Monthly Archives: October 2011

Encounter with Holiness

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Fire! Fire!

Image by Dave Hogg via Flickr

I looked and God focused my eyes.

What did I see, but a blazing inferno of Holiness.

I cried against the blast of heat,

“Where are You Lord?”  My voice consumed by the roar.

Listening ear turned toward the flames, while fear and confusion rage.

Then I heard.

A word spoken, and not to my ear.

The mind understood, and the heart comprehended.

Yet no sound moved that ear drum.

“Here I am.  Come into the flames.”

“I will die!  For those flames have no passage way.”

I replied what I perceived to the spoken unspoken words.

“That is exactly the point.”  Came the “understanding” again.

Desire for Him caused my feet to move forward.

And the horrible heat burned my soul.

Anguish and pain roared against my domain.

Yet, desire provoked me to walk.

I stood in the flame and beheld as I could.

And, with marvel, my sins dropped away.

Fullness of mind came to be mine, and I heard that unspoken word once again.

“You are clean now by My power and mercy.

Go back to your humble abode.”

“Oh Lord!” I cried out with a bellowing voice.

“Why can’t I stay here and learn?”

“I will teach you from here, to the place you live there.

And My ways you will learn in their full.

If you would desire to know what My will is for you,

you will find it among the people.”

By His Grace.

Attack!

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German Shephrd with Muzzle

Image via Wikipedia

We put a muzzle on a dog because we don’t want it to bite anyone.  But no one muzzles an attack dog while that dog is suppose to protect his property.  The dog is loosed within the confines of the owner’s property able to do all it can to defend its charge.

The world is busy fitting a muzzle on the message of God.  They’ve been trying to construct the thing out of materials and resources which present themselves to man’s hand and imagination.  And, this trying has been going on since the fall of Adam.  They have not succeeded.  This is to their shame; a personal disgrace which man alone is responsible.   Frankly, you should feel horrible when you look in the mirror and consider that you are no closer to crushing God’s people than you were 6,000 years ago.  Tisk Tisk (shaking my finger with a scowl)!  Shame on you.  Look how you let yourself down!  Look how futile your arms are to accomplish the desires of your brothers!  Sloth!

Their failure is due to one simple fact.  The Gospel is not within reach of the hand or imagination of man.  This is why, when after doing damage to God’s people in one place, it crops up in another.  The “Dog” of God is still on the loose.  And the world is confined in a place reserved for attack.  God protects what is His own.  And no man will ever touch it, that he should it damage. 

One more item of consideration.  For now the attack of God is muzzled.  But there is a day coming in which the muzzle comes off.  Something to ponder.

By His Grace.

Pope denounces “inhuman” mafia in southern Italy

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Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome

Image via Wikipedia

The folly of man will be evident until the return of our Lord.  Man will increase in wickedness and folly as the day approaches.  And I see signs of this increase of decrease every day I am allowed to remain on this earth.

I saw this headline in the AP this morning:  “Pope denounces “inhuman” mafia in southern Italy”.  I will not read the article.  There is no need to read the details.  But I sense a need to respond.

What, exactly is the difference between the Catholic Church leaders and the Italian mafia?  I will speak of the mafia first.  They have gained their power over men by violence.  They amass to themselves riches because of this violence.  They protect what they have stolen by remaining hidden from the general public.  They have placed a structure of obedience to their unholy organization which requires full obedience to their code of thieves.  They cannot rely on God to protect them from harm, so they turn to guns, walls, secrecy, and a claim to human power.  If left unchecked, they would create a city for their center of power.  They would secret away every item of value in the world to a place within that city where only the elite would be allowed to visit them.  They would subject every man, woman, and child to hideous poverty.  While they would enjoy an unheard of opulence. 

Jesus obeyed His Father’s will.  He did not desire to be protected from harm.  He even gladly accepted the humiliation of death on a cross.  He told His disciples that He was to be turned over to the power of evil and hung to die on a cross.  And while He taught them these things, He remained in humble circumstances.  He lived among the people every day of His Glorious life.  He owned nothing.  Even His clothing was divided among His enemies.  Though He visited the fortified city of Jerusalem, He did not live behind those walls.

How are the Catholic church’s leaders like Christ my Lord?  I will say no more.

By His Grace.

Proof of Our Wicked Hearts.

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The Ten Commandments, In SVG

Image via Wikipedia

The heart of man is wicked beyond redemption.  If you want the proof of this, present yourself to the Holy God of Israel for inspection.  He will render the truth to you, and you will come away knowing.

By His Grace.

Be Wise

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Gavel

You, who beg the Lord to move against the wicked, consider this:

The Lord has been Holy from before this place of testing began.  He will be Holy for eternity.  He has established this place to test the hearts of man according to His perfect knowledge.  Wisdom has cloaked the Lord forever.  Wisdom will be His crown, for God does not change like shifting sands.  All the wicked will appear before Him.  And His words will never fail.

It is our folly to provoke His hand of judgment.  He has established a place where He will judge.  When He judges, His judgments will be final.  What word will they speak to their defense?  What will the lips of the condemned speak to wrench themselves loose from His Holy Hand?  They will appear before Him locked in the folly of their own ways.  Who are we to speed this horror on them?

Have you considered the billions of condemned?  Have you given thought to the wonder that you should know the Lord?  Has the marvel of your standing before Him utterly weakened your knees?  Does the praise of Glory, which belongs alone to Him, dripped from your lips with understanding?  You are blessed to know the Lord Jesus.  You have been blessed to receive what is withheld from billions.  Have you considered why? 

We are a people of unclean lips.  And we live among a  people of unclean lips.  How will we avoid speaking these words, “Woe is me!”  We believe.  We come to know Him.  What of those who remain in the darkness from which we were plucked?  Encourage the Lord as you will, to speed His hand against His enemies.  But consider the fate you too deserved!  What if His people had spoken the same thing before you came to knowledge?  What if the Lord had moved with the speed requested by His people?  What would be your defense now?  Consider carefully.  For we worship the Living God who has promised an end to this place.  He has set a place in eternity to judge.  And, when that place is reached, there will be no place left to hide. 

If we stand, we stand because of His mercy and patience.  What righteous do we own that has not come directly from the Holy Hand of He who gives understanding to all?  We stand because He determined to render mercy to us.  We are called to love Him because He has spoken life into our souls, thus we stand.  When they fall, it will be His wrath which calls them to His throne.  Have we done all we can?  Have we sought His Holy Will through prayer?  Are we still rebellious before His ways?  Do we dress our words of prayer with our own pitiful knowledge?  Are we guilty of speaking before The Living God with words without knowledge?

The speed of the Lord’s hand is tempered by His Mercy.  His patience clothes His ways; perfect and pure.  Love dictates to the heart of He who lives forever.  Consider carefully how you attempt to provoke the Lord to move against His enemies.  We too are only those redeemed from among them.  Are we more than charred sticks pulled from the fire?  Ask as you will, but understand what you ask.  Be very careful how you approach the Lord with such a request.  For it is not wise to provoke the Lord to perform what He is not willing to accomplish.  It is written, and will not be taken away; The Lord is not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to an understanding of His Glorious, loving, and patient ways.

Cease your incessant dribble.  Clap your hand over your mouth and seek understanding.  Understand the will of the God you serve.  Present yourself to His knowledge and learn His ways, lest we too fall because we live in ignorance.  Rise up and receive.  Receive the responsibility given to those who call on His Holy Name, Jesus.  He has given us the task of serving the Living God.  Though we are but grafted into the tree which is Israel, we are, none-the-less, grafted in.  All His promises are ours to hold.  Believe!  But believe with fear and trembling.  Consider our standing with a sober heart.  He is the Living God of all eternity!

Glory to God!  Bring Glory to your God!  He is the Living God who will bring an end to this place of testing according to His perfect wisdom, knowledge, and Glory.

By His Grace.

A Painful Understanding

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tears.....

Image by JD | Photography via Flickr

I sat alone.  Sitting in a painful understanding.  More will die than live.  While those who will live are few, their life will be full.  While those who die will be more, they will have no say in their death.  For: those who die are already dead.  And those who live are given a taste of promise.

My mind has come to see this.  What is to come will come.  Though I do not wish to see it appear for the more, there is excitement for the sake of the few.  And how this vision of what is sure to come unsettles the heart.

Though the more deny their fate, they will surely see it.  Though the few render the testimony of truth, they are counted as fools.  Yet God will be glorified among us all.  So be it.  Even so, Lord Jesus, come.

By His Grace.