I AM NOT...

The spiritual battle that rages day in and day out is not a war over terra firma. The battle being waged is over the intellectual property that lies between our ears. The battlefield upon which light and dark clash and the decision to surrender is decided is that stretch of grey matter between our ears known as the brain. 

            I can only speak for me, and unfortunately I’ve had to learn most things in life the hard way. My choices, and the results of those decisions, have mostly been based in the way I perceive things in my mind. Lately I have come to an even deeper, more difficult revelation... the way I see myself in light of how God sees me has direct implications on the choices I make. I call it the “Who Am I?” principle.

            In my opinion, the most important thing we can ever come to know about ourselves is first of all who we are NOT! That takes courage and the willingness to abandon all those things that are not true… even if we have believed them and been convinced they were true our whole lives, they MUST be removed from our thinking. But how do we discover that truth? Where are those answers found? One place…

            THE BIBLE!

            If it was only about how much Scripture you could quote or memorize, and not to diminish the importance of that, it's value would mean nothing if the truth of who God says you are and understanding who you are not were not integrated into your heart and mind. I have had to go through the long and arduous task of discovering who I was not in order to fully accept who I am from God's perspective. From the Garden of Eden until now the strategies of darkness have never changed: replace what God says is true with a lie in order to mask the truth long enough so that the mind deceived into fully engaging and believing the lie.

            But before we can fully integrate all that God says about us, which is the only thing that matters, we must first divest ourselves of the deception we have entered into and lived out! So this is how I do it. I continually remind myself, with confidence and tenacity, of these simple truth. First, I disagree with my accuser and second I tell my soul who I am based upon God's view of me and the work that was done in order to secure it for all of us:

         I AM NOT my past. I AM NOT my failures or my mistakes. I AM NOT who I think I am. I AM NOT who others perceive me to be. I AM NOT my accomplishments, successes, or accumulated possessions. I AM NOT the sum of all my fears. I AM NOT a mistake or a freak. I AM NOT stupid or an idiot. I AM NOT unnecessary nor a waste of time. I AM NOT sick or evil. I AM NOT unworthy or unlovable. I AM NOT a disappointment. I AM NOT a burden or too much. I AM NOT dispensable or a piece of trash. I AM NOT a shame or shameful. I AM NOT anyone's slave. I AM NOT useless or worthless. I AM NOT ugly or gross. I AM NOT going to amount to nothing. I AM NOT meaningless. I AM NOT pathetic, or any other insulting, degrading, dark and demonic accusation fired at my mind… I AM NOT ANY OF THESE THINGS!

            This is who I am... I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM and I AM EXACTLY WHO HE SEES ME AS... I AM REDEEMED by HIS SACRIFICE, HIS BLOOD and HIS PASSIONATE LOVE for ME; I AM MORE THAN A CONQUEROR, VICTORIOUS WARRIOR and HEIR OF THE MOST HIGH GOD AND NOTHING, NOT ANYTHING OR ONE CAN SEPARATE ME FROM HIS LOVE!

            Funny how just a little positive reinforcement of the truth and a "TAKE THAT" attitude can alter ones total state of consciousness!

© 2011 Steven Bliss
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THE CHOICE

What lies beyond the veil? Does God really exist? Is there really a place called Heaven? Is the Bible just an old book of tales and myths that have no basis in fact and without any relevance to our world today whatsoever? Isn’t the god of Islam the same as the God of the Jews and Christians? Isn’t all this doom and gloom propaganda flying around just more of the same old emotional rhetoric of weak-minded religious people who have nothing better to do than whip themselves up into a spiritual frenzy? After all, they’ve been saying that Jesus was coming back for 2,000 years… and after 2,000 years He is still a no-show. Certainly if He was coming back He would have been here by now… right?

            These are just a few of the many questions and thoughts that ramble through the minds of virtually every human being on the planet. They are all valid and all need answers. But as we look around and see the insanity and upheaval of all the nations on the earth, one has to wonder ‘what is going on and how will it all affect me’? We have watched predictions come and go and heard the chatter of so-called prophets declaring Jesus’ immanent return on some specific day, just to watch those who blindly follow sell all they have only to be disappointed and end up looking like fools. Worse yet, and even more disgusting, are those who claim to hear from God, but mislead the many.

            But the question remains, what is happening? Is there anything to all that we see? Is the world coming to an end? Is what we are seeing around the globe just a coincidence, or is there more to it? Won’t all this just settle down once someone figures it out? And honestly, who really knows what all this means anyway?

            In my opinion, these are not mere coincidences that someone or some group will ever be able to fix! The reason I say that is because Israel, which didn’t exist as a nation for almost 2,400 years, now exists. Like it or not, Israel is the lynchpin to everything that is going on. We are seeing things that the prophets had spoken to them from the lips of God, and longed to see with their own eyes, things spoken of thousands of years ago to those who had no idea that the world we now live in would even exist. But now, its no longer the religious that getting that something unusual is going on… now the deep thinkers and intellectuals are beginning to perceive a shift.            

Pat Buchanan writes in his new book, Suicide Of A Superpower that, "America is disintegrating. The centrifugal forces pulling us apart are growing inexorably. What unites us is dissolving. And this is true of Western Civilization... Meanwhile, the state is failing in its most fundamental duties. It is no longer able to defend our borders, balance our budgets, or win our wars. If [Christopher] Dawson is correct, the drive to de-Christianize America, to purge Christianity from the public square, public schools and public life, will prove culturally and socially suicidal for the nation."

I not only agree, but would also add that with the rise of the prevailing anti-Christian sentiment we also see the rise of anti-Semitism around the world; including within Christianity itself. The move is not only to eradicate Christians, but all those who believe in and follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is an evil plan, one birthed in the bowels of darkness itself for the ultimate subjugation and destruction of all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. It has never changed.

But it’s not just about America; it's about the whole world. That's why what we see taking place is not about one specific country or another, but a global crisis. These are not random acts but Divinely orchestrated events that must take place in order for God to finish the story that began thousands of years ago in a beautiful garden, where one single choice changed the history of man forever. And so it will end with the return of God’s Son, Jesus, the Messiah.

The World... it's dying. The universe and everything in it is dying. Yet God has made a way for us to be close to Him through the sacrifice of His Son! That even though it’s all dying, we can live. We will see face to face the God of all creation. Now you may disagree; you may even argue that all I’m saying here is just a bunch of religious nonsense; but there is a verse that reverberates though the corridors of time that every single human being will have to embrace. It says this, "Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Y'shua/Jesus is God!" There will be no getting around it.

We are all in the valley of decision every day; even though we may not feel like it. Time, as we know it, is almost up. The gate is closing. Remember all the questions posed at the beginning? The Answer to them all can be found in one simple choice. That choice determines destiny, both in the here and now, and forever. That choice determines friendship with God, or enmity towards Him. That choice plays itself out before us every single day... it is the choice of life or death. To choose life is accept and believe what God says about our desperate condition, and our need for His Son’s sacrifice. It is the single most important choice you will ever make in your entire life. Moses said this, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.” As Moses implored the Israelites, so I echo those exact same words to all those who will read this.

I made my choice. What about you?

Choose wisely!

© 2011 Steven Bliss
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THE QUEST

Recently I sat in Starbucks minding my own business, I was hard pressed to ignore a conversation taking place right next to me, which quite frankly caused me to mull over some things in my mind based upon what these two women were talking about. The discussion revolved around their perceptions on how to live life, making every decision predicated upon what they thought God would think about that decision, and whether or not that decision was Biblically correct. As I sipped my espresso and ate my apple, several things came to mind as they continued to talk. I pondered for a bit what it is that I am trying to achieve in this moment-by-moment walk with God? What is this quest I am on? So I thought I would try and convey my thoughts as best I can.

First, it is a most high and honorable position to seek the wisdom of God in all things; to engage Him as one would a close confidant, sharing your heart and deepest concerns. Without a doubt, in my opinion, this is imperative. After all, who better to talk about life with than the Author of life Himself? At the same time it is vitally important to have people in our lives we can trust, those we can be transparent and vulnerable with no matter what we share, good things, or bad. Most importantly, someone who understands the idea of “in confidence”. They are hard to find, but when you do, they are more valuable than gold. It’s good to get opinions and advice. Proverb says, “there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors” and the honest truth is our hearts are deceitfully wicked and not to be trusted – even if we think we are good people. So it’s important to have those in our lives who are willing to be honest, forthright and unafraid to go out on the ledge with and for us when it comes to telling us the truth.

Though it took me almost an entire lifetime, I try to do things these days not out of what ‘feels right’ or “makes sense”, but out of conversations I have both with God and those in my life with whom I ask questions seeking their wisdom, guidance and advice. I have come to understand that, more often than not, God uses people to speak to me, and very often when I don’t necessarily want it, nor am I soliciting it. And more often than not they have no idea He just used them. This can be uncomfortable at times, but God knows me, and He knows how I am, how I do and do not listen. He also knows that as I’ve gotten older and gone through a lot of the tests He has both brought and allowed in my life for my good, I have learned to listen more attentively than I did when I was younger (though I have certainly not mastered it by any means). So beyond a shadow of a doubt, seeking the wisdom of God, through whatever means He chooses to bring it, is as necessary and maybe even more so, than the food we need each day to sustain us. Jesus said we don’t have because we don’t ask. So in this case asking is not really optional, it is mandatory.

            But I couldn’t help but be struck by the idea that as these two women talked and plotted out their every step, that the tendency for us to get stuck in the horizontal verses vertical relationship can be very easy if we’re not careful. We can become so focused on what others think and say that we loose sight of the fact God is intimate, not even realizing that God speaks as He always has! Some who are reading this will say, “Well, I’ve never heard Him”. My question back would be, “Really? How do you know you’ve never heard Him?”

Most would say that God only speaks to those who are either ‘worthy’ or in some form of leadership. But I want to encourage you, relationship with God is supposed to be what it was intended to be, a relating-partnership! Not a buddy relationship as so many of the modern worship songs erroneously portray Him as, but one in which two individuals are bound together through intimacy and transparency, engaging one another as those do who are “more than friends”. For us, it is based in not only our willingness to be broken and humble, but also our eagerness to engage. God continuously invites us to come close and draw near. That level of intimacy is not found in a building or a movement, or in all the mechanisms of organized religion or a man, but in the transformation that is birthed by our desire to get close… I mean up close and personal, face to face with the Creator of all things.

Too often we mistake a “religious experience” or the acquiring of Biblical knowledge as the means to satisfy our need for a “God fix”. In all honesty, most are not willing to get that close to Him. We prefer a safe distance rather than a personal meeting with Him. It is completely understandable as it challenges every fiber of who we are and shakes the very foundations of what we believe. But the results of keeping your distance are neither life changing, nor life sustaining. It only produces a “form of godliness” rather than the power to transform us. I speak from personal experience, not head knowledge.

A perfect illustration would be where Israel at Sinai. In their minds when Moses went up on the mountain to meet with God, he took way too long to return. They assumed he was dead, and because they had no desire to get close with God out of fear but were content to let Moses go up and do it for them, the result was disastrous. It was a return to the familiar and the results were life ending for many of them. Sound familiar? After all, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its way ends in death. The damaging effects of their unwillingness to be intimate reaped a harvest of what the lack of intimacy always produces in a spiritual sense, religion! In this case it manifested itself in the form of an idol to take God’s place… the golden calf!

As I listened to the women talking about how they make sure every step lines up perfectly, what came to my mind was that there is an unnaturalness to such a perspective. It is not one based in the freedom and joy an intimate relationship with God brings, but rather in the fear and trepidation that every step may be a misstep. As honorable as the idea behind it may appear, the outcome does not reap the desired affect. Rather than unlock us, it enslaves us. The relationship God paid such a great price for is not about rules and regulations, but intimacy and oneness. The same closeness Adam had with God when he walked and talked with Him in the Garden and Jesus modeled for all who would follow Him as what should be the natural tendency and desire of each believer. Originally Adam was unafraid and desired to be close. They had become so close that when it was broken through Adam’s willingness to go against what God had told him, it caused him to become afraid of that intimacy and hide.

Are you hiding today? Are you afraid to get close with the One who loves you more than you can even comprehend? He paid dearly to have the intimate relationship He desires with you.

Paul said, “It is for freedom that Messiah has set us free”. For us then, the challenge is to actually ‘be free’ and not allow that freedom to be a path returning us to our former slavery. If we were set free to be who we are, to worship God intimately and openly based upon that freedom, then the objective is to not come back under that legalism and bondage, but to embrace the power that an intimate relationship with God was created to be.

But for each one of us, the quest is a personal choice.

© 2011 Steven Bliss
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IMAGE AND THE STAIN

     Growing up and working almost my entire life in the entertainment industry, I have constantly been around those whose lives are all about the image they present to their audience. From hairstyles to makeup, clothes to the brand of tools they use in their art, it’s all about keeping up and maintaining the image. But being behind the scenes I have had the privilege to know and hang out with many “stars” and see them when they were not on. More often than not, the image they are known for and the ‘real person’ is very different from each other. Privately most are almost always much smaller than the image they have come to be known as. Just like everyone else, they have the same challenges and difficulties we all face. But one of the tragic side effects of those whose lives are built upon an image is their proclivity towards being personally haunted in a way; and very often tormented. Many times to the degree that they are not able to lead normal lives. For them, normal is not who they really are, but for whom they have portrayed themselves as.
     As I stood behind the drum riser at a recent show I attended, watching throngs of adoring fans pressing frantically towards the stage as they raised their hands in the air longingly towards the band and in one rhythmic motion with the music, I suddenly found myself standing in the silent gaze of an epiphany. At that moment, for the very first time, I saw things as they really were and not as they appeared to be. My eyes began to swell with tears as a deep and profound sadness flooded over me. Suddenly I understood!

     Nothing has ever changed since the fall until now… man prefers worshipping the creature and the creation rather than the Creator of all things from whom he came. We make gods of men. At that moment I not only realized how difficult it is for those being worshipped; but also the tragic reality that those worshipping have no idea what they were doing, they cannot comprehend the depths of their own depravity as they do. But ignorance, in this case, is not bliss.
     First, let’s set the record straight: Man was created ‘IN THE IMAGE’ of the One who has no beginning and no end! Man IS NOT the original, but a mere reflection of the Original.
     There is no other God and Creator but the One, YHVH (pronounced YaH-Weh) and His Son, Y’shua/Jesus, and the entirety of His creation is subject to Him, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND! The four living creatures around His throne continuously bear this out in their declaration, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY! WHO WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME!” 

     We cannot comprehend the beauty of His majesty or the glory of His splendor. It is unfathomable in our fallen state. If we had just one glimpse, one split second to gaze upon it with our eyes so that we might become enlightened in the understanding of our finite state, we would come apart, crushed by the very weight of thinking that we who were created by Him and for Him, would ever worship or glorify anything but the Uncreated Holy One Himself. Yet we do it, day in and day out.
I was reminded of the verse in Isaiah where it says, “Surely you have things turned around! Shall the Potter be esteemed as the clay; shall the thing made say of Him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of Him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?” But arrogantly, we do this very thing.
     We live in a generation of incredible technology advancements, the rise of artificial intelligence that inspires a culture to be visually and viscerally charged. We are utterly obsessed with the image. Whether it’s obsessive dieting and exercising, image altering plastic surgery or liposuction; collagen and botox injections to bizarre body art and insane piercings, they are all ways of attracting attention to ourselves as we seek love, adoration, and approval. From politicians to athletes, movie stars to rock stars, and yes, even religious celebrities… the list goes on and on leaving no one out. Our obsession with the image portrayed and the image perceived amounts to nothing more than an infatuation with the creature over the Creator. In simple terms it is called, idolatry. But little does anyone realize that it is a preoccupation with death itself. The bottom line is this, because of sin we are all dying, as is all of creation. It’s nothing new.  King Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon had his own ‘creature worshipping’ experience that resulted in his eye-opening, life changing encounter with the Living God.
     The fallen state of man cannot contain or sustain such glory. At best it can only reflect it. Think of it this way: when you shine a light at a mirror, it doesn’t absorb that light into itself, but instead reflects it - deflecting the light away from itself. The mirror itself can neither absorb nor store the light. For man, such self-glorification is a burden, a crushing weight too great to bear. Rather than being a blessing, when he attempts to draw it to himself and hold onto it, it utterly destroys him completely. 

     There is only One who is worthy of such glory because there is only One who is incapable of pride. So when glory and adoration is continually lavished upon the fallen by the fallen, the ramifications are negative and ultimately, destructive. Once he thinks himself something, pride has its way and he is doomed. He thinks of himself as a little god, whether he admits it or not. At that point, the image is stained.
     What is the story of redemption? Boiled down it is about being saved from sin! It’s life that comes from death. It’s God buying back what was His to begin with but had fallen into slavery, by putting to death the very thing that caused that slavery to begin with… the flesh. That fall and enslavement caused man to enter into the exact same depraved mind Lucifer had when he lusted after the glory of God. In our fallen state, our flesh craves glory. It denies that it is fallen; it seeks to establish its own supremacy and worships the images of self, eventually, vilifying and disregarding it once it begins to decline and fade. That in and of itself is an abomination to God. Why? Because to worship the creature is to spit in the face of the One who created it.
     The remedy for this curse is found in what Jesus said, “Take up your cross, and follow Me. Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of Me.” As are all the things of God, it is the exact opposite of the way we think. The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Opposites. Jesus said, “Whoever who seeks to keep his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Paul said, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” 

     In ancient times, anyone hung upon a tree (the cross was a tree) was considered to be accursed by God. So being publicly hung on a cross demonstrated the person’s wretchedness and unacceptable state to God, but Jesus became that curse in order to buy us all back. Though the instrument for killing the flesh is a difficult one to grasp, by implementing its power moment by moment, it opens the doorway to real life; not just here, but in the one to come.
     Because of the original sin our flesh remains cursed and dying. We need to see it as such. There is no eternality in our flesh whatsoever. Go walk some graveyards. We are dying! But even in its dying state, our flesh does not want to accept its fate or its state, cursed. We do whatever we can to numb and distract ourselves from our condition. Eventually the curse catches up, the image fades, and its final state of death is achieved and the penalty for sin is accomplished. When Paul wrote, “Wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from the body of this death?” he was in Rome. A common form of Roman torture was to strap a dead body onto the back of a living human being. Between the rapid decay of the attached dead body spreading into the living one and the sheer terror that process produced, a horrifying and unbelievable death was experienced. It’s easy to see how his observation reflected a spiritual reality to him. Our fallen flesh is that dead body! This temporary and frail body we live in is not glorifiable, no matter how you try. 

     I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m not saying you won’t fail from time to time, but as you think about these things and are unafraid to be honest with yourself, if you are serious about living your life for God to the fullest it can be experienced or understood, eventually it will transform you and the life-giving properties that follow will lead you directly into the presence of God. As the Scripture says, “God opposes the proud, but gives His grace to the humble!”


© 2011 Steven Bliss

CRACKS IN THE WALL

            Unbeknownst to most well misinformed evangelicals in western, and other forms of Christianity around the world, the rug is slowly being pulled out from under their feet, and what they have known and accepted as “church” is beginning to crumble. The walls that have surrounded it for centuries are been being pulled apart brick by brick. Its disassociation with its heritage and historical roots has produced an alarming level of arrogance and misguidedness in its roll in the world in general, as well as its true eschatological destiny. In other words, because they refuse to connect themselves with their historical past and familial ties, they cannot comprehend nor perceive that the past is the future. The central theme at very heart of Judaism is the command to “remember” the stories and events that will one day shape its future. But only a small contingency within Christianity itself embrace Israel’s past as their own. It has forgotten that its present and future history is intrinsically locked arm in arm with Israel’s historical past and her redemptive future. Not only with the land, but the Jewish people themselves.

            There is a reason why God has had the physical descendants of Abraham repeat the feasts and festivals over and over again. They are not just reminders of God’s past faithfulness, but a rehearsal for something they will go through in the future. By continually rehearsing it they will recognize it when it reappears, revealing the power of God’s faithfulness as not only something He did in the ancient past, but is then presently tangible causing their faith to become ignited and sustaining. As of right now, within the Jewish world, most who do Pesach year after year do not see what I have just said as so, though it stares them squarely in the face. It is not only their past they celebrate, but their future. Even worse, Christianity, which has separated herself from such things, sees such feasts as irrelevant and disconnected. Instead, she aligns herself with unbiblical holidays and pagan practices such as Easter, not given to her by those who followed Jesus, but rather those who persecuted the womb from which He came. Unfortunately, by embracing them as tradition, they demoralize her own state of consciousness, further widening the gap between herself and her own spiritual bloodline.

            As modern Israel is surrounded by the war cries of her enemies and prepares herself for an impending conflict of Biblical proportions, the majority of Christianity distances itself, as if unrelated, not recognizing that she too is a target on the radar of God’s enemies.

The idea that Israel is a microcosm of a macro reality does not exist within the thinking of most within churchianity. That the “whole house” is under attack is a concept not engaged whatsoever. Everywhere you look Christianity’s once strong influence has either been removed or is in the process of being torn out like one pulls dead flowers from the bed after their beauty has faded and fragrance gone. As she withers, Christianity’s disassociation with Israel and her own Hebraic roots rapidly make her an enemy of the state. The war is not just coming to little Israel in the Middle East, but to Christianity as well worldwide.

            Right now, there’s still time to change one’s mind as it were… to go in the opposite direction. That is precisely what the ancient concept of the Hebrew word for repentance means. In Judaism, to sin is considered temporary insanity because in your right mind, you would never do what you have done. The word teshuvah, translated to repent, is the idea of coming to ones senses, changing ones mind, and going in the right direction. We cannot change the past or what has been, nor can we change the immensity of erroneous thinking and false teaching that permeates the entirety of Christianity; but we can engage the Nehemiah principle of “one brick at a time”. What do I mean by that?

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem after an incredible change of national thinking in captivity with the daunting task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he commanded each individual who participated in the rebuilding to have a brick in one hand and a sword in the other. To break that same idea down for us, when we change our perspective from separated entity to a whole house view, we begin to see each person’s responsibility to rebuild the walls of their own understanding thereby contributing to the rebuilding of the greater walls as a whole.

But it first requires a “change of mind” on our part, teshuvah, resulting in a redirection of affection. Then, and only then, will the pieces fit rightly together, brick upon brick, stone upon stone.

            What is coming in the not so distant future will be terrifying. The unimaginable will stand before us. What was once only science fiction and myth will rage before our eyes in reality. At that point, the Bible will no longer be just words on paper bound by covers; but life itself to those who are willing to eat from it. There is no middle ground with God. No shifting or shadows. You will either be with Him, or against Him.

            Not only is Israel the nation in crisis, but the entire house of God itself! Its power is waning because it is a house divided. If desperate times call for desperate measures, then it’s time to act; and the first order of business should be, in my opinion, the realignment of God’s people with God’s people!

             

© 2011 Steven Bliss
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GPS

Ah, the wonders of modern technology. They never cease to amaze me. There is nothing more amazing to me than pushing a little icon on my smart phone, inputting an address in a city I’ve spent no time in, and this pleasant voice comes on to gently guide me turn after turn until I arrive at my destination. She can tell me whether or not there is heavy traffic; detours to avoid, and even give me several different options as to routes. She is my Global Positioning Satellite Representative! 

No more maps, no more need for magnifying lenses to see the tiniest of print. No more arguments with someone in the car who gives directions based upon their interpretation of the map as you drive; only to find out you went two miles out of your way. No more cursing or throwing objects as you realize that the map you are looking at is ten years old and the road you are looking for no longer exists. No more getting honked at, cussed at by unforgiving individuals who have never lost their way. It is precise and as up to date as the moment you turn it on.

I love to travel, but traveling to new places, especially alone can be somewhat daunting. Case in point… I was recently in Boston, a city I have no experience navigating. I hate the feeling of being lost or unsure about where I am. I have photographic memory. Once I go somewhere, I could come back twenty years later and remember ever little detail (as long as it hasn’t changed too much) and go directly to a place as if I just went there. But Boston was unexplored territory for me. My hotel was on State Street almost at the harbor and looking at the map, coming from the Logan airport seemed a bit daunting. My GPS got me there flawlessly. She repeated the next move several times. There was a moment of trepidation as I went in a long tunnel underneath the harbor from East Boston. She stopped talking to me. There was no more GPS. I was a little worried as when I came out there were several options, but only one I was supposed to take, and the others would have taken me way out of my way. But just as I came out from the tunnel, and only about 200 feet from my turn, she spoke! I was so relieved.

The next day, as I made my way through Boston, I needed to get somewhere specific, but the streets were a little confusing as some of them are close to 300 years old. They wind around much like European streets. As her voice came on with my first instruction and she took me exactly where I needed to go, I thought to myself, “Man I wish I could hear God’s voice like that instructing me moment-by-moment, turn by turn, just like my GPS.” How nice it would be to avoid the hazards and pitfalls, and quite honestly, the traps laid out to knock you off course from accomplishing His purposes for your life. Why can’t it be THIS EASY? After all, there are a lot of voices out there as well as signs constantly prodding us to go this way or that. But God knows all the shortcuts. As I walked on I thought about the amazing reality that a satellite in space picks up my signal, tracks me precisely and guides me. But the limitation is that it can’t protect me. It doesn’t even know my name. So as precise as this is, how much more is God! He knows every detail of who I am. Things I may never know about myself, He does. At that moment I thought, wait a minute, the acronym G… P… S! God’s Protective Services! Perfect… that’s it! All I have to do is stay connected, and unlike the one in my hand that when the battery goes dead you’re out of luck, His is continual and only requires my personal interaction. It’s that simple.

Yes, I know God is not at our every beck and call, but I also know that He is watching over me and keenly aware of not only my every step, but also my next move and my future moves. He wants me to get it right; to arrive at my destination, especially the one He has for me… even more than I do.

But the question remains… why can’t He just tell us? Why can’t we hear Him like my GPS girlfriend, or whomever He sends us on His behalf say, “In 220 feet, your destination is on the right” or “In 1.2 miles turn left on Straight Street and then go .5 miles and turn right on...” Why is it we have to make so many wrong turns along the way that could have easily been avoided had He just made it crystal clear?

The conveniences of modern technology are astounding. They are precise, taking away all the guesswork. But maybe that’s the point. We would never walk by faith if everything were all laid out for us! There’d be no need for it. It would be as impersonal and robotic as the voice on my GPS. What kind of life would that be? Not a very exciting one, that’s for sure. After all, that is what makes us unique. Walking by faith and not by sight.

I am extremely grateful for my Sprint service that provides me with my GPS. It made Boston a breeze. But for me, when it comes to the matters of life and the decisions that really count, though walking by faith is far more challenging and difficult… the reward of arriving at my appointed destination has a profound and extremely long lasting level of satisfaction that comes with it. It won’t just be my GPS saying I am done shutting down, but ultimately God Himself saying, “Welcome Home!” I’m so thankful for the relationship I have with God through the sacrifice of His Son that has provided me with His GPS. Though it doesn’t come with detailed instructions for getting me there, it keeps me safe along the way as I take each step trusting Him.

To You they cried out and were delivered,

in You they trusted and were not disappointed.

Psalm 22:5

© 2011 Steven Bliss
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THE DEVIL ROARS

It is unnecessary to ramble on about the times in which we live. All one needs do these days is open their eyes, get out of bed and turn on their computer, television, radio, iPad, iPod, Smartphone, or whatever electronic device that’s out there, and poof… instant connectivity to the world. The “news” today, unless all you read is gossip, ranges from bad to catastrophic in a split second. We are living in unprecedented times, to say the least.

From what I see, and in my humble opinion, we are seconds away from entering the times the Bible calls, “woes and sorrows”. They will escalate out of the impending war that immanently awaits the Middle East. Israel will be invaded by a multitude of demonically charged warriors intent on the total destruction of the state, all existing Jews; with the occupation and control of Jerusalem as its prize. But take heart, though much of this will happen, it will only momentarily succeed. It will be thwarted by the greatest Event in history.

But for now, we who watch are stuck in what I will call “the meantime”.

We have entered the most perilous times in the history of man. It is strangely similar to those days the Bible describes as “the days of Noah”. There is a war being waged, in the natural, but even more so on the battlefield of reason in the mind of every human being on this planet. We are bombarded in the sanctuaries of our thoughts moment by moment. Massive amounts of information are being flung at us at speeds faster than our minds can even process. The gates to our souls have been breached. Not only those of adults, but those of our children. You may think, “children have been exposed to many things for a long time”, that may be, but now they know things no child should ever know. They desecrate the sacred places of their hearts with images and all kinds of deceptive weavings of darkness that, on the surface, seem innocuous, but in its most heinous plan, seek their utter depravity.

The cry goes out… We need more! Make it faster! More stimulation, more noise, more chaos! Silence lost its golden touch. We have opened ourselves up, in the playground of our minds, to the unholy. We do not realize that the war for eternity is won and lost in the battlefield of our minds. We see the gratification that comes from knowing as some sort of fulfillment. We imagine that we won’t succeed, that our children won’t succeed, without it. We see nothing wrong with it, justifying its close proximity and access to our souls through the gates of our eyes and ears, smell and touch. Worse yet, we see its detractors and antagonists as disconnected and counterproductive; out of touch with the times and progress itself. Sadly, those who have bought into such fallacies have believed a lie.

The apostle Peter emphatically shouts at us though the corridors of time, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking those whom he may devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the entire world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” We are exhorted to guard our “hearts and mind”. We are even told to symbolically put a helmet of Salvation on our heads as a part of the armor of God! But here Peter moves from urging to warning. BE ALERT AND OF SOBER MIND! It’s a charge, a command as it were, to become keenly aware and self-guarded. Why? Because the warfare of darkness is not about what you can see or rationalize, it’s about stealthily obtaining territorial control of your mind for the purpose of allegiance and possession! We’re not talking about the possession seen in the Exorcist, though that certainly does happen, but something far subtler, far more surreptitious; it’s for control of your eternal existence. Proverbs 23 says, “as a man thinks in his heart, so he is”, which corresponds with “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” If possession is 9/10’s of the law, then the battle for control is about law, and the way that warfare is waged is by the bombardment of the mind with misinformation that leads the mind into the deconstruction of truth and reason, replacing it with false evidence that appears real. In other words, creating the ultimate state of fear.

In the art of bass fishing it’s all about the lure. Bass are lured into biting by the things that catch their eye. The more shiny and flashy you make it, the more seductive its movement, the greater the potential for the fish to be attracted and deceived into taking the bait, thereby turning a harmless little piece of nothing into an instrument of death. So it is with us.

I can still remember the old Smokey the Bear commercials when I was a kid. They always ended the same way, Smokey holding a smoldering match saying, “Only you can prevent forest fires”. The point was YOU were the only one who could prevent it from happening by making the right choice. Today, I say the same thing to all of you, “Only you can prevent the destroyer of souls from having his way with you”. You have the choice moment by moment as to what you allow, and what you don’t. Only you are in control of the decision to be aware or ignore what is right in front of you.

So in the same way both Joshua and Elijah charged Israel so long ago, I charge you… “Choose this day whom you will serve!” The consequences are eternal. Choose wisely.

© 2011 Steven Bliss 
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