Diving For Putrefying Garbage

As a kid, several years ago now, I grew up in the small, bedroom community of Martinez, California where residents left their doors unlocked, because crime was almost nonexistent.  Killings and kidnappings never occurred. 

People looked out for one another in an environment where children felt safe in their surroundings.  Trust was everyday living; a virtue, not like some of today’s restless communities where widespread chaos and disorder run unbridled.

Crime and mayhem not only lurk in the shadows of night, daytime offenses are becoming the norm.  The lack of values and morality are quickly polluting our neighborhoods with the stench of hatred, looming like a garbage dump that you can smell for blocks.  It is called sin.  But where sin abounds, the grace of God abounds even more.

In my youth, people respected each other’s property and a person’s word was their bond.  A simple handshake sealed the deal without an attorney drawing up documents for everyone to sign.  Times have changed and getting worse, because of sin, but God still speaks peace in the presence of turmoil.

I have fond memories growing up, especially of my grandfather working in his garden, hoeing and watering the plants by hand and picking a tomato or two for me to enjoy as we talked about the week I had at school.  Grandpa lived across the street from us and was never too busy to take time with me.  He loved me and I loved him.

My dad found pleasure following in Grandpa’s footsteps, gardening.  There was always something growing in our backyard that he had planted, which rekindled sweet memories of Grandpa and the times we had together.

Like Grandpa, Dad knew how to prepare for planting.  He tilled the earth the old-fashioned way, using a spading fork rather than a rototiller.  Turning the soil over by hand got the job done, but it was hard work.

As I matured and became stouter and stronger, on occasion I surprised Dad by turning the soil and breaking up the dirt clods when he was at work.  It was backbreaking, manual labor to say the least, but worth every blister and aching muscle just to see the smile on his face—nice memories.

The one memory I do have will forever be in my nostrils, figuratively speaking.  Dad had a truckload of steer manure delivered and dumped on the driveway in front of the entry door to our house.  It stunk to high heaven. 

All the neighbors for blocks around could smell the poop.  It was so bad that I thought my nose hairs would fall out or the inner membrane would become damaged from smelling it.  It was the most unpleasant odor I had ever smelled.  I don’t know where Dad bought the stuff, but in my opinion, they got the better end of the deal.

This mound of pure dung had to be moved to the backyard to fertilize the garden area.  That meant several trips with a wheelbarrow filled with smelly poop.  Guess who moved it?  Yep.

I wrapped a cloth around my nose, which did nothing to keep out the smell.  I went to work spreading it evenly where Dad wanted it as he tilled it into the soil.  It seemed like I would never get done, but in time the smell went away and we enjoyed the fruits of our labor as the plants grew and provided their yield.

This experience reminds me of the stinking mound of sin that was piled in front of my heart’s door.  Jesus waded through the disgusting filth to knock on my door.  He told me that God would remove all traces of sin and toss the rot into the sea of His forgetfulness, never to remember them against me again. 

I asked for forgiveness and the disgusting odor went away, because God removed every spade full of sin, which freed me from the stench that everyone around me could smell.  I became a born-again-Believer.

The problem I see with many Christians is hindsight-living; having problems accepting the fact that when God forgives sin, He forgives all sin forevermore.

I believe that people are haunted with past memories of sin.  They find themselves having pity parties again and again, wishing they would have done things differently.  I call this kind of nerve-racking agony, “the-do-betters,”… if only I… I should not have…  Maybe you are one being tormented with past woes that can fill in the empty spaces.

Perhaps you find yourself pleading with God over and over to forgive certain things, whereas, the dregs of the cup have already been tossed out.  Remember, God forgives all sin forevermore.  We cannot do anything about our past, but we do have the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth today.

In my imagination I see individuals diving deep into God’s sea of forgetfulness wearing scuba gear and grasping a sand bucket and shovel to scoop up the sediment of forgiven sins, dive after dive.  I watch as they pour out the contents of the bucket on the altar before God and Him saying, “What is this?”

God forgives and forgets our transgressions.  Living in peace will happen when we stop diving for past sins.  Leave the dregs where God put them. 

We are cleansed by the blood of Jesus that He shed on Calvary for our sins.  We need to believe and accept this truth.  When we resist Satan’s finger-pointing, the disquieting past will heal, because we are a member of the family of God.  The Lord wants us to live in harmony, and certainly victory.

(James 4:7)  “Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

The kids of today need to be introduced to the man that can remove all garbage from their life and give hope where there is none.  Jesus Christ is the only person that can do this.  He is the way, the truth, and the life.

Written by,
Papa Boyd

Sucker Punched by Masked Deception

Halloween is a controversial affair that comes once a year on October 31^st.  It is fun for kids of all ages to enter into the festivities and merriment that accompany this day. 

The lack of nervousness toward goblins and the like allows people to embrace and celebrate its coming, much like a masquerade ball or similar venue.  Others frown on its evil perception and forbid their children from participating. 

The internet provides extensive clarification of the baseline beginning of Halloween, leading up to commercial and secular undertones in present day living.  It is interesting reading.

Halloween involves dressing up in masks and costumes, carving jack-o’-lanterns out of pumpkins and trick-or-treating around the neighborhoods and in nearby shopping malls.  There are decorations of skeletons and witches everywhere, and pictures of vicious looking bats and monsters.  Masks of every kind, for all personalities, are seen far and wide.

A mask hides the identity of the wearer, which brings me to today’s thought.  It was customary for outlaws in the old west to wear bandannas over their nose to conceal their identity. 

Covering one’s face still holds true today when committing crimes, because of the consequences that befall them if caught.  Masks are often used rather than neckerchiefs.

I have heard the expression, “You can’t tell a book by its cover,” which can apply to the above scenario as well as the following notion.  I see people wearing dust masks when the pollen count is high and also in doctor’s waiting rooms for health reasons.  They are not going to steal someone’s purse or try and lift a wallet or two, although this has probably been tried.

What is in the mind of a person wearing a mask—deception or nothing to worry about?  I guess we just have to be aware and remain alert.  Deception and purity of heart can run a close parallel, especially when trickery is masked.  It is hard to distinguish one from the other.

Deception comes in different forms and is disguised to appear as light, but behind the sham is the darkness of everything bad.  Satan is the master at deceiving people.  If we allow our mind to turn a blind eye to false teachings that appear as truth, heartache is around the corner.  We must remain vigilant.  

If something seems a little off and that small voice inside is saying, “Look out,” proceed with caution, or better yet, run from the bearer that is pushing their agenda, which goes contrary to God’s Word.  It is not of God.  

Guard against being enticed by any form or mask that the devil puts on, because we run the risk of being hurt by the results of our lackadaisical disregard to things we suspect as being wrong, even though outwardly they resemble truth.

Satan is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  He is like a thief that wants to rob life from us with all of its fullness and joy.  His goal is to kill and destroy God’s greatest creation—you and me. 

We must protect our mind from non-truths and not be sucker punched by masked deception.  God removes the scales from our eyes so that we can see clearly the workings of despicable vermin that seek to devour us.  God desires that we have life.

(John 10:10)  “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

(1 Peter 5:8)  “Be sober; be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

The Holy Spirit sheds light on the darkness that surrounds pitfalls of deception, even though they appear to be somewhat acceptable to Christian living.  That which is hidden by the mask Satan wears is exposed, revealing the true nature of his evil ways. 

We need not fear the enemy of our soul, because God gives us the where-with-all to resist the deceptive beauty of Satan’s method of trickery.

Satan schemes to bring to pass a systematic plan for attaining our trust; a secret or underhanded arrangement to separate us from God’s love—a trick.  Remember trick-or-treat?

The devil always tricks and never treats a person with dignity, consideration, or love.  He is cold, insensitive, and has a cruel disregard for humanity.  He is callous and full of iniquity.  No wonder he wears a mask.  He wants to sucker punch the human race in its entirety.

Lucifer, as he was named, paints pictures of splendor on canvases smeared with dung and crustacean.  When the perceived magnificence of his trickery fades, the stench of rotting filth quickly comes forth. 

With God’s help we will never hang his worthless paintings on the walls of our heart.  God is good all the time.  His love never fails.  

Written by,

Papa Boyd  

The Path We Choose

Everyone has their journey, but there is only one path to God.  Though mankind conjures up cynicism as a means to attain justification for their sins, a rude awakening awaits them just around the corner if they continue to spurn God’s love and continue on this path of destruction. 

Many individuals are traveling in their own strength and rely upon good works to make their trip on earth satisfactory to our Creator when they finish the race-of-life, expecting acceptance from God in the here-after.  This is not God’s plan at all.  The Bible says that our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God. 

There are wonderful folks everywhere that abide by the laws of the land and treat their neighbors as they themselves want to be treated, but false teachings have obscured the truth of God to the point that they believe their good deeds and self-righteousness are enough to get them into heaven.  These are counterfeits for the purity of Christ that Satan would have us believe.

Believing this lie will ultimately separate a person from the presence of God when they pass from this life.  They must accept Jesus Christ as the only propitiation for sins committed.  There is no other way.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

(Acts 4:12)  “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Man’s teaching and philosophy spits in the face of God.  Humanity, since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, is wicked and self-absorbed, needing a Savior.  They willfully try to stamp out and nullify God’s love by setting themselves on the thrown and putting Him under it. 

God gave His only Begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins…a free gift to humanity in order to restore the bond between Him and us. 

Disregarding God’s Word does not change His plan one iota.  God will not allow any person to substitute their unrighteousness in an attempt to negate the true righteousness of Jesus. 

The Lord’s death and resurrection stands unmovable in the face of false teachings that man contrives as truth.  When they try to replace the deity and sovereignty of Christ with heresy, the Holy Spirit lifts up a standard against it.  God has the last say.

Jesus paid the full price for the sins of mankind.  No other person on earth, now or ever, is holy enough to satisfy God for the forgiveness of sin.  Only the blood of Jesus can do this.  It cleanses sinners from the darkness of wrongdoing and makes them pure as the driven snow.

2 Corinthians 5:17)  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

I can understand why people choose not to talk about the not-so-popular subject matter of dying.  They lack peace of mind that all is well with their soul—fearing the unknown.  They would rather sip their latte or something stronger and talk about everything else under the sun except meeting their maker.

They skirt the issue in conversation and hide from its finality—the inevitable.  A person that cringes from the subject and refuses to think or talk about it does not negate the inevitable from happening. 

Two things are sure in life, taxes and dying.  They are a part of living that there is no getting around.  Trying to hide from the reality of death by sticking our head in the sand will not change the end results, but the choice we make, while breath is still in our lungs, changes the final destination of where our soul spends eternity. 

I remember in my teens and mid-twenties avoiding the subject all together.  I knew where I was headed and it scared me.  Rather than facing distasteful thoughts, I blocked them by cramming these unwanted reminders of death in the far reaches of my subconscious, but it was a feeble attempt to hide from the inevitable.  The terror of the unavoidable always found its way out, usually when I tried to sleep at night.

The path we choose with Christ provides peace of mind that where He is in heaven, there we will be also.  The opposite is true when we choose to reject God’s free gift of salvation and go our own way.

The choice is ours to make; our destiny depends on it.  God does not choose for us and no one else can make the choice by proxy.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  He paid the full price for sin for every living person.  We need only to accept Him as Lord.

(Romans 10:9)  “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Satan provides so much negative connotation in the world that it would fill a fleet of garbage trucks a hundred fold…too many voices saying, “Take this path.”

(Matthew 7:13-14)  “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”  Vs.14 “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

You will find the older you get, the faster the years seem to go by.  It is amazing how quickly time passes.  I wondered if 21 would ever get here, but then shortly thereafter the fast, forward button was pushed and behold I was transported to my twilight years in the blink of an eye.

(Psalm 144:4)  “Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.” 

I thank God for each day He gives me to spend time with my soul-mate, children and wonderful grandchildren.  I no longer fear where my soul will end up like I once did, because I gave my heart to the Lord.  Peace that is hard to explain now permeates my thought process. 

Because of the path I chose, no longer do I cry at nights fearing to close my eyes and sleep, because I have hope in the promise of God that heaven is my home…forever.  The hope and peace He gave me, He will do for you.  God is no respecter of person.  He loves you and wants to free you from the bondage that besets you.

(John 14:27)  “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd