How To Build Stepping Stones ~ 2-2
I have learned that in order for us to be empowered, we must face the thing we are avoiding. We must face or confront the pain and sin.
Many times we are told to run or avoid pain and sin. But we are admonished to "resist", in other words "combat" the devil and he will flee from you.
Why run or avoid when victory is already assured? But avoidance is actually an automatic unwitting, involuntary action -- a reaction. And the way we avoid instead of running away from it, is actually running towards it as we have already seen in the previous post ~ Understanding Pain.
So then subject yourselves to Elohim. Resist the devil1 and he shall flee from you. Footnote: 1 Or adversary.
(Jas 4:7 The Scriptures 1998+)
In other words, in order for us to have a firm resolved about some things we do not desire, we must confront them squarely -- know them absolutely. And "resist", in a moment we will touch the how-to resist. And accept the consequences of our past actions -- our pain, our sins.
Confession Is The Acknowledgment Of One's Faults
I have learned that confronting is basically a necessary part of what the Scriptures describes as confession. Confession is basically the acknowledgement of one's faults, short comings, misgivings, etc, against a set moral standard or codes. Confronting makes one realized one's faults to be acknowledged. Again: Confession is acknowledgement of one's faults.
And fully confronted means, we have realized most if not all of the triggers that are affecting us, and when this happens, they no longer affect us, they no longer have the power over us, for we have fully recognized them that they have been used as attachments to lure us, with pleasure to our ultimate destruction. And by faith we have become empowered.
I have been taught that Memories will never fade. However, I remember the prayer of King David and owned it, and here it is King David's prayer, now my own, and in my own words as an example: ... "blot out my transgressions" Psa 51:1, "create in me a new heart, and a new mind, and a new spirit" Psa 51:10, Eze 36:26 and "write in it your statutes, your judgments, your instructions, that I may not sin against Thee" Psa 119:11, Jer 31:33.
Show me favour, O Elohim, According to Your kindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion, Blot out my transgressions.
(Psa 51:1 The Scriptures 1998+)Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
(Psa 51:10 The Scriptures 1998+)“And I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I shall take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I shall give you a heart of flesh,
(Eze 36:26 The Scriptures 1998+)I have treasured up Your word in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
(Psa 119:11 The Scriptures 1998+)“For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ĕl after those days, declares יהוה: I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
(Jer 31:33 The Scriptures 1998+)
Also, I remember, that our Father will not remember our sins when we are forgiven. Isa 43:25, Heb 8:12, 10:17
“I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and remember your sins no more.
(Isa 43:25 The Scriptures 1998+)“Because I shall forgive their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawlessnesses I shall no longer remember.”1
Footnote: 1 Jer. 31:31-34, Heb. 10:16-17.
(Heb 8:12 The Scriptures 1998+)and, “Their sins and their lawlessnesses I shall remember no more.”
(Heb 10:17 The Scriptures 1998+)
If we remember our painful past, it is because of the triggers we perceived. Some of these triggers we have not yet recognized. Our adversary knows very well how triggers are created and installed in our pain. Thus, this adversary do not want us to be free of pain. He wants us to believe that pain and sin are really not related.
trig·ger
ˈtriɡər
noun
plural noun: triggers1. a small device that releases a spring or catch and so sets off a mechanism, especially in order to fire a gun.
"he pulled the trigger of the shotgun"an event or circumstance that is the cause of a particular action, process, or situation.
"the trigger for the strike was the closure of a mine"verb
3rd person present: triggers1. cause (an event or situation) to happen or exist.
"an allergy can be triggered by stress or overwork"synonyms: precipitate, prompt, elicit, trigger off, set off, spark (off), touch off, provoke, stir up; cause, give rise to, launch, lead to, set in motion, occasion, bring about, generate, engender, begin, start, initiate; literary enkindle
cause (a device) to function.
synonyms: activate, set off, set going, trip
"thieves triggered the alarm"Origin
early 17th century: from dialect tricker, from Dutch trekker, from trekken ‘to pull.’
Some if not most of these triggers are pleasure or ego trip triggers we have been attracted to or lured into. But then we are also reminded of the pain after it. And our resolve yet is strengthened albeit a little.
But until we have fully confronted the past it will remain affecting us by triggering us into patterns of cycles of actions we unwittingly do.
The Past -- means -- the event or circumstance which is the cause Or the trigger.
The Past is made up of complete moving vivid pictures, with colors, hue and sounds in it down to its subtleties. The Past is a movie WITH taste, smell, and touch down to its subtleties as well, and associated WITH feelings and instincts. It is a Memory.
Triggers come from everything we perceived. Our Painful Memories are the Triggers that get us into Patterns of Cycles of actions we unknowingly do. That If we are aware, we won't do.
Such Patterns of Cycles of actions can be identified with our negative emotional conditions (from antagonism to apathy then death) that we might, (If Triggered,) go through every day: antagonism, anger, rage, fear, sadness, grief, apathy, and then death.
Most of the times we are betrayed by our Memory of the past. Our own feelings and instincts associated with it, betray us. This is why, it is important we become aware of the patterns how it does to us, (triggered us).
Patterns -- means: when we are triggered we go through the same Cycles Of Action over again.
Cycles Of Actions -- means: actions and thoughts and feelings, these are voluntary actions, and feelings, and thoughts; these are automatic and we do them without us knowing we are doing it. Also known as Reactions.
Only the result, a little bit later, may give us a faint bit of a clue about our emotional condition, in which case we are aware of it from that faint bit of clue. We are aware but not completely aware of the whole thing.
And that is where we can start.
Realizations -- means: we have become aware of these automatic actions that we were not aware we were doing it before. And our goal is to completely become aware of it all. When that happens our burden is lifted up. And one will feel lighter.
King David's Example Of Repentance
The Bible gives us many examples about repentance. One such example that I particularly like is found in Psalm 51.
Repentance actually involves Confession and Taking Stock. (Psa 32:5, Psa 51:3) Bottom line is: Knowing and acknowledgement.
Repentance is making a U-turn. But Why should one make a U-turn if one do not know where one is heading?
I acknowledged my sin to You, And my crookedness I did not hide. I have said, “I confess my transgressions to יהוה,” And You forgave the crookedness of my sin. Selah.
(Psa 32:5 The Scriptures 1998+)For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.
(Psa 51:3 The Scriptures 1998+)
Or doing an inventory of the event in writing. Describing the event in writing as in a journal. Writing an account. Proper meditation is an alternative to writing it. The objective of this is to know our transgressions. Psa 51:3, 32:5.
Why write?
Because we need to master this process. Because we have been living too long in the dark. We think we have some light but the light we perceive is from darkness which is false light.
Remember that when we react, pain is in control of us, and we are unaware of this. Sometimes for years and several years, specially when we have been living too long or a bit longer in pleasure and ego trip and pain. Sometimes for a split second, specially when we have taken the necessary steps already in handling our errors. I'll show you in a moment.
This exercise is necessary for us today because we have been living too long in sin, we are so familiar with sin that we do not see it as it is. We cannot see the difference.
When we begin to see true light, we come to a level of awareness that we are indeed in the dark. And have been living too long in the dark that we have become so accustomed in living in the dark. And we cannot just take too much light. But once we see the light, we become attracted to the light, and so we advance towards the light one small step at a time. In the same way we came into the darkness one small step at a time.
It is necessary that we do this exercise each and every time we become aware that we have been reacting to situations even if for just a few moments. This exercise will create a habit, and mastery of the process and eventually mastery of the situation. And when this process is mastered, one can then do away with writing it and instead meditate on the situation in the same manner, following the same process.
How To Confront
Or How To Resist. "Renewing of the mind" is the process. The process is to take stock, inventory, or account of the event of pain in writing.
Why is this necessary? Because we have been deceived in the first place and because of deceit, we experienced pain eventually. Because we have not recognized the nuances of deceit, is the reason we are deceived, is the reason we eventually experienced pain. These nuances of deceit are triggers as well.
Our faults also have nuances that we must searched out to be acknowledged. When our faults have been searched out or discovered we will immediately feel a little bit lighter. This is called "awareness" or "realization". I prefer to use the word "realization".
In this account, there must be four specifics that one must take into account in order to face it, or confront it squarely, remember these are fast rules, you can not omit any one of these:
the Time: when it happened -- the exact date and exact time, if that is not possible then the nearest account in relation to morning, noon, afternoon, dawn, dusk, twilight and the like; must always start with the latest event that can be recalled with ease, and after steps 2 to 4 is done, repeat this process and find the earliest of similar event that ever happened in one's lifetime from the very beginning that one can ever remember;
the Place: where it happened -- home, school, work, shopping mall, grocery, parking lot, room, nook, library, and the like;
the Form: what can be identified -- objects such as flowers, trees, people, children, men and/or women, chairs, doors, walkway, dirt-road, colors, smell, litters, and the like, down to the minute details as can be recalled;
Because these served as triggers, hence, events similar to these seems to be repeating over and over again, albeit in different forms when triggered by these;
We cannot know they are there if we neglect writing these, hence these triggers will continue to have the power to control us when triggered;
finally, the Event: what really happened, including thoughts (including instincts or gut feelings) and emotions, minus the justifications of why it happened.
Please note, justifications are stumbling blocks (Gen 3:12,13). An example is "because he did not remind me" as oppose to "I completely forgot".
Please note, in the former, one's fault is completely covered. In the latter, one's fault is acknowledged. Remember, confession is acknowledgement of one's faults.
Please note:
That one sitting or session may not be enough to account every minute detail, necessary for a "realization" to happen.
Sometimes if not every time During writing one will be brought back to the painful event and may break into tears, it's ok, (Psa 51:17), specially when one is just beginning to account a particular event.
After writing, keep it hidden, so that no one can find it and accidentally read it.
Every time you do this exercise, you are leaving the present time and going back to the painful past again. Looking IN. And you will become subjective.
And Each time you are finished with your session, you have to bring yourself back to the present time. From Looking IN to Looking OUT. From being subjective to becoming objective again.
Follow this to come back to the present time: Close your journal, look around you, NOTICE every minute detail of everything around you: the objects: such as flowers, tables & chairs, art works, lights, doors and windows, the flooring, the smell, touch, hearing, and the like. When you are sure you are at present check the time and the date and the day;
Then go outside for an hour of walk in the park or on the mall where there are lots of people. As you walk, look at people's faces walking towards you, you will eventually see the sorrow in their faces, as if you can read their faces, and you will soon feel kinder towards them.
Also notice every detail of an object you see around you.
Do this, at least 1 whole hour, Until you will feel lighter.
You May also OR Should do this exercise each time you become aware you have been reacting to situations or circumstances that just happened around you.
You have been triggered, in other words, and you have gone to the past and had brought the past to mixed with your present situation, and were acting at your present time by the dictates of your past.
But now you have noticed (become aware), that you were triggered. And this is a good sign.
And doing this exercise, will bring you to the proper perspective of the past and the present, and this is why you will feel lighter, because the heavy burdens of the past will have been identified at that instant, and are therefore laid down, thus you will feel lighter.
Your first objective is to add more to it, until there is no more to add, which means, you have completely confronted what happened in the past, for this particular experience.
Read it again to add more to it.
Reading it again to add more to it, and keep adding to it until there is no more to add.
Remember: these include what came to your thoughts, your gut feelings or instincts, and the dialogues that goes on your mind, these are subtle triggers when you come to realize later on.
why?
Because your next objective is To: realize or become aware of what exactly happened, and it will come from what you had written.
Realizations of what had happened in its entirety.
Realizations cannot be in its entirety when you can still add to OR write to your journal about the experience.
Read it between these times from 9AM to 3PM.
Why?
Because within these hours, you will still have at least one hour to walk around looking at peoples faces and objects, bringing your intention OUT from the Reaction Default: IN,
After one hour, one should feel kinder towards other people, rather than feeling sorry for oneself.
If you do this exercise before going to bed, you will have no time to bring yourself back to the present time. And you will sleep in the past, and will eventually wake up with a heavy burden on your shoulders (the present mixed with the past), feeling tired instead of having rested.
Write this immediately to your journal, in addition, to the same experience of the past you were writing about. And bring yourself to present time. Then later during the day, when time would allow, take a nap, to regain physical strength.
Read the whole thing again and again in times that you are happy or cheerful, only in this condition can one be able to searched out, discover, recognize, and see one's faults. Only in this condition one can best evaluate one's own account, and keep adding into the account. Only in this condition one can get into a "realization".
That does not mean, however, that you must wait until you are Generally happy to Be able to read, IN Order To Add to It.
If there is something you feel, must be written down, do it right away. Do not worry if you are not yet IN the condition of "Happy" or "Cheerful".
Don't worry if you are happy and cheerful and suddenly become saddened and in pain when reading it again, these are triggered (Psa 51:17).
The slaughterings of Elohim are a broken spirit, A heart broken and crushed, O Elohim, These You do not despise.
(Psa 51:17 The Scriptures 1998+)As you do this, you will soon come to several realizations, you will soon see, the triggers, the cause, and most specially your errors.
You will never see your errors if you have justifications in place.
Each time you read it again, you will notice that your condition has improve and will continue to improve, little by little, as you continue this exercise.
When this happens, the whole thing, including most of the triggers if not all has no more power over you.
Now that you have realizations, now you know what to confess, when you confess, your repentance is coming from the very core of your being.
You will know when the pain is gone because when you read it, it will no longer trigger to give you pain, but rather you might be amused of it; And at this stage you can destroy it or burn it, for it has achieved its purpose. You cannot induce this, it will just happen and you know you have overcome and won yet one other battle. (Psa 51:12,14) ~
Restore to me the joy of Your deliverance, And uphold me, Noble Spirit!
(Psa 51:12 The Scriptures 1998+)Deliver me from blood-guilt, O Elohim, Elohim of my deliverance, Let my tongue sing aloud of Your righteousness.
(Psa 51:14 The Scriptures 1998+)
o
Important note:
After the first sitting, your account will have many if not all, justifications. This is normal, because we have been blinded to our own faults that we cover them automatically, unwittingly, unconsciously. But, when you read it again, specially if and when you are "happy and cheerful", you will be able to see some of these, and you will begin to edit, cross-out the justifications and replace them with acknowledgement of how you have been at fault. This is the "realization". And after doing this several times, your account will look like a mess, but you will feel a lot better. And all the nuances of deceit, the triggers you did not recognize before, your mind will automatically pick them out and delete them, hence you are able to see your faults. And when you see your faults, you can clearly, absolutely, without any doubt knew which direction you should head to.
When we do this exercise, the Father would know our firm resolved to repent, hence the reason I believed that each and every time we have a realization, our hearts feel lighter. It automatically feels as if the burden that was there before on our shoulders have been lifted up literally. And if we master this exercise, we would begin to notice every reaction we do. And we can close our eyes right then and there, and review the situation in the same process, and we would begin to experience realization. Until a time will come, that we will become aware before we can react and instead of reacting, intuitively we know what is the best thing to do.
It is important that no one can read it because we are writing without holding back, and sometimes this account might have some names in it of our loved ones, that if read might cause further misunderstandings rather than helped. And because we are writing about ourselves in the worst possible account of ourselves without holding back. And we do not want others to use these against us.
This Journal is not intended to be read by anyone, save you. And in spirit to Yahushua our High Priest and Saviour. For this account is also a confession. A thorough confession. A thorough self-examination, that will ultimately reveal and acknowledge our faults, short-comings, misgivings, errors, our deepest sins. And only our Saviour, Yahushua, Messiah can forgive us. No one else.
Writing it is very, very important for mastery. Because one can go to meditating and in prayer directly then losing control to one's painful situation. And One can fall in any condition between antagonism and grief. And in this condition one can not be trusted. In this condition, you cannot trust yourself. In this condition, one is not in control. And no one can trust you. Remember, we have lived too long in the darkness that light can be blinding. Writing it gives us the conditioning we needed, the necessary control we needed, and the mastery we needed. (Rom 12:2)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim.
(Rom 12:2 The Scriptures 1998+)However, you can try to see, and observe yourself, but most likely your realizations will be very, very few, if not at all none, and you might have a false sense of relief, and later the same triggers can take hold of you again and again,
Paul is very specific about "the renewing of your mind", this means more than just creating a new habit, this means, mastery, writing it will give us the mastery of this exercise and eventually mastery of handling pain and sin,
We will know we have mastered, when we can close our eyes immediately after we realized we have reacted to a situation, and we can follow through in our mind, the same process naturally and faithfully, and when realization comes, we can prayerfully confess, and a sincere repentance can happen, and when we open our eyes, we will know we have won yet one battle. o
The objective of this exercise is to confront squarely our pains, so that we will come to realize our faults--which are the causes of all our negative traits. I call this simply realization. When this happens, repentance comes from the very core of one's being. Please note here that David knew his faults, and he knew who can rightly judge him ~ (Psa 51:3,4)
For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.
(Psa 51:3 The Scriptures 1998+)Against You, You alone, have I sinned, And done evil in Your eyes; That You might be proven right in Your words; Be clear when You judge.
(Psa 51:4 The Scriptures 1998+)
King David and Bathsheba: A Case Study
Please pause for a moment and read the whole chapter of Psalm 51, Then come back and continue reading. Or continue reading and read Psalm 51 later; your choice. Then again, in your own time reread Psalm 51 and ponder on it. This is after King David have murdered the husband of Bathsheba, after he slept with her.
The background story of King David and Bathsheba is found in 2 Samuel 11 to 12:23. King David was idle one evening, and wandered around the roof and saw the figure of a woman bathing (2 Sam 11:2). And he sent men to fetch her and she came to him and he slept with her (2 Sam 11:3,4). Then she became pregnant, and told the King (2 Sam 11:5).
To cover up, David schemed and called the husband from battle to return home to his wife, to sleep with her (2 Sam 11:6-8). But Uriah, Bathsheba's husband slept outside his house, because his men and the ark was in the booths (2 Sam 11:9-11).
So David, schemed yet another plan, and wrote a letter to his general, instructing to place Uriah in the front lines and withdrew support so that he will be killed and sent the letter through Uriah's hand back to the battle (2 Sam 11:12-15).
And Uriah got killed in action by the Ammonites. So David committed covetousness, adultery, thief, and murder through the Ammonites (2 Sam 11:15-27).
The Domino Effect Of Pain and Sin
Please note the domino effect of pain and sin. First it was lust, when lust was conceived, it brings forth sin, and sin breeds yet another sin to cover up the previous sin and so on. (James 1:15). I also call this the downward spiral.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it has been accomplished, brings forth death.
(Jas 1:15 The Scriptures 1998+)
When sin was committed David was trying to avoid it and covering it by murder. In 2 Samuel chapter 12, Elohim sent the prophet Nathan to deliver judgement to David in a parable allowing King David to pronounce the judgment (2 Sam 12:5-7).
And the wrath of Dawiḏ burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As יהוה lives, the man who has done this is a son of death!
(2Sa 12:5 The Scriptures 1998+)“Also, he has to repay fourfold for the lamb, because he did this deed and because he had no compassion.”
(2Sa 12:6 The Scriptures 1998+)Then Nathan said to Dawiḏ, “You are the man! Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘I anointed you sovereign over Yisra’ĕl, and I delivered you from the hand of Sha’ul.
(2Sa 12:7 The Scriptures 1998+)
Please note, David have a very close relationship with YHWH. David knows exactly what sin is, what constitute a sin. Unlike us today, we are so far away from YHWH that we become accustomed to sinning, we even hear lawlessness being preached in most church pulpits today if not all, even from those who profess to obey all the "ten commandments" labeling it "moral laws" but cleverly forsaking the rest of the commandments outside the "moral laws". Even David who has a much closer relationship with YHWH had fallen short. How much more are we compelled to sin in our time today?
And David became angry (2 Sam 12:5,6) -- his pain got a hold of him, without him being aware of what was happening with him. And when Nathan pointed out that this man was him (2 Sam 12:7-12), he was hit with a stark realization of his faults at that instant (2 Sam 12:13). And because he was quick to realize his faults, he was spared of death (2 Sam 12:14), but still bear the other consequences (2 Sam 12:10-12,15).
Please note here the quick realization of David. The same realization of David is our objective in taking account of our painful memories into writing. Because it is only then that we can confess our faults (sins). We cannot confess anything if we do not know what our faults are. And if we do not know what our faults are, we can ask for forgiveness over and over again to no effect and still fall to doing the same thing over and over again.
This is because we cannot know for certain what action we did that cause us to fall. The result of living too long in the dark.
If you follow the story of King David, note that this kind of sin has never happened again. If we become empowered we are no longer vulnerable to committing the same sin over again UNWITTINGLY. We would still be exposed to them, and the triggers would still fire, but they would have no more power over you, for you can already recognize them and already knew how you had been sweeped off before. These are the tools of the adversary. Thus it is very, very important to fully realized our faults.
The Natural Human Inclination To Pain and Sin
Before we can realized our faults, we have to know what we are avoiding, how we are avoiding, and why. Pain -- physical and/or emotional pain is what we are avoiding. But the way we are avoiding pain is actually running into pain and more pain like a domino effect, we stumble to another pain, and another, and another, and this can continue on without end UNTIL one is HIT with a Realization.
A graphic example of this is the bumper cars: when it comes to stop to avoid an imminent impact instead of stepping on the break one unwittingly step on the gas. This is what is avoiding or running away from sin is like.
Why is this?
This happens because pain and sin has effectively blocked our senses. Hence, although we can see right or wrong, our actions involuntarily is wrong and we would not know the difference. Because it is fun. And when pain sets in, it is usually too late.
The purpose of this exercise is to unblock our senses, so that we can recognized the actions we took. So that we shall arrived at a realization that the fun is just a surface wrap. And next time around we shall be able to readily recognize it a far off and be empowered to resist it. Another purpose of this exercise is mastery of this exercise, so that one would no longer need to write, instead one can meditate following the same process over and over again as a second nature.
Just like driving, one must undergo training and invest many hours of practice driving exercises until driving becomes a second nature.
Notice that before King David committed the very first sin, he was overcame with lust, (2 Sam 11:2) which germinates a tiny bit of pain that demanded to be quenched. Obviously David had not recognized what triggered it yet. And he reacted to it by avoiding pain and sin. How did he do it? He sent men to inquire (2 Sam 11:3) in secret (2 Sa 12:12). This is how human inclination is about avoiding pain or sin, it is actually doing it in secret, as oppose to running away from it, or confronting it and exposing it.
And Dawiḏ sent and asked about the woman, and one said, “Is this not Bathsheḇa, the daughter of Eliyam, the wife of Uriyah the Ḥittite?”
(2Sa 11:3 The Scriptures 1998+)‘For you did it in secret, but I shall do this deed before all Yisra’ĕl, and before the sun.’ ”
(2Sa 12:12 The Scriptures 1998+)
A more clever and obvious wording would be to quenched this pain. But if the nature of "avoiding" is this obvious, it would thus be easily dismissed. But notice this thing is done in secret. So in his heart there was a struggle and he succumbed to the trigger. And Instead of stepping on the break he unwittingly stepped on the gas.
When David sent men to inquire (2Sam 11:3) he already committed adultery according to Yahushua (Mat 5:28). And for this reason his senses have already been blocked. And sin was already in control of him.
“But I say to you that everyone looking at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
(Mat 5:28 The Scriptures 1998+)
When he was first looking at the woman bathing, he did not commit adultery yet. But something in him triggered the desire in his heart to lust after her. "To lust" means the desire has been conceived. At this point David was already lost, blinded. He was no longer in control. Sin has taken hold of him and in control of him already at this stage. And the first domino fell and hit another, thus the chain reaction happens.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it has been accomplished, brings forth death.
(Jas 1:15 The Scriptures 1998+)
King David sent men (2 Sam 11:4) to fetched this woman secretly, and then the second sin was committed -- he slept with her.
And Dawiḏ sent messengers, to fetch her. And she came to him, and he lay with her – for she was cleansing herself from her uncleanness – and she returned to her house.
(2Sa 11:4 The Scriptures 1998+)
Thus the tiny bit of pain was quenched or "avoided" and the dominoes fell and hit yet another (sin) to "avoid" yet another (sin), still in secret because only a few men knew about this.
Conditions of Wellness
NOTE: Where one at the level of boredom, monotony, or above one can still readily recognize and differentiate right from wrong, and one is still sufficiently empowered and in control by virtue of the absence of pain.
These levels are boredom or monotony, mild interest, interest, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, and serenity in this order. One progresses and oscillates in this particular order. At these levels, one is in control of oneself. Our goal is to stay in these conditions, if not the higher conditions.
David's Emotional Condition
So, what was David's condition at the time he was in the roof wandering and finding a woman bathing? And he most probably was staring at.
Note in verse 1 this is "the time sovereigns go out to battle" and note in verse 2 that "he rose up from his bed and walked about". These two verses alludes that David was probably apprehensive about his men in battle.
In other words David was anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen. This condition is clearly below boredom. And in this condition he is very, very vulnerable because he is already not in control of himself. His apprehension is already in control of him.
And it came to be at the turn of the year, at the time sovereigns go out to battle, that Dawiḏ sent Yo’aḇ and his servants with him, and all Yisra’ĕl, and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But Dawiḏ remained at Yerushalayim.
(2Sa 11:1 The Scriptures 1998+)And it came to be, at evening time, that Dawiḏ rose up from his bed and walked about on the roof of the sovereign’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very good to look at.
(2Sa 11:2 The Scriptures 1998+)
David's condition at this point in time has also rendered him out of control of himself. His apprehension is in control of himself.
“Do not, then, worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow shall have its own worries. Each day has enough evil of itself.
(Mat 6:34 The Scriptures 1998+)
Apprehension is a mild pain. And because pain looks for a way out, to be quenched, and because the way its mechanism works -- i.e. domino effect, David succumbed to the trigger when he saw the woman bathing.
So if we are in the same apprehensive condition and wander around about where many triggers of temptations can hit us at any given moment. We are vulnerable to the adversaries snares.
Beware. And note the importance of keeping our spirits high.
A rejoicing heart causes good healing, But a stricken spirit dries the bones.
(Pro 17:22 The Scriptures 1998+)
Conditions Of Pain:
Below boredom the conditions starts at indifference, antagonism, anger and rage, fear, grief and sadness, apathy and finally death. We oscillates up and down in this particular order every day. Sometimes crosses above boredom and below boredom. Boredom is the threshold.
Know therefore, that below boredom is where pain starts, faint emotional pain. And at this stage, pain has gotten hold and in control over you. So, while you are at boredom, watch and guard yourself, find something that would keep your spirits up. And keep it up.
Pain can be challenging to those who are already antagonistic with life, and the challenge gets more difficult as one progresses to anger, madness and rage. This people are often times labeled as paranoid. Still more difficult when one reaches sadness, and grief. This progress can be very, very slow or can be a split second, depending on many factors, among them: one's environment and ability to respond.
The bottom level is apathy and then death. In apathy, one has lost all hope of ever surviving. And just totally stopped one's striving. And one's condition just continuous to deteriorate until eventually death.
In this world, the experience of pain is considered normal. We go through ups and downs, these are the manifestations of our coping the day-to-day challenges we face or confronts.
One can be trapped in a condition, identified as chronic condition. And chronic pain can translate to illness or disease.
Our goal is to reach a chronic condition of peace, which is serenity or shalom!
How Absolute Moral Standards Got Lost:
There is also an issue about morality, which is an issue that I have found to be very, very hard to face or confront. Because we have to have a standard by which we are to fully believed it to be absolutely true. I mean hard for most people who are completely unaware that there is an Absolute Standard.
We do have this Absolute Standard. Absolute because it was written in stone. The giver knew that "The Norm" will sweep and take over the world and its inhabitants eventually, from generation to generation. And so he wrote it in stone. That in itself should tell us much, that the Absolute Standard is indeed Absolute and we ought to check back with it now.
Did it get lost? Well, it is not entirely lost. Perhaps another word is forgotten by most people. It was written in stone so that man will know where to anchor his standards to. The Messiah talked about it in Matthew 5:17,18 ~
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets.1 I did not come to destroy but to complete.
Footnote: 1 The Law/Torah and the Prophets is a term used for the pre-Messianic Scriptures.
(Mat 5:17 The Scriptures 1998+)“For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done.1
Footnote: 1 Lk. 16:17.
(Mat 5:18 The Scriptures 1998+)
But it was not really forgotten, rather just not remembered. And societies have been carried away by "The Norm".
Or if remembered, remembered only selectively, there are those that calls it already abolished and no longer necessary. Still there are others that labeled it the "moral laws" pertaining only to the "ten commandments". But if we take notice, "Torah", often times translated as "Law" in the Bible, means instruction or teaching. And this pertains to instructions and teachings of YHWH given to Moses, and can be found in the books of Moses, the first five books of the Tanakh and the Bible. Which of course include the "ten commandments".
And the issue about morality is now associated with pleasure, ego trip, and pain in the mixed which will eventually result to pain and more pain. But the end result of pain is not readily recognized for it is cleverly packaged with pleasure and ego trip. This is now "The Norm".
Righteousness today is believed to be unattainable. Impossible. And no longer required. All one needs to have is faith in the Messiah. And that is it. This is because the definition of righteousness have become twisted by "The Norm".
Today, absolutes are no longer acceptable. The new Standard that permeates our modern lives is what we call "The Norm" that is aligned with pleasure and ego trip under the guises of "so long as no one gets hurt" and I can bear some pain ITS OK.
So that the "Absolute Standard" is already buried by "The Norms" piled on top of it and more of it from different cultures, from generations to generations, from different time periods in human history, arriving at what we are today.
So, what is "The Norm"?
"The Norm" is a very clever doctrine of deceit stated as "What is true to you is true to you". Which can be deduced to "What is true to you may not be true to another", and further to "What is true to many is probably true".
"The Norm" is the foundation of democracy. Where the majority rules. All Politicians today, anywhere in the world, in any government in office have already been bought by the powers that be. You can observe readily that they are preaching and promoting democracy in all media.
Curious of how it got started?
The powers that be first created fascism and communism after the two world wars, this is to influence and then infiltrate the largest, the wealthiest, the burgeoning most powerful of all republics -- the USA. And of course all other republics. Note the word "republic", yes the USA or America is a Republic and actually most freedom loving countries in the world are republics.
The Washington Monument, an obelisk was built to signify that infiltration in American government and politics has begun.
And when President Reagan took an oath of office facing the obelisk, that signifies and announced to the powers that be that they have conquered America. And all American Presidents after him took an oath of office facing the obelisk. Which means, it no longer matters who sits on the Presidential Desk. It no longer matters who wins the vote of the freedom loving people of America. The powers that be now controls the whole world.
A few years after that, the pyramid in Louvre, France was erected to signify that all known religion today have also been conquered. Meaning, all doctrines from all known religions in the world today are already mixed with false doctrines. And democracy is even one of their doctrines, although it is not written. It is preached in the pulpits of Christendom.
Now that their power infrastructure have been in place, it was time to indoctrinate all people's of the world about democracy boldly from the Presidential Desk of America. From the pulpits of all christian churches. And from various media channels they control. They pit communism and fascism against democracy in their messages. And it spread all throughout the world like wildfires.
And thus democracy become synonymous with republic, eventually the newer generations embraces democracy. And the republic is being buried slowly, little by little by the very people who built the largest, the wealthiest, and the most powerful of all republics in the world. And the world joins hand with them in concert. Like sheep being lead to the slaughter-house.
Very soon every one will wake up to a realization when democracy is formally installed and setup in America and find it to be another face of fascism or communism, that we have been deceived, the republic is completely buried and totally destroyed. And it will be too late to even calculate our actions. We did it ourselves, we give away our freedom, unwittingly. So that the prophecy of the Bible about this shall be fulfilled.
It is the same doctrine of democracy also that buried the absolute standard of YHWH -- His Torah.
And the hardest part is, most of it, is not associated with pain, but rather with pleasure and ego trip. And the hardest of them all is the pleasures of the flesh which can lead to madness, and what the Bible calls as fornication and also lawlessness -- the mother of them all. And strengthened by "democracy" -- majority rules or "The Norm".
In the surface, pain is not very obvious, but everyone on this path can attest to the pain as the end result: Lawlessness, divorce and separation, and civil unrest, but these have become accepted pain.
Conclusion
Pain is a memory that occurred in the past. Pain has the ability to control one by overshadowing one's senses , analytical ability, power of choice and awareness. Pain is the result of disobedience to certain laws whether man-made -- agreements and commitments, natural laws and/or the Torah. Pain is transgression. Pain can be pleasurable which makes it very hard to recognize. Pain is and has become "The Norm".
Pain is the result of sin; and sin is the Stumbling Blocks to one's progress towards becoming whole. In order to turn these stumbling blocks into Stepping Stones, one must confront squarely one's painful events, memories, and experiences, for the purpose of realizing one's own faults or sins.
Only then can one confess one's faults and only then can one repent truly from the core of one's beingness. And only then can one be empowered to progress towards the goal of becoming whole again. (Mat 5:48) ~
“Therefore, be perfect,1 as your Father in the heavens is perfect.
Footnote: 1 Ex. 17:1, Ps. 119:1, 1 John 2:5, Heb. 6:1.
(Mat 5:48 The Scriptures 1998+)
When we are crying in prayer about these, we sometimes begin to remember the painful memories of our past, and we come to realized eventually what causes our pain by seeing how we succumb to act that eventually cause our pain. We come to realized our faults -- our sinful acts, or simply realization. This is wonderful.
And most importantly, we come to realize how we have been deceived. We come to realize how the powers of darkness' cunning ingenuity of deception can infiltrate our faith. And with each realization they loses their grip in us, and we gain power over them with each realization.
Although our adversary is very subtle that every single trigger is cleverly covered up; but as long as we keep on this exercise, everything will eventually be brought up to light. And we become conquerors.
We may never be able to clear all of the triggers of sin in our lifetime, with which we have been buried each time we react to pain and sin. So it will continue to affect us when it is triggered. But if we continue to guard and be watchful we should be able to win these battles again as we have won the previous battles.
But there may be some that will no longer be triggered yet still buried deep and unknown. This is where our faith in the atoning sacrifice of Yahushua is sufficient. For His blood sacrificed on the stake has washed ALL of our Pains and sins. That we have been spared the triggers of the adversaries from firing at us.
Although some of the triggers still exists, and can fire an accusation at us at any time it is triggered. Know that these are the adversary's lures to trap us once again to doing the same thing over again. But you have mastered the "renewing of your mind" faithfully that these should overtake you again.
If the challenge is triggered, Go to battle boldly -- confront, resist -- and conquer once again, one battle at a time as it comes around. For your victory is already assured.
YHWH Bless You!!!Did you miss the first part? How To Build Stepping Stones ~ 1-2
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