Ensign: Karma's A ... You Know.
All
ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when
he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a
trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 1 August 2014
Actually,
I didn't know. I first heard the word karma
not as the influence one's actions have on one's future, but rather
as a comic book character. Seriously, Karma was (IS, for she's still
alive in Marvel Comics' New
Mutants
and X-Men
titles to my knowledge) the superhero name of a young woman who could
(can) concentrate and possess someone else's mind and work through
their body to accomplish her goals.
Sounds like an interesting power to have, BUT early after her first appearance a powerful telepath – that's someone who reads minds – used Karma's power when she tried to possess him to possess her, and for a few years in our time yet months in comic book time she's assumed dead until she appears again in Egypt, and she fights to get him out and then to lose a lot of extra weight – sorry, for more details you'll have to read the storyline, or just plug “karma comics” into a search engine like I did.
Possession may be nine-tenths of the law (and the origin of that depends on the source you read, but it boils down to whoever actually has or is using the item of questionable ownership has more of a legal claim) but when possession is referred to in a Biblical or religious sense it's only demons -- yeah, KJV uses "devils", but I'm distinguishing between fallen angels cast from heaven (an extrapolation of Revelation 12:4 -- hey, I always wondered where the one-third falling with Lucifer came from) that became devils and THE devil Satan -- doing it.
This does NOT mean that you and I have no choice in what we do! I know people who take the passages about God hardening Pharaoh's heart from Exodus and the like to mean He destined some people for hell, and I shake my head. Pardon this expression, but the side of the (unfallen) angels does not resort to possession. Otherwise, what's the point of God Who created the angels in the first place to give us the capacity to choose eternity with Him? And it's ALWAYS a choice ...
We see accounts of Jesus casting out demons and of His disciples doing the same thing in His name throughout the Gospels and Acts, which you could call Luke Part 2 as that's originally written to the same Theophilus, and there's no intelligent or logical reason to believe that doesn't still happen today! Perhaps right now in our Western world they're either so prevalent or we're so inoculated to not see them, to have more faith in science than faith in God, and we're warned this would happen. Two thousand years ago, we were warned this would happen. Keep reading.
With karma, we get what we deserve.
With Jesus, He got what we deserve.
This is so simple yet so many of us make it so hard. (And still do, even we who believe Jesus God's Son is our Lord and Savior, don't let us fool you.) John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Don't know about you, but I find crucifixion an ugly way to me. Heck, I find death an ugly way to die, but the fact that it's not forever, that when we choose to go to the Father through Jesus that N-O-T-H-I-N-G can separate us from fellowship with Him, not how we feel, not how we backslide, not how we screw up!
That's how you beat karma, no possession required,
Sounds like an interesting power to have, BUT early after her first appearance a powerful telepath – that's someone who reads minds – used Karma's power when she tried to possess him to possess her, and for a few years in our time yet months in comic book time she's assumed dead until she appears again in Egypt, and she fights to get him out and then to lose a lot of extra weight – sorry, for more details you'll have to read the storyline, or just plug “karma comics” into a search engine like I did.
Possession may be nine-tenths of the law (and the origin of that depends on the source you read, but it boils down to whoever actually has or is using the item of questionable ownership has more of a legal claim) but when possession is referred to in a Biblical or religious sense it's only demons -- yeah, KJV uses "devils", but I'm distinguishing between fallen angels cast from heaven (an extrapolation of Revelation 12:4 -- hey, I always wondered where the one-third falling with Lucifer came from) that became devils and THE devil Satan -- doing it.
This does NOT mean that you and I have no choice in what we do! I know people who take the passages about God hardening Pharaoh's heart from Exodus and the like to mean He destined some people for hell, and I shake my head. Pardon this expression, but the side of the (unfallen) angels does not resort to possession. Otherwise, what's the point of God Who created the angels in the first place to give us the capacity to choose eternity with Him? And it's ALWAYS a choice ...
We see accounts of Jesus casting out demons and of His disciples doing the same thing in His name throughout the Gospels and Acts, which you could call Luke Part 2 as that's originally written to the same Theophilus, and there's no intelligent or logical reason to believe that doesn't still happen today! Perhaps right now in our Western world they're either so prevalent or we're so inoculated to not see them, to have more faith in science than faith in God, and we're warned this would happen. Two thousand years ago, we were warned this would happen. Keep reading.
With karma, we get what we deserve.
With Jesus, He got what we deserve.
This is so simple yet so many of us make it so hard. (And still do, even we who believe Jesus God's Son is our Lord and Savior, don't let us fool you.) John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Don't know about you, but I find crucifixion an ugly way to me. Heck, I find death an ugly way to die, but the fact that it's not forever, that when we choose to go to the Father through Jesus that N-O-T-H-I-N-G can separate us from fellowship with Him, not how we feel, not how we backslide, not how we screw up!
That's how you beat karma, no possession required,
David
P.S. I write this
weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address
book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find that
I'm not or you want me to get lost, just let me know -- thank you!
Thank You, Lord,
that we can come to You in prayer and that You provide for all our
needs, even when we don't know what they are. We pray for the peace
of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.
Thank You, Lord, for
everyone in leadership and service, both here and abroad. Thank You
for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life! I pray
that we all seek and have a blessed week. Amen.
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