Growing Old

                                    

Wow! What happened?? In the blink of an eye I've become a scruffy antique! But that's good! There's an eternal purpose concealed in the enigma of time. In 1963 I was a clueless high school senior. Now at 72 I'm a revived, school of hard knocks senior.

In my late 20's I had a life altering encounter with Jesus. It was as if I'd been dreaming all my life and suddenly I was wide awake! My life was no longer meaningless and absurd. I didn't know I was dreaming until I woke up to unimaginable love, hope and saving grace. The truth of that experience has been confirmed innumerable times over the years.

This rant is not gloomy negativity. It's about the goodness of God that leads to repentance! But, until you've truly resolved the specter of death, your fake optimism will backfire.  If we fail to see our dire need for a Savior we will continue in wishful thinking.

Life on earth is merely a fleeting vapor. Time is a brief cosmic aberration, intended to humble us so we'll wake up to reality and choose eternal life. “This sore travail has God given to the sons of men, to humble them thereby.”(1) Life is a process of humiliation designed to awaken us. Growing old is actually God's mercy, intended to expose our deceptive thinking. This earthly journey is a grace period - our last chance to be delivered from self-deification.

The tragedies of life will either break and humble you, or you will proudly refuse to admit your spiritual bankruptcy, and self-delusion will consume you. We are all in a time warped metamorphosis, and our choices in this dark cocoon seal our eternal destiny. Old age is the cleaving of our cocoon. Are you becoming a butterfly or a dead larvae?

Grace and Truth come only by humility. If you are brutally honest, you will hear God in your conscience, and realize that apart from Him, all is vanity and hopeless vexation. But in Him is unfathomable peace, joy and love!

Knowledge of absolute immutable Truth is available to anyone who honestly seeks God. But, brokenness is required. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart.”(2)   How desperate are you to know Him? Until you're painfully aware of your need for God's mercy, the Truth will not penetrate your heart. Old age is God's last call!

There's only one source of eternal life. “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (3) Without the Spirit of Christ, you are literally “The Walking Dead.”

It's easy for prisoners on death row to seek God. But, we are all on death row! Seek Him with desperation, and you will know with unmitigated assurance that Jesus doesn't merely represent the way, the truth and life, but He literally IS the only Way, Truth and Life. (4)

Every person on the planet intuitively recognizes Christ because our spirits originated in heaven, (5) yet our egotistical, wounded, angry, indoctrinated hearts contradict and displace the voice of God. But, when we become vulnerable enough to receive the Holy Spirit, “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” (6) Such invincible knowing eclipses mind and emotions.

Jesus, “The Light of the World,” was sent to a planet defined as the “region and shadow of death.”(7)   He revealed that “reality” as advertised on earth, is in fact a dark devolving illusion. The Bible calls it “sin.”

Quantum physics envisions a shocking probability. The universe may be nothing more than a hologram or a symbolic manifestation of energy. Physicists are convinced that reality differs dramatically from its appearance. This resonates with Jesus' message. He came to earth to reveal ultimate reality called “The Kingdom of God.” According to scripture, there is a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness. All else is incomplete and transitory, but heaven and hell are eternal. I can deny it, distort it or misconceive it, but I cannot create an alternative reality. I can only choose life or death.

If I demand that God appease the thoughts of my wounded soul before I yield to Him, then I have placed myself in the absurd and dangerous position of judging God. “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” (8)

“Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; and madness is in their hearts while they live.”(9) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can fathom it?”(10) This is the state of humanity. It is not subject to man's opinions or noble acts, and failure to perceive it will forever seal your destiny as a legal slave of Satan. 

 

The bottom line is this: All human existence will be reduced to the unalterable eternal realities of heaven or hell. There are only two options: “the law of the spirit of life in Christ,” or the “law of sin and death.” (11) Which law will you embrace? The choice is entirely yours. Indecision is a choice.

You will only believe what you are willing to accept. Accept nothing less than absolute assurance. When you “see” Him there will be no question.

“If you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (12) "So I (Jesus) say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (13) 
 

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (14)

References

1. Ecclesiastes 1:13
2. Psalms 51:17
3. 1 John 5:12
4. John 14:6
5. Genesis 2:7
6. Romans 8:16
7. Matthew 4:16
8. Prov 14:12
9. Ecclesiastes 9:3 
10. Jeremiah 17:9
11. Romans 8:2 
12. Deuteronomy 4:29
13. Luke 11:9 
14. John 17:3


  Copyright 2018 By: Hayden Humphrey

 

Can We Really Trust The Bible?

It's a strange phenomenon that all Christians seem to naively accept the Bible as God's infallible word. Is this brain washing or is it supernatural? Many believers try to rationally convince themselves of the Bible's veracity. I don't know about you, but in spite of the impressive data, I could never entrust my soul to mere human intellectual conclusions.

 

However, absolute Truth can be known with unassailable assurance, not because you have analyzed it, but because you have become mystically one with it. “He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”(1) If you haven't met the Author, the Bible will frustrate you, but when He dwells in you, scripture is illuminated and affirmed with wondrous certainty. Our primary goal is not knowing the book of the Lord, but knowing the Lord of the book.(2)

The issue here is not really the Bible, it's about Jesus Christ. He is called “The Living Word,”(3) and the Bible personifies Him. Jesus exposed a paramount deception regarding Bible interpretation when he confronted the religious bureaucrats: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. ...yet you refuse to come to me to have life. "(4) Eternal life is not found in a book, that's why we don't worship the Bible.

The language of the human spirit is image and symbolism. Written words are merely symbols. There's no life in the ink, or even in a concept, just inert images of reality. If a symbol was perfect it would literally be truth, not just an impotent shadow. Knowing and believing the truth behind words is what gives words power.

Biblical manuscripts (translated symbols) may be imperfect, yet the truth behind them is pure and unadulterated. Human language is a marred and fragmentary expression of fallen man, but if it's inspired by the Holy Spirit, it can be understood via the Holy Spirit. Jesus said “Everyone that is of the truth hears my voice.”(5) That's the key to the Bible!

 

When Peter realized that Jesus was God incarnate, Jesus said “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”(6) Jesus made it clear that even our most basic insights into His Word depend upon spiritual revelation, i.e. experience. “Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God,”(7) and “No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit,”(8) unless you're a parrot.

The Bible is not a legal document, theology text or procedure manual. It's an anthology of personal encounters with God, and it makes no sense unless you've had your own Divine encounter. God said “He has placed His word above His name,”(9) but not above His presence! When the Bible, together with our re-born spirit and our brain, becomes a three-fold cord, then all life makes delightful sense.

Ever since the serpent said to Eve, “Did God really say?”(10) the Word of God has been perverted and attacked. The Bible is the most feared and hated book in the world, because it exposes and ultimately eradicates all evil. As the epic battle between light and darkness grows exponentially, everything will be reduced to Jesus Christ and the Bible versus all else.

This battle is the most serious thing in your life. Your earthly journey is merely a fleeting vapor. Don't live in presumption. Read the Bible, it's your most valuable earthly asset. The Living Word is knocking at your door. Enlightenment, assurance, peace, joy, hope, eternal purpose and mind-blowing love await you! 

        References:

        1.  1 Corinthians 6:17

        2.  2 Timothy 1:12

        3.  John 1:1

        4.  John 5:39-40

        5.  John 18:37 KJV

        6.  Matthew 16:16-17

        7.  John 3:3

        8.  1 Corinthians 12:3

        9.  Psalm 138:2 KJV

       10. Genesis 3:1 

Copyright 2015 By: Hayden Humphrey

Random Thoughts

Superior intelligence isn't an advantage for discerning ultimate Truth, because our greatest abilities are also our greatest liabilities. The greater our skills at manipulating people, the greater our ability for self deception. People with high emotional intelligence, often have the most emotional baggage. Thankfully, you don't have to be smart or psychologically whole to know God.

Jesus reduced us all to little children when he said, “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” (1) Children are guileless, simple-minded and accessible. For an adult to reach that child-like state you must have “A broken and a contrite heart.” (2)

The tragedies of life will either break and humble you, or you will proudly refuse to admit your spiritual bankruptcy, and self-delusion will consume you. We are all in a time warped metamorphosis, and our choices in this dark cocoon seal our eternal destiny.

It's easy for prisoners on death row to seek and find God. But, we are all on death row! Seek Him with brutal honesty and desperation, and you will know with unmitigated assurance that Jesus doesn't merely represent the way, the truth and the life, but He literally IS the only Way, Truth and Life. (3)

This is not intellectual suicide. It's amazing enlightenment that satisfies reason at every level of our being. “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." (4) Please don't remain a zombie!

References:

1. Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17

2. Psalm 51:17

3. John 14:6

4. 1 John 5:11-12

Copyright 2015 Hayden Humphrey

Aborting Abortion

The pro-life position derives its logic from the knowledge that absolute immutable truth exists, while the logic of pro-choice is founded on unsustainable relativism. The two sides are not even speaking the same language. I cannot intellectually prove to a skeptic that abortion is murder, with eternal consequences, because moral reasoning is limited to the scope of one's spiritual revelation. Nevertheless, I must try.

Abortion intuitively and profoundly transcends the heartless perception of science. How else can you explain the emotional trauma that abortion wreaks in mothers? “Pro-choice” flagrantly contradicts every fiber of maternal instincts. Even wild beasts naturally sacrifice their own lives to protect their young. The inevitable fallout of remorse and shame following an abortion is one of the industry's dirty secrets. Nevertheless, I assure you that if you've participated in an abortion, forgiveness and restoration are available through Jesus Christ.

It's scientifically irrefutable that the baby in the womb is not the Mother's body. Therefore, the euphemistic term “pro-choice” is invalid. The unique human in the womb, and the mother, are genetically diverse and antagonistic    Every unborn child expresses antigens incompatible with the mother, and yet miraculously it's not rejected by the maternal immune system! This blatantly contradicts the absurdity of evolution. How could evolution anticipate and resolve such a reproduction incongruity? Human reproduction is a pantheon of similar miracles that all point to God.

It's easy to understand the passionate pro-life stance, if you realize that murder is the issue. But how do you explain such aggressive resistance by the pro-abortion mentality? "The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” There's something occult and diabolical here. The pro-abortion camp refuses, with uncanny determination, to admit that abortion is murder because that would imply personal accountability, and jeopardize their libertarian illusion.

Those hypothetical extreme cases used to justify abortion laws, are simply an indictment of man's inability to solve complex moral dilemmas without God. To justify the taking of innocent life because of rape, incest or birth defects, requires the same diabolical self-deification that motivated Nazism. It's called eugenics. The combined wisdom of humanity is incapable of resolving these ethical dilemmas that haunt our degenerating culture. You cannot remedy one evil by applying a greater evil – infanticide!

The ultimate evil is the shedding of innocent blood, which the Bible warns, brings a curse upon a nation.(1) What is more innocent than an unborn child? Every year, Americans slaughter innocent children by the millions. This is a true Holocaust, making ISIS and MS13 look like wimps. It's been said that the most dangerous place for an American to be is in the womb.

Abortion is not some sanitized scientific dogma, it's unmitigated murder, and therefore, it's a spiritual matter. This is an epic battle between good and evil. It is, like all wars, inescapably religious. Just because abortion is obfuscated with psychobabble, doesn't negate the fact that it's actually satanic child sacrifice. “For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear."(2)   There are only two kinds of people in the earth: Those who can hear Jesus Christ and those who refuse.

You cannot contemplate abortion without coming face to face with God. You may refuse or be unable to recognize Him, but I guarantee He's speaking. If you are brutally honest, you will hear Him in your conscience. Think about it. If I were actively opposing God, I'd sure want to know. It's a sobering fact that the first person to recognize Jesus was an unborn child! (3)

Copyright 2015 by Hayden Humphrey

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 106:38-40

2. Mark 4:22-23

3. Luke 1:41

Gay Marriage License

To my Christian friends: This will incite lots of vitriol, but I have my flak vest on. I'm troubled by the glorification of the Kentucky clerk's violation of the gay marriage law. Yes, we are to obey God rather than man. But when? The only report of New Testament believers rebelling against bureaucrats was when they were forbidden to preach the Kingdom of God. Was she really preaching (embodying) the Gospel?

If this clerk risked jail to avoid any appearance of endorsing gay marriage, why didn't she also take a lesser risk, and refuse to give licenses to couples who were fornicators, chronically angry, drug addicts, liars, Muslims or atheists? Why are homosexuals so excoriated by Christians? All humans are in the same boat before we come to Christ, and Christians are not superior. We are just receivers of Jesus' pardon, with access to God's transforming love.

Our role as Christians is to manifest and proclaim Jesus, not to condemn unbelievers. The Bible says: “It is not my business to judge those who are not part of the church. God will judge them. But you must judge the people who are part of the church.” “God...alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?”

History sadly confirms that forcing your morality on someone is anti-Christ. You cannot manifest Jesus without love and mercy. Jesus treated unbelievers with compassion and tenderness, but he was harsh toward religious bigots, not because he hated them, but because religious arrogance is the greatest deception.

The government has no right to legislate religious preferences. Therefore, they had to eliminate God from their definition of marriage, defaulting to a mere civil union. However, if you believe that marriage is a covenant with God and not the state, then the government's approval of all marriages is morally inert. What does a marriage license have to do with God? Nothing! Then, why are you so freaked out over this? Why despise and fear someone whose definition of marriage is different than yours?

The reason America has morally disintegrated, is not the government's fault, it's the church's lack of love. Neither legislation nor insurrection will resolve America's moral cataclysm. Only an awakening to Jesus Christ can transform this nation, person by person. If someone's life style offends you, look inside and repent of cold-hearted pride. We aren't allowed to hate anyone.

Choose your battles carefully! Are you motivated by prejudice (pre-condemnation) or the Holy Spirit who is Love? We aren't fighting against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers. Persecution is inevitable for all who walk the love walk, but there is also persecution for religious pretense that will reap profound regret. Civil disobedience is valid when the Holy Spirit directs it, but be prepared to pay the price.

The only Biblical definition of the church is a “house of prayer for all nations.” That's it. It's that simple! Our bodies are now the temple of God and prayer is the main event. The church's primal mission is not to legislate morality or impose a fascist agenda, but to pray! If prayer is marginalized, and we keep poking the government in the eye, the persecution will become so horrific that desperate intercession will flow like a wild river. It doesn't have to get that bad if we passionately pray now, motivated by love for others.

Our nation aches to see Christ's redemptive love, not condemnation and hatred.

Copyright 2015 by Hayden Humphrey

"Believe in Yourself" ??

I often see Face Book posts that capsulize this generation's religion: “Believe in yourself.” “Your imagination creates your reality.” “If you can dream it, you can do it.” “Think and grow rich.”..etc.   It all sounds virtuous, but such optimistic buzzwords are really tentacles of an insidious veiled philosophy.

As the world's turmoil escalates, it's going to become shockingly clear that everything in life can be reduced to two incompatible realities: light or darkness, truth or deception, life or death, heaven or hell, Jesus Christ or evil. Accordingly, there are two sources of thoughts in the universe by which our innate ability to BELIEVE can operate: The wisdom from above or the wisdom from below, the Holy Spirit or the demonic. (1)

It's blindness to assume that all reality is unified, and therefore all spiritual powers represent God. “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” -  Or the “teachings handed down by human beings and from the ruling spirits of the universe.”(2)

To believe that you can initiate and empower your own destiny is an illusion. Humans are not autonomous. We are intrinsically dependent. “Do you not know, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (3) That's a universal Law. “You are not your own; you were bought with a price.” (4) Anyone not submitted to Jesus Christ is by default a legal slave of Satan, regardless of your elevated thoughts and wonderful life.

Jesus revealed that there are only two kinds of people on the planet: those who hear Him and those who won't. (5) Many assume that God will endorse their intentional and noble believing when in fact He may not. We see this at the infamous Tower of Babel where man's unified purpose, language and self confidence prompted God to reveal this astonishing fact: “Nothing shall be restrained from them which they have imagined to do.”(6) This stunning potential of focused imagination is an innate God given ability, but it can operate without God's sanction or power.

The saga of the Tower of Babel may seem infantile to our modern conceit, but its motive of self-exaltation is alive and well. "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves.” (7) That is the delusional deification of man!

The seduction of human-potential principles is their ability to function without God, even in a “Christian” context. Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”(8) We can freely imagine and initiate, but without a literal interchange with Christ it's a malignant exercise. "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing.”(9) If Jesus in his humanity, restricted His thinking and believing to God's input, isn't that a model for us? “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."(10) That's the key to true fulfillment and achievement!

Believing in yourself, quantum physics or the life force, is NOT Biblical faith. Even though all humans have a natural capacity for faith, the Bible says that not everyone actually has faith.(11) This is a vital distinction that many fail to grasp, and it's not just semantics. Trusting and believing are fundamental qualities of human nature. However, neither trusting nor believing is faith, they are actions. Faith is a noun, not some capricious leap in the dark initiated by our imagination.

The reason that not all have faith is that it's a divine virtue alien to corrupt flesh, and it must be imparted, because “in my flesh, dwells no good thing.” (12) The Bible describes faith as “substance” and “evidence.” (13) Faith has actual existence that transcends our three dimensional world. There is nothing comparable to faith. The Bible calls it a fruit of the Holy Spirit and a gift that is found only in Jesus Christ. (14) Believing is our mental response to faith. Trusting is our emotional response to faith. But without this divine gift of faith, my believing and trusting will automatically revert to some futile false security or bewitching power.

You were created to passionately participate in God's eternal love and creativity, and it can only happen by 'hearing' the word of God. (15) It's not merely a printed word on a page, but a spiritual exchange with the Living Word of God, that produces faith. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”(16)

 

Footnotes:

1. James 3:15
2. Colossians 2:8 NIV and GNT
3. Romans 6:16
4. 1 Corinthians 6:19
5. Matthew 11:15, 13:9; Mark 4:9, 23 etc...
6. Genesis 11:6 KJV
7. Genesis 11:4
8. John 15:5
9. John 5:19
10. Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4
11. 2 Thessalonians 3:2 NIV
12. Romans 7:18
13. Hebrews 11:1 KJV
14. 1 Timothy 1:14; 2 Timothy 1:13; Galatians 2:20, 3:23-25, 5:22; Ephesians 2:8; 1 Peter 1:21 KJV
15. Romans 10:17 KJV
16. John 15:7 KJV

Copyright 2015 by Hayden Humphrey

The Illusion of Self Righteousness

Have you considered the possibility that humanity has been captivated by a colossal deception? Disease, suffering, fear, war and death constantly stalk mankind. Psychological, intellectual and spiritual darkness is pandemic. Something is tragically wrong.

Jesus, “The Light of the World,” was sent to a planet defined as the “region and shadow of death.”  He revealed that “reality” as advertised on earth, is in fact darkness and destruction. We deftly evade our own mortality, and our inner duplicity taunts us. Thoreau said it well, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Yet, how obsessively we repress it. Without an encounter with God, “Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” (Macbeth)

Humanity has been seduced and enslaved by a counterfeit reality that breeds intractable selfishness, pride, fear, anger and deceit. “Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; and madness is in their hearts while they live.” “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can fathom it?” (Ecc 9:3; Jer 17:9)

No one is exempt. You cannot understand the “Jesus thing” until you see the brutal reality of your own heart, and honestly admit that you are morally bankrupt.   Our innate depravity cannot be surmounted by talent, intelligence or positive thinking. Regardless of how we adorn ourselves with noble deeds or religious buzz words, we are all congenital hypocrites.

The Bible's shocking indictment that, “there is no one who does good, not even one," cannot be understood without a glimpse of God's pure and holy love. Such love cannot be earned or duplicated.

A happy-face charade of moral superiority cannot not absolve your sin. The Bible makes the alarming statement that self-righteousness is as “filthy rags” in God's sight, and “verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” (Isa 64:6; Ps 39:5) Does that imply God is unloving?  No.  It implies that we need a Savior.

There is nothing we can do to bridge the chasm between us and God. If I give all I possess to the poor, perform miracles and become a martyr, I am still nothing . . unless I receive a divine infusion of Holiness and Love. (Eph 4:24; Phil 3:9)

Christians are not superior to unbelievers. They are just receivers of Jesus' pardon, and frail containers of His Spirit, which offers intimate access to God, and radically alters their perspective.

When we see the gospel misrepresented and perverted by apparent “losers,” we feel justified in rejecting Christ's message. But there is no excuse. Imperfect people may violate Truth but we can never invalidate or alter it.

"God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." (Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5) Pride is your greatest antagonist. “Dysfunctional” people fill churches because humiliation is required to see Truth. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart.” (Ps 51:17) How desperate are you to know Him?

If you will approach God in child like simplicity and trust, you will discover that He is not like you feared. He reveals Himself to your heart, not your head, and that requires vulnerability. He will never violate your free will, but He offers unspeakable joy, peace and love.

This is not about intellectual suicide or blindly following dogma. It's about an awakening through a literal encounter with Jesus Christ. Seek God with honesty and diligence and you won't be disappointed. Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you..” (Mat 7:7; Lk 11:9)   Millions and millions worldwide from every culture can attest to the validity of that statement.

“There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Prov 14:12; 16:25) The temporary reality of this world is deceit, decay and death masquerading as light. That's why Jesus warned, “If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Mat 6:23) If you create god in the image of your wounded angry heart you open yourself to false “light”.

Absolute Truth is self evident and needs no human verification.  Don't settle for anything less than unmitigated assurance. True enlightenment requires a grave and profound respect for the Creator of the universe. Your eternal destiny is at stake.   The ball is in your court.    Indecision is a choice.

Copyright 2012 by Hayden Humphrey