Parable? Lost Molar?Did I hear someone say, “You must be joking”?Let me explain. It won’t hurt!

Several months ago a piece of filling came out of my number 6 tooth on the top left that is a molar. I thought nothing of it and took no action because it did not hurt and I had no toothache. A little over two weeks ago however, toothache started to set in and last weekend developed into real pain.Infection set in and the first thing Monday morning I asked God to give me favor as I telephoned the dental service requesting emergency treatment. They booked me in immediately and so off I went with great trepidation. No one likes dentists!The dentist made initial tests and took x-rays. She confirmed that a very large filling had come out—much larger than I thought. Surprisingly, the X-rays did not show anything on both the number six and the number seven tooth. We could clearly see them and the other teeth, but the fillings in 6 & 7 could not be seen. The dentist called a senior colleague and we were all mystified.More tests. The last one surprised us all. The dentist sprayed a freezing agent onto cotton buds and touched several teeth to let me know what to expect, which was a slight tingling. When number 6 was touched, the pain was excruciating, nearly lifting me off the chair. When number 7 was touched, I felt absolutely nothing. That stuff is minus 50 degrees and that’s cold!More tests revealed that the nerves in my very last tooth had died, so it could have been the culprit to begin with and became affected without me ever feeling it. The infection probably spread into number 6.

There are lessons to be learned. Fix the problem when you become aware of it. If it is a spiritual matter, resolve it fast before something dies and starts to spread! This is a biblical principle seen from Genesis chapter one. On a practical note, I should have gone to the dentist immediately and not discounted the initial smaller problem. Again, letting small spiritual matters slide, can become serious later. Those little foxes do spoil the vine! Catch the foxes for us,The little foxes that spoil the vines, And our vines are all in blossom. Song of Songs 2:15.

I believe that we are approaching harvest time, of not entered into it! It is a sensitive time. The grapes are forming as the flowers are starting to turn into fruit. Those little foxes nibble at the roots and not the grapes themselves. The process is slow, but destructive, eventually killing off the vine. The Hebrew word is ḥābal. It has a variety of meanings that includes offend, spoil, to pervert and destroy and to writhe in pain. There is also a whole range of references to tying something or some one up with rope. It talks of the cords or snares of sin. When such a rope is slowly tightened, not only is bondage happening but the life force is being slowly strangled.

Ignoring those little insignificant things eventually sears the mind and dulls the senses so much, one is often totally unaware that death and decay has come!

Number 7 tooth had died and I was unaware of it!It then started to eat number 6 tooth!

The dentist told me that we could save 6, but number 7 had to be extracted. One week later after a course of antibiotics, I returned to that the dentist could make me cry. Everyone laughed when I told them that. The filling was done and then... Oh my... 2 hours later the culprit came out. I looked at it and inspected it and it looked dead! When cleaning my teeth days before, it looked normal whiteness except for the silver/black filling normally associated with amalgam fillings. Those fillings by the way are no longer approved in most places as the filling compound is up to 50% mercury and mercury is a poison. As such fillings age, the mercury is slowly leached into the body. We could be slowly poisoning ourselves without knowing it.We should see another lesson there. Sin that is not dealt with can slowly and gradually creep up on us if we are not careful and poison us. Often times it is the small things, the fine detail, the neglect that causes the decay.

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One week later the filling is done and the dead tooth gone. The pain has gone. All that remains is the gradual healing process and the ever-so-slow reduction of the anesthetic. I got 6 shots, perhaps 7 of that stuff and am still spaced out. Every now and then “I take trips without leaving the house”! That stuff is like a drug! They tell you it wears away within hours! Liars! The numbness does, but the anesthetic takes weeks for the body to rid itself of the chemical.

I was resting when the Lord spoke to me and told me to write this. It was loud and clear, but I had to ask what was happening. He kept telling me to write this gave me the title saying that someone out there needs this message and if it is applied, it could save a lot of hurt and heartache later.

As I lay on my bed, the Lord kept speaking about this and I kept asking Him what my dental work had to do with what He wanted to share and said it has everything to do with trusting God and casting our cares upon Him!

It is everything to do with casting our cares on Him.

Peter warned us-Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9.

You might think you already know all about that, but we need to read the entire verse together. He was speaking about Church leadership, giving honor and respect and in so doing said-...Clothe (apron) yourselves, all of you, with humility [as the garb of a servant, so that its covering cannot possibly be stripped from you, with freedom from pride and arrogance] toward one another. For God sets Himself against the proud (the insolent, the overbearing, the disdainful, the presumptuous, the boastful)—[and He opposes, frustrates, and defeats them], but gives grace (favor, blessing) to the humble.Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, (1 Peter 5:5-6)

Please notice the comma! This is important, because it connects humbling ourselves with the casting of our cares on Him. Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. 1 Peter 5:7.

Notice how often Peter used the word All! He also said to cast the whole of our car. This tells me God does not want part, but all and all of the time! Marjorie has a prophecy in her prayer journal that we received a long time ago. The Lord reminded me of that and I found it. I do not remember who spoke it, but when I read it again, that prophet’s words range true and leaped out at me.

By casting your cares upon me, you make me your complete and total source. You make me your provider, protector, nurturer and the one who succours you. The responsibility (and accountability) for all things that affect you then becomes mine—not yours and I do mean ALL!Your job is to then relax and trust me; stop praying and then start thanking; stop petitioning and pleading and begin exercising yourself in my promises as if you already have the answers—now—not waiting for some future entity to arrive.I will not fail you—never. I will not leave you or forsake you, but you must keep them at my feet and regard them as if they never existed.Just as your sins are forgiven—and forgotten—never to be remembered or brought back any more. So are your cares to be never remembered or brought back in any way whatsoever. By picking them back up again in way whatsoever, you effectively take them out of my hands. That ceases making me your source. You have then made a false god. You have shunned me as God and made you your own god and I will tolerate no false gods—no gods before me.Repent quickly. Return those cares to me and no further foolishness. When you do that AND remain in that state, deliverance comes.

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I looked up what casting cares means. Did you notice that it does not say Cast? That is a once only action. The casting is a continual process. We do not keep casting the same things all the time, for when they have been cast, they are gone (if we do not pick them up again). This is a process of every time something crops up, we cast it on the Lord. When we cast the burden, it is no longer ours, so our next step is to thank God for the answer and let it go at that. Don’t pick it up again and keep praying about it.The next time something happens we cast that on the Lord.

The bible says that we are to humble ourselves. That is a deliberate act of our own volition. God does not use sickness, poverty, opposition and the like to humble us—we do that. Things can bring us to our knees of course and sometimes the pride gets knocked out of us by those things, but the humbling is a choice process and it is linked to casting.

In other words if we do not do that (the casting) we are proud! Think of it. It implies to God that we think we can handle things ourselves, thus making ourselves our own god. If we do that, God does not and can not intervene.

The word Casting is Epiriptō. Its meanings include the idea of suddenly flinging something away in a deliberate act of sudden motion. What we are to fling away is likened to depositing something such as a load on something else. Think of a tip truck with a heavy load. The driver pulls a lever and dumps that load. Some of those loads are pure trash that we sure do not want back.

Liken that extracted tooth to burdens and cares. It would have been foolish of me to try to put it back. The thing produced nothing but death, decay and pain

affecting my whole body. Only a fool would want that back, but when it comes to casting our burdens upon the load, we must avoid picking them up again and re-injecting them into our lives.

I saw what the Lord was getting at when He told me to share this. Dear friend, you are not alone and you are not the only person in the world with problems. Do the right thing. Do what God told you to do and for some people, do the last thing He said because you have not done so and are still stuck in a hole. Throw that thing away. Get rid if it and when you do, don’t retrieve it.

As I was preparing scrabbled eggs for our breakfast (I do most of our cooking), the Lord spoke to me, saying, “Tell the people that if they really and completely cast their cares on me and not pick them up again by negative thoughts and words, I will turn their deliverance, enlarge their territories, bless them indeed and turn their lives around. Don’t hold back. Do not restrain. Let go and do not pick it up again. Deliverance day is dawning, so embrace the dawn.”

David said when he was going through some stuff-Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail). Psalm 55:22.

I believe that this will set some people free today and one thing that is constantly on my heart is to see God’s precious people blessed, spilled, thrilled and filled.

Robert.

Bashan MinistriesPO Box 152Mount Tamborine QLD 4272Email info@bashanministries.orgWeb site www. Bashanministries.org

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