The dark side of free will

As followers of Christ we are well aware of the term “free will” because we believe that our God in His sovereignty has given each of us exactly that, a free will-or a freedom to choose to do what is right. But on the negative or dark side of free will we also, (remember by God’s divine plan) have the freedom to choose to do that which is wrong. So the question is, is the issue with humanity’s insatiable habit of doing that which is wrong really about free will or is it actually all about being obedient or disobedient? Of course the facts laid out in black and white within the Word states that it’s about our choice to be obedient or not. But why is it we have that tendency to choose our will over God’s will for our lives? Why is it we, even as followers, like to manifest, mentally pencil in or interpret our own gray areas between the sentences of God’s written Word?

Some clichés that most like to use which personally annoy me are, “God understands we’re just human”, or “God knows our motives” or how about this one... “Jesus died for my mistakes” - NO HE DIDN’T He died for your sins not your mistakes! When we make a willful decision to do that which is wrong it is not a mistake it is a sin - stop candy coating it to make it sound better or to ease your own conscience. And by the way, for those who like to comfort themselves with the second cliché above - at that point YES He knows your motives, which would be you’ve decided to become your own God by choosing what is right or wrong for your life, and totally avoiding your Creators do’s and don’t or rights or wrongs for your life.

All I have to say is if you truly love God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength then you should be living for Him wholeheartedly instead of halfheartedly. You will study and know the Word to show yourself approved and you will take upon yourself the mind of Christ and give every aspect of your life to and for God.

The Evil Eye.

I’m sure everyone has heard the cliché “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but have you ever thought that maybe hypocrisy is in the eye of the beholder too? Now I know hypocrisy is hypocrisy but I’m referring to the fact that maybe it’s much easier for us to see hypocrisy in others before we see, or at least admit there is hypocrisy in our own.

Matthew 7:1-5 in the New International Version records that Christ taught about this very thing. Matthew records that Jesus said,
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Now what this tells us is that Jesus knows we have a tendency to see others faults before we recognize and rectify our own. Now those who dislike Christianity love to quote the first 3 words of this first verse in Matthew 7 where it says, “Do not judge”. But they, along with some believers, fail to actually see the total content of what Jesus was saying here. So to put it in a nutshell, Yes sometimes it’s easier for us to “judge” others before judging ourselves and indeed that is hypocritical of us but on the other hand consuming this record of Jesus’ teaching in its entirety we see by verse 5 Jesus says once you have honestly evaluated yourself and corrected your own self-blindness then you will see better how to remove someone else’s. To quote Matthew who quotes Christ, the end of verse 5 says, “and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” You see we usually take these 5 verses and SEE them in the totally wrong perspective and act as if we are to not judge others and this is not what Jesus was teaching.

As a matter of fact I really like the way the Message bible puts it, it says,
Matthew 7:1-5 1-5 "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

You see HYPOCRISY IS LITERALLY IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER but yet it is the beholders responsibility to make sure his beam has been pulled before he helps others with their dust.

Life goes on

The sound of silence deafens the soul yet soothes the spirit. Light rays beckoning to feel their warmth in the cool of the early afternoon while mangled and un-manipulated thoughts wander aimlessly deep within the chasm of the uncorrupt chaos, restrained, bound and shackled on the inevitable fringe between reality and unavoidable idealism. Questioning yet lacking the expectation of answers. Searching but never seeing and breathing while never feeling alive. The present quickly becomes the future and the past hangs on as fading memories which slowly morph into the absentminded abyss of nonexistence. What IS will develop into what WILL BE while what IS surrenders to what WAS as the oscillating rotation endlessly finds itself at a point of no return, no turning back. The hands of time transform into Nike clad feet as forward momentum thrusts it into dimensions of the expected yet unanticipated unknown. And life goes on.

[some of my poetry locked away in my mind]