Oneta Hayes – Poetry, Short Prose and Walking

A Remembrance, Three Recommendations and a Song

Remembrance

I just heard that Oneta Hayes, a blogger whom I have read for some years, passed away on January 4th.

May the Lord bless the entire Hayes family and all of those who knew Oneta. Thank you, Jesus, for her faithfulness and love.

Three Recommendations

Jan writing in Mercy for the Day began the story, Book of Names, with the following:

Court documents were unsealed this week. Previously unpublished names were released. Trouble is. These people want to remain anonymous.

I wasn’t sure if I missed some political event which is likely since I don’t follow politics. Then I found out the story was going way beyond politics. The released names were those missing from the Book of Life.

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Pat Barrett’s book, Lives Forever Changed: My Spiritual Adventures With the Lord, recently became available from Barrett Publishing.

This is a book of Pat’s remembrances from 30 years of deliverance ministry written for those who would like to minister to people influenced by such darkness. It read like it could even be valuable for those suffering from such influences.

Pat told me that he was told that all we need do is get the hunger for the Lord out of our heads and into our hearts.

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Esperanza Dia (not her real name) published a memoir of faithfulness called Twisted Sisters of Bating Hollow: From Cult to Freedom: the Story of Hope.

With names changed she tells her story of 28 years in an Anglican nunnery where manipulators gained power and took advantage of the women who gave their lives to God. This is a story of how she was set free and how she continued to love Jesus even after the experience.

She helps lead a worship service at the Upper Room in Fort Mill, SC, which we often attend on Saturday evenings.

Song

Finally, a song I heard this evening that reminds me of Oneta Hayes.

Blessings to you this week.

Exploration 95 – Humanistic Righteousness

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Judges 21:25 King James Version

In the comments to my post last week on demons, Oneta Hayes reminded me that I missed a whole class of demonic activity. The demons I missed were those that appeared “beautiful and compelling”. I pointed out the obviously ugly ones, but I missed the attractively strong delusions of unbelief that could be described as humanistic righteousness.

That is sometimes called self-righteousness, because one’s righteousness is based on following what is good in one’s own eyes. Self-righteousness justifies the ethics of humanism because humanism acknowledges no other ground than man: our reasonings, our wants, what we experience with our senses or our emotions. It is what grounds the ethics of ideas like effective altruism where one optimizes the amount of “good” one can do on a monetary basis. See Peter Singer’s The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically.

No matter how good this appears to be if it is not what Yeshua (Jesus) wants us to do, it is not good. It can’t be, because there is nothing good outside of His will.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm 107:1 King James Version

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Weekly Parashah Readings
Parashah: Bamidbar, 5 Sivan, 5782 – June 4, 2022
Torah: Numbers 1:1 – 4:20
Haftarah: Hosea 2:1 – 2:23
Brit Chadashah: Romans 9:22-33; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30
Resources: Chabad, Hebrew4Christians, Weekly Torah Readings, Calendar

Sunday Walk 36

εγγισατε τω θεω και εγγιει υμιν καθαρισατε χειρας αμαρτωλοι και αγνισατε καρδιας διψυχοι
James 4:8 Textus Receptus with various translations

The King James Version translates the last word, διψυχοι, as “double minded” which suggests to me a feel-good spirituality without repentance. Avoiding repentance is a sign that one hasn’t experienced the joy that such change provides when grounded on forgiveness. No amount of substitute sentiment can compare with that.

I suspect the devil needs only half a heart to drag us all the way down. King David wanted nothing less than a newly created, clean heart when he almost lost it all with Bathsheba.

לב טהור ברא לי אלהים ורוח נכון חדשׁ בקרבי
Psalm 51:10 Masoretic Text with various translation

Being double minded is also like lighting a candle and putting it under a basket. Oneta Hayes tells us what will happen if we do that: the fire goes out.