Stewing in the evils of the valley of Tears Defangs the Serpent

All of our complaints against God's rescue plan originate from our intimate contact with the evils of the Valley of Tears. Yet, our baptism in the evils of the Valley of Tears brings multiple blessings to us. One of the blessings is that our baptism in the evils of the Valley of Tears defangs the serpent. It drains the serpent's lie (Genesis 3:5) of its power to deceive.

The serpent testified that we would become gods, without God, in the Valley of Tears (Genesis 3:5). God, however, gave conflicting testimony. God testified that, without God in the Valley of Tears, we would die (Genesis 3:3) (CCC ¶ 398) .

Our personal experience with the evils of the Valley of Tears proves that the serpent’s testimony was false and God’s testimony was true. It unmasks the lie and the liar (John 8:44). It slays the monster of falsehood. It shatters the sugarcoating that the serpent poured over the hostile truth of the Valley of Tears as the blow of a sledgehammer shatters glass. The Valley of Tears sucks. Reality itself packs a much more persuasive punch than the representations of reality from either God and the serpent. God lets us put our fingers in the fire to learn for ourselves that the fire is hot. Having testified falsely to us once, will we ever believe the serpent again (John 8:44)? Stewing in the evils of the Valley of Tears is the evidence from which the jury can reach the right verdict. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32) .

[Note: This is one of the solutions for the problem of evil.]

The Blog of the New Exodus

Table of Contents (Click Here)

The Blog itself (Click Here)

Search and Tags (Click Here)

Don't be fooled by the Lipstick on a Pig

What distinguishes our genuine God from the many counterfeit gods - the frauds - who try to deceive us? His reaction to the evil that we applied to him distinguishes our genuine God from the many counterfeit gods. We tortured and killed him. He suffered and died. Yet, he forgave us. His love for us survived the evil that we did to him. His love for us did not fade as we tortured him and did not die when we killed him. By his bloody wounds, we recognize our God John 20:20 . Jesus wears His bloody wounds as the outward signs of forgiveness - the badges of forgiveness. His bloody wounds are the rainbow of the new covenant Genesis 9:13 between our God and us Luke 22:20 . His bloody wounds are the credentials of divinity. A person who claims to be God or to stand in persona Christi is an impostor unless he can show you his credentials. Demand a demonstration from any claimant to divinity of his credentials John 20:24-29 . Expose the frauds. Good cleric, the trappings of the priesthood are not valid credentials. Do not point to your clerical collar or to your ordination. They are not valid credentials. They are just lipstick on a pig Wikipedia. The only valid credential is sacrificial love. The only way to distinguish the shepherd and the hireling is by sacrificial love John 10:12-15 . Nothing else. The shepherd lays down his life for his sheep John 10:12-15 . Remember that the serpent had no credentials. Jesus, on the other hand, flashed his credentials to us on the road from the Crucifixion to the Resurrection. He clung to his love for us, held tight and refused to let go even though we tortured and killed him John 15:13 Jeremiah 31:3 . Show the serpents without credentials to the door. Welcome only those who can show you their credentials.

The Teeth and Tongues of our Crosses

The Valley of Tears is the vessel that holds the sour truth in which we are baptized (See, The Vessel in which We were Baptized) . The sour truth plays rough. As we make our escape through the Valley of Tears, the crosses that besiege us have both teeth and tongues. Their teeth bite. They chews us up into bits and pieces and spit us out. Furthermore, their tongues are as sharp as their teeth.

Our baptism in the sour truth of the Valley of Tears is effective medicine. The medicine, however, is not without a deleterious side effect. It causes the tongues of our crosses to broadcast powerful anti-god propaganda into every nook and cranny of the Valley of Tears. “Where is your savior now?”, they taunt us as their teeth mercilessly masticate us into bits and pieces. “Despair! Abandon hope! You are alone and forsaken. Nobody is coming to rescue you” (Matthew 27:42 - 46)