9“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”  (Isaiah 55)

Let us be careful not to despise His word, even if our ears should hear it from the mouth of a man in earthly humble position.  For the Gospel has been, “. . .once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”

Thus the hearts of men are tested.  Where is the humble heart?  Where are those who crave understanding?   Where is he who is willing to become a fool for the sake of his God?

A miraculous WILL has appeared among the people in this place of testing.  God has spoken His Holy demand that the very same people who have received His Word will now proclaim it to others.  Therefore do not allow despising to fill your heart, but hear, believe and be saved.

By His Grace.

By His Grace

False religion does not necessarily omit the name of Jesus.  Nor does it necessarily toss away the Holy Bible.

Rather than meet the Holy Lord in this life, most men will gladly receive a likeness of His fruit in His people.  They call them holy doings.  They call His words holy words.  But they often only speak and act as if they are trained animals.

All the while the Lord’s promise stands true and sure.  If we will diligently seek His ways, abandon our shame, and seek his beautiful face, he will see from heaven and turn and make us human.

In this promised humanity is godliness.  But in the false religion of mimicking,  there is only lie; a mocking of what the Lord is willing to provide.

That is why it is written, “They will have a form of religion but deny the power of it.” 

Such practices ignore what the Lord said himself, “39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” 

They have not escaped the coming wrath.  They have only invented their own salvation.  The Lord is not blind.  “The Way” is not obscured because they do not search for it.

Be wise and hear these things.  He who is of God honors Him and does what is of God.  He who is of man dishonors God and does what pleases man.  Flesh gives birth to flesh.  But the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Holy Father in heaven, I will honor You with what You have given me.  These words I have written before Your Holy Face are true.  No man has unless he has received. 

Your compassion is endlessly great.  I testify to Your willingness to share what is good.  Be honored by Your words.  Accompany them with great strength and promise.  You are the Living God in Jesus your Holy Son.  By Your grace alone, in this you are glorified.

By His Grace

We teach the child to tell the truth.  Later we will punish him for speaking too loudly about the only One who is true.  How very curious.  

We send the child to church to learn to do what is right, while we sit at home nursing a hangover.  How very curious.

Do we think the Holy One doesn’t see because we do not hear Him yell out our three names?  “Paul Stanley Horton!  If you don’t stop that I’m going to. . .!”

But isn’t that what the child learns well?  Because God is hated, ignored, silenced, and made fun of, it becomes useless to go to church.  Behold!  An adult comes of age!

God DOES see. 

By His Grace

8 “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

He thought to himself, “he is weak I will corrupt him.”  But he did not know the strength the Father.  Nor did he know the strength of the Son.  Immediately it was made plain to him.

Really, is this truly the best you can offer?  You offer the son of God the creation of his Father?  It is obvious, it was not yours to give.  But you are the father of lies.

You waited for your time.  You had thousands of years to prepare.  And this is your best?  Is this the best you will offer us? 

I am given great strength at your apparent folly.  For the Son of Man is sufficient to please the living God.  By His strength we stand and we will not falter.  He has promised to uphold his own.  He is everything that is true.  He is the very word of the living God!

Come, you who would beckon the Lord’s people to the meal you now eat.  Come and make your appeal.  By His holy strength you will see we have no interest!  We have food to eat that you know nothing of.  Instead we beckon you.  Come and taste that the Lord is good.  He is mercy and food for life!

By His Grace

By His Grace

I have seen it in others.  I have seen it in myself.  God grants success in a situation and we come to believe that the means he used is sufficient for every day.

So we contrive a framework to put his means on display.  We say,  “This is what is prescribed for every condition.”   Thus the I AM is placed in a tiny box in a tiny room for tiny people to worship.

How easily we forget the meaning of his name.  He is not I WAS, though he was there.  He is not I WILL BE, though his promises are sure and dependable.  He is I AM.

He alone knows the remedy for every moment.  It is pompous and lazy of us to ascribe to Him the remedy for a moment past. 

There is no faith needed for what is already known.  But he has called us to be a people of faith.  Let us rise up and join him in the now.

By His Grace

By His Grace

Let us gather together to build a mound.  Let us amass all our knowledge regarding God.  Summon all the men who have understood, to be gathered together and place what they know, to build this mound.  Let us reach to antiquity and to the coming of our Lord.  Gather all that is cherished.

When the mound is complete let us put on golden shining cross atop it.  Then let us retreat for 30 miles, that we may appreciate the size of our understanding. 

Would it be impressive?  Yes.  But all the knowledge of man in regard to the living God is nothing more than a bump of sand in the Sahara Desert.

By His Grace