The Reality of Hell

(by Lorie Codispoti)

Our new neighborhood is filled with homes that are glamorizing & celebrating all things death related. Gigantic Skeletons. Front lawns turned into haunting graveyards filled with tombstones. Blow up ghosts & goblins. Moving witches, spiders & other eerie figures dancing on the exterior walls of houses. Etcetera.

There’s a disquieting feeling as I walk down the street.

All this has me pondering my eschatological views about Hell. It prompts me to ask the kind of hard questions that challenge my assumptions & correct any misconceptions.

My first question corrected the common misconception that Jesus talked more about Hell than Heaven. The Gospels actually record Jesus referencing Heaven about 192 times & Hell roughly 60 times. That answer was the springboard that had me jumping head first into a pool of other questions about Hell, which then had me swimming across a lake of questions I didn’t even know I needed to ask.

The best way to understand Hell is to start with our Creator, because it only makes sense alongside the gift of His amazing grace. The central theme of the Gospel is that God loved us so much (Jn.3:16) that He chose to enter human history in the form of Jesus Christ. He took on the penalty of sin & rose from the dead in order to rescue us from Hell & restore us to Himself forever.

God is everywhere.

Hell is an eternal place of separation from all of God’s love, grace, mercy, kindness, etc. However, it is not void of His righteous judgement & unmitigated wrath, which He is waiting patiently to bring about (2Pet.3:9).

“He will be spatially present but relationally distant.” (Got Questions)

“His beauty will not be seen or known. His fellowship will not be enjoyed. His relief and his mercy will not be experienced. If there’s any sense in which God’s presence is felt as an upholding force, it will be the presence of his righteous judgment and wrath.” (John Piper)

In Psalm 139 we read David’s celebration of God as our Creator. In verses 7-8 David asks “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” Whether we rise to the highest place (Heaven) or sink to the lowest (Hell) He is there. He cannot be locked out of any part of His creation.

God created us to live forever.

Every human is an immortal being who will exist forever. Our physical death is simply a portal that takes us to our final destination.

Scripture is clear. Jesus said that the wicked “will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Mtt.25:46) Depending on the context the Greek word for “eternal” can express “punishment” or “life.” We also read in Matthew 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” This is referring to the second death & means there are some that will be consigned forever to Hell.

God does not send anyone to Hell.

The outspoken cosmologist & physicist, Lawrence Krauss, believes that we must provide our own meaning in life because the future is miserable & humans are insignificant. He is noted for saying, “I can’t prove that God doesn’t exist, but I’d much rather live in a universe without one.” The Bible tells us that there are those who prefer darkness over the Light. (Jn.3:19) They have rejected Christ & prefer themselves & their desire is for God to leave them alone.

In his book, The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis notes that Hell’s doors are locked from the inside. In other words, the people that go to Hell are those who choose to go there. Hell was not made for human beings, it was made for the devil & his angels (Mtt.25:41). God has extended the invitation for us to come & live with Him forever, but He will not move into our lives & make room for us in His home without being invited. If you don’t love the Father then you will not love living with Him forever in His house.

Hell is a literal physical place.

According to a 2021 Pew Research study more professing christians believe in Heaven (92%) than they do Hell (79%)? What’s worse is that 58% believe that many other religions can offer a way to heaven when Scripture says there is only one way & that way is through Jesus Christ alone. This points to a problem of knowing how to read & interpret Scripture (hermeneutics) accurately.

The Bible describes Hell as an “eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12), “shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2), a place where “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48), a place of “torment” and “fire” (Luke 16:23–24), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place of “burning sulfur” where “the smoke of . . . torment will rise forever and ever” (Revelation 14:10–11), and a “lake of burning sulfur” where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

English translations unfortunately only use one word for Hell, which oversimplifies the judgement as well as the punishment. The original language uses five main words to describe different aspects of Hell. They give us a clearer picture of the real horrors. (I recommend a word study for a better understanding.)

Some dismiss the magnitude of Hell’s gruesomeness by noting that Scripture uses figurative language to describe a type of Hell that is more metaphorical than literal. While I see some of the figurative language & metaphor being used in various passages, it does not lessen the impact. Can you imagine how limiting it was for the writers to express the horrors of a reality whose images are far worse than mere words could ever describe?

Fallacies abound, but only Truth can set us free.

There are many misconceptions about Hell. In 2022 a very rich & famous man stated that he didn’t mind going to Hell since most people will be with him. (I’ve since read that he encourages people to go to church & identifies as a “cultural christian.” Sadly, you can say all the right things & still go to Hell. No one will escape the torment of Hell, except those who were purchased by the blood of Christ.) This rich man’s belief aligns with the myth that non-believers picture Hell as a never ending party with their friends, when the reality is that Hell is a place of deprivation, isolation, & loneliness.

Another fallacy is that Satan & his demons reside & rule in Hell tormenting humans. While Hell was created to imprison Satan & his disembodied cohorts, the Bible tells us that some currently roam the earth. One day they will all reside as fellow inmates that are the objects of God’s eternal punishment. Every human resident, while they may feel remorse for Who they rejected, will remain eternally defiant. I have heard that they will be crying out for God's mercy, asking for another chance, but that is not biblical. They hate God now & they will hate Him then.

When asked about the way to Heaven Jesus comforted His disciples by telling them, ““I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn.14:6)

Hell’s gates may be locked from the inside, but Jesus said that those gates will not prevail against His church (Mtt.16:18). For christians this is the rally cry to do everything we can to rescue those on this side of the gate. We should feel such anguish that it provokes an urgency within us to save them from the reality of Hell.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Remember: Going Back to Move Forward

(by Lorie Codispoti)

Do you remember playing The Telephone Game? It engages our hearing & how we remember & repeat what we hear. The objective is to show how easily messages get misunderstood & changed as they pass from one person to the next. Information becomes distorted & details are lost or added, & what you end up with is a completely different message than the one that you started with. The results can be both funny & insightful.

Something that has always confused me is how different my memory of a traumatic event compares with someone who simultaneously experienced the same event alongside me. Are we processing the details differently? Perhaps time has tainted the memory. Maybe it’s a completely fabricated false memory appearing to be real. Given all these possibilities, how can we ever know what actually occurred?

Is my mind using my brain’s long-term storage bank to play some kind of strange version of the telephone game with my memories?

Well, yes & no.

Most of us think that when we remember an event our mind pushes replay & repeats a familiar scene like we had a visual recording stored inside our heads. But there is something fascinating about the neurobiology of memory & the way it works. According to neurosurgeon, Lee Warren, the way memory functions is that “you are feeling what you FELT THEN in the context of what you KNOW NOW (emphasis mine). It’s an emotional recall in the context of who you are now.” This means that our brain edits the past with our present experience.

If memories are more dynamic than fixed that means they are more malleable than we may have thought. According to the research, whenever we pull up a memory our brain actively reconstructs the memory based on new information, current emotions, & outside influences. This means our memories have the ability to reframe & edit with each recollection. Cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Donna Bridge notes that “If you remember something in the context of a new environment and time, or if you are even in a different mood, your memories might integrate the new information.”

A false memory is either a recollection of something that never happened or a distorted version of a true memory. Not all false memories originate from a place of mal-intent, but a common cause of many is misinformation that has been implanted to intentionally mislead with details that trick the brain into belief. Suggestive questions can also be implanted in order to nurture fake realities.

A biblical example of an implanted false memory is with humanity’s parents (Adam & Eve). They were created with perfectly functioning brains, but the cataclysmic consequences of the fall changed their brain & introduced intellectual corruption. When Eve misremembers & then misrepresents God’s command the master manipulator took full advantage. Satan distorted & twisted truth & confused Eve's reality. He succeeded in getting her to doubt & question what she knew to be true (Gen.3:1-5) & a state of brokenness was activated & sin extended to all of humanity.

The original harmony between our desires & logic was fractured & the contagion continues to affect our reasoning skills today. To sum up the work of several geneticists - contrary to the hypothesis that evolution is moving the needle of mental acuity forward - the evidence continues to confirm the biblical timeline. According to the research, the human “genomes actually devolve over time in a process called genetic entropy.” In other words, we can trace the genetic decay, showing that humanity is being dumbed down as time progresses. (Hmm, Second Law of Thermodynamics on display?)

This brings me back to the traumatic event I referenced above. No doubt, we could have both benefited from some wise counsel in order to speed the process of healing & recovery. However, when christians adopt & engage in Freudian therapy modalities it can lead a vulnerable person to mentally dangerous places.

For example, in the 1980s - 90’s many christian counselors (novice & professional) embraced the practice of uncovering supposedly repressed memories (RMT). It was couched in programs like the “healing of memories,” & touted as a spiritual warfare technique. This type of “therapy” is simply way to subjective; it can & has literally destroyed families. When we consider the outcomes & the potential dangers of recollected or implanted false memories we can clearly see how ruminating over our past can be a tool the enemy uses to keep our thoughts traveling through a never ending maze of confusion with no way out.

Through Christ, however, we can escape the maze. Jesus told his followers: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn.8:31-32)

When Scripture tells us to remember the past, it means more than taking a trip through your brain’s mental time machine in order to recall something. At first it sounds counter-intuitive, but God’s command for His children to remember is for them to look back in order to move forward. It’s a cultivated practice of calling to mind God’s faithfulness in our lives. It’s for those times when we feel overwhelmed by a stressful situation. Our enemy would have us forget, but in moments of uncertainty to pause & remember God’s goodness is to courage up & move forward in His strength.

By the time our mind attempts to rehearse an event, after integrating today’s new information, it’s no wonder the telephone game’s iterations blur the past.

If we hope to walk well on the other side of our traumatic memories we need to start by doing what Jesus said to do & abide in His word. It will open the door & enable us to walk out of the maze of confusion & into the freedom of healed memories.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

The Joy of Decluttering

(by Lorie Codispoti)

I’ve never liked clutter. Why? Because it feels claustrophobic and it looks messy.

The visual side of me cringes when I see someone having to remove things from their desk or counter top in order to free up space to work. This distain, however, doesn’t pair well with the pack-rat, creative, repurposing, sentimental side of me who has a hard time getting rid of things I determine have some kind of value. The challenge has always been to find a functional balance between the two.

Now, I’ve seen some pretty nasty human spaces in my day (offices, cars, homes, yards, etc.), but I’m not talking about roach infested, filth ridden environments. Clutter can exist among the most ardent of clean freaks - people whose magazines might be stacked to the ceiling, but they’re all perfectly aligned, organized by date, and void of all dust mites. This is called organized clutter, and I’m somewhat familiar with the propensity.

I know this is a completely subjective issue. What you call a collection I may classify as clutter, and vice versa. But, I think we can all agree that it doesn’t take much for an unnecessary accumulation of things to find their way into the spaces we inhabit, and overwhelm us.

According to one expert, the way to differentiate between a collection and clutter is by evaluating the emotions we experience when we view them. If you follow her steps for decluttering, you will get rid of anything that doesn’t bring you joy. She says, “Life truly begins only after you have put your house in order.” (Marie Kondo)

There's value in her statement, as it speaks to the concept of material management. Everyone knows that a well managed environment is not only more productive, but it also frees up the mental capacity to enjoy that environment. However, this idea didn’t originate with Ms. Kondo. She’s merely piggy-backing on a long established biblical principal that not only works for the things we can see and feel, but it can be applied to our spiritual house. Furthermore, applying God’s method of decluttering not only brings order, by enabling us to rid ourselves of the unnecessary clutter we’ve accumulated, but it frees up space for the habitation of genuine Joy.

Ecclesiastes 3:6 says there is “a time to keep, and a time to cast away.”

(The whole book of Ecclesiastes is about man's futile attempt to gain happiness apart from God. The writer of the book (Solomon) writes from the unique vantage point of having accumulated more material, mental, and political resources of any human being up to that point in history. Yet he concludes that none of the things he has amassed has lead to joy. None of it satisfies and all of it leaves him feeling empty. In the end, he concludes that the ultimate meaning in life is found only in knowing God.)

With every new season of life comes change, and change always requires something of us if we hope to transition well.

I recently taught on the life of Leah (Jacob’s first wife). Her story is heartbreaking for several reasons, but one of them is that neither Leah or her sister (Rachel) was willing to “cast away” the emotional clutter they had amassed over the years, and it all but destroyed their relationship.

When Peter talks to believers about loving each other with a pure heart, he says that one way we do that is by “laying aside” the clutter that hinders relationships (1Pet.2:1). Rather than casting away their heart’s clutter, Leah and Rachel chose to accumulate and keep it stored in their sinful hearts. This left no room for genuine Joy. I can’t help but wonder how different things would have been had they been willing to let go of the things that kept their hearts locked in turmoil.

What does spiritual clutter look like for us today, and how do we get rid of it?

It looks like anything that comes between you and your relationship with God. That tells me that my clutter may look different than yours, but that any collection of things the Bible tells us to “cast off” qualifies as things we don’t need - no matter how sentimentally attached we’ve become.

I like what Carla Gasser writes in her article, 5 Simple Ways To Declutter Your Soul (https://carlagasser.com/5-simple-ways-to-declutter-your.../), “While we may acknowledge the need and sincerely have the desire to declutter our souls, we lack the focus, determination, and willpower to begin this painstaking process.”

This tells me that I need something (Someone) outside myself in order to succeed in my attempt to declutter my heart.

King David recognized his need for help and asked God to “search” and “point out” the things that created a wedge between him and God (Psa.139). He knew that the only way for God to “renew a right spirit” within him (Psa.51:10) was to surrender the accumulation of destructive ways to God. We too can trust God to show us areas of our heart that need decluttering when we ask for His help.

We get rid of spiritual clutter the same way David did - by asking God to show us and to help us. While the process of decluttering may be grueling at times, maintaining a clean heart is worth every effort we spend in prayer and action.

Life truly does begin when we declutter our souls and put our spiritual houses in order. Because wherever the Spirit of the Lord resides, there is the freedom to embrace and celebrate the Joy that He brings with Him.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Good Vibrations

(by Lorie Codispoti)

Who remembers the famous Beach Boys song titled Good Vibrations? We’re decades past its release, but I’d bet that even if you don’t remember the words you can hum the tune. The song is about a boy who feels a connection to a girl he admires. It was inspired by an experience that Brian Wilson & his mother had with a dog. She told him that dogs can pick up good & bad vibrations from people.

Was Mrs. Wilson right?

I’ve heard some amazing stories about the connection between humans & the sensory abilities of their dogs. While many are plausible, some sound like folklore, embellished stories, & even paranormal. Reality, however, is much more interesting.

There’s nothing mystical about God’s biological design for man’s best friend. He created them with a finely tuned, innate sensitivity to vibration through more than just their ears. For example, along with sensing vibrations through their skin, a dog’s footpads have tiny receptors that register microscopic waves & frequencies. The nerve endings in their whiskers make them exceptionally reactive to air currents & fine spacial vibrations. Dogs don’t just hear noise with their ears; their bodies feel pressure waves as sound travels through their body & bones. Subtle vibrations enable them to also detect changes in barometric pressure & seemingly predict severe weather events. Their ability to decipher human emotion is more about their ability to read tone, movement, scent, & rhythm. A dog’s heightened sensory awareness is not psychic or telepathic; it’s a God given super power that enables them to observe their world & serve their humans in a way that makes us love them all the more.

God has also gifted humans with a super Power that we haven’t even come close to harnessing. We have been given the privilege of being invited into the very presence of God. And in the same way that science has discovered your dog’s seemingly out of this world abilities, neuroscience is discovering that engaging in a regular practice of prayer literally changes your brain & your body (emotionally, physically, chemically, & structurally). In his research, neuroscientist, Andrew Newberg notes that the more we focus on something (anything) “the more it becomes written into the neural connections of your brain.”

There is no evidence to show that our thoughts vibrate or transmit frequencies. (That sounds more like some sort of metaphysical Law of Attraction mumbo jumbo.) What we do know is that the human brain shows measurable electrical rhythms & that God created our world to be governed by frequency & vibration. Thankfully, we don’t have to be doctors, physicists, or engineers either to know that our sight is based on vibrations that impact our optical systems, our hearing is based on vibration, & our words are vibrational sounds that convey meaning.

Human brains treat prayer as if it were a social interaction, like we are talking to each other.

Dr. Lee Warren is a neurosurgeon, author, & podcaster who explores how neuroscience & faith connect. He cites a 2005 study by The Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine that points out how distant intention & prayer positively influence the brain function of others. There were two groups of participants; those praying & those who were the recipients. The brains of the ones being prayed for were watched in real time (fMRI) - with them not knowing who or when someone from the other group was thinking good thoughts or praying for them - & the results were pretty enlightening. “It means that someone thinking loving, intentional thoughts towards you, somebody interceding in prayer for you from a distance, is correlated with measurable changes in the parts of your brain that are related to emotional resilience, calmness, peace of mind, & healing.” (Dr. Warren)

Luke 6:27-28 “…Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

James 5:16 “… pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

It usually takes science longer to grasp what God has communicated for centuries, & history records that practices once dismissed by science later become proven truths. We may not have whiskers & footpads with special nerve endings, or ears & noses that pick up on some of the unseen things in our world, but we have been given a measure of supernatural “good vibrations” when we make prayer a daily habit & engage in our God's infused Super Power.

There are a handful of things I want to inquire about when I transition to eternity & one of them is the unknown impact that my prayers have had on those I have interceded for, and vice versa.

Why don't we all take a few minutes to light up the brain of someone the Lord brings to mind today? We will find out later how bright those good vibrations were.

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Be Still

(by Lorie Codispoti)

Who remembers playing freeze tag? If you were tagged while running you had to freeze in the position you were tagged in. This made for a variety of comical & entertaining positions. But without someone to tag & unfreeze you that position could become very uncomfortable.

Sometimes christians play spiritual freeze tag. And when they do exegetical frostbite happens. The abominable brain freezer chases & tags us with common verses like “Be still & know that I am God.” (Psa.46:10)

I submit to you that there is SO much more to what the Author intended than for this to become part of a collection of christianeze catch phrases that we print on t-shirts & coffee mugs. So, grab your Bible & read Psalm 46. I want to share three things I’ve gleaned after running away from the deep freeze christianeze chaser & running toward the Author & His deeper meaning for the text.

~1~ The timeline & backstory create a sturdy foundation.

The secondary authors of this chapter are the sons of Korah (Levitical temple musicians). The title inscription also indicates that this is a song for Alamoth (a musical term for young maidens to add their soprano voices to the praise, or for an instrument to add the high notes.). This song is an example of musicians who are proclaiming their unwavering confidence in God in the midst of suffering.

Scholars associate this Psalm with God’s deliverance of Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah (2Chron.32). As soon as the Hezekiah was aware that the Assyrian king intended to attack Jerusalem he physically prepared the city, the people, & himself. Even so, the massive Assyrian army made their efforts look minuscule & their success hopeless. Hezekiah took his plea to the Lord of Hosts ( 2Kings 19 & Psa.46:7&11). These were the circumstances that inspired the writing & singing of this Psalm. In the end, God saved Hezekiah & Jerusalem in a spectacular way.

~2~ For insight & understanding observe the flow of the text.

Most of Psalm 46 is speaking (singing) about God in the third person (Exception: verse 10, where God makes a declarative statement). The Psalm is divided into three stanzas, separated by the word (Selah), which means to pause & meditate. The first stanza (vs.1-3) is about God’s presence in & protection from the natural disasters that occur on the Earth. Stanza two (vs.4-6) is about God’s presence in & protection from the moral evils of the world. And stanza three (vs.8-10) is about how God overcomes & is greater than both the natural & the moral disasters that can plague His people. Then there’s the chorus (vs.7&11) that we see repeated twice. (Verse mapping provides an at-a-glance visual of how the chapter flows.)

~3~ Slow your digestion by breaking down the passage into savory bites.

This chapter does not open like a lot of other chapters in the Psalms, which begin with the psalmist’s crisis. This one begins by affirming God’s role & emphasizing His unfailing presence: “God is our refuge & strength, a very present help in trouble.” In light of all the post fall natural disasters (waters roar, mountains shake, etc.) God’s presence is available to help us. His power controls every force that tempts our anxiety; therefore, “we will not fear...” (vs.2).

Before the Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem, King Hezekiah had his men dig an underground tunnel to channel the drinking water, that was outside the city, & safely store it in a reservoir that was located between the city walls, which he also fortified (2Chron.32:30, 2Kings20:20). Picture that with the heavenly “river whose streams shall make glad the city of God” (vs.4).

How this must have encouraged the residents of Jerusalem. Their world consisted of "nations raging" & "kingdoms moving." They were about to be pummeled (or so it appeared) so the mental shift focused them on the stable & permanent “holy place of the Most High.” It reoriented them away from what they could see to a truth where they could anchor their hearts. This had to be transformative. Is it any wonder that the next verse (7) proclaims, “The (Warrior) Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge”? Can you hear the crescendo as they reach this point in their song of praise?

(Read my article on invoking the “Lord of Hosts” here: https://gloryusgate.blogspot.com )

The next two verses (8-9) read prophetic, as the residents reference the desolation they are about to witness. Note that the stanza also speaks of the final desolation to come - when all wars will cease & every weapon destroyed forever.

The term “desolations” denotes horror & pictures a wasteland. After the horror & noise of war the psalmist paints a picture of a silent & broken battlefield where God will make all wars cease by shattering, breaking, & burning the implements of human warfare.

Do you know what happened to the enemy that day? During their campaign the Assyrians had captured 46 walled Judean towns. They surrounded Jerusalem, but they never breached the city because God sent the Angel of the Lord out at night to kill all 185,000 soldiers. Their corpses were visible when the people rose early in the morning (2Kings19:35). What a sight!

It is at this point in Psalm 46:10 where we hear the voice of the Lord proclaim His supremacy & power over all His creation: “Be still & know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” This is the verse that easily tags & freezes us at the shallow end of a rich & deep body of understanding.

To “be still” in Hebrew is a command by God that is best translated as “release & cause yourselves to let go” & “let yourselves become weak.” I read one Jewish writer who noted that we surrender in order to know that God is in control & we let go in order to know the saving power of God in our lives. An example of this is found in Exodus 14:14. When the Israelites felt trapped by the Red Sea & saw Pharoah’s army coming at them, Moses was reminded that “The Lord will fight for you; you have only to be silent.”

There was no way out for these former slaves. Like the residents of Jerusalem, their thoughts must have been horrifically chaotic as they found themselves in an absolute desperate situation that was beyond their control. Without God there was no hope. Before Moses told these terrified people that God would fight for them he told them to “stand still” (vs.13). This meant they needed to quiet their minds. They must stop panicking & allowing fear to dictate their actions. To stand still is the external composure they were to take as they resisted the chaos & watched God do what only He can do.

I like the way David Guzik puts it in his commentary on the passage: “Moses told the people of Israel to stop. This is often the LORD’s direction to the believer in a time of crisis. Despair will cast you down, keeping you from standing. Fear will tell you to retreat. Impatience will tell you to do something now. Presumption will tell you to jump into the Red Sea before it is parted. Yet as God told Israel He often tells us to simply stand still and hold your peace as He reveals His plan.”

To “be still” (Psa.46:10) is similar, only with the added internal surrender that calls us to relax our self reliant & aggressive grip. In doing so we will “know that I am God.” There is a confidence that comes with letting go & becoming weak. It sounds counterintuitive to say that it is in our weakness that we become strong, but that was Paul’s testimony (2Cor.12:10).

Is it any wonder that the last verse in this Psalm is the unwavering trust & confidence of this choir as they echo what God had just proclaimed: “The Lord of Hosts is with us!”

Takeaway: I hope this passage encourages us to run away from being tagged & frozen by the kind of jargon that never challenges us to run, skipping & singing with confidence in the God who intended for us to “be still & know that He is God.” He alone is “our refuge & strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Verse 1)

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Be Courageous

(by Lorie Codispoti)

We’ve all heard the famous bible story about a young shepherd boy who used his sling shot to slay a giant champion warrior. So tell me, would you say that David was brave or courageous as he stood up to Goliath?

Bravery & courage are terms that are often used interchangeably. And while they are closely connected there is a difference that helps to clarify the distinction. Bravery is the ability to confront dangerous, painful or difficult circumstances without any fear. Courage confronts the circumstance despite the looming fear.

When someone exhibits bravery they are spontaneously responding to an immediate threat. It’s instinctive, impulsive, & usually means they have not taken the time to think through all the risks. I’m reminded of the story of Desmond Doss, who charged into the battle at Hacksaw Ridge, unarmed, to single handedly rescue 75 of his wounded comrades. He saved many lives & was honored for his bravery.

Courage involves a deliberate choice. It involves deeply engaging the mind to assess the situation. Courage recognizes the fear & purposefully taps into an inner strength to press in & persevere through the danger. I’m reminded of the story of Drs. Paul & Margaret Brand, medical missionaries whose heart for those suffering with leprosy in India gave them the courage to overcome their fears by working in & among these outcasts in order to help them. Their courage led to innovative techniques that are still used today.

The story of David & Goliath is found in 1Samuel 17. The details of the account don’t give us specifics on David’s emotional state, but I think there is enough evidence to suggest that David’s actions were not initially the result of bravery. They were the result of implanted courage in the face of unsurmountable odds.

As if the pagan giant’s appearance wasn’t intimidating enough, Goliath attempts to use fearmongering tactics to browbeat David into the same state of fear that Saul & his army are in bondage to. I think he actually felt the emotion of fear, but unlike Saul & his wimpy army, he deliberately chose to overcome the fear by tapping into the Holy Spirit he was filled with when Samuel anointed him. It was the Spirit of the “living God” (vs.26) who rose up within David when he invoked the “Lord of Hosts” (vs.32). I believe it was in that moment that any vestige of fear disappeared & David charged the giant with full confidence in the God he had come to know & worship.

Studying some of the finer details of the story I discovered something transformative about David’s use of this very specific name for God (“Lord of Hosts”).

When King Saul received word that this insignificant, young, shepherd boy was willing to do what neither he nor his soldiers could manage he accepted the offer. In 1Samuel 17:32 David assures the king, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go & fight with this Philistine.” The Hebrew word for “heart” in this verse means “courage.” David has ascertained that Saul’s army is so overcome with fear that they have no courage left to fight. To be courageous means to be strong & hold fast, with fierce resolve, to something in the face of fear.

(FMI read: https://www.blogger.com/.../815913287.../6607380386851081702)

The ancient Hebrews understood that to be courageous meant more than simply possessing a physical trait; it was an inner strength anchored in the very presence of God. David knew that without God’s presence he would have no courage to face Goliath. God’s presence was the only thing that could overcome fear & enable David to face his enemy with such courage that it resulted in a headless giant filling the bellies of the hungry animals who were waiting patiently for their dinner.

Of all the names for God, why summon the Lord of Hosts at the onset of a battle? To call upon the Lord of Hosts (plural) is to call upon the Lord of Armies (plural). He is the Commander in Chief of a myriad of angel armies that are always ready & at His service. This army, however, is not limited to the angels. All of creation stands ready to hear the call of its Master (Gen.2:1). Every atom, every molecule, every emotion, the sun, moon, stars, rivers, oceans, mountains, animals, & every human (dead & alive) serve the Creator’s purposes. The Lord of Hosts rules & reigns over everything, seen & unseen, in the material & spiritual realms that He created.

When we call upon the Lord of Hosts we, like David, recognize that the battle is much too great for us. We can use the presence of fear as an indicator to humble ourselves as we petition the Lord for His presence, which overrides all fear.

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts, ‘Set your heart to consider your ways.’” (Hag.1:5)

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts, ‘Return to me… that I may return to you.’” (Zech.1:3)

What might happen if we cry out for the Lord of Hosts to come to our aid today?

I’ll tell you what happens: Our fear vanishes & our hearts do not fail. Bravery is not needed because of the implanted presence of the Holy Spirit, who fills us with courage. We will become confident that the God who gave David many victories is the same One who makes every head roll when they defy the armies of the living God.

The Lord of Hosts is with us & fights for us in every battle.

May it be said of us, as it was David, “ “So David went on & became great, & the Lord of Hosts was with him.” (2Sam.5:10)

GloryUsGate.blogspot.com

Meaning Finding (pt.2)

by Lorie Codispoti

I play a lot of games with our grandlittles, & no matter how old they are (so far) they always request a scavenger hunt. There’s something about the art of discovery that has given this game universal appeal for centuries.

The word “scavenger” has seen its definition evolve over the course of time. Scavengers started out as medieval tax collectors, then they became someone who collected refuse from city streets. (Literally, a pooper-scooper.) The Germanic root, however, comes from a word that means to look at or inspect, which is what the word means today.

Following are three key things that I look for & inspect in order to find meaning in the suffering I observe in myself & others.

FIND MEANING IN WHO GOD IS & WHO HE IS NOT

There’s nothing like suffering to get us to question everything we know about God.

I don’t know about you, but darkness strategically incites the elevation of more than just physical pain for me. The chief of lies bombards my mind & tempts me to believe things that are not true about God… “He doesn’t hear my prayers.” “He doesn’t care about my struggle.” “He doesn’t love me.” “He wants me to suffer alone.” “He is punishing me.” “He has abandoned me.” Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

Lies reproduce themselves in the dark, so we have to counter them by turning on the Light & watching them scatter like ghost crabs who run away when light shines on them. Suffering is a battle on many fronts, & without the indwelling Holy Spirit we’d all fall for the same lie peddled since the garden.

Embarking on a spiritual scavenger hunt means we have become desperate enough to want the Truth & tenacious enough to go after it.

Scavenging helps us counter the lies when we are tempted to…

...believe that God doesn’t hear our prayers His Spirit reminds us that “… He hears us” (1Jn5:14) Listening is a fundamental part of His ever-present character.

...believe that God doesn’t care His Spirit reminds us that “… He cares for you” (1Pet.5:7). His nature tells us He cares about everything.

...believe that God doesn’t love us His Spirit reminds us that He loves us “… with an everlasting love” (Jer.31:3), & that it is unbreakable (Rms.8:38-39).

...believe that God desires for us to suffer alone His Spirit reminds us that He is a relational, triune being & “… if one member suffers all suffer together” (1Cor.12:26).

...believe that God is punishing us His Spirit reminds us that He is merciful & forgiving. He “…does not repay us according to our sins” (Psa.103:10).

...believe that God has abandoned us His Spirit reminds us that He is unchanging. He has promised to “… never forsake you” (Heb.13:5).

FIND MEANING IN THE WISDOM & UNDERSTANDING GOD GIVES

“Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." (Proverbs 4:7)

What is the biggest & most frequently asked question when confronted with suffering? We want to know “WHY, God!?”

Some think it’s wrong to ask why, but in reality we all ask it so why pretend we don’t? The why question is what drives us to find the meaning as we attempt to understand our plight. Scripture is filled with those who asked this question, including Jesus (Mtt.27:46). God may not give us the why, but He will help us understand what He intends for our suffering to produce: “…we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Rms.5:3-4) There is meaning to be found in what God says He will produce in us when we seek to understand His purpose. And when we search out & apply wisdom (“skill for living”) to our struggle, God’s counsel gives us the strength we need to press on (Prov.8:14).

FIND MEANING IN THE VESSELS GOD PROVIDES

The emotions we feel in the midst of our struggles count. Rather than denying them, take them with you on your spiritual scavenger hunt. There is enormous meaning to be found when we surrender every emotion to the containers God designed for collection.

In Psalm 56, David pours out his broken heart to the only One who can help him. He notes that God numbers his “wanderings,” puts his tears into His bottle, & records them in a book.

To wander in this context is the kind of mental roving that causes our thoughts to digress into confused ramblings. It comes from a root word that points to a grieving state of aimless fluttering. The Hebrew likens wanderings to a fugitive in exile, deviating us from a normal course of action. However, along with a full bottle of emotional tears, this collection of confused ramblings need not be relegated to the turbulent waters of our storm. We’ve been thrown a life preserver as we are encouraged to cast all our cares onto the Lord because He cares for us (1Pet.5:7). To cast off implies throwing off the emotional burdens that are designed to weigh us down & sink us. The force of the action flips the enemy’s intent by placing us on the offensive. With His Spirit & His word we are given the strength to endure the turbulence of the storm.

Along with a bottle to collect our tears, we read about a vessel that contains incense, which is the collective prayers of every believer since time began (Rev.5). When we “cast all our cares” on the Lord through prayer we are not throwing them to the wind & hoping God will catch one or two along the way. Every single believer's prayers are collected. Their fragrance reaches God’s throne & fills His nostrils with a “sweet smelling aroma” (2Cor.2:15, Rev.5:8). What a glorious picture.

There are many other beautiful treasures to collect on a meaning finding spiritual scavenger hunt; these are only a few.

We are all beachfront residents, which means we will experience some incredibly intense storms while we live here. And there’s something significant that every beachcomber knows. The best time for treasure hunting is after the churning of a violent storm. It strips away the surface sand & exposes the deeply buried treasures that reside on the ocean floor.

Don’t let the sands of time wash away the things God has designed for you to find. They will prove to be incredibly valuable when the next storm hits. And when the storms of suffering violently beat against your house you've built on the Rock, reassure yourself that God’ never fails to use each one to churn up the valuable things He knows will provide meaning.

He does all the work unearthing the booty & bringing it to the surface for us to discover & collect, so bring a big bag to collect every single treasure.

(c) Lorie Codispoti / GloryUsGate.blogspot.com