encounterHim - I agree. I reread shalom 82 and almost fell out of my chair because something really "clicked" when I read it a few times. This especially happened when I read the word "Rome" and in my head immediately jumped none other than our friend "Paul/Saul", Mr "Citizen of Rome" himself! Mr. "god put those rulers there to lead over you", Mr. "pray for those in authority over you", Mr. "you are part of a body so do your part and don't ask to be something better", Mr. "some people were born for dishonor"!
Paul was indeed the greatest citizen Rome ever produced! Almost 2,000 since he died and he still has billions of people shackled to the various apparatus' around the world. Whether it be catholics weeping at the ring of the pope or christians all over the USA chanting for "god and country".
I knew there was something significant about Paul raving about his roman citizenship - shalom 82 made it clear, clear, clear to me! Especially when he mused about Babel not being about the tower itself, but the "grand project" of it all. Wow.
shalom 82 - you really helped to fully "see" what was so abhorrent about Babylon. It's one thing to be kidnapped into the system, brought in through slavery like the children of Israel, slaves in America, slaves in the middle east, and slaves all through Europe. It's a whole different issue when you love the system, worship the system, cry when you see the flag waving and quiver as you sing "i'm proud to be an american, where at least I know I'm free" as you make music by rattling your chains.
I thought about a quote in Matthew6:24 that is attributed to Yahowsha' that reads: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Then I thought about it, YHWH is not our "master", He is our Father. We don't serve Him, we have a familial relationship with Him. Religion is held together by the concept that man, any man, every man - must and will have a master. THIS is why people get so freaked out about voting, they see other men, the state, the "poligious" (thanks for the world shalom 82) as a master they MUST have. Imagine going to the voting booth and thinking to yourself that you are going to try to select the least cruel master that you can.
And yes, the battle cry of "freedom isn't free" when FREE WILL is the ONE thing we have all been given without measure. For some, the exercise of free will causes their head to be removed from their body - but they still have free will none the less. It is free. Every single scheme of Babylon starts with the very premise that you will have a master - whether he be cruel or kind, merciful or merciless; we are told the only chance we have is the luck of the draw in the master that we get. Isn't the only way to walk away from Babylon to realize "you" are to have no master. The best you can do is to find YHWH and He become your Father; the worst you can do is to align with the Adversary and he become your father. Most will fall squarely in the middle - have a master of their own mind and creation and when they stand for judgement only at that point will they realize they are standing alone - there was no master after all. There was no "lord", no one forcing them to obey, no one who "created them for honor or dishonor" as the deceiver Paul told them. Nope, just you. I can only imagine the pain and anguish that will be felt by those that come to realize they were voluntary slaves of an evil system they could have walked away from all along. Will they think of their children they taught to "pledge allegiance to a flag", will they shed a tear. Will they think of Chawah and Adam and the lesson Yahowah laid out for them at the very beginning of Genesis when He plainly informed Chawah that even if you are face-to-face with the deceiver, and he uses cleaver words and musing - you will still have your future determined by what you do with your gift from Yahowah - your free will. Will they remember how Yahowah delt with Adam, when Adam went as far as to try to blame Yahowah for his failure by bemusing "it was the woman you gave me". Yahowah made it clear that while Chawah was a wonderful gift of a helpmate for Adam, she wasn't the first gift He bestowed, that first gift trumps all of the others - free will. We learn in the Revelations of Yochannon/John that those that use freewill even if they lose their head will be vindicated in the end. We are, without excuse if we stay in Babylon.
I don't know about you guys, but walking away from Babylon has been the easy part for me. Getting Babylon "out" of me - that has been a bit harder. Mr. "citizen of Rome" was good, really good. I filtered all of life through Paul. And now, I often see the pity in the eyes of my christian friends when they look at me. "poor poor dajstill, it's a shame she is going to burn in hell for all eternity and she took her husband and their children too, for shame!" Now, I am in stealth mode. I feel like Harriet Tubman on the underground railroad trying to steal folks away to freedom in the middle of the night.
Here are some cool Harriet Tubman quotes by the way! encounterHim - I thought about you for a lot of these quotes as you are always finding ways to share with folks one on one.
"I freed a thousand slaves. I could have free a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves."
"I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to; liberty or death. If I could not have one, I would have the other."
"I grew up like a neglected weed- ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it."
"Never wound a snake; kill it."
"I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land." >>>> I think this one describes me best. Even though I came to know Yahowah with my family by my side - it was so much lonelier than when I was a "xthain". Following an "alter call" there is so much excitement. The band is playing, people are crying, hugging you, welcoming you. It's like you joined an exclusive club with billions of members. No so with Yahowah. I definitely liken it to more the home births of old. Once the woman gives birth - there are no parties and parades, the band doesn't play. I think about my eldest. When he was born, it was just me and my husband and the hospital staff - one doctor and two nurses. When he was delivered - no band, no high fives, just quite joy. It was private and beautiful. The first thing after he was cleaned up, within 5 minutes of his birth - I nursed him. Again no band, no parade, nothing. My husband, as his father - felt pride and commitment. He didn't say a whole lot, but he changed on the inside. He became the epitome of protector and provider. He was on that day and remains today ready to take on the world on behalf of his children. He would gladly take on a lion and a bear blind folded with both hands tied behind his back if that was needed for his children. When my children were born - we didn't say "hey look, another worker!!" That is what they think when you get "saved", its like "yay, you aren't going to hell - no go win some souls for jebus!" Nope, when the kids were born it was absolutely like life finally had meaning. I was finally a "life giver", my husband was a father, and we finally had a family. We didn't need a band, we didn't need a bunch of strangers giving us high fives, we didn't need a parade or a names on a bulletin board with a picture. In fact, we just wanted to be left alone; alone to bond as a family getting to know this new baby boy. We were dedicated to him fully. I didn't want visitors, just the quite glow of a night light while my husband sat in a rocking chair, I sat on his lap, and I held the baby. That moment was the absolute most perfect memory. When the twins was born it was different. My daughter ended up in NICU and my entire focus was simply on getting her out of there and where she belonged. She was only in there four days, but it was the longest four days of my life. When she was released - again no parade, no band, no streamers. We just wanted to be home. She needed to be with her brother with whom she had shared a womb. They used to do something funny. They would not go to sleep at night until their heads touched. No matter where they started out on my lap as I nursed them to sleep - I would always know they were sleep once their little heads rested touching. I think that is how it is when married couples come to Yahowah - you just can't rest until your spouse is with you. Some of you have a spouse in "NICU" Don't give up the fight. I went to my daughter and stood by her bed. They were not allowed to give her "formula", only my milk. In fact, the only reason she was released so quickly is because I nursed her. Formula fed babies must drink a certain amount of "formula" before they are allowed to be released. There was no such measurement for mommy fed babies. So, keep feeding your spouse good milk from our Mother. Keep them off of "formula" the fake milk of religion. I believe one day they too will be released from NICU and home with you; you both ready to touch heads and peacefully slumber drinking the nourishing and sweet milk provided by our Spiritual Mother.
If you want to give yourself a treat, look up the benefits of mother's milk, breast milk. It is the absolute perfect food for babies. It changes as the needs of the baby change. If a child gets sick, the mother's milk will produce antibodies for the child. The milk teaches the body's child how to function. For instance, formula has no cholesterol. However, breast milk does. Longitudinal test reveal that nursed babies are less likely to get heart disease because their bodies were trained in how to handle cholesterol because it was in the mother's milk. Formula fed babies don't have this training as their body is developing and then their body doesn't know what to do with cholesterol - it ends up simply clogging their arteries. Breast milk is naturally sweet. Formula manufacturers in the past tried to add sugar to formula to make it sweet, but that didn't go over too well. Women are advised not to taste formula, because if they taste it they will never fed it to their babies. Breastmilk on the other hand taste similar to melted vanilla ice cream (trust me on this one - LOL). Although it is healthy to its core, it is sweet and nourishing. In spite of what formula manufacturers tout, factory made milk it simply a poor substitute. Then I think of how Paul tried to make "milk" a bad thing, calling people "infants" if they were still on the "milk of the world" in Hebrews 5:13. Just like a deceiver, he was trying to lead people away from what they needed, calling it incomplete and scorning the relationship between Mother and child.
Well, enough ranting from me at this time!
