*Light-A-Lamp*: September 2009

Physician, Heal Thyself!

Sitting down on the last row of the pews, I strained my eyes to hear him. He was standing right there on the altar, in front of the stained glass windows, wearing his old peach-colored saintly regalia-- he looked like he had been enlisted among the angels of heaven. I was listening hard and long, searching for words to burst through my veins. Just digging through the piles of literature for something to touch me inside, although I didn't know what.

I am his daughter, but there is a thin line between the man and my father. He preaches every Sunday, but yet our own home is torn apart into unrecognizable fragments by the devil himself. His words are true, but they are a lie to me. He is a physician to the people here, but he cannot heal himself.

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In this fictional story, a daughter observes her preacher man father distastefully. He is speaking the word of God, but it makes no sense to her because her home is torn apart...and the head of her home is the preacher man. In Luke Chapter 4, after reading the Torah in the synagogue, Jesus told the people that their salvation was already here. He told them that even though it was right in their faces, they weren't going to understand or recognize it. Even until the end...because they would tell him, "Physician, heal thyself."

When I read this I thought about how people sometimes observe the messenger. If the messenger does not look like what he's presenting, then they choose not to believe. I know it makes sense to you, but I want to tell you that sometimes the messenger will not look like the message.

You need to focus on the words, not the carrier. Yes, the carrier may look thin and shabby, but his words could carry so much power. The voice of God could be a still small voice, yet we may be waiting for a thunder-storm kind of voice. Our healing could come in such a small way as closing our eyes and opening them again, but we may be waiting for many years for a torrential impact-- possibly the laying of hands by a popular minister.

Things are not always the way they seem. They shouted "Physician, heal thyself!" when Jesus was on the cross dying, but they never thought to look at the grave to see if he had risen from the dead. Don't focus on the obvious, focus on those things that are not so obvious.

True Health Reform:

Fact:

True health reform is a complete eradication of those things that obstruct the health of the citizens. Of those things that cause the depreciation of the mental conundrum, the defragmentation of the human body, the blindness of the eyes, deafness of the ears, dumbness of the lips, and lack of sensitivity of the skin.

True health reform is not here today. Not until all individuals find God...

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come..." Matthew 24:14

We can do as much as we physically can to improve the world. But diseases will come and go. Famines will slash the people, and then disappear. Storms will come and go. Winds will keep blowing from the North to South, and from East to West.

But the Word of God will remain...

The word that stands sharper than any two-edged sword, setting asunder the spirit and the flesh and tearing them apart. Only that truth will stand. And through this truth, many lives will be saved and will receive true health reform and transformation. Only this Word...the Word which sometimes we take for granted, but which, like the doppler effect, has not ceased since the day it was spoken from the mouth of God.

Only this truth can transform our lives...only this truth can save us. That God saves...

If only you can understand that there will be no complete healing, no complete transformation, or even reform...if only you knew and were convinced, then you'll understand what I mean when I say there is no true health reform outside GOD. But when you find Him, then you'll know PEACE.

On Revering Caesar...

Imagine this stratagem...

You are well-renowned and respected in your field and almost every one of those things concerning your ideologies. Your aim is to, maybe someday, be a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, or something close to that caliber. You fear God, and you worship His Name. And so you veer away from uselessness and make yourself indispensable and highly productive in the world, as much as you know how.

You've travelled to Asia, Africa, and Europe...and you hope to travel to the rest of the continents of the world. Everywhere you go, you constantly sow seeds of kindness and altruism in the lives of those ones who cannot even dream to repay you. And then, there's this thing about your heart...you've fallen in love three times, in each of those three continents...and every single time you've gotten your heart spliced into three sections. But you remained unrelentless in the plight of finding love...and you believe you will...really soon.

You are all these and more...but there's one thing lacking. Your RESPECT for Government. You've looked at the scrolls and even the constitution, but many things are opposite to your way of thinking...or let us say opposite to the laws of God. If Jesus came right now, many of the people in the Government might very well go to hell...at least according to you. And who knows? You may just be right...

BUT that does not mean that you should not revere Caesar. Oh yes, you need to give the Government the respect that is due to them. When Jesus was here, He briefly said at some point, "Render to Caesar those things that are Caesar's, and to God those things that are God's."

God has not called you to be an insurrectionist. Or to be in rebellion against the Government. Not that you should necessarily be "a part" of Government, no that's not what I'm implying here. But you must learn to respect your leadership and play your own little role in improving the laws of the land. You were not called to be the judge and to point out who the devil is in Government, or the angel (although you must not be foolish as not to know). You were called to be a "LIGHT" shining in the midst of darkness. You were created to have dominion in your own little area, and then let's see if the world will not change at your own end.

Today, the call is just to be respectful of leadership...not just Government, but every form of leadership that God has allowed.

Painting by Derek McCrea.

Stranger in My Own House...

I am walking around without my socks and slippers, every tip toe counts. It is dark and I don't want to turn on the switch to the light bulbs in the patio, so I skulk and move around stealthily. I push the sliding door open, but I do it very slowly so that the screeching sound is not heard in the next room. As I stand there pushing slowly, I hear a distant sound coming from the basement. I panick. My heart is beating louder and faster now, like a wild horse galloping on a rodeo show. What was that brusque sound? I listen again, and I hear the same thing. Sounds like someone hitting a box. Or perhaps someone walking up the stairs...

I abandon my task of pushing the sliding door and I bend really low, as if ducking to avoid a water ball, and then I crawl on all four limbs to hide behind the sofa. There is a blue and red striped accessory pillow on the carpet. I pick it up and hug it, pulling my knees upwards towards my chest. I close my eyes. I am in a ridiculous predicament, a senseless limbo. Who is walking up the stairs? I stay there for a while, eyes tightly shut and hoping that no one catches me in this house. I do not want to be caught. I just want to get out of here. The sound stops and I start crawling towards the sliding door again. This time, instead of standing up, I try to push the sliding door from my low position. It's not moving half as fast as I want it to...

All of a sudden, the light comes on. Oh no, it's my father. I AM in my own house!

"What are you doing honey?"

"Daddy, I...errrr...I was sleep-walking again."

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There have been times when we are conscious, at least enough to realize that the kingdom is ours, and ours for the taking. At times like that we act like royalty...kingly, priestly, and very bold. In fact, we refuse to see or accept defeat, because our plight is only victorious. There's no room for anxiety because there is support on every side.

But what about those times when everything seems bleak? So bleak that you begin to act like a stranger in your own household. It feels like you're just sleep-walking in an unfamiliar territory, moving in a strange land. In times like this, you need to WAKE UP.

WAKE UP! WAKE UP! The land is still yours and you still have a heritage in your daddy's house. WAKE UP! The whole earth is groaning for your manifestation. WAKE UP! It is time for your mighty prowress to be seen in the world today. You need to realize that you are not a stranger to God, but you're His SON. You're royalty in His eyes, but you live like a hot mess. You're intelligent in His eyes, but you keep living like a scatter-brain. How about you wake up and turn on your light bulbs? Let these words be a lamp unto your feet even as you awaken to today's new dawn...

Joel 3:9 "Proclaim this among the nations: “ Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near, Let them come up..."

Joel 2:7 "They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks..."

Mark 9: 23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Luke 9:1-2 "Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick."

John 14: 12-14 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

If you don't know these things, then you may be a stranger in your own house-- scared to walk upright and afraid to do those mighty things that you were called to do. But don't be afraid...

Photo by RedBubble

FALLEN BUILDINGS:

“See these great buildings?” Jesus asked his disciples, referring to the great architecture of the buildings of the Jewish temple they were standing in, and maybe those buildings surrounding it as well.

The disciples must have turned their heads towards the buildings, looking upwards, downwards, and all about them. Their eyes must have glittered with awe and excitement. They must have marvelled at the intelligence behind the buildings. The great thoughts that went into creating something so extraordinarily superb. A place of worship and selfless abandonment. They were staring intensely at the architectural stones. The way the stones etched into each other, one by one, as if forming the illusion of an unshakable stronghold. Stone into stone, marble unto marble.

“There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down,” their teacher added, continuing his former sentence.

But He was not just marveling at the beauty of the temple, He was speaking rather of the signs of the end. He went further to explain what He was trying to say.

In the end times, the fallen buildings symbolize the fallen bureaucracies of the world—everything that man has worked so hard to establish as standards in the world we live in. The standards will fall. “Heaven and earth will pass away, and only God’s word will remain.” Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Earthquakes, famines, and troubles. But even these will only be a preview to what the real shocker will be. The gospel must first be published among all nations, and then the true afflictions would come. Yes, many of us are getting desensitized by the news and the portrayal of the woes of the world we live in by the media. We see earthquakes, famines, and lots of troubles every day, and they don’t phase us. But when I read Mark 13 this morning, in verse 19 Jesus said, “For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time…”

That tells me that something different is bound to happen that will SURELY stand out from all the other crazy happenings. Something magnanimous, possibly beyond our comprehension. I wonder if the popular media will have the voice to carry the news. But you and I must be ready when that time comes. Ready to see the fallen buildings, but not crush under their weight. The great thing about it is that Jesus ended on this note, “watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.”

You can watch. Your eyes can be glued permanently on the buildings, so that you will not be standing under them when they are ready to fall. You need to be at the right place and at the right time, doing the right things.