Everywhere I went it seemed people were praising and uplifting their appointed earthly savior and taunting and belittling those who were not among the supporters of this savior. They boldly named, without hesitation, ones they were convinced were causing all the problems – President Biden, leftists, liberals, democrats all of whom they called ‘evil’ . No amount of talking to them was going to change their minds – they were right and those who felt differently were wrong — period, exclamation point. The walls they were building around themselves were getting higher and wider and made of materials that were not only meant to shut out but to also cause harm to those choosing not to gather within those walls.
To make matters worse, those within the walls were building walls around their hearts. Their views were getting narrower and narrower and more extreme. They wanted their money, time, and efforts to help only themselves and/or ones who thought, looked, and acted like them. They seemed willing to lie, cheat, or steal to get their way.
They were not people of joy. How could they be? Their words and actions were negative, fearful, hateful, wrathful, judgmental. Their faces mirrored their inner emotions. Finger pointing and tearing down efforts to make themselves seem in the right and others in the wrong were increasingly on display. Those heart-protecting walls were getting closer and closer to being completed. They seemed not to realize the harm they were doing to relationships with friends, family, and to their relationship with God. The walls they were building around themselves were causing more and more darkness to envelop them.
Inwardly, I was crying for these who had figuratively ‘drank the Kool Aid’ being passed out by the ‘self-appointed holy ones’ and were now sinking deeper into the dark, soggy surroundings where cults and authoritarians and their servant supporters operate. Among the ones for whom I cried, and am crying still, are friends, neighbors, family. They are smart people, good people. I will never give up on them. How could I when I know God was and is still crying for them, also, and will never, ever give up on them?
I went to prayer with the One who sees the whole picture and has the answers. We walked and talked hours at a time over a period of several weeks. I was given help in bits and pieces. Most of what I was given helped with other blog entries I had been working to complete. The question of what to do to help those sinking deeper, deeper, deeper into darkness still weighed heavily on my mind.
During this period, I was led to articles that God suggested I read and save for use in other blogs. The one he suggested for use now was the AP story by Jill Colvin — ‘Here’s why Trump is selling $59.99 ‘God Bless the USA’ — which he also suggested everyone search for and read.
God said, “The Bible is not meant to serve as a photo op, as a prop to show how Christian one is, nor is it meant to be used as a money maker for personal use. One’s name should never be attached to it as it is when someone autographs it. Its name should never be changed. It is meant to serve as a guide for everyone, not just a segment of people. Do you not believe me when I say that you should never add to, take away from, or assign man’s interpretation to the Holy Word? To do so is an abomination.”
God added, “You can tell ones working for self-gains, self-promotion by their words and actions. My disciples do not seek awards, honors, or monetary or personal gains. Their words and actions bring honor and glory to me.”
Following God’s suggestion, I searched for and read the AP article by Jill Colvin — ‘Here’s why Trump is selling $59.99 ‘God Bless the USA’. I hope you will follow God’s suggestion also.
NOTE: Part of the following is a repeat – used in the entry ‘God Accomplishes What Man Believes to be Impossible’. God wanted it repeated to sink into your minds that nobody escape’s judgment day.
Next, God had me read Exodus 32 and note that the Israelites grew restless during the long period Moses was with God. They asked Aaron to make gods to go before them because they did not know what had happened to Moses. Aaron, not having the relationship with God that Moses had, did what the people asked. He used their gold jewelry to make an idol calf. He then made an altar in front of the calf and called for a festival to the Lord.
God knew what had happened and told Moses the people had become corrupt. God was angry and was going to use his anger to burn against them and destroy them.
Moses sought favor of the Lord on behalf of the people. God relented and sent Moses down the mountain with the two tablets of the law. When Moses saw the people in revelry, he threw down the tablets breaking them into pieces. Moses had to return to the Lord to ask the Lord’s forgiveness of the people. God said that whoever had sinned against him would be blotted out of his book. He said when it was time, he would punish them for their sin.
NOTE: God acts in his own way and in his own time. Those who think they have escaped punishment of sins, have not repented, and will never repent – especially ones who say they have no need to repent and ask forgiveness for they never do anything wrong — have an unimaginable fate waiting them. God suggests you return to the entry ‘About the Team Leader’ at the beginning of this blog and read it once again. In doing so, you will find the following reminder – “Know this: They (the lower case i ams, the wanna be rulers) may be praised and followed for a while, but they will eventually fail. Wait patiently and it will happen!”
God says, “If you have been following my suggestions, you should be realizing that the present-day, wanna be rulers – the ones who have been praised and followed – are showing the beginning signs of failure. Wait patiently and complete failure will happen.” Then he adds, “Only by failing will they begin to realize that doing things their way will always lead to eventual failure. Hopefully, they will open themselves to accepting my offer of help and guidance all wrapped in a father’s love.”
It came to me — after reading the suggested articles, rereading the story of the golden idol in Exodus 32, which brought to mind the present day golden statue of an earthly idol built and displayed at a political action conference in 2021, and, also, being reminded of the selling of Bibles to help pay legal fees — that through all these many, many years people have not learned from past mistakes, thus have not changed. Neither has God’s amazing, everlasting love for all changed. Just as he did in other times of his intervention, he is giving do overs, a chance for change of hearts, a chance for a life-saving relationship with him.
How does this do over work, you might ask? This time, God has gathered a remnant of disciples from all walks of life to show the way to establish that relationship. Those in the remnant are at work following God’s directions so that all may be done in God’s way and in God’s time.
Again, as he has done in the past to this disciple messenger, he gave the reminder that there will be disappointment, because not all will allow themselves to change. Instead, many will make the fatal, forever-after decision to refuse God’s invitation for a relationship with him and many others will think they are in relationship with him and are doing things the right way but are far from right — condemning and judging others who, they say, are doing things the wrong way — and will continue to do things by man’s way, not God’s way and in man’s time, not God’s time. They will continue to live in their earthly darkness, continue to walk the wrong path all the way downward. They will not do what is necessary to complete their life’s puzzle in such a way that is acceptable for filling its place in God’s Heavenly puzzle.
“Please God,” I prayed, “help me to complete your messages in the way you intend so that the souls of all possible may be saved. And, Lord, I especially pray that family, friends, and neighbors may be among those who see your Light and make the choice to follow it out of darkness. I have love in my heart for everyone, but I have a special relationship with these and to have any one of them choosing evil over good would cause great pain and grief for me as I know it would for you, also.”
I recognized it as answering my prayer when God named to me three of my favorites: Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and The Christmas Carol. He suggested I urge all to read or see by movie or on stage The Christmas Carol and view themselves as Scrooge and use The Sound of Music as a reminder of what happened to the people because of evil being permitted by ‘good people’ to have its way. And let My Fair Lady be a reminder that there are those who are using people to shape them into ‘robot-like’ creatures who speak and act as they wish. Remind them of lives, thus souls, lost. God points out that what happened in these stories is eerily like what is happening today. The choice is the same today as then – move out of the darkness and claim your offered Heavenly place or remain in the darkness and claim your place offered by Evil.
He then suggested that those not willing to cut the apron strings read Luke 16: 19 – 31. It is the story of Lazarus, a beggar who sat at the gate of a rich man longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Rather than just read the summary below, take time to read the whole passage in Luke to feel more of the suffering of the rich man as he begins to realize his forever fate and how he got there, how he realizes that he has friends and relatives who are living their lives in a way that will lead them to the same fate as his, and how he realizes that there is nothing he can do to help himself or others. He has reached the point of no return, no do overs, and he knows there are others who are following the same downward path he followed on earth.
A summary of the passage:
Both Lazarus and the rich man died and went to their forever after life. The beggar was carried by angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man went to Hades where he was in great torment, and, to make matters worse for him, he could see Abraham and Lazarus in what appeared to be paradise. He asked for Lazarus to give him water to cool his tongue and for his family to be warned of his torment so that they might repent before it is too late. He was told why these requests would not be fulfilled. The rich man had his good life on earth and Lazarus did not. If people do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not listen to someone who rises from the dead he was told.
God suggests to those who, like the rich man and/or his relatives, are not listening to God’s messages or to God’s messengers , “Open ears, hearts, and minds. Change now before it is too late. “Wake up, America! Reconcile!”
He then adds, “Oh, say, can you not see that reconciliation is the solution to the many problems being faced in families, governments, churches? A Christian heart leads you to reconciliation. Do you have a Christian heart — one that leans slightly to the left with no extremes — so that more can be done for the good of all?”
Then came July 13, 2024, and the shots that rang across America were shots that would solidify support for the ‘holy one’ whose ear was grazed but still managed to pump his fist in the air and say, ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’ while he was being whisked to safety as the crowd cheered. He was hailed as exemplifying strength thus showing to his devoted followers that he was, indeed, the one sent by God to save ‘us’ and destroy ‘them’. They could proudly point, as more proof, to Franklin Graham’s declaration at the Republican National Convention that God had spared his (Trump’s) life. As in the past when I had heard Franklin Graham’s name used to prove who was on the right side and who was on the wrong side, I knew Graham’s words of support would carry great weight.
NOTE: For those who did not hear Graham’s words of support for Trump, read articles like The Salt Lake Tribune ‘Opinion: The Christian case against Trump’ by Eliza Griswold/For The New York Times ; Aug. 3, 2024. In that article can be found Graham’s words, “God spared his life,” and his endorsement of Mr. Trump. Also, the convictions of other evangelists — whose words should carry much weight — can be found in the article, such as the words of Bishop William Barber II, listed as one with a Christian heart in the blog entry ‘Recognizing Disciples at work in today’s world’. Barber says that nations will be judged by how we respond to Jesus’ mandate to minister to ‘the least of these’.
Suggestion: Read Matthew 25: 31 – 46 to learn about this mandate and use it to evaluate your own actions toward the hungry, the thirsty, the imprisoned, the stranger, the least of these.
This holy one – who claimed that he was saved by the grace of God — became, to the Kool-Aid drinker, the proven great savior. They granted to him, and he accepted, a name meant for the true Holy One. They determined to lift him higher and higher – after all, in their minds, he was saved to carry out a high purpose.
There is no doubt that God wanted this one saved, but not for a dictatorship with an agenda that goes against the ways of God on every count. God wanted him saved for the same reason he wants all lives saved — to save souls, even unto the darkest of the dark souls. His purification system can wash them white as snow.
NOTE: God wanted the life of the one killed by the shooter’s bullet and the life of the shooter saved, also. He wants there to be no doubt about his wanting all lives saved, all souls saved – their last earthly breath takes away the chance for needed changes.
On the morning of July 20, 2024, when I was at the computer to record some of the bits and pieces that had been given to me, including the above — with the exception of the Salt Lake Tribune Opinion piece of Aug. 3rd which was given to me and inserted on 8/3/2024 — I was led to the following which God wants you to stop right now, search for the article, read, and realize why God wants lives saved.
The Daily Beast Opinion: Lessons for Trump From a Man Who Says God Saved His Life, Too by Michael Daly 7/19/2024
It is one thing to have that ‘my-life-passed-before-my-eyes’ moment and declare that God has saved your life, but it is another to show that you have learned a lesson from the experience and need to make positive life changes – changes that turn you from man’s ways to God’s ways.
Suggestion: Read HuffPost story by Taiyler S. Mitchell ‘Trump Denies Changing for the Better After Assassination Attempt’ (When I was re-reading this entry for needed changes on 8/6/24, God suggested this article be read by me and by all so you can know if needed changes have been made. God knows all, but we need visible proof.)
God repeats that he wants lives saved so that souls can be saved. It is he who will make the final judgement after your last earthly breath has been taken. It is his judgment that will lead to acceptance of your life’s puzzle into the heavenly puzzle or a non-acceptance of it. Non-acceptance will result in a forever after life that no one should want.
God says, “Those blindly following an earthly savior who is too big for his britches are — because of their unrelenting, blind devotion — too big for their britches and are complicit to all the sins committed by the one to whom they are bowing. Time to begin cutting the apron strings. Needed for the apron-string-cutting job are the full armor of God: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the word of God all wrapped up in constant prayer.
God asks, “Light or darkness? Your choice.” Again, God gives the reminder, “Wake up, America! Reconcile! Sooner rather than later is my suggestion. Remember, I am on a soul-saving mission. I provide the Lighted path I hope you choose to follow.”
UPCOMING: Concerns of 2014 Compared to Concerns of 2024