Fear the Lord.  It is not wise to take him lightly.  And it is not wise to think of ourselves more highly then we ought.  Kiss the Son last He be angry.  His compassion is great.  But it is supported by Holiness.

“To whom much is given much will be expected.”
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1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.

3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

4 At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,
    I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
    I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
    he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
    clearly and not in riddles;
    he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
    to speak against my servant Moses?”
9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.

10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous[a]—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”

14 The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.  (Numbers  12)

By His Grace

Way too many people play far too close to the fence.  There is open pasture to inherit and the Holy mountain to climb.

There are those who like the idea of being thought of as a Christian.  But they refuse to make any commitment at all.  These love to wear the label while they live freely in the world.  They stay by the fence but they will not cross it.

There are those who have made a commitment to a body of professed believers.  But they refuse to go any farther toward the sovereign God.  They have crossed the fence but they will not part company with it.  Their folly will be evident by their lack of fruit.

The Lord teaches his people to head out into the pasture.  There is plenty of nourishing food and light.  It is a place of health.  Here a man may wrestle with what is true and what is false.

If one travels far enough, he will perceive the rocky crags.  Here a man is stripped of himself.  For no burden of self can climb the mountain of God.  “. . .if even an animal touches it it must be stoned to death or shot with arrows.”  Of this place there is little written.  For those who ascend rarely descend.  Not to mention that the language spoken on the mountain is not a familiar language to man.

By His Grace

To sit and scratch on the wall of a cave. To mutter good words and listen to the echo. Who will read? God. Who will listen? God. Who will promote? God. Who will reward? God.

If we write for the sake of publication we enter in to a realm of pride. Here they pay with money or flattery, or worse upon worse with neglect. The one who writes for the sake of publication puts himself before a firing squad. They will either kill you with pride, wound you with money, or tear you to pieces with neglect.

But the one who writes on the wall of his cave, for the glory of the One who gives him life, writes with a pure heart. He does not seek the rewards of this world; money, pride and neglect.

He writes for the sake of the day when he appears before the majestic Lord of life. All that can be gained will be a crown tossed at the feet of the Holy One. The cave scratcher learns these things. And he finds himself free to tell the truth.

O’ little Bible do not worry.  The Holy Lord has seen your plight. 

You sit undisturbed, your pages unturned, they just pass you by day and night.

You’ve been made to bring glory to a people in darkness.  And how your words yearn to go home.

But other than dusting for the sake of appearance, they pretty much leave you alone.

But God has raised, with his glorious hand, many hearts from the rocks in the cold.

He gave them a mouth and instilled them with strength, to utter your words; oh so bold!

By His Grace