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A Spiritual Lesson In Toon Language 64

Series: Looney Tunes

Episode: Mouse Wreckers

Topic: Lyin' Eyes

Lesson PDF link: Lyin' Eyes

How many of us have gotten lost, couldn't see, or otherwise disoriented before?

I think we all have if we are honest with ourselves. What does this feel like?

This is a big problem for me, as I am almost constantly disoriented in some way because of my vision impairment. When I get this way, I sometimes see stars due to light sensitivity, my eyes sometimes uncrollably do their strabismus trick (one eye in, one eye out – a form of crossing); this is due to another condition known as nystagmus (rapid involuntary movement in the eyes). These together are bad enough, but I have more focusing issues than these. Because of the four or five eye conditions (some not listed), my eyes lie to me constantly. When I feel this way, it is like life is kind of a maze that I can't get through. No one would think that life would be any fun this way; God has to guide me in everything I do and so He sent Bonnie to be my wife to help with a lot of it.

Cartoon Clip: Without a guide in disorienting times, I could be like this unfortunate cartoon character named Claude.

Let's look at a clip from the Looney Tunes short called "Mouse Wreckers."

Looney Tunes : "Mouse Wreckers": Direct link for video/webm

What do you see? Hubie and Bertie want Claude out of the house, so they can take over. Not shown is the fact that Claude is a champion mouser cat and without getting him out will not be able to live with him; he would catch them and throw them out or worse.

Seeing this clip may be hilarious, but think about it for a minute; isn't this what the Devil will try to do to us?

Bible Study:

Let's look at Psalm 35.

Psa 35:1 Davidic. Argue my case, LORD, against those who argue against me. Fight against those who fight against me.

Psa 35:2 Take up the buckler and the shield, and rise up to help me.

Psa 35:3 Take out the spear and the ax to confront the one who pursues me; say to me, "I am your deliverer!"

Psa 35:4 Let those who seek my life be ashamed and disgraced; let those who plot evil against me be driven back and confounded.

Psa 35:5 Make them like the chaff before the wind, as the messenger of the LORD pushes them aside.

Psa 35:6 May their path be dark and slippery, as the messenger of the LORD tracks them down.

Psa 35:7 Without justification they laid a snare for me; without justification they dug a pit to trap me.

Psa 35:8 Let destruction come upon them unawares, and let the net that he hid catch him; let him fall into destruction.

Psa 35:9 My soul will rejoice in the LORD and be glad in his deliverance.

Psa 35:10 All my bones will say, "LORD, who is like you? Who delivers the weak from the one who is stronger than he, and the weak and the needy from the one who wants to rob him?"

Psa 35:11 False witnesses stepped forward and questioned me concerning things about which I knew nothing.

Psa 35:12 They paid me back evil for good; my soul mourns.

Psa 35:13 But when they were sick, I wore sackcloth, humbled myself with fasting, and prayed from my heart repeatedly for them.

Psa 35:14 I paced about as for my friend or my brother, and fell down mourning as one weeps for one's mother.

Psa 35:15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together. They gathered together against me—attackers whom I did not know. They tore me apart and would not stop.

Psa 35:16 Malicious mockers—they gnashed their teeth against me.

Psa 35:17 Lord, how long will you just watch? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from these young lions.

Psa 35:18 Then I will give you thanks in front of the great congregation; in the midst of the mighty throng I will praise you.

Psa 35:19 Do not let my deceitful enemies gloat over me, nor let those who hate me without justification mock me with their eyes.

Psa 35:20 For they do not speak peace; they devise clever lies against the peaceful people of the land.

Psa 35:21 They open their mouth wide against me, claiming, "Yes! Yes! We saw him do it with our own eyes!"

Psa 35:22 You see this, LORD, so do not be silent. Lord, do not be far from me!

Psa 35:23 Wake up! Arouse yourself to vindicate me and argue my case, my God and my Lord.

Psa 35:24 Judge me according to your righteousness, LORD my God! But do not let them gloat over me.

Psa 35:25 Don't let them say in their hearts, "Yes! We got what we wanted." Don't let them say, "We have swallowed him up."

Psa 35:26 Instead, let those who gloat over the evil directed against me be ashamed and confounded together; Let those who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and dishonor.

Psa 35:27 Let those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and rejoice! Let them continually say, "Magnify the LORD, who delights in giving peace to his servant."

Psa 35:28 My tongue will declare your righteousness and praise you all day long.

David is running from his enemies at this time and is scared even though he is truly faithful. This is a prayer for righteous vindication and outright judgment against them. Right now, David is so scared the way it looks, that he is asking for God to guide him safely and maybe disoriented a little.

Let's look at Isaiah 59

Isa 59:1 "See, the LORD's hand is not too short to save, nor are his ears too dull to hear.

Isa 59:2 Instead, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have concealed his face from you so that he won't listen.

Isa 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your tongue mutters wickedness.

Isa 59:4 No one brings a lawsuit fairly, and no one goes to law honestly; they have relied on empty arguments and they tell lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.

Isa 59:5 They hatch adders' eggs and weave a spider's web; whoever eats their eggs dies, and any crushed egg hatches out futility.

Isa 59:6 Their cobwebs cannot become clothing, they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are deeds of iniquity, and acts of violence fill their hands.

Isa 59:7 Their feet rush to evil, and they are quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; ruin, destruction, and violence are in their paths.

Isa 59:8 The pathway of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their courses. They have made their roads crooked; no one who walks in them will know peace."

Isa 59:9 "So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We wait for light, but look—there is darkness; we wait for brightness, but we walk in deep darkness.

Isa 59:10 Let's grope along the wall like the blind; let us grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as if it were twilight, in desolate places like dead people.

Isa 59:11 We all growl like bears; we sigh mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but there is none, and for deliverance, but it's far from us.

Isa 59:12 "For our transgressions before you are many, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we acknowledge them:

Isa 59:13 they've rebelled in treachery against the LORD, and are turning away from following our God; and they've spoken oppression and revolt, and are conceiving lying words from the heart.

Judgment and Redemption

Isa 59:14 I'll drive back justice, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth has fallen in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.

Isa 59:15 Truth is missing, and whoever turns away from evil becomes a prey."

Isa 59:16 He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm brought him victory, and his righteous acts upheld him.

Isa 59:17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in fury like a cloak.

Isa 59:18 So he will repay according to their action: Anger to his enemies, retribution to his foes; to the coastlands he will render their due.

Isa 59:19 So people will fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glories from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a pent-up stream that the breath of the LORD drives along.

Isa 59:20 "And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression," says the LORD.

Isa 59:21 "As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "And my Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, won't depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children's children, from now on and forever."

On the other side of things, sin is also blinding, deafening and disorienting; we don't know where we are really going, even though we think we do. God has promised us in this Messianic prophesy above that Jesus will come (which he did), to set things in the right orientation for us to be in spiritual clarity towards God. We will be able to see our way home through our Savior Jesus Christ. Everything in this world seems to be opposite of God's way of normal, what is supposed to be on the floor appears to be on the ceiling and vice-versa. The Devil would love to kick us out of our own home, but God has given us the ability to defend and be defended against such an invader.

In the New Testament, we see more on the subject. Let's look at Luke 11: 21-23.

Luk 11:21 "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own mansion, his property is safe.

Luk 11:22 But when a stronger man than he attacks and defeats him, the stronger man strips off that man's armor in which he trusted and then divides his plunder.

Luk 11:23 "The person who isn't with me is against me, and the person who doesn't gather with me scatters."

We need to remember that humility is one of the biggest spiritually strengthening tools that someone can do in Christ. No matter how strong we are, without God actually defending us against the things of the world that invade and try to kick us out of our own house or rob the good inside of us etc. we are nothing and will be defeated and the spiritual house will be taken over. Most of the time, this would involve arrogance and lack of repentance leading to spiritual blindness; we can then be captured and then we do the exact opposite of God's calling for us.

Not only do we need humility inside our faith walk, we need discernment of and trust in God's plans.

Let's look at Ephesians 5: 1-21.

Eph 5:1 So be imitators of God, as his dear children.

Eph 5:2 Live lovingly, just as the Messiah also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to God.

Eph 5:3 Do not let sexual sin, impurity of any kind, or greed even be mentioned among you, as is proper for saints.

Eph 5:4 Obscene, flippant, or vulgar talk is totally inappropriate. Instead, let there be thanksgiving.

Eph 5:5 For you know very well that no immoral or impure person, or anyone who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God.

Eph 5:6 Do not let anyone deceive you with meaningless words, for it is because of these things that God becomes angry with those who disobey.

Eph 5:7 So do not be partners with them.

Eph 5:8 For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light,

Eph 5:9 for the fruit that the light produces consists of every form of goodness, righteousness, and truth.

Eph 5:10 Determine what pleases the Lord,

Eph 5:11 and have nothing to do with the unfruitful actions that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are.

Eph 5:12 For it is shameful even to mention what is done by these disobedient people in secret.

Eph 5:13 But everything that is exposed to the light becomes visible,

Eph 5:14 for the light is making everything visible. That is why it says, "Wake up, sleeper! Arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you.''

Eph 5:15 So, then, be careful how you live. Do not be unwise but wise,

Eph 5:16 making the best use of your time because the times are evil.

Eph 5:17 Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

Eph 5:18 Stop getting drunk with wine, which leads to wild living, but keep on being filled with the Spirit.

Eph 5:19 Then you will recite to one another psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; you will sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts;

Eph 5:20 you will consistently give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah;

Eph 5:21 and you will submit to one another out of reverence for the Messiah.

What have we learned?

Sometimes our calling isn't quite obvious right away. God has a way of giving a lot of people a builder course of experiences first a lot of the time. For other people, a calling is discerned and equipped for right away. In my experiences, I've noticed God has given me bigger and bigger things in the form of spiritual landmarks every two years apart on average. I was baptized in 2002, in 2004, I started writing these very lessons, in 2006, I met my wife for the first time, in 2008, I was married, In 2010, I helped to found our ministry, God then chose to use 6 years to build my faith walk through this ministry and our marriage, In 2016, I became a pastor and in 2017 started weekly Bible Studies where we live as a pastor and chaplain. Every stage has been an increase in responsibility and effectiveness; I'm sure there's more to come. God has made things so my spiritual eyes don't lie unlike my physical ones.

In order for me to not be disoriented in the spirit, constant prayer to God about my calling and help from Bonnie has been absolutely necessary.

Callings from God come in all shapes and sizes, but require the same ceaseless love, faith, prayer and humility that all Christians must have in order to be fruitful in Christ.