Hawaii Issues: Where To Begin [This page is only an opening discussion; other items will be coming soon.]
1 Cor 13:1-3
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. NKJV™
I contend that to lie to someone, especially in a crafty form which would at the same time profess love or friendship, is one of the most unloving things we can do to one another. So, I intend to discuss things as truthfully as possible, even if it may get a little bit uncomfortable at times. The problem is that the last time someone tried to tell God’s children truth like this, they erased his life off the planet, stoning him to death [Acts 7].
I will make every effort to address the issues as carefully as possible, having lived in Hawaii long enough to understand a little bit about some of their sensitivities; they are quite raw from very real abuses and injustices spanning back over two hundred years. Like most cultures really, they have endeavored to carry themselves in a noble manner, being quite able to think clearly for themselves, in their own particular, cultural way; Hawaiians are a proud people, but they have know the bitterness of disrespect for a long time. Since their culture was quite different from many of those who suddenly came from every corner of the globe to see earth’s latest addition to the known family of man, many people slipped into attitudes and judgments against ways which were not like their own. It is one of the bad failings of humanity, and all of us have this potential tendency to judge unrighteously [even Hawaiians]. This is true even though most of us know we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, even if they are strangers sojourning with us; and maybe especially so, if they are.
Coupled with these attitudes from people in general was a systematic effort by a greedy few, to take advantage of a vulnerable people. They manipulated people not well versed in such business practices, and even outright stole whatever they could, especially vast land holdings. The far-reaching atrocities which were done to the Hawaiian people are too extensive and complex to fully discuss in this particular document. Suffice it to say that all this has left the Hawaiians understandably bitter and disenfranchised. So, as the Lord has brought my work forward at this moment in time, they are currently in the midst of deciding which way to best proceed. But, what they truly need now is the whole truth, nothing but the truth; and they will need the help of God to get to the bottom of it all.
It was once said that the truth will set us free [John 8:32]. But, the truth is that this world is in serious bondage, and in very real confusion about it, leading one nation to rise up against another, or simply a man against his neighbor, all over the planet. This is so because of a powerful, deceptive lie which was spun against us, a scheme for the demise of all mankind in general. Consider it something like a corrupted few individuals who coveted what was not theirs, in a conspiracy to rob us of all of our good things, be it our lands, labors, even loved ones, just so that they can have it all for themselves, no matter the costs to us. This is not a hard thing to imagine, to get this picture, especially here in Hawaii and many other places like it; that is exactly what happened here. A ruthless few evil men endeavored to steal all they could from Hawaii, no differently than had been happening all over the "New World," nation after nation. And this terrible condition of man continues to this day, as we can easily witness all across Africa, and other torn places across the globe. But, be sure to note: as in the recent cases in Africa and elsewhere, history has proven that this evil side of man is not particular to one race, nor a single ethnic background, a false conclusion, due to a large clump of certain historical events being at the hands of white Europeans. This fairly recent history was simply due to advances in power that their sudden rise in industrial advantages and military weapons afforded them, over potential opponents. But, history is clear: any time a particular group of men (or women) have the ability to exercise power over others, there will arise some who will abuse that power, to the great harm off their neighbors. The motives for this abuse are often varied, from ethnic or religious differences, to greed and coveting or envy, and on to economic status(like India’s and China’s cast wars), and even to various political differences. But, it is that momentary advantage of power over another that leads some to unrighteously rise up against their neighbors, for their own gain and desires. And race has proven to be no barrier at all in this process; it is merely used as an excuse when available.
Hypocrisy is also a major player in all this, because we all tend to think better of ourselves than we truly are; and all mankind has this tendency to take unrighteous advantage of our weaker neighbors. But somehow, in our mistaken pride, we come to think we are not the corrupted people we can so easily become, and end up justifying some of the most despicable choices. But, the truth is that this tendency for darkness is part of the makeup of mankind, part of the daily choices we all face, of right and wrong, of good and evil; some choose more wisely than others, for various reasons, at various times.
Coupled with all this is another factor little understood, because it is in the spiritual realm, and as such is mostly invisible to our eyes; all we ever see of these issues are the carnal manifestations and ramifications of those invisible pressures. God’s workings upon mankind are most often misunderstood, simply because we have so little true raining in the spiritual realm. These workings often bring us into circumstances which appear to be due to other causes, because we misunderstand what God may be doing at the given time.
My own life is a perfect example of this process, as I was brought to this point in time, for His purposes [not mine]. Major things came against me, blowing my whole life apart; and I even appeared to have a hand in these developments, by my terrible choices. That I fell into such wrong choices remains my shame as long as I dwell in this realm [Ps 51:3]. But now I better understand that God was using the entire process to bring me to this point in His plan, and that my entire life, along with any comforts or pleasantries, is completely at His disposal, for His often complex purposes [Is 64:5-12; 2 Sam 24:1-4; Rom 8:28; John 2:1-11]. This in no way takes away my shame; but it does help me to get up, and go on, even to begin working within His plan.
What I now know, far better than ever before, is that His plan has little to do with directly blessing me; I may end up receiving "collateral blessings" through His actions, this is true. But this entire thing this day is all about the glorification of His name, and not at all for us [Is 48:6-11; Ezek 36:22]. Before, in my ignorance, I had all my own agendas, self concerns, and personal wishes and desires, as my main, underlying focus. On the surface, and with my mouth, I proclaimed my life was fully devoted to serving Him; and I went through all the motions of doing just that, mixed in with all the weekly praise gatherings and whatnots that make for a fully religious lifestyle. I did not realize how far my ‘service’ was from truly serving Him in an acceptable manner; I could not see it, in my formerly blind condition, any more than any of us can when we are spiritually blind. I had to turn to the Word of God to change that dire condition.
Only through the Scriptures did I come to understand that God is not happy with the noise of our celebrations [Is 1:10-15; Ex 32:18], due to our state of rebellion against His plan for His kingdom. I had no idea that my ways in ‘service’ were actually defiled [Is 64:6; Hag 2:14], and only profaned His name among the nations where I had hoped to bring glory to Him instead [Ezek 36:22-23]. I am not talking about my failures, which we all have; as serious as mine were, I still knew I was not that different from the rest of us; I understood that I must get up, and do better [which I am doing, currently]. But, I was speaking here of my "righteous" works, which I was learning to daily improve upon: those Scriptures brought me to understand that these "righteousnesses" were totally unacceptable in His sight, defiled. I was a bit stunned, to say the least, and a little bit disbelieving, at first. But, the more I searched Scriptures, the more understanding I gained of the true picture of my [and our] condition. In fact, when I found the prophecy of Exodus 32, I knew beyond any doubt that we know virtually nothing about how God sees us [His people] right now, in our current state of affairs: He is angry enough that we could easily be exterminated from the planet [Ex 32:10].
Ezek 36:32
32 Not for your sake do I do this," says the Lord God, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!" NKJV™
Here I was, trying with all my heart to learn to walk with the Lord, and yet my efforts were somehow defiled, and totally unacceptable to Him; that is what Scriptures were saying; I could see it plainly written. The only question left was if I believed what is written? And, to add to all this, I was even further rocked to discover from Scriptures that my ways were actually crushing His jealous heart. How could I be doing such harm to the One I loved!? But that is what was written, specifically about those who survive this fearful day we are now entering; the "Remnant":
Ezek 6:9-10
9 Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them." NKJV™
The entire process, of finally being enlightened to the real truth about my spiritual condition, as God sees it, took a long time, with intense studies, directly at the hand of the Lord. That is what The Promise Of The Resurrected Word study series is all about; to open our eyes, just as mine have now been. I had not realized that I had been born spiritually blind, thinking that what I was seeing [or not seeing, as the case proved to be] was all there was to it. My blindness was the only way I had ever known, so it was the way I thought it was supposed to be. But, with the mighty hand of the Lord, daily upon me through his Word, understanding life as I formerly knew it was destined to change, radically. All praise and thanks be to our God of kindness, for the Word of God, which finally healed my blindness.
So too must Hawaii discover the truth, through His Word, of all that has gone on here, just as will all the others of this world; this is their second chance to make better choices, and to get things worked out better. All these years our leaders have so often been leading the flock astray [Jer 50:6-7]. This is not me who is saying these things; it is the Scriptures that tell us, already there, and waiting for us, this day. But, the people themselves need to make this choice, for themselves, as they search through the Scriptures to see if the ways of their pasts align with what is written it should be; and if not, to find what they then need to do about it [Joshua 24:14-25] In this way God’s Word is greatly glorified, and His great name will finally be properly honored [Is 66:1-2].
The Hawaiian remnant, and those whom God brings forward with them, will find, in this decision to finally take hold of the Scriptures, and live them out correctly, is hidden an incredible promise, which is discretely tucked away in the story of Boaz, and his dealings with Naomi, along with her own personal choices, as recorded in the book of Ruth. As we work through that short story, we see a woman who had made a decision for the God of Israel; and as such she had come under His wings [of protection, provision, and promises, (Ruth 2:12)]. This "Gentile" symbol will come into contact with a "Remnant of Israel" group, who will be living out God’s Word as it always should have been lived [pictured in Boaz], and in doing so, the true heritage of Jesus will come, pictured in the symbolic lineage leading to David ["Son Of David" being one of His symbolic titles], a "restorer of life." In this renewed commitment to truly live the fullness of God’s Word will come the King, and thus the kingdom of God on earth.
Ruth 4:13-17
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! 15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him." 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. 17 Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, "There is a son born to Naomi." And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. NKJV™
This will prove to be the essence of our "Second Chance": in choosing to walk out God’s commands with all our hearts, minds, strength, and souls, we will finally put away from us the rule of Satan’s doctrines [which our forefathers chose in the Garden of Eden], and bring about the rule on earth of the Resurrected Word of God, Personified in our Lord, Jesus of Nazareth. This is our true inheritance, our "exceedingly great reward." [Gen 15:1]. And this will prove to be the Golden Day, of joy beyond all understanding [Is 51:11]. The tears of our difficult past, with all the wrongs we have suffered, will fade away in the face of this dawning day [Is 25:8], replaced by tears of joy. We simply have to make only a small effort in these studies, to open our eyes to what His expectations are for us this day, His "terms of peace." Truth will be brought out, and our naked shame will be faced; but His promise is that when we do finally face the fullness of it all, we will not only be free;: we will be filled with overwhelming joy in all He has planned for us this day, to His great honor and glory. It is true that we made a mess of things; but our God is able to deliver us to this great day in spite of our failings, His great might displayed along side of our total weakness.
This whole thing will not end up where we have been led to believe it should be [consider John 8:1-12; Is 1:18-20; Ezek 16:63], because we have been lied to, in a very crafty manner; that is the nature of Satan’s rule, which we have been under since we [mankind] chose him, so long ago. Often, unknowingly we have been partners in the crimes against us, and/or endeavored to invent a few of our own. Like my own case, many will also discover much of what we considered to be atrocities against us by evil people was actually God moving us into position for His great display, in which He will greatly glorify Himself [Rom 8:28; Ex 9:16]. Most of what we thought we understood will change, because we have been deceived for so long that we actually think the deception is the truth. For instance, for myself, I would not have been able to write most of this if I had not suffered those terrible attacks; it was part of is plan for me, and I am overwhelmingly thankful just to be here this day. Were there atrocities done to the people? Absolutely; so very many, of all kinds, over all the eons, to all types of people, by all kinds of people. Does that mean these atrocities are somehow okay with God? Not at all: He has always encouraged us to choose more wisely; but mankind chose Satan’s doctrines, and this is what it has been for thousands of years, even as our good Father has used it all to accomplish His great purposes [for His glory and honor, and not for our agenda]. Joseph was unrighteously cast into a dungeon [and very possible death], specifically for God’s purposes, His plans (Gen 45:4-8). And now God, in kindness beyond compare, has already prepared a plan for this day we are now entering into. These studies are designed by Him, so that we can see the truth for ourselves, and thus know how to better deal with where we now are; and then we will finally be free.
So, this time choose life; choose His way, instead of Satan’s [see also SecondChance.wpd].
It is written that this generation to come, with the help of the fading generation of yesterday, will choose better than our forefathers did. Since it is written, then that is how it will be; that is the Almighty power of God’s Word. Even so, we must no longer be complacent about all these things. God has put some "teeth" into the day, so that we do not become slack about it. Therefore, be diligent to rise up to the day, and act.
This will be a war like we have never seen before, a war of doctrines [2 Cor 10:3-6]. But, they still most likely will bring every form of fearful weapon against us that they can, to try to force us not to change our ways of darkness for the ways of God, and of His light. They will use every form of threat and fear that they can to hold us in bondage to them, to retain their rule over us. But, this generation to come will not be like the former generation, who doubted and balked out of fear for their lives. These young ones to come will courageously face all those threats, and do so in the stability of God’s perfect Word, so that their foot does not slip in the day of battle. They will be able to stand against the enemies of our Father in heaven, for themselves and for all the generations to come after them. And the fading generation of today will rise up to willingly lay down their own lives to help their children do it. Because both generations will choose more wisely this time [though some from both generations will remain disbelieving, to their own loss (Matt 28:17; Is 1:18)].
So, the Hawaiian remnant will come to believe all that is written for this day, and thus to escape the lies they have been stuck in for so long; they will do so because of their faith in the Word of God will even supercede what they thought they could see with their own eyes.
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