister: The thing is God is not responsible for how we live our lives. You either chose life (Jesus) or choose death, even though God sees and controls all, He lets us make our choices as we please, so when the end comes we would give account of our stewardship. So, I’d say that they have chosen to follow the devil all the way to hell.
The Crackerhead: The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly of the Lord--even the events [that seem accidental] are really ordered by Him. [Proverbs 16:33 AMP]
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. [Proverbs 16:9 NIV]
The King's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. [Proverbs 21:1 NIV]
The Minister: True that. I believe that passage comes to light when a Child of God is challenged in life so it is like God is saying don't be afraid of man, keep up the faith in God. Because every man’s heart is in the hands of God and He can turn it wherever He wills. Most times when I need something from God, I don't have to ask man. Because I know if I ask man, I would be denied, but when I ask God for that thing, He does it for me even in ways I cannot explain.
The Crackerhead: To him belong strength and victory; both deceived and deceiver are his. [Job 12:16 NIV]
Be assured that I am not trying to say that everything that happens makes Him happy, but if it can be accepted that He truly is all-powerful, then it must also be accepted that even the wicked things are in accordance unto His will. For it is written: The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil [Proverbs 16:4 NAS]. Therefore, be careful about saying things like, “The thing is God is not responsible for how we live our lives.”
Be assured that I am not trying to say that everything that happens makes Him happy, but if it can be accepted that He truly is all-powerful, then it must also be accepted that even the wicked things are in accordance unto His will. For it is written: The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil [Proverbs 16:4 NAS]. Therefore, be careful about saying things like, “The thing is God is not responsible for how we live our lives.”
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The one thing I didn't see mentioned here is "Free Will" If you are saying that God is in control of everything then good or bad, then it would only stand to reason that free will does not exist. Although his power is great, he did give us free will, therefor we have the choice to choose right from wrong and he can not control which choice we make.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by again, my dear Ann!!! Yes, we do have freewill, but it is actually extremely limited. In fact, it is only regards to the choice that we are given to make in regards to whether or not we want to truly be one of our Heavenly Father's children by faith or not that we can be confident of there not being any "divine intervention" involved.
ReplyDeleteNow, this is not to say that our Heavenly Father stays completely out of it. For the absolute truth of the matter truly is that no one could come to accept His only begotten Son, who truly is the Lord Jesus Christ, unless He allowed and enabled them to, but that is about as far as it goes. For it would not fulfill His ultimate purpose to force anyone to spend all of eternity with Him in His Kingdom of Heaven as an heir to all that is His in glory against their will.
Be assured that this also applies to even those who physically die before they reach an age where they can make such a choice--such as in the case of aborted babies. No, our Heavenly Father has not revealed to me just how it will be in His Kingdom of Heaven, but I do know that no one will be forced to stay.
Of course, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to leave, but the gates must remain open (so to speak) in order to maintain the kind of relationship that He wants to have with us, which has more to with a martial than a parental one in this respect. For none of us are given a choice of whether or not we want to be created by Him to be one of His children by faith, which is the same as none of us are given a choice of who our parents are, but we are given a choice of whether or not we want to spend all of eternity with Him, which is the same as being given the choice of whether or not we want to marry (and stay married) to someone.
To get theological about it, what I have been given to say is meant to bridge the gap between the extremes of Calvinism, which denies that we have any choice in the matter of where we are to spend eternity, and Arminianism, which generally denies that our Heavenly Father has all that much to do with us in this world. For He has so much more to do with every decision we face and make than what most want to believe, but we are given the freedom to believe it or not.
I'm with Ann. There's where Christianity differs from Islam. Islam believes in total submission to God.
ReplyDeleteSo does true Christianity. For what we mostly have now has been corrupted over the years, which is also a part of our Heavenly Father's plan--regardless of whether we want to believe or not.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, there is still a huge difference between true Christianity and Islam--is there not? For under Islam, one is expected to prove themselves worthy. Whereas under Christianity, the only thing that is needed to be done is to accept Christ Jesus as being our own personal Lord and Savior. For He paid the price in full that was required to save all of us from having to pay for all of our own sins, which is eternal spiritual death. Be assured that all who will but want to humble themselves enough to have faith in His grace will not be held accountable for their sins while all who want to stand on their own merits will be allowed to, come Judgment Day.
As in regards to what is mostly being addressed here, it has to do with the very close and personal relationship that we can have with our Heavenly Father after accepting His only begotten Son as being our own personal Lord and Savior. For accepting Christ Jesus is like getting married, and then comes the marriage itself, which is what is being addressed here.
Just to be clear, when I speak of our Heavenly Father, I am also speaking of His only begotten Son and His Holy Spirit. For it is true that They are three separate individuals (the Trinity), but They are also One and Same with each other. Since far too many have been led to believe that they should be literally afraid of our Heavenly Father, I have been instructed to refer to all three as being Him whenever possible. For they are all Him, and we have no more to fear from One as we do the other Two.
Of course, I could be wrong about Islam. If I am, please correct me. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Veronica Lee!!!