blog-maryBlog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


God’s Blessings – 10 February 2008
By Mary T. Hoffman

People want to be blessed by God. In the Bible, Peter writes about being blessed and refers to Psalm 34:14. (See below) But most of the people who seek God’s blessings don’t want to do what is necessary to obtain His blessings. Instead, they choose to live in the corrupt ways of the world – following the ways of the devil.

If people really want to be blessed, all they have to do is simply look at the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 where Jesus makes it very plain what we need to do to be blessed by our Creator. According to Jesus, who are among those blessed?

5. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”

7. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

9. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons [and daughters] of God.”
~ New American Standard Bible

It is obvious that a person cannot have meat that comes from a suffering animal on his/her plate and be blessed by God. There is nothing gentle, merciful, or peaceful about the way animal products are obtained. All the propaganda trying to convince consumers that animal flesh and body secretions can be “humane” is nonsense.

In Psalm 34:14, the psalmist says:

14. Depart from evil, and do good;
Seek peace, and pursue it.
~ New American Standard Bible

How can anyone depart from evil, do good, or seek and pursue peace while consuming products of cruelty? It’s impossible. If you have someone else do the dirty work, you’re still complicit in the evil. There’s no way around it.

So, how can anyone receive God’s blessings? By refusing as far as possible to participate in the corruption of this fallen world, and by living in God’s original intent – after all, Eden was vegan: (Genesis 1:29)

29. Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit, yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
~ New American Standard Bible

Maybe those who are so addicted to consuming animal-derived products wouldn’t be happy in Heaven. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Jesus says "For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.

14 "For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. ~ New American Standard Bible

Revelation 21:4 makes it clear that there will be no pain or death in God’s restoration. If there is no death, then it’s obvious that there will not be any eating of flesh.

4. and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
~ New American Standard Bible

Also visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/index.html

Go on to: James Shirley – 11 February 2008
Return to: The Holy Spirit's Prompting - 9 Feb 2008
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