Connection Between the Heaven and Earth

     (For today's commentary, refer to yesterday's graphic at  https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2019/04/symbolism-of-cross.html)

     "In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth" (Gen 1:1). No one knows where Heaven is, but people experience earth. Heaven is surreal and earth real. In the beginning before the foundation of the world, God planned a unification between Heaven and the Earth. As people now experience Earth, some will experience Heaven. There is a path to Heaven from Earth and it is narrow and has an intersection. I am speaking of the Cross. Of course, the wooden cross on Calvary is just a representation of the real "Cross."
     It must be understood that the Cross of Golgotha was a "tree."

And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree (Acts 10:39), And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him (Jesus), they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. (Acts 13:29)

    Furthermore, the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden and Paradise in Heaven is representative of Jesus (Gen 2:9 and Rev 22:2). The Trees are the same "tree" in different places. What is known is that Heaven is up from Jerusalem since Jesus ascended from the Garden of Gethsemane. It is no coincidence that Heaven is directly above Jerusalem since that city means "foundation of peace."
     The Tree of Life - Jesus Christ - is the Way to Heaven (John 14:6). Jesus is the real "Tree" in that the leaves of his Tree are the twelve fruits of the Spirit (Rev 22:2). Jesus's outstretched arms on the Cross were welcoming "whosoever" would come (John 3:16).  The Cross itself represents a decision - to follow Jesus or not - to trust him for salvation or not.
     Helena, wife of Constantine, identified the Cross on which Jesus was crucified according to the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was made of three woods according to them: cedar, pine and cypress. It makes sense that if so, cypress would be the trunk of the cross, cedar the likely cross member, and pine the foot support.
     On the other hand, Isaiah pointed toward four types of wood: " He (The Carpenter) heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it" (Isa 44:14).
     From scripture, it would appear that ash was planted in the ground, hence it was the post of the cross or the tree trunk.
     From 2 Samuel 18:9-10 the bars of the cross would be oak since Absalom was hung on the limbs of an oak. But that was Absalom. He was a king, and Jesus the King. Oak seems fitting for a "king" to hang from to die.
    It makes sense that the foot support was made of cedar in that bird sacrifices were made on cedar and the blood of the bird mixed with water was sprinkled on the wood (Lev 14:51). Of course, when Jesus was pierced by the soldier, blood and water issued from his abdomen (John 19:34). The foot support was surely made of cedar as was symbolized from the Old Testament.
     That would leave cypress for the sign, "King of the Jews." Cypress is only mentioned in one passage in the Bible (Isa 44:14 above). Cypress in nearly all societies are symbolic of death, and is designated "the cemetery tree" (Wikipedia; "Cupressus sempervirens"). Perhaps the death of the King was worthy of cypress. Perhaps the superscription written above Jesus (Luke 22:38) was of cypress wood. The only existing evidence of the woods of the Cross is Holy Scripture.
     The Cross is the place of the stairway to Heaven referred to as Jacob's ladder according to scripture: "And he (Jacob) dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it" (Gen 28:12). Jesus is "The Angel of God" with whom Jacob wrestled (Gen 32:24-30). Jacob, I believe, dreamed of seeing the Cross on which Jesus ascended. The Cross points upward toward Heaven from the Earth. It validates the connection between the Heaven and the Earth.
    Jesus descended into Hell to deliver all the sins of mankind. Hell is believed to be at the earth's core. I have calculated the temperature of a kiln and compared it to the estimated temperature of the earth's core. It calculated 6.7 or roughly seven times hotter than fire! (Dan 3:19) which is symbolic of Hell. Not by coincidence, the foundation stone on Mount Moriah (Zion) is believed to be both the access to Heaven and the entryway via he abyss below it, to Hell.
     The Cross not only may represent the connector between the Earth and Heaven but the ways to Heaven and Hell.
     Why a Cross? Why not just a tree trunk? Because the Cross represents choices; the left branch those not persuaded and the right branch those persuaded. Of what? That Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the route to Life (John 14:6).
     The most obvious symbolism of the Cross is the foot support and the superscription "King of the Jews." Kings have realms; Jesus realm is the Kingdom of God which is Paradise in Heaven. What about the foot support? "Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest" (Isa 66:1)? The foot support was God's aforementioned "footstool" and the "house" built for Jesus and Christians was in Heaven: "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). God's throne is in Heaven and sits on a sea of glass (Rev 4:6).
     The sea of glass is transparent. Christians below can see the unseen by faith, and those above see the Cross - how they got there. The Cross connects the Earth to Heaven, but also the Earth to Hell. How so? Jesus death on the Cross represents the vicarious death of the Serpent which Moses displayed on a pole - the Serpent's "tree" of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
     Long before the foundation of the world, God made plans for the ladder to Heaven. Genesis 1:1 alludes to some type of connection between the two. It is not said outright, but Jesus's birth and death were planned before the creation (John 17:24)! Jacob's "ladder" was surely the Cross of Jesus. That cross connected the Heaven with the Earth.
     In order to complete the connection, it had to be more than symbolic. Hence, a real tree was hewn to bridge the divided - The Tree of Life died on the Cross on Earth yet still lives in Heaven. Jesus is the bridge between the Heaven and the Earth and the Cross s symbolic of that!

Symbolism of the Cross

     Others have their non-scriptural "Tree of Life." My gift for you on this Good Friday is the Good News. I have identified the meaning of the Tree of Life which represents Jesus Christ who was crucified on a "tree" according to Acts 5:30, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree." Obviously, the cross was called a "tree" and Jesus is the Tree who hung upon the tree. Jesus experienced death in our places. He didn't die because he lives this day in Paradise.
     Who died on a tree, then? The Serpent was alive in his tree when he deceived Eve, and died vicariously on the tree of Good Friday. What was so "good" about the crucifixion day? Satan - the Serpent - was made impotent. Sin was destroyed on that old tree. The Serpent is represented by the unrepentant thief who died for Satan. Jesus died for the repentant thief on the right. He represents Christians. Satan is a good as dead. That's why Friday before Easter is so good!
     I believe that Jesus created the heaven and the earth as he Is the Creator. He was in the Garden when it was generated. Jesus was there when one thief was regenerated. Jesus was as well; he gave up the Ghost as his soul was emptied by the loss of virtue. It took three days for the virtue to be restored. Jesus physically died, but his soul slept. He awakened on the third day with all the sin of all mankind of all ages dumped off in Hell. The cross symbolizes much. I did my best to identify the many things that happened and were represented by the cross. It may grow more, but below I have presented my thoughts on the cross. Note that it is empty as Jesus is in Paradise. His work was finished there, and he went to the place in Heaven which his Father had prepared for him.
     I believe that people can't find the Garden of Eden because only its foundation is there. It is the city of Jerusalem as can he deduced from the Bible and sacred literature. Jesus came home to die, it seems - from the Garden Paradise to the foundation of peace" which is Jerusalem. Heavenly Paradise is "up" from there, and the cross points toward Paradise. The cross itself represents a crossroads, a way less chosen. Now consider the graphic which I have provided.
    Imagine if you will, the blood stains on the cross. Jesus was crucified and lost much blood. Not sure that he was dead, a soldier pierced his side and blood and water ran out. That is symptomatic of dehydration according to physicians. Jesus thirsted to death as he gave up living water on our behalf. Salvation is by the blood and water - his blood and the experience of the Holy Spirit who became Jesus's Holy Ghost when it was finished: "(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" (John 7:39).

Symbolism of the Tree of Life (Larry R. Herrin; April 19, 2019)

Crucifying with Impunity

      The occasion arose that legalists brought to the temple a woman to be stoned for adultery. They called Jesus "Master." As usual, the scribes and Pharisees were testing Jesus's adherence to the Law because adultery was punishable by death. There is, however, no law in the Bible that adulterers be punished by stoning. At best, some sexual sins are worthy of stoning. (Deut 22). However, the case is that both the man and woman die. (Deut 22:22), likely by stoning (Deut 22:21). 

     Scribes were the "lawyers" who knew and decided the intent of Mosaic Law. They were admired by most Jews for their ability to understand and apply the Law. Originally, they were only clerks who made copies - early photocopy machines, but they came to know the law so well, that they were allowed to practice conviction and judgment. They were not qualified to practice law but took it upon themselves. Visualize a number of narcissists allowed to run amuck, condemning who they may.

     The Pharisees were a religious sect along with the Essenes and Saducees. They had their own versions of the Law of God. They were the politicians who made commentary on the Law and brought violations to the attention of the people. Now read about the woman who was accused of adultery:

3 The scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act... 7 he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst... 10 where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? (John 8:3-10)

     The Pharisees made the law more encompassing by adding regulations until even the most righteous violated many laws. The Pharisees were quite religious in public but what they did in privacy was another story. They were the proverbial hypocrites.
     The scribes made no pretense of keeping the law but only decided what others should do. Neither group were merciful in their accusations. They merely looked at the law and concluded that it was violated.
     The point that Jesus made with the politicians and legalists were that they had did wrong things themselves. He made no accusations; Jesus allowed the scribes and Pharisees to convict themselves. They all knew that their sins were equally grievous, and abandoned their crusade against the woman who they claimed was adulterous. Claimed?  Yes, their story was that she was caught in the act (John 8:4).
     However, they presented no evidence, no witnesses, and no accomplices. Adultery, from Deuteronomy, required two parties - a man and a woman. The mob, for that is what they were, presented the case against the woman only. That would make anyone suspect. If there was no man involved, then there was no adultery. There was no "smoking gun" as we now say.
     Jesus asked the woman to testify on her behalf: Where are your accusers? (John 8:10). She replied, "No man, Lord." (John 8:11). Then the self-righteous mob -the Pharisees - judged and  accused Jesus of being a fraud: "Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true." They had no evidence or an accomplice's testimony that the woman even committed adultery, but they just would not let it go; someone had to be guilty of something, so they pointed the finger at Jesus!
     Because there was no evidence, and evidence with two witnesses were required by law (John 8:17), case dismissed. Jesus implied that if they were as right-minded as they appeared and really knew God, they would have known him. (John 8:19). As such, these posers were not righteous judges at all but mere politicians.
     I won't go into detail, but apply this to the Democrat "Pharisees" and the media "scribes." The news media are the scribes whose job is to impartially record and transcribe the news. They colluded with the Democrats (Pharisees) in a plot to stone president Donald Trump. Ironically, Adam Schiff, may have been the spokesman for the Pharisees who was so vehement with Jesus. Just as Adam - the first man - Adam Schiff is as guilty of sin as his namesake. Schiff  has stones in his hands and actually casts them one at a time! Is Schiff without sin? I believe the answer to that is obvious. He is a hater, and he needs someone to hate.
     I believe that the mob in Jesus time transferred (psychological transference) their guilt onto the woman! Jesus said, that anyone who has looked at a woman with lust had already committed adultery vicariously (Mat 5:28). Not only were all these men guilty of sin, but guilty of adultery, and there they were - ready to cast stones!
     In the Russian collusion case, who was guilty of colluding with the Russians? The Democrats, led by Hillary Clinton. Here they are, already casting stones, and they are those who committed political adultery with the Russians with whom they colluded. They were the "Pharisees" making accusations at perhaps an innocent woman; at least there was no evidence that she colluded with anyone!
     The mob didn't care if there was evidence or not! They just wanted to cast stones. This woman, surely, because of her reputation was accused of adultery. She is the female version of Donald Trump. The mob is the media and Democrats, and the "woman" is Donald Trump.
     Who is the "Jesus" in the analogy? Right-minded and fair people. They are the ones who judge with fair metrics according to Jesus and scripture: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Mat 7:1-3). Then Jesus went added, "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye" (Mat 7:5). The scribes and Pharisees were the hypocrites, and today they are the media and the Democrats.
     Then the mob turned on Jesus! Today, the mob has failed to implicate Trump so they turned on William Barr. He is the "face" of justice. Perhaps Barr is the "Jesus" in the analogy. Someone must be stoned! If they can't stone Trump directly, then they will accuse an innocent bystander. Someone needs to be punished for colluding, even though Democrats committed the sin!
     Democrats, just as the Pharisees, stretch the law to suit their purposes. The Law is merciful and just; there must be evidence. If the Democrats can't find any evidence, they merely change the regulations by which the law is applied. Trump has not been found guilty of anything, but congress uses different rules. They merely vote on the president's actions, and guilty or not, they can impeach and convict an innocent person.
     One huge difference: In the Bible story, the scribes and Pharisees were somewhat rational and honorable; rather than casting the stones, they merely walked off in humility because Jesus shamed them. In the case against Trump, the media and Democrats have no shame; they refuse to let it go! Indeed, they are the ones who need stoned, and perhaps Barr will be able to do just that using laws rightly. Jesus called the Pharisees  a generation of snakes (Mat 23:33). Democrats, true to their mascot, is a herd of jackasses. Like any jackass, they won't budge even when they are prodded with truth.
     Can Trump be vindicated of everything he has ever done? No! If it was you, how would you like your whole life to be known by the masses who have hands full of stones?
     The Romans used crucifixion to murder an innocent King. Legalistic Jews used stones. The woman accused of adultery was about to be stoned until Jesus intervened. Jesus was falsely accused of heresy by the scribes and Pharisees. The "stone" used for him was a cross. The story of the falsely accused adulterous woman was prophetic of Jesus's own "stoning." He knew the mob would be just as unjust with him as the woman.
     That type of justice is what  is happening in the Russian collusion presently. Now, Adam has pointed the finger at another crime: If Trump is not guilty of this crime, then perhaps he is guilty of covering up a crime that never happened! Perhaps if they implicate Barr, then Trump will be perceived as guilty.
   As the wisest man who ever lived said, "There is nothing new under the sun." (Ecc 1:9). What the mob does is always predictable; all we need do is look at how they have always done things. Rahm Emanuel said, "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." They created the crisis and refuse to let it go to waste!

Blessings

     The "beatitudes" are the blessings Jesus preached about - blessed are: (1) the poor in spirit, (2) they that mourn, (3) the meek, (4) those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, (5) the peacemakers, (6) the merciful, (7) the pure in heart, (8) the persecuted for righteousness sake, (9) when men revile you, (10) those who are not offended in Jesus, and (11) those whose eyes see and ears hear. (Mat 5, 11, &13).
      "Blessed" is from the Greek makarioj which means "supremely blest" (Strong's Dictionary). Theologically, blest is "enjoying the bliss of heaven," and bliss is "complete happiness in Heaven" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). The beatitudes are a promised existence in Heaven.
      The "poor in spirit" are those who are servants to and dependent on the Holy Spirit. Those that "mourn" ate they that grieve for the hardness of people's hearts (Mark 3:5) and for their own sorry state (John 21:17); grieved enough to preach to the lost (Acts 4:2).
     The "meek" are those who diminish themselves and elevate God (James 4:7-10). Those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness" are they that crave acceptability to God; the willingness to do what God wills rather than their own will.
     The "merciful" are those who would do unto others what God did for them (Mat 7:12). What is it that God does for everyone: love them so much that He wants that "none should perish" (John 3:16). The "merciful" are those who love others so much that they want that none of them to perish. Mercy is loving everyone that intensely.
     "Persecution for righteousness sake" is identified with Peter's denial of Jesus. As Jesus was about to die for Peter's and everyone else's sakes, Peter denied Jesus thrice to avoid persecution (Mat 26). Jesus was about to justify Peter by paying the ransom for Peter's eternal life, and Peter denied Jesus. That was Peter's failure not to stand persecution of right reasons. The reason Jesus came was to die for mankind.
     To be blessed is to stand up for righteousness sake. Later on, Peter did just that; he refused to be crucified as Jesus was, out of respect for Jesus's type of death. He was then crucified upside down (Foxe's Book of Martyrs). The soldiers took a knee for Jesus when the King was suffering death. They did that not to honor Jesus, but to persecute him. When people fail to stand up for Jesus, they fail on that point. Many keep quiet as Peter originally did. Peter was likely not ashamed of Jesus but feared for his own safety, notwithstanding that Jesus was about to die for his eternal safety. Peter had trouble understanding death just as Adam long before him.
     "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38). People will mock Christians because they believe in things not seen and that God is the Creator. Denying that God did the undoable is ashamed of God's claim to Godhood. Christians must stand up for the Creator and the creation!
     Christians will be reviled - verbally abused. Christians were always hated by the world and will be hated ever more intensely as time progresses. If Christians are not persecuted for trusting Christ, perhaps the intensity of their trust is in question; perhaps, as Peter, weak people will deny Jesus when reviled. Christianity, even today, is under attack. The world hates Christianity. The life of Christians is tribulation as the world verbally abuses those who claim the Doctrine of Christ. A crescendo will be reached at the Great Tribulation when most of Christianity will be beheaded for Jesus's Name (Rev 20:4). Christians must be true throughout the reviling, and the Great Reviling when that occurs.
     Blessed are those who are not offended by Jesus. Already mentioned, is that Christians are never to be ashamed of Jesus, but neither are they to offend Jesus by being ashamed of their own faithfulness to him. The reviling which Christians endure is shaming Christians of their belief in the unseen. Science is the greatest revilers of all, operationalizing their reviling and shaming creation scientists who understand that there is more to the universe than that which can be measured.
     God's first claim was that, "In the beginning (I) created the heaven and the earth" (Gen 1:1). Never be ashamed to believe God's identity because that's what gods do, and if truly a god, then it only takes one God to create. Never be ashamed that you believe in a True God who is capable of creating.
     "Seeing and hearing" means so much more than sensing visual and audible things. Moses explained that to the Hebrews who after forty-years their shoes had not even worn out: "The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: 'Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day'" (Deut 29:4).
     Blessed are those who understand God. Life itself is a miracle, yet people take living for granted. Living here is a miracle when there is likely no life anywhere else. Nourishment is a miracle when God provides our daily bread. Like the Hebrews, most people never consider that the mundane things of daily living may not be there tomorrow (Prov 27:1). Also, the reader might want to study Hebrews chapter three because it explains Moses and the Hebrews actions in the wilderness; why they did not understand that they were kept safe by God but yet as unbelievers, were not saved in the end. They yielded to temptation, and that's what the Tempter does as a vocation!
     "Blessed are the peacemakers"was discussed in my blog at https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2017/03/beatitude-peacemakers.html.
     The blessings which Jesus bestowed was a promise of bliss in Heaven for those who lived according to the precepts in the beatitudes - the beatific (making happy). Is it not ironic that the beatitudes are blessings because of attitudes? The be blissed are ameliorating  attitudes about God, not just tolerating, but willingly accepting what God desires for everyone.
   

Thoughts and Ways

     There are two sets of thoughts or manners of thinking and two ways resulting from those thoughts. Thoughts are the impulses to travel one of two ways. The will is the decision process that directs "traffic" between the thoughts and the ways. There are two sets of wills to direct thinking toward one of the two ways: one is the right way and the other the wrong way.  Isaiah understood trafficking in sin and abiding in righteousness:

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:7-9) 

     The two "ways" are the Law of God and the law of sin: "With the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin" (Rom 7:25). People think of the Law of God as regulations and commands. However, there is only one Law and that is to love. That four-letter word seems so difficult to understand that preachers diverge to Greek for understanding. Love is merely "wanting that none should perish" (John 3:16) just as God wants that none should. In opposite polarity is that Satan desires that all should perish. Therein are the Law of God and the law of sin.
    Sins such as fornication are not caring that you nor the other person may perish. With that sin, people sin against their own bodies (1 Cor 6:18). Yes, people can sin against themselves which means that fornication is not caring whether they die or not! That is self-hatred but naïve people think they are enjoying life.
    The traffic signal of the will is the decision process to do things God's Way or our way. The will is designed unbiased; it can decide for the person which way to go based on inputs. Those inputs are the thoughts of people.
     Thoughts can do one of five things: (1) tempt, (2) dissuade, (3) sin vicariously,  (4) emote feelings of guilt, or (5) relieve anxiety.
     Temptation is from God but the tempter is from Satan. Satan does not tempt but has instilled a propensity or biasness toward sin. The forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate instilled within them the desire to sin. The things of the world work on the lusts of the flesh, eyes, and pride to induce sin. (1 John 2:16). Satan is not a god and cannot make you do anything. He did bestow upon you the perception that you are as gods (Gen 3:5). Mankind, hence, is programmed to do the law of sin, and life is tribulation; people constantly must make choices, and that, indeed, is stressful as the flesh wars against the Spirit (Mat 26:41).
     To be honest, people relieve stress by asking God for deliverance from temptation, or succumbing to temptation. Pleasurable sin, for a moment, relieves the decision-making process, and the will gives in, taking a short break until the next temptation. However, once sin is committed, God convicts those who are still malleable and can still feel remorse. Guilt precipitates remorse, and that too is from God. Satan is not the author of anything; he merely misapplies what is from God. It was God who endowed mankind with a conscience, not Satan. It is God who is Creator, not Satan. Desist from giving Satan more power than he has!
     The Way of the Lord is from the Law of God, and His Way is the avenue named "love." Our way, is just that. Satan is satisfied not to be God and have his own rules, but to abuse the law of love. Satan is satisfied if people think and do things their way rather than God's Way.
     By oneself, it is tough to do things the Way of the Lord. God is the thought "Policeman" who ensures that people's minds see the signals correctly:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (Jas 4:7)

     People's thoughts become confounded: Shall they sin or not; shall they meditate on sinful behaviors or on God, or should people remain in guilt or seek relief? For every good thought there is an evil converse thought. The Spirit is willing to proceed God's Way but the flesh is so weak that the person's own way is the normal.
     The thought processes involved in decision-making is wearisome. That's why all life is a tribulation which someday, for some, will end with a crescendo - the Great Tribulation. The "paradox of sin" is double-mindedness as the apostle James was well aware. Psychologists call that "cognitive dissonance" which can make people mentally sick!
     So "our way" and "God's Way" are usually in direct opposition. People, as their own masters, seems to themselves better than God as Master. Many try to serve both God and man, but that cannot be done (Mat 6:24). Essentially, serving man (mammon) is serving oneself as people perceive themselves as gods.
     People are spiritually sick with conflicting thoughts. God does not want that for his people. Relief comes with serving oneself, and dismissing God with His Laws. That condition is reprobation (Rom 1:28). Those with reprobate minds become single-minded. They tire of struggling with God and submit to themselves. They take the broad way to destruction. On the other hand, those who are dissuaded from that select the narrow Way to prosperity: (Note: prosperity is the reward of Heaven and eternal life.)

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it, (Mat 7:13-14).

     Note that there are many thoughts but only two ways. Nobody can go both ways! Oftentimes Christians endeavor to do just that, but sooner of later most of them who try that go their own way. Unknown to them, they are in heavy traffic on the broad way, clashing with God's Way and crashing in their own way. Iniquitous Christians can and do apostatize. If that is not possible, Satan with his demons would go to and fro for nothing! (Job 1:7).
     Peoples' thought processes can either endanger or provide safety. Although there are many thoughts, they can be categorized as either safe or unsafe. Those who make a conscious decision to live unsafely are reprobate, or "damned" if you prefer that word. Those who are willing for God to direct their lives are safe. They trust God to get them safely "home." Home is from whence they originally came - the Garden Paradise. From whence their flesh came it shall return (Gen 3:19), and from whence their Spirits came, it is possible to return there.

Note: The writer believes that the rapture will occur at Jerusalem, in the vicinity if the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus ascended. The foundation stone is near there, and it is believed that is where mankind was created. Biblically, that makes sense. That is the place of the dust to which dust shall return. It is believed that the abyss to Hell is under the rock and the stairway to Heaven above the rock. Not only may everyone's bodies return to their place of origin but their souls as well for those who are raptured. One Way is caught up with Jesus and the other way is snatched down the abyss to Hell. In he end, everyone will go either Satan's way or God's Way, although all along they thought it was their way!

     Thinking our way is according to Satan's rules, or actually chaos. Thinking God's Way is Him guiding submissive peoples' thoughts to, "humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" (Jas 4:7). God will lift those who submit to His care. To where? Over the chaos onto His Way. God keeps those who serve Him from catastrophe on the highway of life. He delivers those who are willing from temptation (Luke 11:4).
     Choose wisely, people! Your way leads to destruction. His Way is safety so that in the end, those who submit their thoutghts and their ways to God, will never perish!

Water and the Blood

     "The water and the blood" is one of the most difficult concepts to understand. It does not mean by Jesus's blood and believer's baptism as the former is by grace and the latter by works. The ingredient "blood" is easily understood: "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (of sins)" (Heb 9:22). In the first covenant blood covered almost all things. Indeed, God killed and innocent animal and shed its blood to redeem the sins of Adam and Eve. They had sinned, and under the first covenant blood was all that was necessary for most things.

     Throughout the Old Testament, water was turned into blood in many cases. Also, because blood was so sacred, it could not be eaten, but poured out onto the ground as water.  All things in the firwst testament point to Jesus, combing two testaments into one. Paul explained that the first or Old Testament - which was one of works - was dedicated by blood:

Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. (Heb 9:18-20)

     Note that "blood" was the focus of the dedication of the old testament, but water was added along with other things. Moses sprinkled the book and all the people with blood and water.
     If the reader recalls, the Abrahamic Covenant was sealed with circumcision - the shedding of blood only. The entire story of Moses and Pharaoh is a picture of Jesus's sacrifice on the cross. God added water as a necessary ingredient for safety and salvation which theretofore had been by blood only.
     Also, in that story, the two door posts and the lentels of the houses were sprinkled with hyssop dipped in blood. The blood thereon saved only the firstborn - representing the Hebrews - but only allowed the others to escape. The first-born were saved, but the others were led into safety. Hence, blood was sufficient for most things, such as saving the Jews from perishing. To save other things, such as Gentiles, it took water and blood.
     Blood "enjoined" the Hebrews. Enjoining is urging. The blood encouraged the Hebrews to trust in the blood. Some thing was missing for the Hebrews. They misunderstood the water mixed in with the blood.
     Jesus shed his blood and experienced death for mankind. As a side-note: Jesus did not die, but he experienced the act of dying. Death is forever perishing, but Jesus never perished; he still lives.
     To ensure that Jesus was dead, one of the soldiers made sure that he was: "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water" (John 19:4). The soldier turned Jesus blood into water, sort of reversing the first covenant wherein water was always turned into blood. Note that out came a blood with an admixture of water just as Moses had blood admixtured with water. Moses enjoined the Hebrews, but Jesus enjoined the Gentiles because salvation is for all mankind, not just the Jews.
     The shedding of blood was to satisfy the first covenant, but an admixture of water satisfied the second covenant - the one of grace as it was for all, not just the Hebrews. The first covenant was the repeated shedding of blood of innocent unblemished animals, whereas the innocent unblemished Man shed both water and the blood one time for all. Now examine the meaning of blood and water:

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1 John 5:5-8)

      Jesus is the one that came by water and the blood. Note that now water precedes blood as it is so important. The soldier wanted to ensure that Jesus was dead, and the gushing of water validated that to be so. Later on, that became significant as some questioned, and still do, whether Jesus really died or not. The water validates that.
     Medical evidence is that because of the water and the blood, that Jesus did not die of his wounds, but shock: "The cardiovascular collapse theory is a prevalent modern explanation and suggests that Jesus died of profound shock." (Wikipedia; "Crucifixion of Jesus"). To be blunt, there was a drastic change in Jesus's plasma - the clear portion of the blood as it transformed because of dehydration. Jesus seemed to have died because his blood was changed to an admixture of water with blood. That transformation was foreshadowed when Moses mixed water with the blood of the animals.
     The point is that Jesus's death provided not only the blood necessary for a sacrfice but the water for the ultimate sacrifice.

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39).

     Water obviously refers to the Holy Spirit. Jesus's crucifixion transformed the Holy Spirit into Jesus's Holy Ghost because the Spirit - Water - experienced death with Jesus. That is known because at his last breath, Jesus "gave up the Ghost" (Luke 23:46).
     The water in the "water and the blood" seems to represent the Holy Spirit and the Word - Jesus, respectively. Three "substances" bear witness in Heaven: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost or The Creator, Jesus, and the Ghost of Jesus. In earth, it is worded differently: the Spirit, the water, and the blood. The "Spirit" in this case, perhaps, is the Power of the Father, the"water" represents the Holy Ghost of Jesus, and the "blood" represents Jesus.
     That is not to imply that the Holy Spirit is two different "substances" but that experientially they are different. As an example, before matrimony the male is only a man, but afterwards he is a husband. His identity is still man but his experience is husbandry. The Holy Spirit with which Jesus was imbued was transformed into Jesus's Holy Ghost as he experienced death (John 7:39). That transformation is critical because the "water" is understanding that the Spirit of God experienced death with the body or flesh of God. It took water and the blood.
     Jesus the Son of Man came for the remission of sins, but the Son of God - His Spirit - came to experience sin for mankind.
     The Man Jesus thought God had abandoned him on the cross, but the Spirit Jesus knew that the Father was right there with him on the cross. In other words, God in all His aspects experienced death  on the cross. In the Old Testament, only animals died. God chose to die so that his children need not. The water and the blood is a significant revelation for what it takes to be saved!

The Paradox of Progressivism

      Most "left wing," or Democrat leaders, openly declare that they are "progressive." Who would not want to be identified by "progressive" rather than "regressive?"
      "Conservativism" is accused of being regressive. Those two ideologies should be polar opposites, but one only needs to examine their creeds.
     "As a philosophy, it (progressivism) is based on the idea of progress, which asserts that advancements in science, technology, economic development and social organization are vital to the improvement of the human condition." (Wikipedia; parentheses mine).
     Advancement! Who would not want to advance? The direction for society to "advance" is away from the existing systems. The assumption is that the West particularly America has never been great and needs changing.
     Those systems needing change are three: (1) those who own the land and factories and are the movers and shakers, (2) the clergy, or in the West - the Judeo-Christian doctrine, and (3) the direct labor - those who work the land and factories to produce.
     Progressivism denigrates the first two while seemingly promoting the latter existence. The progressives call them (1) the bourgeoisie, (2) the religeous, and (3) the proletariat, respectively. All my comments are from Marx's and Engels's, The Communists Manifesto, which they wrote within its pages, is as well as a Socialist Manifesto. 
    Socialists call themselves "progressives" for a reason: They want to be identified positively for progress and advancement according to the definition. They want to be known to favor science, technology, social justice in the economic system, and humane treatment of the lesser classes of people. (They place most people - the masses - as lower class.) They have divided the entire population into three classes of people. The bourgeoisie and the religious have been identified as the enemies of the proletariat class. Most of the West, in the 1840s were proletariats. The author's own parents were proletariats.
     As such, the author should be in favor of progressivism, should he not? Indeed, if it was what it is said to be, perhaps that would be answered, "yes." The problem is that progressivism is not progressive; it is the epitome of regressive - opposition to progressivism.
     "Opposition" sounds so negative! The tactic of the progressives is the label non-progressives as "the opposition" and "the party of no!" Recent events in the West, and especially the United States, is that there is nothing "united" about the states! The tactic of Marxism is to divide and conquer, and at the present, the nation has not been as divided since the War Between the States. The idea that America was eve great flies in the face of progressivism. Their tactic is to ensure through propaganda that the people refuse to believe that the nation was ever great.
     The basic tenet of socialism is that the proletariats have been exploited by property owners and industry. America could thusly never be great because some have always been exploited.
      (The American term "worker" shall now replace proletariat in this commentary; they are those who physically produce things.)
     The workers are identified as the lower class. For it to be the strongest of the three estates (see above), they must be the most numerous. Marxism is based on Darwin's "survival of the fittest" and the "fittest" are those who can multiply - grow their numbers. Why do progressives want immigration? To increase their power so as to change the balance power of the industrial and religious institutions. Since immigration alone does not change the balance of power quickly enough, socialism resorts to robbing people from the middle class (lower sub-class of the bourgeoise) to grow the lower class.
     Progressivism is not for the middle class despite what they propagate. Their sole intent is to grow the lower class in order to breed antipathy. In the early 20th century, blacks were the lower class. The progressives forgave them their rebellion of 1861 and added them to the lower class alongside poor southern whites, In this century, progressives have even added the wealthy to their lower class, as prosperous homosexuals have been allied with progressivism, all of which Marx planned. Note that progressivism does not seem to include moral issues, but their antipathy to Christian Doctrine provides a place for the LBGT community. In reality, socialists don't care about the downtrodden, the immigrants, nor even LBGT's. They care about them controlling, and division is their tactic for control. Those who have been added to their working class are nothing more than victims.
     What does progressivism offer? Two basic things: (1) a minimum wage of $15 an hour, and (2) sexual freedom. Who does not want a little extra money and the liberty to do as one pleases? Why are radical feminists progressives? Sexual freedom. Why do they favor abortion? Because the burden of another life interferes with sexual freedom? Progressives gain allies by tolerating, for a time, the appetites of those who they tag as "repressed." Abortion is even against their dogma of survival of the fittest, but they tolerate that for their purposes because it temporarily grows their numbers.
      Progressivism uses all sorts of "tools" to grow their numbers. Women in the workforce (feminism) diminishes the responsibility of both parents to train and nourish their children. Progressives want women in the workforce, not to benefit them, but to allow progressivism to be ingrained into young minds. Their survival of the fittest increases when they can teach the young minds progressive thought.
     They even use propaganda to remold young minds and often capture the older generation who are allured by remembering their youth. As such, the media is progressive; they infiltrated the entertainment industry and news while Edward R, Murrow was censuring McCarthyism, who by the way, turned out to be correct. America was then and is now even more profoundly Marxist! (Read the polls on their self-identification.)
     How is progressivism regressivism? Why is it paradoxial? Marx believed that technology and initiative marginalized manual laborers. As only capitalists had land and could purchase machines, that it stole profits from those who previously had made their income from the work of their hands. Marx even hated that farms and manufacturing made profits because it only made the middle and upper classes more prosperous. Progressivism is against prosperity because it dimishes the numbers in the lower class.
     Marxism is based on jealousy of those who are motivated and able to advance their class assignments. They despise initiative because it is against their dogma of survival of the fittest. Prosperity advances the working class and with less complainers, socialist power is diminished.
     Using their own definition for progressivism, they are the most regressive ideology to ever exist but young people still flock to their scam.

     The writer once was responsible for a new line of manufacturing automation with several automatic stations. An elite engineering force came in and evaluated the efficiency of the system. They endeavored to make each station of the system operate at the same speed and efficiency. That makes sense, doesn't it? All the people there bought into their analysis. One station was much different than the others. Everyone there agreed to make all the stations alike... but me! Why would I be against that? They were making all the better stations like the worst, but no one recognized that. That is what socialism entails; it desires to make each class like the least class. It desires that everyone perform manual work, with one exception - those who control the system become supreme in their notion of Utopia. Everyone does menial tasks and have little control, but the leaders. Progressivism is a return to the feudal system and workers get duped into returning to serfdom.

     What has socialism to do with Christianity. Marx identified religion as the  "opiate of the people." In other words, the hope provided by Christ keeps the eyes of Christians focused on heaven rather than this world. Christians are thankful for what God has provided, and look not to those who govern for provision.
     Marx was as the Serpent; he tempted mankind with all sorts of fruit from his Tree of Philosophy. Like Adam and Eve who already had food provided by God, they desired the Serpent's fruit because it seemed so epicurean. They ate, and although they didn't know it, they immediately began to die. That, readers, is how cunning Marx - the Serpent - gets the masses to eat of "progressive" fruit. All the while, as the masses think they are progressing, they are regressing as the partakers are further enslaved and people even murder their young as only a few of the beasts do?
     Not only are progressives regressive, but they have reverted back to types of Cain - they kill their own! Abortion is only one way they kill; Robespierre, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Castro, and the others resorted to killing their opposition and their own revolutionaries! They claim to favor "survival of the fittest" but in the end, most of the people are not fit to survive!
     Naïve people are Eve's. They innocently bite into the Marxist fruit. Others are Adams. They know the history of the fruit but partake of it anyway hoping for something better! The fittest of the species is the most naïve. Mankind has always fell for any of the wiles of the Devil.