Doing Right While Disoriented

Quite frequently, I am met with cravings for doing certain activities. From what I hear, this is pretty normal. Some men want to just be handed a billion dollars and then tell off your boss to just go play for the rest of their lives! Well, that's not happening for almost every guy who feels that way. 

The last, funny paragraph or maybe depressing for some chumps leads me into discussing something I have been noticing from the bottom of my heart. Oh no, is this another one of my Christian-oriented posts? Yes. Okay, if you are still here with me:

By focusing my energy and attention on doing the will of God, it's empowering me to go above and beyond my personal responsibilities and to stay on top of things. It's giving me a steady heart and encouraging me to seek after my current goals of reaching that six pack and million dollars! 

It's pretty funny because I think it's funny from presenting the information that way, but it's undeniably what I currently seek. Focusing on Jesus through inspiration from the Bible, it has been helping me manage my troublesome thoughts and shown a clear path of righteousness that I should be obediently adhering to. It's just this faith in Jesus from a small and insignificant person of the universe (me) that's making me want to do right. 

I'm taking notice of the disoriented feeling that I get pretty frequently. I guess during those times, it's just a moment where I should just take a breather and let myself readjust to handle the minor stress better, so I could reach my goals! This is just an idea that I thought would be cool to share. I'm maturing nonetheless from maintaining discipline. 

Body Image Post

I don't really show it from having learned to carry on while feeling stressed, but I have been dealing with some self-confidence issues from being a man at the height of only 5' 3" 1/4. I think I put my height down as 5' 9" on match.com for laughs and still don't get any views. I've been trying to force myself to grow taller even at the age of 31 going on to be 32! I guess women can't help being attracted to certain types of things and that's just the way it's going to be then.

A lot of my personal insecurity has been from feeling occasionally worried that I won't have enough women interested in a dating relationship type of thing with me. Now that I think of it, if a woman is insecure about a man's height then I might as well not make fun of her and move on. I feel like bagging on the majority of women right now, but no one is perfect anyway.

What I'm noticing is that short men are considered sexy too by gay men. I have a buddy whose shorter than me. Yes, a fully-grown adult male is shorter than me, and I hang out with him! We go on those crazy rides at Six Flags because we meet the height requirement still and have so much fun. It's a shame some tall people can't handle those rides.

Basically, I did a little research and it looks like a shorter man with more money than his taller friend is going to attract a pretty girl. Go figure, there's more than one way to approach a woman still. In conclusion, if the man is short he can still have a beautiful wife from being successful, funny, and smart. Kevin Hart is only 5' 2" for a black man, and I'm taller than him too so that gives me confidence that I should work hard to be a millionaire with a six-pack. I believe that I can do it, and it's my ultimate, personal goal right now.

Leviticus 12:8

There we go, now this verse answers my question, does God require a mandatory sacrifice of livestock like the lamb? Verse 8 says if the mother of the newborn has no lamb, then she may substitute it for two turtledoves or two young pigeons. God mentions to the people of Moses that some animals are unclean or abominable, so definitely those creatures would be forbidden from sacrificing. I don't understand why at this point in time.

The same verse goes on to say that it's either "two" young pigeons or a pair of turtledoves. It's interesting that from reading the verse, it sounds like the age of the turtledove might not matter. One in the pair is used for a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. By doing so, the priest is making an atonement for mother of the newborn, and she will be clean. I recall the verse 1 John 1:9 in that it says that if Christians confess their sins before God through believing upon Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins, then He is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It's a pretty neat verse!

Leviticus 12:7

Okay, where did I leave off? This has been awhile that inconsistency will make you lose your place. Verse 7 says that the priest will offer a one-year-old lamb and a young pigeon or turtledove that is given to him by the mother of the new-born child. I recall from the earlier verses that the offering is the same whether the newborn is male or female. This is what verse 7 actually says in that it's a law of God.

I don't really understand what it means when it says that the mother shall be "clean from the flow of her blood." Does it mean that God washes away her spiritual uncleanliness? Anyway, it sounds like from what I have been reading that a woman giving birth is a good thing. Because the offerings for the baby are the same regardless of gender, it looks like God of the Bible is impartial about whether a person is born a boy or girl.

It looks like I have a lot to catch up for the whole year because I don't have that much time. It's a lot of effort to read the Bible consistently, but I'll try to take it personally one verse at a time then.

Missing the Mark

As Christians, we can fall in sin daily. The first bulls-eye chart would probably represent Jesus. In using terms of research for fun, Jesus represents reliability and validity. Jesus is the perfect instrument that God sent to die for our sins. It's because he is mentioned in the Bible as the Son of God; not only was Jesus a man, he was also God in human flesh. Now that's pretty hard to grasp for some people; nothing is impossible for God, which would not be hard to figure if one truly does believe in God of the Bible. Jesus came to die for our sins and that we may come to have a relationship with the father. This makes Jesus very valid. In terms of reliability, Jesus has a record in the Bible of never having sinned against God; in other words, why would he if he's also God? Jesus has said in the New Testament that he and the Father (God in heaven) are one and the same, which really ticked off a lot of Jewish leaders back in the day. They have called him a nut and because of his influence with the people, they found a way to crucify him and partied hard on that day. I'm sure some Jewish people to this day would still feel the same way after hearing what Christians profess about him. I'm not saying all Jewish people care for religious things, so I'm not coming across as anti-Semitic. What makes Jesus even more of a valid appeal to question is that the Bible says he rose from the dead to validate God's promises of everlasting life and for the disciples to spread the gospel.

The second bulls-eye after the first, is basically having good reliability but really no validity. It's like measuring an apple in grams with a ruler. We would still get the same measurement each time, but a ruler isn't supposed to be used for finding out an object's weight. I'm thinking for an obscene example, sorry, it's a man who is very successful and then goes through a mid-life crisis while making everyone happy.

The third bulls-eye is like born-again Christians. They are made perfect because of making themselves right with God, but they go on sinning again anyways. These type of Christians are valid in that they hit the bulls-eye by trusting in Jesus, but they are not very reliable because they will continue to go on sinning. From my experiences, the worst type of fall-out came with other Christians. They have said and done things to fill me up with discontent and lots of issues against them. Yet, I'm a Christian too and from reading the Bible, I feel that the right thing to do is to forgive them and move on, so that's what I have been learning to do more each day.

The last one is basically for people who are all over the place and with really no goals. I guess it could be for people who visit both sides of being conservative and then liberal. I don't know if those types of people exist. They can just be morally crazy in a sense and so unpredictable and with really nothing to be validated for.

In conclusion, unless you are God, you have or will miss the target of being perfect. I will be getting back to reading the Bible again and examining some verses to the best of my ability, as I really haven't been reading and just listening to sermons.

Leviticus 12:6

Leviticus 12:6 states that when the mother's days of purification are fulfilled, she is to bring a one year old lamb to the priest for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. From this verse, I'm not sure nor remember what the door of the tabernacle of meeting is, but the last few verses said that the mother was now able to enter into the sanctuary. I think the same restriction would apply for a regular man as well. It's just that God called the males in the tribe of the Levites, which is where Moses belongs, to be priests. The priests were the ones who performed the sacrifices, while being under God's command. 

The same sacrifice of a one year old lamb and young pigeon or turtledove applied for whether the baby was male or female. I'm thinking right now that God atones for everyone's sins without gender discrimination. I'm just trying to take a little feminist's perspective because I thought it would be fun to approach it in that context. I personally believe it's wrong to have a chauvinistic attitude and believe women are just as important as men, too. I favor either side more in certain situations though, just like I'm sure others would as well. 

In addition, I notice that this verse was now using a young pigeon or turtledove instead of the bull or ram that was used for a sin offering. This is really interesting in that I'm not sure right now, if these animals were used differently only under God's discretion. The beginning chapters mentioned the different types of animals that were used, as it was listed out, but whatever God says would pretty go, I suppose, even though I don't fully understand this yet.  

Leviticus 12:5

Leviticus 12:5 refers to how if the woman gives birth to a baby girl, then the mother will be unclean for two weeks. She will also go through a 66 day purification of her blood. This is twice as longer for giving birth to a female than a male! By the Lord stating here about the woman having a customary impurity, the days of her being unclean are different respectively for either sex of her newborn. This leads me to believe this customary impurity only occurs whenever she gives birth.

The way I am just feeling right now is that the person isn't at fault for being born a female. I think this whole impurity could be some type of spiritual thing. Maybe, the mother has some type of bond that the Lord recognizes. From the last couple verses, with the male baby being circumcised, that is what probably cuts the purification time shorter. It's done on the eighth day which would be the end of the mother's impurity. I have heard attempts of that nature being done with females, but it's dangerous and in humane to the point those babies can die! The male organ still gets full functionality so it's different.

Honestly, the New Testament says that men and women are equal with being children of God. A verse says that heaven will not have something like male or female, so no one would be giving birth in the afterlife! No more suffering and no more tears and something unimaginably good. This guy I know says that he would be all about his sons and try to put his daughters up for adoption. It's funny, but I think he's a creep and undeserving of becoming a father.

Leviticus 12:1-4

In Leviticus 12:1, the Lord speaks to Moses and it becomes dedicated as a verse in the Bible, cool! In verse 2, God commands Moses to deliver a message to the children of Israel: the Lord says that if a woman has given birth to a male baby then she shall be unclean for seven days; it also talks about her going through a customary impurity. I don't really have a clue what customary impurity for a woman is; maybe it's her periodic cycle! I'm trying to be sensitive here and not laugh so much because this verse seems to be a little uncomfortable for the ladies. Maybe some women loved giving birth to children and did it often, so this being unclean thing doesn't seem to be taken so seriously right now.

Verse 3 mentions that the Jewish, male newborn needs to have his foreskin circumcised on the eighth day. Okay, by talking about these body parts, it feels like these verses might be for a more, mature audience. Verse 4 states that the woman who just gave birth will continue a purification for thirty-three days. In Jewish customs, she wouldn't be allowed to touch any "hallowed" thing which would be something honored to God, neither come into the sanctuary until her days of purification are fulfilled. I wonder with verse 4 talking about the mother who just gave birth not being able to touch anything "hallowed" is also her newborn baby. What I found pretty interesting is that verse 4 states that women were allowed into the sanctuary, too, so maybe the Jewish culture back then with God leading Moses wasn't really too chauvinistic.

Leviticus 11:46-47

Leviticus 11:46 pretty much is stating like a general law that applies to all the animals, birds, living creatures in the waters, and every creature that creeps on the earth. Again, God is mentioning about creatures that creep on the earth! I'm thinking right now that God is putting His perspective on us and possibly informing that those creatures that creep on the earth might not be good for our bodies.

Verse 47 sums it up by stating that the children of Israel are to "distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten." I think this verse is implying something like God gave us a smart enough brain and conscience to know if we are going to obey Him or not. It's like God gave His people a responsibility to exercise discernment and to be aware of His laws. This spiritual discernment from God is being made available from reading the Bible. Even though I'm not doing much with the Bible each day from having a busy schedule, it's really helping me a lot so far.

Leviticus 11:45

Leviticus 11:45 states that God is the Lord who brought His people, the descendants of Jacob out of the land of Egypt. I think right now God chose this group after promising Abraham that He would create a nation of believers based on Abraham's faith, who is an ancestor of Jacob. God then commands His people to be holy because that's pretty much God's standards!

God also addressed non-Jews back in the time of Moses, and He allowed those foreigners to be a full part of God's people. Some believers are stating that God no longer has a heart for the Jews, which has been accused of being anti-Semitic, because the tribes of Israel kept on disobeying God. There are examples in the Bible where ordinary people were very stubborn and God was able to change their hearts, like Jonah who was swallowed by a whale and forced to live in there for around a few days. It's an interesting story, and I wonder if it sounds so far-fetched some people would just consider it a myth. If God is able to change people's hearts, I think God still has a heart for His originally, intended people only because of the promise that God had made with Abraham. The New Testament does talk about God wanting the gospel to also spread to the Gentiles, but they were around in the Old Testament, too. All because of Jesus dying on the cross, God is allowing any believer to become a child of God.

Leviticus 11:44

Leviticus 11:44 is starting to sound a little more like the Bible I'm used to reading. It says that because God is the Lord, we should be consecrating ourselves and be holy because God is holy. The second half of this verse starts to get confusing again, it says to not defile yourself with a creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

Oh, I recall some crazy situations that people could do with a mouse on others. I can get away with not talking about the detestable act because it's not necessary for the verse, so I'm still having my fun of making this PG-rated at the worst. People doing that detestable act with the mouse would definitely mean they are defiling themselves. 

By consecrating ourselves with the Lord, I think at the moment that it's referring to how it's about making ourselves right with God. A verse in the New Testament says that we are made righteous from putting our faith in Christ. In this verse, even though I wouldn't fully understand what God is commanding us to do, I think it's about keeping an obedient spirit. Of course, people at the top would want servants who are loyal, trustworthy, and obedient. 

The thing about God though is that He knows we don't fully follow His commands, and He doesn't fire us from our relationship with Him. God is totally on a more surpassed level than us, beyond understanding. It's because God sees Jesus through His believers and that's why He's able to forgive them for it. The Bible mentions about how God is a patient and loving God that He continues to parry, wishing none would perish as a non-believing sinner. The thing about it though is that a lot of this is pretty much in the Bible, so there wouldn't be good enough material so far to contradict the existence of God, based on the book alone. It's because these books have a steady flow of consistency like it can fit logically as well from a scholarly point. 

There were books like the Apocrypha, but they are with uncertain origins and also do not fit in with the rest of the books, but the books that are in today's Holy Bible all fit together after having been written for several millennium, which is cool for making comparisons with.     

Leviticus 11:43

In verse 29, it states that the creeping thing that creeps are the mole, mouse, large lizard, gecko, monitor lizard, and chameleon. Verse 43 states that one shall not make themselves "abominable" with those creatures, nor shall they make themselves unclean with them because he or she could become defiled by them.

I'm starting to believe from what I've been reading here that being unclean has less severe consequences than doing something abominable. I think something that's abominable is what is detested by the Lord. There's a verse in the Bible that states God hates seven things: a few of them I can remember off my head is lying and a prideful spirit. I can understand that having a prideful spirit will actually keep one's heart and mind off the Lord.

Leviticus 11:41-42

Leviticus 11:41 states that every creeping thing that "creeps on the earth" shall be an "abomination" and that it is to not be eaten. Again, I'm not sure what God was trying to convey here about it being an abomination. Didn't God create the creeping thing and then now He's saying they're bad?

Verse 42 states that these creeping things apply to whatever crawls on its belly, whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth and that they shouldn't be eaten because they are an abomination. This verse appears to pretty much be a copy of the last verse. The first animal this verse describes is whatever crawls on its belly. It appears to be the snake. I recall from the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis, the serpent ended up losing its legs for deceiving Eve and then Adam practically choosing to hang around with her and eating the fruit to fall in the Garden of Eden. Well, that sucked. I guess Eve was perfectly matched for Adam, and I guess Adam wanted in on what Eve had too, so I think it's a stupid thing to blame the woman for a man's fall.

This whole context of these creepy things that God even created, and how it's supposed to be an abomination is really hard to understand for me. It just feels contradictory, but it doesn't make sense to reject the Bible because of these weird passages though.