God's Navy Seals

As we sit in the comfort of our warm homes, our quiet existence of 'picket fences', cable TV, home shopping networks, of fun times, parties and vacations, there are men and women who have forsaken all of that to go into months of incredibly difficult disciplined and often painful training and then go into battle, face the horrors of war, and risk injury or even death in order to confront and overcome enemies that threaten our freedoms, our liberties, our way of life. Why would they do that? When life could be so much easier, they jump with amazing courage into the front lines of the battle without hesitation. Whether we agree with their cause or not, we have to admire their courage, their bravery, their willingness to face enormous hardship in order to protect that which they believe to be right   and good.

In that context, imagine, if you will, an alternate reality where there are thousands of different races, species, and planets. Imagine that we are 'beings of light' who have been given an opportunity to enter the physical realm and either live a simple easy life of basic comfort on one of those planets, or, alternately, join the battle between good and evil, to become part of an elite force, to fight against demons, to either fall before an evil enemy or cut them down with the sword of the Spirit! What would you do? Would you take the easy road and live a simple good life, or rise up, put on the armor of God and go into battle? The few, the courageous, the willing, run headlong into battle, knowing that, if they survive, they will be rewarded with honor and positions of authority and noble responsibility, having proven that they can overcome evil and therefore having the qualifications required to rule and reign with Him.

Now imagine that YOU have made the choice to take the hard road. Imagine that you chose to be dropped into battle with the additional knowledge that you will have to face that battle with no memory of your mission, of your past, of your heritage, and that only faith in God can lead you to victory. It's a high stakes gamble, because if you lose, the consequences are severe, but if you win, the prize is beyond earthly comprehension. Imagine that you are living this now, that your journey in this evil, corrupt, magnificent, amazing world is your time to shine... your time to prove what you are made of, your time to rise up against the odds and snatch victory from the forces of darkness! What if this is not just a wild fantasy? What if you are a 'being of light' that has chosen to become part of God's 'Navy Seals'? If you became aware that you had chosen to live life on the front lines (and often behind enemy lines), if you awakened to your true identity, how would you live your life differently?

Would you be a warrior for good or just sit on the sidelines? Would you fight with all you have for love, right, truth, and justice or retreat to your sofa watching audio visual junk food while the world around you descends into chaos? Would you wake each morning seeking the wisdom and guidance needed to confront the challenges of the day or be just too busy to spend time with God? Would you stand tall as a faithful ambassador of Christ, living with honor, courage, integrity, and character, reaching out in love and helping those in need, honoring and giving praise to God, or would you live life for your own aggrandizement? Would you open the eyes of the spiritually blind, heal the spiritually lame, and lead the lost to the way, the truth, and the life, the Lord of Creation? Christ himself promised that if we are faithful in the small things given us to do in this world, we will be given great responsibility and authority in the new kingdom.

Could this be one possible explanation as to why we live in such an often difficult and challenging world? Is life tough? So is boot camp. Does life seem unfair? War is not fair... we are in an epic battle between good and evil! Are you wounded and in pain? Seek the great medic, healer and bringer of life. It's not just about you and your 'prosperity'. It is about the choices you make and how you impact those around you. Will you seek to serve God with honor, or serve yourself? Whether this is the real back story or not, we may not know until we cross over, but we do know that this life is our testing ground. We will show what we are made of... for better or worse. Worried that you have fallen short? That is why Jesus came and died for us sinners, so that we could be set free from sin by repenting and changing for the better, so stand up and get back into the fight! Now is the time. Awake, you that sleep. Arise, and fight the good fight. When that final day comes and your life is laid bare for all to see, may you, like Paul, be able to say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."

Here is a challenge...  Ask yourself right now, how would you live life differently if you knew that you were a member of God's 'Elite Force', His 'Seal Team 7'? Take out a piece of paper and write down at least 5 -10 things you would do to sharpen your spiritual skills, increase your effectiveness at overcoming evil and doing good, and be the best you can be (i.e. like New Years resolutions... if you will), then commit to it! Make this an ongoing, periodic, progressive process, becoming better every day!

You are God's Warrior!

 "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 

No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier." 

II Timothy 2:3,4

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

II Corinthians 10:3,4

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

Ephesians 6:10-13

Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love.

I Corinthians 16:13,14

Metamorphosis

When we think of metamorphosis, the image that immediately pops to mind is the transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly. While that is a powerful and almost shocking example of transformation, there is another type of metamorphosis as well, which is more gradual, such as the transition from a tadpole to a frog. In a sense, one is like a revolution and the other is like an evolution. Both are valid means of reaching a desired end. In each case there is a dramatic difference between the 'before' and 'after'.

Curious about the word, I learned that during the pupa stage, a caterfly butterpillar will actually emit digestive fluids that cause the cell death and dissolution of its own former body, and the dissolved components are then recombined into a brand new living structure... literal death and rebirth. Other species, in more evolutionary metamorphosis, undergo dramatic transformations of their organs, such as the flounder, for example, whose eyes start on opposite sides of the fish larvae and end up together on the same side of the adult fish.

Another revelation came upon seeing that the antonym for metamorphosis is 'stagnation'. As growing, learning, evolving human beings, surely metamorphosis is preferable to stagnation!

A common but less cited example of metamorphosis is one that we have all gone through. We started off as two separate single cell organisms in two entirely different ecosystems. One merged into the other, and in an unbelievably complex microscopic dance, the DNA of both individual organisms combined to form a brand new and totally unique single cell organism. This organism then began replicating itself in another miraculous transformation. Then groups of identical cells began to express differentiation from other cells, eventually forming organs. Our form evolved visibly as we were transformed from a blob to a fish-like form to a human form, and then, pop! we went from liquid breathing to air breathing. Next, we are transformed from helpless babies into fantastically creative learning beings as children, and then into teen and adulthood.

Finally, as adults, some people go through a metamorphosis in their personal, psychological and/or spiritual makeup. Once successful businessmen can get addicted to drugs or alcohol and undergo a dark metamorphosis, at the end of which they wake up on a street corner homeless and penniless. Some will undergo another metamorphosis by going into a 12 step program, kick the habit, take the 12 steps to heart, and will emerge as a kinder, healthier, more ethical, stronger and more humble individual than they were before they started. Other people will find God and will be transformed from self-centered narcissistic individuals to loving and spiritual giants. The walk of faith is truly one about transformation... metamorphosis. It is about putting to death the 'old man' (fallen, sinful, corrupt), being born of the spirit, and bringing to life the 'new man' (enlightened, connected to God through Christ). In the central and pivotal verse of the New Testament, Romans 12:2 ("And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."), the Greek the word from which the word 'transformed' is translated is 'metamorpho'... look familiar?

It is said of businesses, that if you are not growing, you are dying. A business that is not innovating and progressing will soon be outflanked by its competitors and eventually become an annotation in the history books. The same is true, to a certain extent, with us as individuals. We need to continue to grow, to learn, to innovate, to change, to rise above. Some may go through radical, revolutionary transformation, while others may evolve more slowly. If we stop moving, we will stagnate. If we don't try each day to be better people, to answer our higher calling, to give more and to love more, then we are slipping into mediocrity and anonymity.

You can achieve great things! You can undergo a daily renewal and transformation so that you become stronger and healthier and wiser each day. As you grow, you will be able to accomplish more. Never stop learning. Never stop discovering. Seek the source of light and truth, then seek the transformation of your very soul. As you do, you will find yourself accomplishing things you never dreamed possible, reaching unimagined heights, and appreciating with renewed humility and joy the creative expression of God!

Breaking the Programming

Have you noticed how many pharmaceutical ads there are these days? You can't seem to get through a single commercial break without being bombarded by one or more ads suggesting that you might have some disease, and they have the fix. Then they list all the horrible things that could happen if you take their remedy (often including long term disability or even death) and then say, "Ask your doctor if ___ is right for you". What is going on here? This is a form of mental programming. They start by instilling a bit of fear (Do I have that disease?), activating the reptilian mind (see previous blog), which, through the pleasure/pain response is closely connected to our subconscious. Mental suggestion can often induce the now deeply rooted perception that one has the condition that is being suggested, and ultimately (through the power of suggestion and belief - sort of a reverse placebo effect) one can ultimately display enough of the suggested symptoms that a doctor will agree with your proposed disease diagnosis, and prescribe the suggested 'cure'. Only the cure isn't a cure, as the side effects are commonly worse than the relief it claims to bring. You then are led to take another pill for those symptoms, and so on and so on. By the time people are seniors, many are taking 7-10 different medications, lining the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies while polluting and damaging their bodies with a semi-toxic chemical cocktail.

This is one example of intentional mental programming by an industry with power and money and access to your life through television, radio, and the internet. Bankers are another industry that has us, as a society, well programmed. Your credit limit is touted as an indicator of your prosperity and personal worth. Once upon a time, living within your means meant only spending the money you have... now we have been trained to think it means living within your available credit limits. They then convince you to buy the biggest house that 'you can afford' (based on the amount of money that they are willing to lend to you), the best car, the biggest TV, etc., etc., until your credit is maxed out. At that point you are likely paying hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars in interest to the banks every month. They feed off of you and millions of others using money that they created out of thin air (research 'fractional reserve banking') commonly backed (at a 1:10 ratio) by money they got from the Federal Reserve (a private company) at zero percent interest (or close to it). The Fed gets its money as a result of 'The Federal Reserve Act' (passed in the middle of the night during Christmas break in 1913). Instead of the US government printing its own money (as the Founders had intended), when the government needs money, the Federal Reserve tells the US Treasury (a government agency) how much money to 'print' (either physically or electronically). They then take the money that the Treasury 'prints', and loan it to our government with interest. The Federal Reserve (reminder - a private company) gets rich off of the the government (i.e. our taxpayer dollars), and then loans that money out to banks. In the meantime, our government goes deeper into debt (they have fallen into the same mental trap, reinforcing the false perception) and they (the banks) get richer, though they did no real work to accumulate that wealth. Quite a gig, if you can get it, wouldn't you say? Yet the banks have convinced us this is all for our benefit, so, "Go shopping! Go ahead, max out that card! Borrow as much as we will let you! You are entitled to it! Give us full control over your life! If you can't pay your bills, we'll take everything and you may end up homeless and hungry, but don't think about that. It would never happen to you!"

A third mental programming for you to consider goes under the label of 'terrorism'. Because of the fear of 'terrorism', millions of American citizens now must agree to either be electronically stripped naked at airports using potentially dangerous technology, or to subject themselves to sexual molestation by a complete stranger in a uniform. In another example, in London (a city at the forefront of citizen control), it is estimated that there are 4.2 million CCTV cameras, roughly one camera for every 2 citizens of that city. It has also been reported in the US that the phone calls, internet activities, and even the location (via phone GPS) of a significant percentage of US citizens is being tracked by our government. Can you say, "Big Brother'? Why are we allowing this? It is all because we have been conditioned to fear 'terrorism'. We are at least a sixty times more likely to die in a car crash than to be hit by terrorism, but we still drive (number based on an average over 10 years, including the events of 9/11). Yet we will subject ourselves to all kinds of invasions of privacy and government control over our lives in order to 'protect us' from supposed 'terrorism'. It is little more than a ruse to gain control over every aspect of our lives.

These are three classic and prevalent forms of mental programming designed to get each and every one of us (if possible) under their control to feed their systems, concentrating the wealth and power of the world into the hands of a few. Awareness of how others attempt to manipulate us for their own benefit is the first step in 'recovery'.

Once we are aware of how others try to program our thinking to their benefit, we can start to take steps to counter their mental programming. We can mute the TV every time a drug ad comes on TV (or better yet, shut off the TV altogether). We can learn how to maintain and improve our health by eating more healthy natural foods and maintaining a positive mindset. We can work to get out of debt and commit to "if we can't pay cash, we won't buy it". We can buy houses that we can easily afford. We can refuse to live in fear of 'terrorism' and do everything we can to protect our freedoms. Instead of living in fear of disease, fear of bankruptcy, and fear of terrorism, we can choose to live wisely and be free from fear. Fear constrains us... causing us to live a 'fight or flight' existence, submitting ourselves to the rule of others who claim to have 'the answer' (not!). Truth makes us free.

There is a higher way to live. We can choose to live a life that is guided by love and compassion, by spontaneity and creativity, by charity and humility, by truth and wisdom, by divine majesty. We can work to make today better than yesterday, and tomorrow better than today. We can learn to love a little better every day. We can pray to God. We can let the Book of Life speak to us and teach us the meaning of life.

As the Master of Life once said,
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the good news to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed..."

If we are willing to follow his example, then it will be said of us:
"Those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint."

The truth will make you free!