THE TRUTH ABOUT A LIE

I made myself do it... I sat through several speakers and then ultimately the biggest philanderer/storyteller in American politics... the great liar, Bill Clinton! And then the ultimate at the end where glass breaks on the big screen after showing all these American Presidents, and it's Hillary... staring out at her wanton subjects like some insane demigod giving an opportunity for all to bow and weep at her feet as she sits in her red Kim Jong-un Premier outfit... pure goddess worship. This level of deception makes the two previous levels of delusion with the Obama elections, pale.

Bill Clinton: the wholesome and upright ("I did not have sex with that woman Monica Lewinsky" or any of the other multitude of women he's raped and abused) and his wicked wife, the most deceptive, corrupt, lying criminal in American political history... A modern-day Ahab and Jezebel acted out in front of us (read the Biblical account).

          We have lost our minds. I don't care if anyone likes me or not... should Hillary Clinton be elected president, America's demise will swiftly follow. It will be a clear sign that the judgment of God has now come to full fruition on a country that once claimed to be One Nation Under Him.

I don't care whether you like Donald Trump or not... this is not about Donald Trump. This is about something beyond comprehension in a realm that cannot be seen or controlled being played out right before our eyes. Let those who have eyes, see... those who have ears, hear.

And I will boldly go one step further. You cannot have the Spirit of God in you, which discerns the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark... that regenerates the soul from being separated from God to reunited with Him... you cannot for one second consider voting for pitch blackness and say you belong to the Light! Argue you all you want. There is no possible way anyone who is a believer, in good conscience, can align themselves with the truth of God and agree with darkness at its highest level at the same time. What business does light have with darkness? What business does the Son of God have with Belial?(2 Corinthians 6:14) None. If that's the case, and I believe God over all human reason, then what business does a son/child of God have with the Prince of Darkness? Isn't that the war? Isn't the battle waged in our minds? If you are leaning, for whatever reason, towards such spiritual treason, then checking yourself is probably something you may want to do.

© 2016 Steven Bliss

STATUS

Status/ˈstādəs: a superficial illusionary deception based upon material acquisitions or positional dynamics, which are the byproduct of the human ingenuity and superficiality. Humanity, the entirety of it, travels through the mud of delusion that stipulates that because one has wealth, power or possessions that their personal status among men is superior to those who have less; which is curious given the fact that all things are fleeting and can be removed at any given moment by any number of circumstances outside the control of that individual. Just like a loan it can be called in at any time. On this planet every single person, regardless of achievement or power, potential or status must all face a finality that is inescapable. Death is not a stranger; it comes to us all and more often than not, when we least expected. It is no respecter of our accumulation of things or what levels of authority we have attained; it greedily takes what it wants, when it wants.

The only High position in all of creation is actually the lowest one of all, humility. With humility, the greatest is the least, and the least the greatest. Those who are humble when given the most power have the least desire to use and abused such power. It doesn't matter whether you be politician or Fortune 500 CEO, the most famous or the wealthiest in the earth; humility is honorable because it knows death takes you as you came… leaving all you've gained behind.

The only position bestowed upon us in the moment of our exit is humility and awe. A moment of silence, a reckoning of truth; a time in which all you have achieved pales in the light of the One you stand before. Each one will stand before the creator of all things, the Giver of gifts and the maker of wealth, the Author of life itself, the great IAM. Status will have no meaning; what we have accomplished be of no consequence. Only those things that promote the knowledge of God, the very reason we were created, will remain. 

There is only One who is great. Only One holds the keys to life and death. Humility is not something we are given; it is something we must attain on the sojourn of life. God hates pride but gives His grace to the humble. Broken and contrite is the garden of hope. Humility sees the others as more important than us. Humility knows there is no God but Yah. Only then will we learn the meaning of life. Humility is status.

© 2016 Steven Bliss

NOT OVER

I've wrestled with demons

Laid dead on the rocks

Heard the whispers of angels

Cut my hands on the Cross

I've marched out of order

Defied every rule

Imagined I was master

But I was a fool

I've been ruined and shattered

Deserved every blow

You'd think I'd know better

That you reap what you sow

But my Father's not like me

Though I've done what I've done

His arms are wide open

His love never runs

Though I've nothing to offer

No treasure or gold

My heart I lay broken

To be healed, to remold

My story's not over

My lungs still have breath

For His mercy surrounds me

'Til I enter His rest
I'm not over

By Steven Bliss
© 3/10/2016

THE POTTER

            Ancient fingers move through piles of dust as water fills each molecule solidifying the parts. The mass begins to form, yet not fully. What did not exist now takes shape as His hands knead the ruddy clay. No words are spoken as the thickening silt emerges as the Master’s piece.  All at once the sound of the potter’s wheel begins to spin from out of the silence. Such magnificence, such brilliance by the One whose hands flung a million stars and spun the universe into place; for as He knows Himself so shall He be known, for what He creates that day He makes in the image of IAM.  After all, He is the Potter.

            He pulls the mud now brim with life and holds it in His hands. He stops the wheel placing the thickening mass gently upon the stone from which the perfection of His love shall rise. A billion eyes watch in awe. And though they have seen Him work a trillion times before, this time would be like no other that has ever been or any that would follow. They are His witnesses, nothing more, nothing less, for they too were formed from His boundless mind, though not the same, yet His nonetheless. His hands are old yet young, with no beginning and no end, perfect yet worn they are His tools and He is their guide. For He is the Potter!

            Slowly the wheel picks up speed; not too fast, not too slow, and as only it should be, the Potter becomes one with the clay as His masterpiece takes form from the shapeless mass. The speed of His wheel intensifies as does the precision of each touch; pushing here, pulling there, His Divine mind creating eternal lines. With just enough pressure the image emerges from that which was formless and void. As His fingers are all covered with the excess of His brilliance, definition becomes life and that life will become hope. His furrowed brow studies each detail, those hidden and those not; line upon line until with each line He is satisfied. For it pleases Him fully to be fully known as He infuses Himself within the marrow of the form. He is the Potter!

            All stood in silence and watched as He looked upon what He had made and declared, "It is good!" Then with the greatest pleasure and purest joy He inhaled the wind and breathed out into that which had no breath the Breath of Life as all He made in wonder gazed, knowing what He had done. In that moment of awakening, as the clay began to rise, the Potter leaned forward and looked deep into its eyes... and as the mirror reflects like, what happened next was known long ago as He saw Himself and called him, "son!” All creation bowed before the One Who formed from the dust of the ground the one He now calls His own; and it was known in an instant what had finally begun. For He is the Potter and we are the clay that He formed with His hands in His image that day. He is the Potter and we are the clay!

© 2015 Steven Bliss

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MOMENTS

            There is nothing like "the moment". Those nano-seconds that hold our attention and cause us to feel something we don’t always feel. Those explosions in time that invade our hearts with hope, joy and appreciation and value. The only thing about those precious moments is they go as fast as they come and we lose sight of them as quickly as we behold them. They get pushed down into our bag of memories and stay there only to be brought out from time to time when something triggers the memory and causes us to savor what we no longer can taste.

            Moments!

            The saddest thing about this experience we all are in called life is that we cherish very little, forget more than we remember, value what we don’t have and spend way too much time thinking about a future that none of us are guaranteed. Why is that? Why do we put so much value in the worthless?

            As you grow older you realize how much time you have wasted wasting time on unnecessary drama and the absolutely unimportant. How many precious seconds do we lose valuing what ultimately to us become meaningless. Looking back, if you are blessed enough to get the opportunity to, is a very sobering thing for the one who is willing to be honest and admit their own foolishness having ignored what mattered most for what in hindsight only came and went and more often than not took way more than it gave.

            Christmas is an emotional hodgepodge created by men to cash in on the very thing it hits, emotions. If the Apostles didn't keep it, why do we? An interesting thing. No, I'm not Scrooge, but it creates the idea that at this one single time of year we are to suddenly get it right and think of others as more important that ourselves. We watch movies and listen to songs in order to get us “in the spirit” of emptying our wallets as if to somehow to identify with God who gave us His Son as the gift of redemption to us all. As unimpressive as trying to match that ultimately is in the human realm, how much more unimpressive do you think it is to the Divine? We get so lost in the "spirit" that we lose perspective of the point completely. But if there is a point, then what is that point? It’s a simple one... moments, not stuff, not things, not all the chaos and despair the season brings with it… those itty bitty seemingly insignificant moments that are taking place second by second that have nothing to do with presents or parties or "things" are the most significant and valuable things of all.

            This morning I learned of the passing of a dear friend's wife after her long battle with cancer. She was in her early 50’s. Last night I went the funeral of a friend whose husband suffered a massive stroke two days ago and died at 66. And just now I have learned that another of my dear friends sister in-law’s battle with cancer is about to come to an end. She is 38 with 4 children.

Death comes to us all. It doesn’t knock, it just opens the door and ushers us out of this world and into the next. It makes me think deep and hard about the brevity of life and the fact that there are no guarantees. What we have in front of us, right this very second… is all we have. It’s what we get. Tomorrow is not what we think it is. It’s an illusion. All we have is right now. Do you realize that? Perhaps it’s time to consider what it means?

I am not the grim reaper, only the bearer of the truth which is the truth. If you learn the value of moments now you will enjoy the moments that are right in front of you rather than thinking about the ones that have yet to come. Moments matter! It may also cause you to consider how you impact the lives of others rather than thinking only about yourself. Life is not about what's out there somewhere… it's about what is right here, right now. That is the joy of living in the here and now and the true reward that giving gives. That’s what love is… mastering moments that matter. It is, after all, the Christmas Carol that Dickens wanted to convey when he created the story of Scrooge.

© 2014 Steven Bliss

a special thanks to Elena Shumilova for her beautiful and poignant photographs.