HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, June 21, 2024 – We’re scattered now, scattered each to his own place.

Scripture says it will be given to him to scatter the power of the holy people, and so it has, so he has. We no longer live in communal settings like the early Church, or in convents and monasteries like the later worldly church; we live alone, aware there are others like us but not knowing who they are or where they are, only knowing that they are, and that they’re here.

Still here.

Scattered, but still here.

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I’m still here. Twenty-five years into my rebirth (and counting), I’m still here, protected under God like a restless chick under the proverbial hen’s wing. Without God’s 24/7 protection I wouldn’t be here; none of us would be. The devil doesn’t come to us waving a pitchfork, with horns sprouting from his head; he sidles up to us sweet-smelling and smooth-talking and offering us a hand up or a hand-out when we need it most, but only if we’ll agree to this one little thing….

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We’re scattered now, scattered but not broken. It’s possible for kingdoms to continue broken for a time before the final breakdown, like a car cruising on fumes when the gas gauge is on “E”. Jerusalem cruised on “E” for a few more decades after Jesus’ resurrection. But we, in the Kingdom, are not on “E”. We’ll never be on “E”. The Kingdom is a strong as it’s ever been, though there are considerably fewer born-agains in it now. Being fewer, each of us needs to have the faith of 10 or, better still, the faith of 10,000.

Those mountains aren’t going to move themselves.

Elijah stood alone against hundreds of the devil’s prophets, defeating them all (though it wasn’t Elijah who defeated them but God working through him, just like it’s not us moving the mountains but God’s Spirit moving them through us).

Every day is moving day in the Kingdom of God.

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We need to think of Saul, King Saul, and how he thought he had it all, until he didn’t. He lost what he’d been given because he didn’t understand the importance of obeying God. Saul thought his way was at times the better way, but that’s not how it works with God. If God tells you to do something, you do it; if he tells you not to do something, you don’t do it. Easy-peasy, right? So simple, even a two-year-child can understand it.

Then why couldn’t King Saul?

Humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God is sometimes easier said than done. Sometimes, the spiritual fog is so thick, you can’t see the way forward and so take matters into your own hands, even if it means directly disobeying God. This course of action never ends well. There is never a time when you disobey a direct command of God and it turns out well for you. Show me one example in scripture of that happening. You can’t, because there is none.

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Louisiana has made it mandatory for all classrooms to display the Ten Commandments on the wall, and other states are indicating they’ll soon follow. This may sound like a win, but what can the people then use as a cloak for their sin if they know the Commandments and then break them with impunity? Because Western civilization is all about breaking the Commandments with impunity and with the blessings of society and the state. Heck, even self-professed Christians break the Commandments daily, the main one being honoring their mother and father.

The only one who benefits from people knowing the Ten Commandments and yet choosing to break them is the devil.

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We’re in the days of Noah and have been for some time. There are now billions of Sauls running around on “E”, kings of their own castles taking matters into their own hands, knowing what’s right but instead choosing what seems expedient at the time. The Ten Commandments on the wall will only make things worse for them. You cannot preach the Word to those who don’t want to hear it. Jesus never preached to the bored. You can wallpaper the entire world with the Ten Commandments, but if people don’t want to follow them, there’s nothing to be done.

God respects everyone’s free will and so should we.

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We born-again believers have the Ten Commandments graven on our heart, so we have no excuse for not following them. But we didn’t learn to love the Commandments and then learn to love God. No. We weren’t force-fed the Commandments and then told at gunpoint to love God. No. We were born-again and loved God like a newborn loves its mother, and in so doing loved his Commandments. First comes rebirth and then the love of God and his Commandments, and none of this is forced on us. We obey God because we love God.

Like David, I crave the Commandments and would be lost without them. I thank God for his Commandments. Like David, I too think about them night and day and weigh my thoughts and actions against them. Am I loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and am I treating others as I’d want to be treated? These are the only questions that matter, really. They may in fact be the only ones asked at The Gate, if any are in fact going to be asked.

It’ll go something like this: “Did you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and did you show it by treating others as you want to be treated?”

If you heard that today, if you were asked that today standing at The Gate, could you honestly say “Yes”, or is there room for improvement? If you’re still here and reading this, I guarantee you there’s room for improvement. If you’re still here, there’s room for improvement.

Better get it right, because the rest is just noise.