God's light vs counterfeit light

I've been growing some tomato plants from seed this year, hoping to get an early start on the growing season. (I enjoy growing garden tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc. And I like watching them grow.)

And I love eating fresh veggies!

One thing growers will notice when watering their seedlings, is that when you go to water them in the morning you'll notice how the plants are bent toward the window; toward the sunlight.
This reminded me of how the Bible talks about how people are "bent" toward sin.

I pondered if there was any connection between the two. If you'll allow me, I'd like to expand on how I believe God's word talks about a natural "bent" and a Godly "bent".

The Bible tells us that all people are born into sin, with a "bent" away from God. (Romans 3:10.) This is a result of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis chapter 3)

The Bible also tells us that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.(2nd Corinthians 11:14)

The world in its sinful state is under the contol of Satan; that is, the world system. Sinful, unregenerate souls are "bent" towards the "light" of Satan. It is a counterfeit light. It is an artificial light, meant to deceive the world. Because unregenerate souls know no other light, they are "bent" towards this counterfeit light.

The counterfeit light that tempted Adam and Eve, told them that they could be like God. (Genesis 1:5)

How tempting it is for us to want, apart from the will of God.

On the first day of creation, God first created "light" and saw that it was very good. (Genesis 1:3) This light was and is the genuine light, the "light of the world","the light of men", as described in John 1:1-4.

When a soul receives Christ, he no longer has a natural bent towards worldly light, but is bent toward the genuine light of Christ. The worldly light of Satan can only mimic the light of Christ; as a light bulb can only mimic the light of the sun. In fact, a follower of Christ understands that Satan is indeed the Prince of "darkness". His false light is a trap, leading unregenerate souls to the darkness of his domain: the fiery pit of hell. (Jude 1:6)

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:5-7.

As the sun provides the necessary nutrients of life to plant life, the light of Christ provides the essential nutrients needed for the growth and survivial of souls. The counterfeit light of Satan is meant to unwittingly seduce and tempt people to follow fleshly, temporal desires. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. The genuine light of Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. (John 10:10)
As believers, we can now understand that Satan's counterfeit light is nothing more than an evil, seducing darkness. The light of Christ on the other hand, is an eternal, holy cleansing, spiritual light. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The book of Revelation speaks of a new heaven and a new earth because the old has passed away. (Revelation 21:1) In the New Jerusalem, the only source of light needed will come from God Himself. There will no longer be any need for sunlight and the works of the devil and his counterfeit light will be destroyed - once and for all.

"The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." Revelation 21:23-27.

John Chapt. 15 vs.18 & 19

We've been told that God's word is like a sharp, double-edged sword, able to divide and set apart truth from error. Often times its seems as if we believers have taken the edge off that sword in order to make the word seem more "palatable". Pastors, afraid of losing members and wary of offending newcomers to their flock, oftentimes try to "dull" the sword of truth. It is when we humble ourselves before God, repent of this dulling spirit and read afresh the word of truth, that we see his word once again cut through the error of our worldly lenses, to see the shining light of His word for us, his church.


In reading John Chapter 15, the Lord has been revealing His truth to me with a sharper sword lately. John Chapter 15 vs 18&19 begins:

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

This world is not our home!

If we belonged to the world it would love us. As it is, the world hates Jesus Christ and so it hates us as well,. . . . unless we belong to it!

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God" James 4:4

Jesus has chosen us as believers out of the world, that's why the world hates us.

The world's system of self-imposed ethics, morality, religion - takes issue with the "intolerance" of the exclusivity of the truth of Jesus Christ. The world wants control over good and bad, right and wrong and a one size fits all morality. Jesus and the gospel do not fit into this equation!

So..... the world hates Jesus and all who follow Him!

If the world hates us, why are we so occupied with trying to be a part of it, or even, why are we trying to reform it?!

The flesh cannot be reformed - it must die!

Are efforts to reform values and moral systems in America a waste of time? Any results apart from souls being regenerated, are fruitless and temporary at best!

Should we be occupied with the moral decline in America?

Or should we instead be involved in saving as many individuals on a personal basis as we can? We are at odds with the world because of our faith in Christ. The world will not listen to us.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

God did not send Jesus into this world to condemn the world, but to save it. God is in the business of reconciling the world to Himself through his son, Jesus Christ. The ministry of reconciliation is the ministry of every born again believer. 2nd Corinthians 5:16 tells us not to regard anyone from a worldly point of view. We are to view everyone in the light of eternity. Only Christ can regenerate the worldly heart with the sword of the Spirit and the truth of His word. Our job is to be ambassadors for Christ with His message of reconciliation.

"The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." Romans 13: 11&12

Ponderings about life, religion and ribs

The older I get the more I understand that some of the best things in life just.... take.... time.

I started a new hobby about a month ago. It started when my kids bought me an attachment for my grill that now enables me to smoke stuff! (Well ok, I mean meat). Anyway, the big wide world of smoking ribs, chicken, brisket, etc. has entered my interest zone. I started out small, just a small rack of baby backs. The first time didn't turn out that great. Then I bought a smoker's cookbook. Since then, I've noticed a certain metamorphosis going on. The tweaking of the rub, the sweet and hot of the mop sauce, and the subtle differences in using either hickory or apple wood have developed over time. However, the biggest learning curve happened when I discovered that the longer I smoked the meat, the tenderer and tastier it got.


Now a days, people don't like to wait. (And I am certainly one of them!) I'm not going to try and postulate when we all decided we didn't like waiting any more, but I can tell that society in general is moving at a break neck speed compared to when I was a kid. It often seems like some people are running headlong
into life like they're in the Indy 500, burning rubber to win the race. But the Indy 500 is on a circular track that goes no where! Maybe in life, if we took the time to look at the map, we wouldn't end up so lost.
What? There's a map? What map? (" What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.") Matthew 18:12-14 NIV


Smoking ribs I've found, like lots of things, takes time if you want them to be really good! When I only cooked them for 3 hours, they were kind of shmuckey. But ohhhh boy, do they rock when you give' em 7 or 8 hours! (my favorite rib verse: Genesis 2:21-24)


Peace!
John