These Are My JOTtings...

What a Great New Year!

The New Year is a clean slate.

We all know this.
We think about the possibilities.
We thank The Lord that the past year can be forgotten to some degree,
regarding the layers of its difficulties
and remembered for its successes.

Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV says,
"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
"They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."

He is faithful to His Word,...
to His Character,...
to His Creation,...
to Humanity itself.

"But what about the pain and suffering in the world?"
All of this proves the Existence of God.

"How?" you may be asking.
Because the very thing that He predicted has happened.

Genesis 1:17, NIV says,
"...but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Adam and Eve each ate the fruit,...
"Then the eyes of both of them were opened,..."
Genesis 3:7, NIV.
The Lord told them the consequences of their actions.
The serpent was cursed by his lies, and today it still crawls on its belly.
The woman would experience pain in childbirth and the desire to rule over man.
The man would experience a cursed ground with labor that is
always less than fully productive. At death he would return to the dust.

God did not put these curses on the three culprits,
they each put the curses on themselves,
God simply told each of them very clearly what they had done.
This is the same thing that an excellent mentor or parent does for a human offspring or learner.
We do not condemn mentors or parents for stating the consequences of actions.
We applaud these leaders for letting the consequences of actions be the best and surest teachers.

Why do humans condemn God for the same things that they applaud other humans?
Human leaders let the consequences teach for a sufficient amount of time.
When the learner becomes wise, the consequences are over.
However, punishment fits the infraction.
Some consequences require longer time for the fullest extent of wisdom to arrive.

Humanity is still learning from the sin of Adam and Eve.
Thus far, the consequences have lasted about five to six thousand years.
One Day The Lord will set things right, again.
He will say, "Enough!"
Those, who have learned to agree with the Wisdom He teaches,
will suffer the consequences no longer.
Those, who have refused to learn, will remain in the consequences.

Following the Manufacturer's specifications
and agreeing with His operating systems
will insure the best functioning of whatever product we buy.

How is life any different?

Here's wishing you a Blessed 2018
with great success as you agree with Life as it was intended to be!

by Jay O'Toole
on January 1st, 2018