6
May
2007
Bogey Alert!
Submitted by theshovel
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PDF versionA few years ago, a very close couple often related what they called “bogey alerts”. What this dear lady referred to was the onslaught of “well intentioned” random confrontations from members of their former religious group. And for a while it seemed no matter where they turned these folks were everywhere. Only one concern emerged from these encounters, Church Attendance. Quickly realizing that these people were not their friends they soon learned to avoid them like the plague.
What I’m telling you is that if you have discovered true freedom you have become a threat to those who trust in things that have no real substance. For such things are built upon the illusion of substance. And there is only one true substance: God, the eternal I Am. If you have made it known in some way that your confidence in those former things has failed, you need to be aware of something. For those who trust in the world of illusion will find themselves compelled to protect that which your confidence exposes as being the nothing that it truly is.
Now, I would not have you to be paranoid, as that is a trait built upon the same world of illusion, but I do desire that you not be ignorant of this world’s intention toward you. You are being sought after, and those who seek you desire to neutralize the threat you are … for your trust in the only true substance is the one thing that cannot be tolerated.
You will be pressed upon to engage in a battle of wits, but don’t go there. For it makes no difference how spiritual your methods and sources seem. Such contests are played by the rules of the world you think you challenge with your quotes and/or higher reasoning.
You will also be provoked to stand upon and defend your morality and your accomplishments, but I tell you that it is pure insanity to even try to compare the illusionary stuff of this world with the one who is life. If you suppose you can win a pissing contest with the world you’re going to get wet. It’s their playground.
Listen, would you go back to your old elementary school and hangout at the playground during recess because the kids challenged you to a childish contest? If not, why would you do a similar thing with the elementary-minded folks who challenge you during the course of your day? Don’t let anyone make you feel obligated to play the old dead games anymore!
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Comments
Re: Bogey Alert!
Re: Bogey Alert!
Posted: May-06-07 at 6:44pm by Bea
Wonderful!!! Thank you so much ... I found myself engaged in just such a struggle last week and came out it feeling so stupid!!(wonder why?) :} Thank you for reminding me of these things!!! God Bless you and good luck with the house thing!:} Bea
Posted: May-07-07 at 7:39pm by Neil
Eatin' it by the spoonful!
And boy is it good! Thanks, brother for these quick takes, and for the imput by your charming wife -- which I had failed to mention some time ago.
People ravaged by the "illusion of substance" (I love that term) are everywhere. I won't go into detail about an elderly man (a "snowbird") I met the other day who is thus ravaged, but suffice it to say that it has torn him to pieces. He is so conflicted, so confused -- all the while claiming that his faith in God is totally correct -- that he doesn't know which way to turn concerning a longstanding -- and heartbreaking -- problem. On the one hand he expects God to "bless him" with what he needs to get through this hellish situation, while on the other he curses God for not doing it. Then he catches himself that it must be something about him that is the problem. Neither his faith or God must be it; can't be...God doesn't lie (he has all the scriptures that prove this memorized). The miserable man has all the standard deceits that he has been taught all his life, and he is 85 years old! But he is so caught up into what he feels has served him well these many years that he is totally closed to any suggestion that it might possibly be otherwise. So I have watched him suffer, though not much since he is just a new acquaintance and will be leaving for his northern home in a day or so. What a pity because what I've been able to determine is that he doesn't have faith in God at all...he has faith in himself which he wants God to honor. Of course this "God" that he believes in isn't really the God eternal at all, but some illusory entity created by man.
Posted: May-07-07 at 7:47pm by John
My precious Brother! Wonderful!! Thank you! Hope you don't mind a brief (hopefully) response--I can hardly hold back the Amens!
I'm learning how to live amongst the bogeys. I mostly just refuse to engage them (though I still get snagged every once in awhile :-) It's like a little game to play now--something like the rope-a-dope that Ali used to do--just to see how many times they'll swing and miss until they expend so much energy that they might come to the end of themselves.
In the meantime, I hardly break a sweat because I realize the answer to this question: "Do I REALY care what the Pharisee is criticizing now?" The answer is "no, not usually." They have nothing I want or need because I am not a part of their system. They are about nothing that I admire or enjoy or want to emulate. If they criticize me, so what. Like Skipper the Penguin said in that kid's movie, "Madagascar," "just smile and wave, boys, smile and wave." :-) Sometimes I go down the the Elementary School playground just to WATCH the children play, and fuss, and argue, etc, and when they try to engage me, I just "smile and wave." :-)
The only thing that will get me is when they bully someone that has not yet been liberated or does not yet fully understand the truth--like my kids. I can tell that this is what has stirred you in the article below. It's the only thing that stirred the Lord Jesus re: the Pharisees.
The Lord has blessed my family to have such a relationship with my children that they love the subversive element of the truth. So, when they hear worldly rhetoric or endure the Pharisees at school or "church," they come home and say, "Dad, that didn't sound right!" Then we talk :-)
I love to let the Lord show me where I can furtively interject that subversive element of the truth then watch it work like leaven in the lump. Oh, anyway, it's a lot of fun and I look forward to hearing more--I love it on a Monday morning! Have a great one, my brother! I just love you to death! ;-)
Posted: May-07-07 at 7:47pm by Sylvia
Thanks for the word of truth, Jim! I'm so thankful God has taught me that only HE is life, only HE is truth, only HE is the one I need!!! Sylvia
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