The Fish In The Bowl

written by Hugh K. Lipsius

Who can take from a man what he’s gained or what he’s done, where he’s been, what he’s learned, or what God has made him. And I tell you, no one but God, and unless that man willingly surrenders them, God will allow him to keep them.

The world seems to think that it has the answers for another man’s success. They may even tag him a failure because he won’t buy their ideas, especially when all around him so much misery seems to be starring him down.

In a fishbowl, separated by their distorted views, he sits in silence behind its glass, watching as the world rushes by, too damn busy to take a moment to wonder what their hurry is… or perhaps too afraid to stop because they know the reason why.

Blinded by desires that sooth not the inward parts, their frantic race is a search for more of what they’ll never find. They seem to toil endlessly for luxuries and comforts so as to appear to others that they have what it takes to be a success, but they miss this golden opportunity, this time called life.

This trampled path is well worn and wide as an ocean, littered with decaying carcasses, old bones, and ash. While it appears to lead somewhere, it goes no where forever. There are many who go this wide way. There are many who have been. And yet, the man they sit in judgment of is one who by his faith in God and the droplets of his brow, has attained his bowl of happiness.

Content, this man sits behind the glass, humble in his watery womb. But the world that sees him by a distorted view are envious amid their torturous ruin, and even this, they try to snatch away from him.

As they sit atop their heap of ravaged souls, clutching in their hand some gleaming prize of more, they are giddy with their sickly laughter. They scan the landscape all around, of wasted efforts and unrealized hope in a desperate search for more of what they’ll never find.

What is that on the far horizon; that glimmer of light; that smile; that faith; that truth; that ray of hope? Never satisfied and too foolish to understand, jealousy overrules their soul as they scheme inside themselves for how to remove the fish from the bowl.

So as you enter your own field of dreams, be careful, because in that same field are many disappointments too. Wishes and desires can seem to rush by like strangers in a crowd. They can quite easily whisk you off your feet as you attempt to reach out and grasp something that can all too easily slip right through your fingers if you squeeze too tightly.

These same wishes and desires can also bob around like soap bubbles, causing your head to twist around in a direction that your body fails to follow, separating you from yourself in vain attempts to capture what is not yours to own.

Be careful in that place of dreams. Fix your eyes on One, stretch out your hand, and let It float down slowly into your palm, curl your fingers gently round it, careful not to crush. Now hold it to your heart, never letting go. For in this field of dreams with many lofty words, there are also many disappointments mingled with much vanity. In this field of dreams lies heaven, or hell.

___________________________________________________________________________ To Give...Or To Take...The Royal Motive of Our Heart

While most may believe that it is necessary to take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a friend for a friend, a neighbor for a neighbor, a brother for a brother, a life for a life, there are a few yet that believe we should give a vision for vision, teaching for teaching, caring for caring, sharing for sharing, loyalty for loyalty, love for love. To give any of these is a voluntary act of love. To take any of these is a vengeful act of hatred. It is the battle we are all now in and the mortal or royal motive which we must all decide upon; from the head to the very soul of our nation.

Thus saith the LORD:

"If men fight and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall pay as the the judges determine.

But if any harm follows, then you shall 'give' life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." Exodus 21:22-25

The word used is give, as in a sense of self-sacrifice, merciful forgiveness, tender loving care, and in no way implies to take as it is normally misinterpreted. It does not even say that the man or men who fought are to do this, but rather it says, "you."

Jesus asked us to look into the deeper meaning of the law, and the work of redemption that He fulfilled on the cross was the fulfillment of the law. He did not take...but rather He gave. O that a word so small could have such far reaching implications.

Life for Life- Christ gave His Life as a ransom for our sins.

Eye for an Eye- Christ gave us the vision He had so that we could see.

Tooth for a Tooth- a tooth is figurative of sharpness in the sense of diligent teaching. Christ taught us diligently about forgiveness so that we could also teach diligently.

Hand for a Hand-the means of doing something so that we can accomplish it. Specifically the open hand that is used for pleading with; imploring by words and body language. Christ pleaded with us to understand so that we could plead with God in repentence asking His forgiveness, imploring that others also do the same.

Foot for Foot- as used for walking. Christ walked before us so that we might learn the way to go in the sense of coming after Him, or following Him.

Burning for Burning-properly to kindle, or, to brand. He kindled in us the mark or brand of God's people...that our own hearts would burn with affectionate love in us for God and His loving grace.

Wound for Wound- He was wounded for our transgressions, for the sake of all who believe, and this would be evidenced in the truth they spoke, and the cause of their dispersion to all nations.

Stripe for Stripe - He was given our stripes or rather He was bruised for our iniquities, by which we were healed.

What empire that has gone before us did not meet its destiny in shame and ruin because they took it upon themselves to enact their own form of justice on the world? These are they who took for themselves and gave little in return despite the appearance otherwise.None I tell you...no, not one!

"because the LORD has sworn: the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." Exodus 17:16

Are we , the United Startes of America, somehow different than the other nations of history, is our righteousness somehow greater than any of them who all started out with good intentions according to their own ways?

For it is written:

All nations before Him are as nothing,

And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. Isaiah 40:17

Like Silt In a River

"What no one seemed to notice . . . was the ever widening gap . . . between the government and the people. . . And it became always wider. . . the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting, it provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway . . . (it) gave us some dreadful, fundamental things to think about . . .and kept us so busy with continuous changes and 'crises' and so fascinated . . . by the machinations of the 'national enemies,' without and within, that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us. . . Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, 'regretted,' that unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these 'little measures'. . . must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. . . .Each act is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow. You don't want to act, or even talk, alone. You don't want to 'go out of your way to make trouble.' . . . But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That's the difficulty. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves. When everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. . . .You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, things your father . . . could never have imagined.” From Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free, the Germans, 1938-45 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1955)

"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government." Martin Luther King

For the sake of those fighting in the battles of war, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent. If I am to support our troops fighting and dieing in foreign lands, it shall be for the good which God designed...and not for the evil which man purposed. Defenders of good does not include anything that the rulers of this world would have you believe. So why do we believe them and even support them despite what our past has taught us?

Unless the LORD had been my help,
My soul would have settled in silence. Psalm 94: 17

I said, “I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my tongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.”
I was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred up.
My heart was hot within me;
While I was meditating, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue. Psalm 39: 1-3

This message is to you America…and especially to those who profess Christ as their Lord and King...We who are already free…One nation under God. Despite any lack of admission, all nations are under GOD.

How can anyone take that truth away? And the answer to that is , "they can't...only we or they can surrender it." Why then do we insist on allowing administrators of government to lead us this way? They profess to protect what is already ours to possess, not own mind you, for God owns all, but given to us by God and not man for a possession to possess...inalienable rights that preexisted before any defender defended them.

It is the Lord who giveth, and the Lord who taketh away. But in each case, we must make a choice to either receive what is offered, or surrender what we possess...enjoying or suffering the consequences of either.

What kind of leadership would allow us to begin to think we cannot remain free, or that anyone else lacks the freedom to rise up as we did, a nation of our past, and claim it as a possession for themselves?

Why do we feel that as a nation, we must do it for them, rather than by example encouraging them to do it for themselves, rather than forcing them, especially when the God we profess had set us free before we ever claimed it? Or why do we believe that in order to keep this freedom, we must always be slaves to defending it with our blood? That is, unless we have surrendered our freedom already...our liberty...What God and not man had given to us before the so called defenders of freedom came into being. ..we have been deceived!!!...and by the choice of free will, we have allowed it.

The purveyors of this great lie are those who have set themselves up as our only hope...our only protectors...democracy, man's last, best hope, the defenders of the free world...turning our eyes from the truth of the matter, which is to take up God's cause and instead towards their own cause, will and ideals as the price for defending what was already ours to simply receive and possess...inalienable rights...which means they cannot in anyway be transferred away from us as they are God the Father Almighty, granted...but God can remove them from our midst...if we voluntarily relinquish them.

"We hold these truths to be self evident..." are not merely words spoken that are of meaningless worth...but are words that must be embraced...or surrendered willingly....'That all men are created equal,"...may even encourage a truth as meant to be believed ...but not necessarily reflect the will of God Almighty...or what His truth is.

Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called.
Where you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it.
For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called. I Corinthians 7:20- 24.

Is then a freeman equal to a slave...? Most assuradly, but that does not in anyway infer that they are the same in likeness.

That each one was created by God and loved by God is their only claim to equality, in the eyes of GOD. In the eyes of men, this equality becomes distorted.

Does freedom therefore have aything to do with equality? Or does equality therefore, in the eyes of God, have anything to do with freedom? And yet, when God created, He created for mankind...the mankind that was made in the image of God... to have something meet for himself as a helper.

It was the woman, Eve, the life giving, living place, that was created out of Adam...she was not the same as Adam in many ways...she was to be a helper to Adam who was help in his times of trouble...and yet, she had the same freewill as Adam, was created by God as Adam had been, and was loved by God as Adam was. Her freewill was evidenced through the deceit that Satan, the serpant exposed her to... and that she succumbed to by the use of this free will. It was by her own choice that she succumbed to the deceit...it exposing the desire of her heart which she willingly gave this freewill over to. She was willingly deceived because she fostered this desire to be like God...to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Don't think for a moment that she and Adam accidently found themselves standing beside this tree of which they were forbidden to eat of its fruit. Their desire was exposed when they were forbidden. They succumbed to that desire by an act of their own freewill.
Why then did not Adam see this and rebuke Eve unless the desire was in his heart too.

This is what God desired to teach mankind. It allowed for the continuence of freewill, which voluntarily submits itself to that which it desires...or flees from it in voluntary compliance to God's own will. Either is done freely. There is no force of will. But there is only voluntary compliance with that will...either our own...or Gods.

This is what seperates the character of Satan from the character of the Father.

No one can make you doubt. Doubt only comes through a lack of faith because of our own desires, and God holds out to us the gift of faith. By the same act of our own freewill that we allow ourselves to doubt, we can also reach out and take hold of the gift of faith. The choice lies within our own selves.

Some bibles may infer that God had made for Adam, "a helper comparible to him." ...Eve...Which is that they are able to be compared with each other, regarding as similar so that they are worthy of comparison in that likeness...that the woman was somehow already equipped with what was necessary for her salvation, or for sustaining her life. This was before Adams fall...when he was still a Son of God...made into the image that God intended for all mankind to be.

And yet, it was to Adam that God gave His commandments.

Yet God did not make for Adam a helper that was similar or comparable to him...or in otherwords, comparible in likeness...but... He made for Adam "a helper that was 'meet" for him. ' " How this word comparable came into usage I do not know...but it is a false word used for the furtherance of someones doctrine other than that which God intended. Perhaps the false doctrine of Democracy? Even the word "meet" is not the same as what was intended by the Hebrew word that it was translated from.

Let us now examine that word "meet," as it was meant to be understood and as it was written... not that it has any bearing on the word that was used by the Hebrew...but perhaps God infused in an effort to expand upon the original version.

The Hebrew word " ezer" used here for the english word "meet" which it substitutes for, means "help" in the sense of "protecting, or to succour " which is "help or assistance for times of difficulty. "So then it should be read that ... in Genesis 2:18...And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone: I will make him a helper who is help to him...or a protector who will protect...and aid who will assist...for times of difficulty."

The word "ezer", which is what the english word "meet" was used to replace is taken from the root word "azar' meaning "to surround for protection and aid, to help, or succour in timesf difficulty."

Now even the english word, "meet", as in "a helper 'meet' for him' " does not in anyway denote likeness or comparableness of any type of equality...nor does it imply protection, or assistance, in times of difficulty.It does not infer any similarity...nor does it denote help. Rather, it has the meaning of , "fitting, or correctness through an encounter with, an acquaintance of, or an introduction to, by coming into the presence of , as is meant in the english language.

Eve's correctness or fittingness as a helper was dependent on her encounter with, her introduction to, and her coming into the presense of the commandments of God as spoken through Adam. Adam, who was a Son of God before his fall, and was made in the likeness and image of God through the act of freely giving his will over to the will of God. This in no way infers Eve's equality, or comparableness with Adam, or that Eve is like God, or like Adam, the Son of God, but is a helper of, who surrounds and protects the Son of God in Adam in times of difficulty...as she has learned to do through her encounter with the commandments of God as spoken through Adam...in this they are not like God together, that they are comparable in any sense,but are made as in His image. And as long as their freewill was voluntarily given over to the will of God, so shall they remain.

Eve, as a helper who was help, was to protect Adam in his time of trouble.

...which he, by his temptations from the same desire of the heart, was now in. Though Eve was first tempted, she was not able to overcome because Adam did not do his part at the moment in admonishing her with a rebuke. His was the original sin...he did not repeat the truth to Eve from his love for God. He did not put God's will ahead of his devotion to Eve.

And how do we , Eve, the woman, the church, the wife of the Son of God, surround and protect Adam, who is man, as in mankind as a whole, except to open our mouths and speak out against the lie in opposition to it. To overcome the desires of our heart for the protection and help of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.To be a helper meet for Jesus Christ that God intended for us to be? To stay far from that tree, and not let the desires of our heart to be like God overcome our freewill.

And what prevents us from doing this other than by our succumbing to the deceit of the lie which is that we can become like God through the practice of certain religious beliefs and traditions , and outward practices, determining for ourselves what good and evil is... if we only eat of the fruit that allows us to determine for ourselves what good and evil is...but we succumb because there are few who will admonish us with a rebuke from the truth, that in order to be made in God's image, we must give our will over to Him, make our will, His will and willingly obey His commandments. Satan has deceived many into believing that they will be rejected for it because they offended someone with the truth. He decieves us into not fearing that we will die if we do not obey God's commandments. Not fearing God, but instead fearing what we might loose for ourselves.

Oour nations leadership believes that we are the savior of the world. Our endless wars...or even our leaderships reasons for fighting them, is because of the fear of loosing what we have deceived ourselves into believing. Their noble causes which they try to sell us sound good, but only lead to destruction...as do many of the noble wars that have been fought in the name of religion. But how willingly do we deceive ourselves or allow ourselves to be deceived for the sake of seeking the honor and glory of man...to satisfy our desire to be like God, determining for ourselves his design for mankind, which is the true desire of our heart?

All things that are of the truth are good...all things that are of the lie are evil...that is the end of the matter...why do we need to have the knowledge of both...let our knowledge be only of good as determined by the truth...no matter how difficult it is to hear, and face, and then...to be. Amen.

At this present moment, in this present generation, of this present age, the Word of truth, which is what Christ Jesus embodied...that which holds itself out against the lie...what Adam was before his fall, and what true Christians are to be today as helpers who are help for it...is in a time of great trouble...great distress...great tribulation...as the lie grows stronger, taking in whomever it can, knowing it has only a short time.

Yet we, who call ourselves the Church, the body of Christ, the Bride to be wed, the Woman, the helper meet for Him, the life giving, living place, Eve, are not doing our appointed duty of surrounding, protecting , and aiding our Lord of all truth in His time of trouble with His truth. We do not surround him with the correctness we learned through our encounter with Him. We have in a large part stopped hearing (with the intent of obeying) what our Master has taught us, who only speaks what He hears from Our Father, God Almighty and in a large part we have fallen to the devices and desires of our own heart in the Great Apostacy, the Great Falling Away of His Faithfulness...desiring to become like in similarity toGod instead through outward show, but not made by God in our inward parts, determining once again for ourselves what, or who, or how, or even why...what is good and what is evil. Their mouths do not open that they should speak, and when they do, they only speak what is evil for the sake of protecting them selves...our own ways...because most have fallen to doubt and succumbed to the lie...and have now become afraid of that lie...and have hidden themselves in the tall hardness of their pride...the trees...and with the leaf that covers their shame and nakedness.

But even that is only a thin veil that does not fool The Almighty God. It is instead the mark of the beast. If only we would learn to abide in the fear of God and His promises, believing that if we do not obey His commandments, we will surely die.

Perhaps then, the worldly freedom we now know in America is a false freedom, not really freedom at all. It is a freedom that offers just enough happiness to prevent you from seeing it for what it is…enough contentment to develop a pride that will rush to its defense...a thin veil to cover the nakedness of our shame. It is a false freedom for the purpose of subduing the mind., the loyalty, and the glory that is meant for the Almighty God the Father.

The truth that sets us free needs no defense. It does not need to resist, but is often resisted. It is its own defender and sets us free from our shame. Any freedom that has an ulterior motive towards gaining for itself in order to cover that shame, and is propagated by lies, deceit, corruption and violence is not a true freedom, but is a false doctrine of freedom and is meant to lull those who accept it into a false sense of security for the furtherance of a hidden agenda by those who administrate over it...which is the power of rulership that they crave and protect.

Because we fear the responsibility for our actions, we have allowed ourselves to develop the mentality of slaves. Contrary to the stirring sentiments of the Declaration of Independence, we now pledge "our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" not to one another for our mutual protection, but to the state, whose actions continue to exploit, despoil, and destroy us: Butler D. Shaffer

We hold these truths to be self-evident...that all men are created (made) to be helpers for help, assistants to assist, protectors to protect mankind in our time of trouble, by coming into the presense of God's commandments as given to man.