I’m admitting two things in this piece…

ONE: I’m jealous of something.

TWO: Foolishness could be considered subjective.

However, we were created in God’s image, meaning that we are capable of having His characteristics and attributes. One aspect of His character is Godly jealously. Our emotion of jealousy is an example of the fact that we are created in His image.

Exodus 34:14 (NKJV)

¹⁴ (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

Deuteronomy 4:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Jealousy becomes a sin only when it’s perverted through our own pride.

God gets jealous when we put sin and other priorities before Him. We get jealous over the same thing sometimes don’t we?

So, that’s why I don’t feel so bad about the fact that I’m jealous of much of some of the foolishness that gets so much attention, and the success people enjoy from it.

As a blogger and published songwriter, of course I want my writings and music to be read by and listened to by millions upon millions.

I want people to be inspired, informed, challenged, admonished, amused, encouraged, entertained. I want their relationships to be enriched. I want them to grow with me as I struggle to master Emotional Intelligence. And, I want us all to be brought into more intimate relationships with God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah).

I also admit that I want to enjoy seeing people blessed by what God releases through me, YES, I want to get credit for the work that I have done…

Proverbs 3:3-4 (NKJV)

³ Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
⁴ And so find favor and ^[a]high esteem
In the sight of God and man.

Furthermore, as much as ‘foolishness’ could be considered a subjective term, I’m using it to describe behavior that is in direct contradiction to what God demands of those who consider themselves to belong to Him.

The fact is that some of the ‘stuff’ that ‘goes viral’, influences behavior, and leads to ‘success’ does so because of the support it receives from people who call themselves Christians. Some of those who overtly promote lifestyles clearly contrary to the word of God are encouraged and positioned as ‘wise’ by many believers. For example…

Yes, everyone has a right to live as they choose and endorse what they choose, but if many of the same people who claim to be Christian would give the same support to much of the Godly writing and music, it would boost the influence of writers and artists like myself.

I sometimes envy the success that people enjoy through what God considers sin. I admit that my jealousy vacillates from Godly jealousy to my own sin. f I’m a work in progress…

Psalm 37:1 (NIV)

¹ Do not fret because of those who are evil
    or be envious of those who do wrong;

Yes, I know know that ultimately God will make sure those who He intends to see or hear what I release…and I do trust Him with that. But, sometimes it’s good to vent responsibly, just like the Apostle Paul did when stating His rights as an apostle…

1 Corinthians 9:1-18 (NIV)

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? ² Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴ Don’t we have the right to food and drink? ⁵ Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas^[a]? ⁶ Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?

⁷ Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? ⁸ Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”^[b] Is it about oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰ Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? ¹² If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

So, if someone reads this and says, “He’s just jealous of the success of others.” I readily and humbly admit, “Yep, you’re right”.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

• 

Let me preface this piece by stating that I’m not saying this is ‘the mark of the beast’, but I am pointing out how easily the devil (I’m not capitalizing devil on purpose) is a great deceiver. I’m illustrating how even the greatest so-called theologians can take the word of God, which is so eloquently delivered in figurative language literally — especially in The Revelation and Daniel, and miss something that’s subtly obvious.

So many people are looking for microchips, tattoos, even the COVID-19 vaccinations as the mark of the beast from The Revelation

Revelation 13:16-18 (NKJV)

¹⁶ He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ and that no one may buy or sell except one who has ^[a]the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

As people through the centuries have speculated as to what that mark may be, let me remind you that when God told us that He would write His word on our hearts, there are no literal words written on our hearts.

In the same manner, we could easily assume that having the ‘mark’ on our hand or forehead isn’t literal either. On our right hand could very well mean in the way we do things and on our forehead could mean the way we think.

Keeping that in mind think about the fact that the world has accepted the Gregorian calendar names months of the year and the names for days of the week. The months of the Roman calendar are named to honor a mix of gods, goddesses and rulers. The days of the week our named to honor Greek gods — idols.

No one can make a purchase, execute a contract without a date. Each time a date is written or printed on a receipt, contract or even a school assignment it is acknowledging an idol god, goddess or ruler other than the Lord God of Israel through our Savior Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

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It is impossible to legally by or sell without accepting the ‘mark’ that was left behind by those who created the Gregorian and Julian calendars.

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Remember that God warned us through Daniel…

Daniel 7:25 (NKJV)

²⁵ He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
Shall persecute^[a] the saints of the Most High,
And shall intend to change times and law.
Then the saints shall be given into his hand
For a time and times and half a time.

Changing the calendar and days of the week could be a fulfillment of that prophecy.

Again, I’m not saying this is the actual mark of the beast, but illustrating how easily the enemy can convince the world to conform to his thinking and way of doing things.

Think about it, and read this WHY THE MARK OF THE BEAST WON’T BE A CHIP, BAR CODE OR TATTOO…

BE BLESSTIFIED!

• 

One of the most disturbing and confusing accounts in the bible is that of when Uzzah reached out to prevent the Ark of the Covenant from falling and God struck him dead.

2 Samuel 6:6-8 (NKJV)

⁶ And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and ^[a]took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷ Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his ^[b]error; and he died there by the ark of God. ⁸ And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place ^[c]Perez Uzzah to this day.

Wow! That seemed so unfair. Uzzah obviously meant well and was paid with death.

Remember this…the Old Testament gives us numerous extreme examples of how God reacts to our behavior. These reactions teach and and leave examples of not only what He loves and what He hates, but also to what extreme. For example, when we totally forsake His day of rest every seven days, even under grace, to do work we could have easily done another day…God considers it worthy of death (Numbers 15:32-36). Yes, Yeshua said it’s okay to remove an ox from a ditch, but too many people have ‘oxen’ that fall in the ditch during the middle of the week and wait until The Lord’s Day to remove them.

Notice what God teaches through Paul about Old Testament examples…

1 Corinthians 10:1-10 (NKJV)

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, ² all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. ⁵ But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. ⁷ And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” ⁸ Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; ⁹ nor let us ^[a]tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; ¹⁰ nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

So, what about Uzzah?

God said very clearly that no one was to ever touch the Ark of the Convenant, period. God said DON’T TOUCH IT.

When God says NO, He means NO!

Even though Uzzah was doing it for the right reason…NO still meant NO!. God left behind an example that we can never do something He told us never to do for what we judge to be the right reason.

Is it confusing? Yes. Even if it doesn’t make sense to us, it’s God’s word and remember what He told us through Isaiah…

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)

⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

One contemporary example of people doing the wrong thing for the right reason is when a parent gives their adolescent daughter birth control because they don’t want them to get pregnant, or gives their son condoms so they won’t get a sexually transmitted disease. If God commands no fornication, parents must as well. If the child choses to be disobedient, then that’s between them and God.

Can you think of when you many have done the wrong thing for the right reason?

BE BLESSTIFIED!

• 

One of the first lessons that God teaches us in the bible was the responsibility that comes with knowledge…

Genesis 3:22-24  (NKJV)

²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

God has blessed us to be created in His image. One aspect of that is the ability to acquire knowledge. He even told us that in the last days there would be a great increase in knowledge…

Daniel 12:4  (NKJV)

⁴ “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

God has allowed us to have incredible advances in science, technology, medicine etc. Unfortunately much of the knowledge that we have acquired has convinced many that the one source of all knowledge, Yahweh, The Lord God of Israel from Everlasting to Everlasting does not exist. They have used that knowledge to decide for themselves that Yeshua, Christ Jesus was not God’s Son.

There is only one God and one Savior, and the two are One.

Even on a personal level, there are things we want to know. Always ask yourself are you ready for the knowledge that you are seeking.

“What have people been saying about me?”

“What are they whispering about?”

“Is my spouse being unfaithful?”

“Who are my real parents?”

“How many threats are there really to our national security on a daily basis?”

When you find out someone needs help and you have the means are you willing to help them?

When you find out what’s wrong with someone are you willing to be there for them?

When you begin to realize what God’s purpose is for your life, are you ready for the responsibility that come with it? Learning God’s word comes with great responsibility.

If you already knew the day you would die, would you spend your entire life obsessing over it?

“Have you ever gained some knowledge or information and then realized after you got it, “I’m not ready for this!”???

Approach all knowledge prayerfully and through the lens of God’s word. God doesn’t intend for us to have knowledge until we are spiritually mature enough to handle it.

1 Corinthians 3:2  (NKJV)

² I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;

BE BLESSTIFIED!