Sunday, August 25, 2013

Messenger Of Satan, Or The Adversary

Ever feel like you're completely unworthy of anyone's affections, especially those of One who is holy and pure? Ever feel like no matter how upstanding people think you are, you still fail God constantly? Ever feel like you're a waste of God's time and care?
That's how i often feel. Some people call it humility--it's not. In my case, it is not humility. This is self-criticism. This is a "messenger of Satan" picking at wounds, tormenting me. Rampant inadequacy.

How about this; you ever feel preposterously alone? Perhaps you are comfortable being alone, but you still get lonely?
Maybe you're surrounded by friends and family, but you still feel lacking companionship? Maybe not that of a spouse or anything like that, but just someone you can sit and talk to for hours and they will sit there and listen, hanging on your every word, no matter how dark the subject matter?
Again, that's me much of the time.
This isn't a pity-post, i promise. I want to offer some encouragement to those like me who feel always laced with shortcomings, be it physical, mental, or spiritual.

There's something to be treasured about those kinds of feelings, no matter how pervasive they may be.
See, when the Bible mentions the "messenger of Satan," it notes that Paul pleads to Christ three times to remove it. He doesn't. You know why?
Of course you know why, everyone knows the story.
I'll quote it regardless. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
That was Jesus' response. But if we dissect this, along with the following verses, we get more than just a bit of encouragement--we get a tidal wave of worth.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 
(2 Corinthians 12:9)
Jesus' grace is sufficient, yes? Of course it is. But let's look at that grace.
A multi-billionaire faces financial ruin, losing all but a couple million. This person would be poor in relation to what they were. If they gave away billions to the point they were "merely" (that term being used in relativity) a millionaire, that would be a great measure of grace.
If a millionaire sold most of what they had and gave it to the poor, leaving them a hundred thousand or so, they'd still be financially stable in comparison to most, but they'd have given practically all away--and exhibited a great measure of grace.
If a person with but two pennies to her name gave it to God as an offering, that would be grace.
Now let's look at Jesus' grace. In John 1, we see that through Him, all that exists came to be. With that said, we have the Creator of the universe here, the Infinite, the Holy. He is the King of all creation, Ruler of all. And he gave that up to live as one of us, a Man -a lowly Man at that- who would be mocked, tortured, beaten, crucified in the supposition that He's being executed in the name of God, His Father. He goes to Hell and faced God only knows what, and was resurrected. He did this for a people who deserve Hell, so they would become heirs along with Him. That is more than just grace. That is beyond human capability or comprehension.
So when you face issues like that first paragraph mentions, remember to "boast all the more gladly about [your] weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on [you]." Because His grace covers you, and showing grace is one aspect of His power.
In Proverbs, it says this: "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the Lord will reward you."
 (25:21-22)
Basically, as Paul said, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
If your enemy (Satan, or a messenger of him) wishes to make you feel as Paul felt, then boast in your flaws. Heck, 1 Corinthians 12:10 says to delight in weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties. It says to because, when you are weak, you are strong.
Why you're strong is because the less of you that's in the way, the more room there is for Christ's power to be made manifest. Don't submit to the things Satan tells you, but delight in the fact that he has to bring up who you were, because that means he doesn't like who you are.

Regarding the loneliness . . . Well, to quote a song by The Almost, "We were made with fear inside our bones; the kind that makes you feel alone. So hold on, just breathe and figure out, we are not alone. This makes us feel alive"
In essence, God created us with a void inside of us called loneliness. It makes us crave a companionship that only He can fill.
So run to Him (and find that He will run to you), and let Him fill that void, that aching emptiness.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Don't mind me, just a Star Trek physics rant.

In The Original Series of Star Trek, they needed a way of getting people from the ship to the surface of a planet without using another set (such as the ship landing, or a shuttlecraft scene in every episode). So they decided on transporters. It was cheap, and required little when it came to production. They could change sets without a third set. Not only that, it added to the available storyline, as there have been several episodes that have revolved around the use of transporters.
Now, 47 years later, those same transporters, the cost-saving plot-device, are a feasible hypothesis. Only one drawback; it would require the power of something like 14 atomic bombs simultaneously detonating to reduce a human in such a way. And there's a slight issue with rematerialization.

Here's my addition to the reasons it wouldn't work: displacement.
Seriously, if you move one thing out of a room by making it cease to exist in said room, the displacement will pop the ears of anyone in there. Get six people, as they do on the show, and watering eyes and headaches will abound.
Now here's the big issue; displacing the air at the receiving end of things. If that didn't happen, people would be transported into solid matter, or else the air would exist in the same space as them, and they'd fall apart at rematerialization.
It would require not just moving "space" where the transported object(s) end up, but moving it from there back to the place where the transported object(s) came from, which would require two transporter pads.