Father GOD and Mother Nature During Covid 19

The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, 

The world and those who dwell therein. 

Psalm 24:1 

The Almighty GOD is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He is GOD from everlasting to everlasting! He has always been and will be in overall control of all of creation.

To those who humble themselves to acknowledge Him, and come into relationship with Him through His Son, JESUS, He is Father GOD.

 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. 

Praise the Lord with the harp; 

Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. 

Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. 

For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth. 

He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, 

And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. 

He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; 

He lays up the deep in storehouses. 

Let all the earth fear the Lord; 

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. 

For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. 

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; 

He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. 

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations. 

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, 

The people He has chosen as His own inheritance. 

The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. 

From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth; 

He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. 

No king is saved by the multitude of an army; 

A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. 

A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. 

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, 

On those who hope in His mercy, 

To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. 

Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. 

For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name. 

Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You. 

Psalm 33:1-22 

 When the world seemed to have come to a stand still during covid 19, mother nature was not adversely affected. In fact, that was the period nature flourished! Man had transgressed and arrogantly crossed the boundary GOD had set in creation. Man was prideful in his thinking, his planning and in his researching. He did not consider GOD the Creator. He thought he could re-create the earth and life as he wanted! He set laws according to his fallen nature. What GOD had forbidden, man permitted. He was found guilty of flouting GOD'S copyright law. Man imagined he could give life and take away life as he pleased. He encroached and meddled into GOD'S creation of gender and brought confusion. 

 So God created man in His own image; 

in the image of God He created him;

male and female He created them. 

Genesis 1:27 

GOD intervened in the progress of the proud tower of Babel and Babylon once again and brought confusion to man. 

 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, 

that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 

Then they said to one another, 

"Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." 

They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 

And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, 

and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, 

lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." 

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower 

which the sons of men had built. 

And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, 

and this is what they begin to do; 

now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 

Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, 

that they may not understand one another's speech." 

So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, 

and they ceased building the city. 

Therefore its name is called Babel,

because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; 

and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. 

Genesis 11:1-9 

 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, 

having great authority, 

and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 

And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, 

"Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, 

and has become a dwelling place of demons, 

a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 

For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, 

the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, 

and the merchants of the earth have become rich 

through the abundance of her luxury." 

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 

"Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, 

and lest you receive of her plagues. 

For her sins have reached to heaven, 

and God has remembered her iniquities. 

Render to her just as she rendered to you, 

and repay her double according to her works; 

in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 

In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,

 in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; 

for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, 

and will not see sorrow.' 

Therefore her plagues will come in one day-

-death and mourning and famine. 

And she will be utterly burned with fire, 

for strong is the Lord God who judges her. 

Revelation 18:1-8 

South Australia Police have captured the moment a kangaroo hopped through the heart of downtown Adelaide during coronavirus lockdown.

https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/flamingos-flock-to-indian-city-amid-coronavirus-lockdown/706960740046155/

Man's work and business was put 'on hold' or held back and nature smiled with relief! The big cities seemed dead. The streets were empty and the tall buildings unusually quiet. Birds filled the skies with their chirpy songs of praise to their Creator without the disturbance of aircrafts! When I returned home with my husband after overseas travel and a period of quarantine, the lawn was green and the trees lush. The cherished curry leaf tree was flourishing! 

 After these things I looked, and behold, 

a door standing open in heaven. 

And the first voice which I heard 

was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, 

"Come up here, and I will show you 

things which must take place after this." 

Immediately I was in the Spirit; 

and behold, a throne set in heaven, 

and One sat on the throne. 

And He who sat there was like a jasper 

and a sardius stone in appearance; 

and there was a rainbow around the throne, 

in appearance like an emerald. 

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, 

and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, 

clothed in white robes; 

and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 

And from the throne proceeded lightnings, 

thunderings, and voices. 

Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, 

which are the seven Spirits of God. 

Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. 

And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, 

were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 

The first living creature was like a lion, 

the second living creature like a calf, 

the third living creature had a face like a man, 

and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 

The four living creatures, each having six wings, 

were full of eyes around and within. 

And they do not rest day or night, saying: 

"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, 

Who was and is and is to come!" 

Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor 

and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, 

who lives forever and ever, 

the twenty-four elders fall down before Him 

who sits on the throne and worship Him 

who lives forever and ever, 

and cast their crowns before the throne, 

saying: "You are worthy, O Lord, 

To receive glory and honor and power;

For You created all things, 

And by Your will they exist and were created." 

Revelation 4:1-11 

The Old Man and the New Man

 The Old Man and the New Man

The Outward Man and the Inward Man

The outward man is the physical body and appearance of a person.
The inward man is the heart that depicts the nature or character and of that person.

The character reflects in the attitude one carries towards GOD and towards others.

Even prophet Samuel, based his choice of a king by the outward appearance and stature of Eliab.
The LORD is not interested in the physical appearance, but looks into the attitude of the heart of a person, that is hidden from man.

 But the Lord said to Samuel, 
"Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, 
because I have refused him. 
For the Lord does not see as man sees; 
for man looks at the outward appearance, 
but the Lord looks at the heart." 
1 Samuel 16:7 

Although we do work on keeping our outward appearance presentable so as not to cause offence to others, we should spend more time and effort on beautifying our character which matters to the LORD.

 Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, 
wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-
- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, 
with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, 
which is very precious in the sight of God. 
1 Peter 3:3-4 

With age, the physical body becomes weak and loses the beauty of youthfulness.
Yet, with time and experience, the character is renewed and has to become stronger and more beautiful.

 Therefore we do not lose heart. 
Even though our outward man is perishing, 
yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 
2 Corinthians 4:16 

Flattery puffs up the self but encouragement builds up the spirit.

The Old Man and the New Man, a Perfect Man

The 'old man' speaks about a life that is controlled by the old carnal mind that operates in us.
The 'new man' speaks about the life that is led by a mind that is renewed according to GOD.
As we all grow in that life in CHRIST with each other,
we progress towards the fullness of CHRIST, to a perfect man.

The new man therefore refers to one who is a believer,
whose spirit has been revived by the Holy Spirit
and whose mind is in the process of being renewed
according to the word of GOD.

 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."
(Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended
into the lower parts of the earth? 
He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens,
that He might fill all things.) 
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, 
till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 
that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro
and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men,
in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love,
may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-
- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies,
according to the effective working by which every part does its share,
causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. 
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, 
that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk,
in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them,
because of the blindness of their heart; 
who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness,
to work all uncleanness with greediness. 
But you have not so learned Christ, 
if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him,
as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct,
the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 
and that you put on the new man which was created according to God,
in true righteousness and holiness. 
Ephesians 4:8-24

As long as we live in this dirty world, we should expect our minds to get corrupted.
So we need to constantly cleanse our mind by putting off the 'old man'
and putting on the 'new man',
just like putting off our clothing that get dirty, and putting on fresh clean clothing!

Don't we shower each morning and then brush, comb and set our hair so it is neat and tidy?
It is even more important for us then, each morning and as often as possible
 to seek eternal things and set our mind firmly on them.

It is also like preparing to take a photograph of an object.
First of all we want to find the object that is worth being photographed!
Then we need to focus the camera on the object and zoom into it.
When it is clearly and fully in focus, we click to capture the image.
So it is available for us to look at as often as we want.

Seek, see and set!

The mind directs our life and activities, depending on our purpose in life.
Our values will determine how we spend our time, energy and money.

 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth:
fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 
Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 
in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 
Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 
and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge
according to the image of Him who created him, 
where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised,
barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. 
Colossians 3:1-11 

To them God willed to make known 
what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles:
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 
Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom,
that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 
Colossians 1:27-28 

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, 
for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ,
till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 
Ephesians 4:11-13 

Imagine a 3-D puzzle, the image being the LORD JESUS.
He has given all of us something of Himself.
Each one of us needs to be perfected as a piece of the puzzle.
We are being fitted together, playing our individual roles in the Body of CHRIST.
As we are being perfected and being fitted in the puzzle, the image of CHRIST is being perfected.

Strong Man, Stronger Man 

The natural man is the one who guards and rules over his life until he is overcome by another force.

The following scene gives us a picture of a natural man overpowered by an evil demonic spirit.

The man was possessed by the demon and reflected its characteristics, muteness being one of them.

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. 

So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; 

and the multitudes marveled. 

But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." 

Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. 

But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: 

"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, 

and a house divided against a house falls. 

If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? 

Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. 

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? 

Therefore they will be your judges. 

But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, 

surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. 

But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, 

he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. 

He who is not with Me is against Me, 

and he who does not gather with Me scatters. 
Luke 11:14-23 

The Spirit of GOD is the Stronger Man referred to in the above portion of Scripture

Who was able to overpower the demonic spirit and set the man free.

When a shop, store, restaurant or company is bought over by another one, you see changes in the structure, colour of the building, the arrangements, the staff , their uniforms, the way they function, their products and so on. Then you understand that it has come under new management!

Similarly, when a natural man is possessed by an evil spirit, the changes are evident.

Then when he is set free by the more powerful Holy Spirit, GOD'S glory is revealed!

The nature and characteristics of the spirit he is controlled by, are reflected in his behaviour.

'Come upon' means the mind being affected and overpowered by a force from outside.

Another Man

 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; 

and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth."
Acts 1:8 

 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; 

and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. 

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; 

neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, 

but they had all things in common. 

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 

And great grace was upon them all.
Acts 4:31-33 

The disciples of  our LORD who were afraid and cowardly, became bold and courageous when the Holy Spirit came upon them! They behaved so differently. They seemed as different people because they had come under a new management!

When the Holy Spirit comes upon a person,

He brings about changes in his thinking

resulting in changes in his behaviour.

He is so changed and different, he becomes another man!

 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, 

and kissed him and said: "Is it not because the Lord has anointed you 

commander over His inheritance? 

Then you shall go on forward from there and come to the terebinth tree of Tabor. There three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hands. After that you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 
1 Samuel 10:1, 3-6 

Natural man, spiritual and carnal

 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, 

that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 

These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches 

but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, 

for they are foolishness to him; 

nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 

But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 

For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" 

But we have the mind of Christ. 

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 

I fed you with milk and not with solid food; 

for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 

for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, 

are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 
For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal? 

1 Corinthians 2:12-3:4 

By default, our natural mind progresses towards carnality.

Each of us has been given the responsibility to steer our minds.

Our mind is influenced by the information we put in and the things we think on.

It is easy to be influenced by the spirit that is of the world

and be carnal, which leads to death.

If we study and meditate on the word of GOD, the Holy Spirit gives us understanding

and we become spiritual people.

Such a mind leads one to eternal life and peace.

As we teach and train our mind to think in line with the word of GOD,

we progress to becoming spiritual men and women of GOD.

 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, 

but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; 

for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. 

Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, 

but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, 

He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies 

through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:5-11