The Dark Side of God

The Dark Side of God.

That which is Abominable in His Eyes

Love – the word we like to hear about God’s character, His essential being. It is true and it makes people feel warm and comfortable. This is even when they are living contrary to His standards. To imagine that the God of Love has a ‘Dark side’ is either, ignored, rejected or threatening.

Over the next couple of blogs I’d like to have a look at what the Bible reveals concerning the Eternal Lord’s ‘dark side’.

Certain practices humans perform are described as being abominable to God.  That is, they are detestable in His sight and worthy of His righteous condemnation. I’d like to list them. Most I’m sure you will say ‘Amen’ to. But will you agree with them all?

Proverbs 6:16-19: Six things the Lord hates, seven are an abomination to him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil, a lying witness who testifies falsely and one who sows discord in a family.

Proverbs 11:1 A false balance, 12:22 lying lips, 17:15: one who justifies the wicked are all an abomination to the God of the Bible.

We know that all idolatry is detestable to God for it has devastating effects on the health and spiritual life of a person and community. Check out Deuteronomy 18:9-14 and 12:29 onwards. Idolatry is so closely linked to sexual perversion which destroys the very meaning and symbolism of marriage. The Lord has made plain His framework for Marriage in Genesis 2 and Ephesians 5:22-33.

Deviant sexual practises and perverse behaviour are listed in Leviticus 18. With an uncompromising bluntness we read of God’s severity upon such behaviour. Why? Because it destroys the very soul of the people involved. It corrupts what God intended to be holy and unique between a man and a woman. It demeans souls and shatters relationships of trust and protection. It also pollutes the very landscape and community it infests. Leviticus talks about incest, sexual activity with animals and same sex marriages. Leviticus 18:30 sums it up ‘So keep my (Yahweh’s) charge not to commit any of these abominations…and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God. (emphasis added).

The Lord’s judgement upon such practices is holy and just. ‘Whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people.’ (Leviticus 18:29) It even goes beyond this. In Revelation 21-22 it is evident that such behaviour excludes any entrance into Heaven.

Is there any escape?

Only by the grace of God and the fact that such behaviour in mind and body requiring punishment has been dealt with at the Cross of Christ. He offers cleansing, forgiveness, a new beginning and power to overcome the past.  1 Corinthians 6:9-10: ‘Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers – none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.’(Emphasis added) 

 Christ Jesus is God's 'lighthouse' to lead us out of the darkness

God has given us an escape from His ‘Dark side’ and into His light and love. This is open by a personal commitment of your life by faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. His grace then transforms you from being condemned into being accepted.

Ray (now on God’s bright side) Hawkins

RACISM: It's a Belief Issue.

Why the Bible is Important - to me. #11

RACISM. It’s a Belief Issue!

Its ugly head was recently raised in a few football games in Australia. Politicians are passing laws against it. No country is free from it.  ‘IT’ of course is racial vilification.

Racism goes beyond a liking or disliking another person. We all have those feelings. Racism however doesn’t treat the man or woman with different coloured skin or cultural heritage as a person to like or dislike. Such an attitude of the mind expressed through words or actions considers him or her as an ‘it’, inferior and infectious.



women dancing in Zambia
welcoming Aussie team



Passing laws will not change the heart and mind. This is especially true when from an early age children are taught the theory of evolution. This creates the impression that some races are superior to others. Combine such teaching with envy of another culture’s achievements, unfortunate experiences with unscrupulous people of different origins and a jihad hatred of a particular country, racial discrimination breeds.

This is another reason why the Bible is so important not only to me, but to all. In it we discover how the Lord God created one man and one woman, Adam and Eve, and through them all the races of the world. Whether we like it or not, we are all related. We are all of one blood as the apostle Paul told the Athenians on Mars Hill as recorded in Acts 17.

More than that the Bible tells every one of us that we all have sinned and fallen short of the Creator’s standard. That ‘Fall’ had and continues to have serious consequences on our outlook on life. Inwardly we are corrupt even when we are being nice outwardly. The great news of the Bible proclaims our Creator God has provided a cleansing of and a control system for our darkened hearts and minds. That is the testimony of the cross of Jesus Christ. He died for all men and women across all time. Jesus is not a racist. He is colour blind. He deals with the heart issues. He knows we are all infected with the same sinful nature.

When any person from any culture accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour He bestows on them His righteousness and gives them of His Holy Spirit. This makes them family. Each is either a brother or sister to the other believer. Lest you think a Christian can then look down on a non Christian, think again. Jesus actually tells us to love them, pray for them and remember they are of the same human stock as you.

 

The Bible is the only book that treats humans as equal and unique. That is why it is important to us all. Racism is a belief system which only a different belief system will overpower. It will not come from evolutionary theory. It will not be found in Islam. It cannot be dictated to by Governments. Only an acceptance of the teaching of the Bible and a submission to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will overcome the ‘IT’ called racism.

Ray (a descendent of Adam and Eve) Hawkins

MOLECH

Why the Bible is important to me #8

MOLECH

Appalled, I watch the news and see the sacrifice of children. Crushed, I read the statistics of babies aborted. Shattered, I feel as see the young and vulnerable used as playthings for paedophiles. Speechless I am when seemingly respectful and cultured leaders defend such abominable behaviour. Convinced am I that such behaviour is wrong. How? Because of the authority I believe reveals the mind of the Eternal God on this and other life related matters.  This is why the Bible is so important to me.

In Leviticus 18:21 and 20:2-5 is recorded the Creator’s vehemence against and judgement upon such perpetrators. The Lord has ensured His loathing for such behaviour does not become relegated to merely a matter of opinion and cultural relevancy. The Lord says He sets His face against them, will cut them off from the people. Why? Because such acts are contrary to the Holiness of the Creator and the Redeeming purposes of God! It is also an act of commitment to Molech.

Who is Moleck? In that era of Biblical history it was an idol depicting the god of the Ammonites. Such a religion required the sacrifice of the first born in the furnace of its statue. This was meant to guarantee national fruitfulness and prosperity etc. You may imagine such a creature, such a caricature of a god doesn’t exist today. Wrong! Every abortionist worships at its shrine. Every paedophile is its devotee. Every slayer of the innocent is a priest of this abomination.

A great sadness fills my heart as stories emerge of crimes against children within church and charitable institutions. Places of safety became playing fields of servants of Moleck. Didn’t such perpetrators read, know or believe the Scriptures.  Didn’t they take notice of what Jesus said ‘If anyone of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!’ (Matthew 18:6-7)

Molech is a front name for the Devil and his demons according to 1 Corinthians 10:14, 19-22. He is the god of this world, the usurper and his hallmark is death, disintegration, despair and dissolution. Behind many high sounding words to justify their actions and beliefs is the smile of Satan. Sure, there will be certain occasions on medical and life saving grounds an abortion procedure is necessary. However when it is used for gender selection, a form of contraceptive or life style convenience it becomes a worship at the shrine of Moleck.

Can such devotees be forgiven? Yes! That is the grace of God and the power of the Cross. Can they rise above their past? Yes! That’s the Mercy and healing strength of the risen Lord Jesus. What is required is a sense of shame leading to repentance; a realisation of violating the Creator’s gift of life; A heartfelt cry to the Lord Jesus to save, redeem, cleanse, forgive. His promise is that all who call out to Him will be heard.  Failure to cry out creates a hardening heart.  All that awaits is The Lord God’s condemnation.

Ray (against Molech) Hawkins.

Read Psalm 139 and what the Lord sees in the womb.

Dynamic Aging

Why the Bible is Important to me #7.

Where Dynamic Aging Begins

 

My mother-in-law with siblings (the Telfers of South Australia)

Dynamic aging is about meaning not muscle. It can be possessed by the weak and the invalid yet missed by the strong and healthy. Dynamic aging requires living in a spiritual dimension rather than being hypnotized by the secular. The dynamics for all of this begins on a battlefield.

In the Bible book of Amos we read about God’s ultimatum to Israel. The nation was intent on doing its own thing even in the face of the Lord God’s discipline. His words to the nation are applicable to everyone at a certain point in time. Amos 4:12: ‘Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel’.

God called upon the people to engage in an act of war. A contest of strength, will and therefore control. Who will be Sovereign? Such a contest appears uneven and stupid. However within the spiritual realm it is fought out everyday by some one, somewhere. Can you remember when you thought about taking God on when He asked you to let Him be your Sovereign?

The weapons at our disposal to defeat His right to our lives are the following.

A) Personal righteousness,

b) all religions lead to Heaven and

c) the pleading of ignorance.

What is the weapon the Lord raises against us? His word! Hebrews 4:12-13: ‘Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account’.

We know our goodness will not stand before the holiness required by the Lord. Everyone fall short of their own standard, what hope when measured by God’s? One strike and you are out. How many strikes do you imagine are against you?

A) is answered. We may not like what Jesus said in John 14:6 but it is either true or false. Who would dare make Jesus out to be a liar when He said ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’.

B) is answered.  Pleading ignorance is never an excuse. It is a person’s responsibility to seek out the truth and accept it. Jeremiah 29:13: ‘When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart’.

C) is answered. We break His word, we win the fight.

The trouble is the Bible remains unbreakable. More than that our moral and religious armour melts at the mere waving of the Scriptures across them!  We realise our nakedness. We are defenceless. What are our options?

Run! But where can we hide?

Surrender! Dynamic aging can begin at that point of time.

We kneel in submission. Our Lord and Sovereign, Jesus, lifts us up and calls us conquerors. 2 Chronicles 30:8  ‘Do not be stiffed-necked as your ancestors were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified for ever, and serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger may turn away from you’.

We engage in a self justifying war without any possible victory when we take up our weapons against God and His word. Remember, God has the last word. Will it be ‘Depart into outer darkness’? Or will it be ‘Come into the joy of the Lord’?  

The victory comes when by faith we make Jesus Christ as our sovereign Lord and Saviour. A new, dynamic, eternal and challenging life begins.

This is  a chapter out of my  future devotional called  'Dynamic Aging.'

Ray (growing old with Christ) Hawkins