"ON EAGLES’ WINGS MINISTRIES"
“IN GOD’S GRAND DESIGN NOTHING IS WASTED.” November 2013, P.1.
“When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be wasted.” John 6:12. “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.” Matthew 14: 20.
“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.” Job 14: 14,15. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord.” Isaiah 55:7.
“Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return ye children of men.” Psalm 90: 3.” “The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, tither they return again: Ecclesiastes 1:6,7.
It is by choice that we have determined to post the scriptures highlighted above, because there is a silver thread that runs all the way through, upon which we shall expound. Throughout Christendom, there is a constant drum beat about the number of souls that shall be lost, versus the amount that shall be saved. The general consensus is that two-thirds of mankind shall be lost and banished to an eternal lake of fire and brimstone. Within that same equation, God who is ALL MIGHTY; the OMNIPOTENT LORD, will have to settle for a measly one-third of the human race. Based upon this kind of mindset, it would appear that God did very well to have wrestled and garnered that little helping from the devil.
What we intend to examine in this study, is the law of circularity by which the universe is governed. Mighty planets are constantly being born, run their course, and finally burn themselves out in massive fireballs. From time to time, we hear the phrase: “What goes around, comes around: Today for me, and tomorrow for you.” That, my Friend, is an ongoing, ever functioning law that operates at will, even among those who do not know that it exists; and those who do not understand its many ramifications. In the case of human life and his brief lifespan on earth, especially within the confines of orthodox religion, we were trained to view with much endearment man’s birth, his many accomplishments in life, and our sad farewell at the grave side. For us, at that point in time, the chapter has ended, and the books are closed until judgment morning. That is the understanding we inherited from our peers and have espoused later on in our own lives, and Christian theology.
Our short comings and lack of understanding, are based upon the fact that as living human beings we identity with others like ourselves. In doing so, we believe that God deals with a person once he or she is born, and continues to do so until the breath leaves the body. At that point, the person goes to sleep [the sleep of death] until the trumpet sounds on judgment morn. But the truth is that God sees no one in human terms, because he is Spirit and each person is a spirit, with a soul, living in a body. In truth, we cannot even reach the soul of another human being, so we are fixated on his humanity; while God deals with us from the perspective of us being spirit.
With that thought in mind, we can understand why Paul wrote: “But he that is joined unto the Lord is ONE SPIRIT.”1st Corinthians 6: 17. As we move forward in this study, there is a chance we will share some thoughts that perhaps you never considered before, or never heard before in any great detail. It is my practice to offer scriptural support for any thought or idea that I put forth. So walk with me with an open mind! Let us consider the idea of gathering the fragments that nothing be wasted! It seems to me that Jesus was frugal in this lesson in dealing with bread and fish. But his sentiments revealed a much larger volume of divine principles and an example of God’s wishes and desires regarding his entire creation. When I lived in San Diego in the late ‘70s, the Lord spoke to my heart saying: “Man counts success by the ninety and nine that he has, but I count success by the one that is gone astray.” When I served in a Chinese grocery store back home in Jamaica, we had some Indian customers who were big spenders, working in the sugar cane industry. When they came shopping we could expect to be tied up for a long time serving each of these big spenders. But in the meantime, there were little spenders wanting to buy small items like a loaf of bread or a pound of sugar.
What strategy would you employ? The idea was not to let a single shilling [the size of a quarter being English currency] walk out of the doors. So we begin filling the shopping list of the big spenders, and after a few items are on the counter, we quickly serve as many of the little spenders as we can. You see, the big spenders at the counter with several items already sitting before them will not walk away: while the little spender will, but the idea was to corner all the business for that evening. Many church leaders cherish the idea of having thousands in attendance, and for many, success lies in statistics. But there is a saying that puts a difference between quantity and quality. Jesus taught the way to life that only a few found; against the highway that attracted multitudes that led to ultimate destruction.
Let us consider the case of the potter working upon his wheel. The vessel that he crafted broke in his hands, with several pieces falling to the ground. The vessel was marred and simply could not accomplish what the potter had envisioned in the first place. So did he throw up his hands in dismay and decided to simply count his loss and move on? Of course not! He picked up the pieces and ran them through the entire process once more, designing a vessel as it pleased him. He most likely threw the pieces into the container filled with water, where the clay stays until it is softened and becomes moist and manageable in the potter’s hands. From our vantage point, it is likely that we would simply look for pieces of clay that are more flexible, more moist and easy to work with containing no obstacles and parts that cannot conform to the motion and process of the wheel. But the potter had it figured out!
The law of circularity is endorsed and utilized by the Lord himself as we shall see. When I lived in Norfolk, Virginia, upon my arrival from London in 1970, I got my first job there, working in a drug warehouse as a section clerk. After a few months in this position, it turned out that the Company was having troubles with some small drug stores that were our customers in the Richmond area. The problem they had was with the driver who serviced that area of distribution, so my supervisor asked me to consider taking over that route; because he reasoned with me saying that as a minister of the gospel he could not think of anyone else that could better handle the situation and retain those customers.
One day, while driving along Inter State 64 on my two hour drive from Norfolk, I was listening to Malcolm Smith, an English minister who lived and ministered in Plainfield, NJ. He made a remarkable statement that has stayed with me since 1971. He said that no prayer can ever get to heaven, except the one that originated in heaven in the first place. I began to reflect on the fact that sometimes we try to pray and there seems to be no connection with heaven.
It seems that our prayers are not going past the ceiling above our heads. But after a while [perhaps weeks] without warning, there comes a time when seemingly, a prayer breaks out on our inside and pours out from our lips, and we are immediately connected to heaven. Here is how the Lord explained the process to the prophet Isaiah.
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55: 10, 11. So here is the complete cycle or sequence of events. The Lord deposits his word in our hearts, and when we speak it in faith back to him, the word returns mixed with faith and the answer comes to us from the Father. This does not mean it will be a spontaneous response. Many people lose faith and get discouraged, because after praying the prayer of faith, they look for immediate answer or answers. For most of us, even after years of service and our Christian experience, we have not learned how to “Be still and know that I am God.”
To many, being still seems to suggest losing out and faltering. After all, we are taught by our peers to always be actively working for God. Work [they tell us] while it is day: the night comes when no one can work. To be still and meditate in God’s law is relegated to those who embrace the concept of TM [transcendental meditation] and people like the monks in the mountains of Tibet. By failing to learn the art of being still and waiting upon God, we beat ourselves into a frazzle, to the point where we need Geritol to wake us up, and Melatonin to put us to sleep. The better part goes to those who are willing to learn the art of becoming still and patient in waiting for answers. David made no secret of the benefits of waiting upon the Lord. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Ps. 1:2,3.“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as the eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40: 31.
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” James 5: 7.“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:34. All of the scriptures relating to waiting upon the Lord, teach us how to be still and recognize that he is in control; as Paul alluded to: “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
As we noted above, God himself uses the system of circularity, in that he sends out his word which accomplishes all that he determines before they return to him. Think about this!
“All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.” Eccl.1:7. Think about this for a moment! How do the rivers work their way back from whence they begin? We find it difficult to unravel the dynamics involved in the process. But it must be true anyhow; because rivers large and small, wide and narrow constantly flow into the sea, but cities are not inundated and left submerged unto hundreds of feet of water. Even the rain that falls to the ground, that water our lawns and make the soil soft and fertile to grow our crops; it evaporates and rises to the sky, where it forms into rain clouds and falls to earth once more. It is an ongoing process that we, as busy, active, hardworking people, go about our business, not concerned one bit about the law of circularity that controls our very existence. Let us take a closer look at a statement that speaks volumes, yet is overlooked or even ignored all together.
“The thing that hath been, is it that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.” Eccl.1:9-11. Allow me to pose a twofold question to you, simply to try and catch your attention more fully. Could it be that Adam as an earth man in the Garden, began his second time around, not remembering that he lived before in another state of existence? After all in Genesis 1, both male and female were made together, and both were given authority over all that were created. But later on, we are told how God made man from the dust of the earth. Paul indicated that in the resurrection, God shall provide us with a body that pleases him, but do we know for sure that we will remember our sojourn on earth?
Since we are told that there is no remembrance with things that were before of old time, we must conclude that one cannot remember that which one has never known before. To remember means to bring back in our memory that which we once knew! Could it be that in the resurrection in the future as Paul alluded to, we all will be given new bodies and begin to live again as if we never lived before? These thoughts are not offered as gospel truths, but are meant to stir up your pure mind. We are discussing the fact that in God’s grand design nothing is wasted, so let us take a look at the case of Sodom. “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.[meaning taking them away at that time was for their own good.] “When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.” Ezekiel 16:49,50,55. We often hear how Sodom was consumed by fire falling from the sky, but we never heard that it was because God saw it to be good for them at that time. Neither have we been told that they will return to their former estate.
Jesus came on the scene and said this: “And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.” Matthew 11:23,24. Listen to this! “The men of Nin’e-ve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.” Luke 11:32. God knew that the men of Sodom would have repented if they had heard the message; but they could not have heard without a preacher, and a preacher could not have gone without being sent. So God took them away within that time frame, but Jesus said that in the judgment, they will do much better than the people in the cities to whom he was preaching. The bottom line is that all those people that were washed away, killed in various manners are not lost and eradicated from God’s master plan, because in him, nothing and no one will be wasted.
He will call and they will answer: he will remember the works of his hands. This is the work of the Lord, and it is marvelous in our sight. Lo and behold! He doeth all things well. He removes when it serves his purpose, and he restores at his own discretion and for his own purpose, based upon his grace, his mercy, and his loving kindness. By now we ought to know that the whole creation was put in place by our Creator, and having put man upon it, he continues to work out his predestinated will for his praise and glory. Concerning the law of circularity, let us look at the big picture and see how God did set it in motion; and the underlying truths will result in the complete and total salvation for the works of his hands. Let us remind ourselves from whence we came. David’s narrative will open the door so we can enter in and examine our beginnings, [before we actually began as human beings.] “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; [undeveloped] and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139: 13, 15,16.
Not only are all my members written in his book, but all the moving parts of the whole created universe are catalogued by the Divine; and not a single part of his creation will go to waste. Fire replenishes the forest and makes way for new trees to emerge. Volcanos create new lands, and the snow of winter purifies the air we breathe. Each member of the animal world plays a part in the upkeep of their habitat, and along with birds and bees help to pollinate the forest. Yes indeed! Nothing is wasted in God’s grand design. Think about it for a while!
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