We are told to “count the cost” of accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  Often we find people accepting Jesus as Savior.  It is apparent that we need a Savior when we consider how far short of perfection we are.  And when we are faced with the prospects of being judged by a Holy God, we are forced by common sense to accept the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. 

But the other side of the counting of cost is the necessity of allowing Jesus to be our Lord.  We are told to become like Him in every way possible.  And it doesn’t take much energy to read a few lines of the New Testament and realize what that means.  Give Him everything you are, will be, used to be, and everything you own.  Kill all your own pet desires and follow His leading for the rest of your life.  That’s the “count the cost” thingy.

We read that this counting is compared to building a house.  When a man decides to build a house and cannot finish, he will be laughed at for his failing.  I’ve often thought of that house as being a mansion.  In my experience I’ve not been able to build more than a lean to against a rotten tree on a rocky crag.  In the end, what I do will have to be enough.  For it will be what I did. 

Common sense tells me that it’s better to build a leaf shelter with rotten sticks than to not have built any shelter at all.  I’m not trying to cut the Lord’s words short.  But when I consider the stress placed on Christians by one another, it occured to me to mention these things.  Along with accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, it’s important to remember His mercy.  Though it’s a high calling the Lord places in our ears, it’s also a loving calling.  He understands our limitations. 

Happy hammering folks.

By His Grace……….

http://www.ehow.com/how_4856582_build-wood-leanto-shelter.html

Ritualized hope is a term tied to living a lie.  Hope is no hope at all without the actions necessary to carry out our hope.  For instance:  If I say I’m going to go to work and remain sitting on the couch, I’m living a lie.  When I get up and move toward my work, then I’m living a truth.  It’s not appeared yet (me working), but I’m doing the things necessary to make my hope a real experience.  Three terms are tied to this idea.  We have “present tense”.    This is the obvious reality we’re used to knowing.   I am typing in my blog right now and I can prove it by actions that are happening.  We have “post tense”.  This is represented by the words I typed that led up to the following period.  Then we have a connecting term that I have never heard applied to the first two:  “Pretense”.  When we use that word, we use it as though we live a lie.  What we’re referring to is actions which are not real and can never be real.  “pretending” is a related word.  So, also is “pretentious”.

When we say that we have a hope in Jesus, and we don’t do anything about that hope, we are living a lie.  Many (including myself) are often living in Jesus under a pretense.  Pretense can never become present tense.  And therefore, pretense can never become past tense.  Unless, of course, you die and realize you have lived your hope without the actions necessary to accomplish your hope.

By His Grace.

see yourself as you are destined to be

The majority of people fight to live.  Everything they do is focused on maintaining peace, stability, health, and creating a good life.  There is nothing inherently wrong with this approach.  But I find very few people who live from the grave backward.  What I mean is doing everything you do as though you were already dead.  Not caring what others think of you or do to you, but considering the judgment to come as more pressing than all the demands of this world.  Not that I have attained to this perspective.  But I keep it in front of my face everyday.  Consider what I’ve said here and weigh it with all truth of God’s sovereignty.

People are seeking to identify the “anti christ”.  Most expect to see the predominate figure of satan’s kingdom in the bodily form of a man.  Indeed, there will be and are certain people who will stand more visable than others in the evil realm.  But there is an understanding that might lead to a more productive conclusion:

We look for 666 as a sign of identy for evil.  Consider this:  God is 3.  The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.  Then there is the 4th: the Holy Angels.  The 5th would be the fallen angels (those who rebelled at the Father’s rule.  6th is man, blind to the glory of the Lord of Hosts, and able to be saved regardless of their sin due to this blindness.  7th is the rest of creation. 

3 represents perfect.  7 represents completion.  3 sixes would represent a perfect man oriented world without the aknowledgment of God’s right to rule over them.  In this sense, I see the world quickly running away from God and running to self rule.

666 could well represent the state of affairs we see around us now.  Without the influance of God’s rule in their lives, people are quickly falling prey to lies and a self rule “peace”.  Consider what was said by the Lord: “When they are saying ‘peace, peace’ then the end will come”.  Therefore, 666 is a general tendency for man to reject the rule of God.  Though there will be leaders, those leaders rule over those who chose to reject their creator. It’s a flavor of living more than an individual.

Just a thought.

I had forgotten creating this blog. http://sites.google.com/site/aseekersite/