They see me coming and turn their face.  A disease has overtaken me they say.  “There is no cure among men for what ails him.  He is in love with what is not from us.  He is a traitor to his own kind for he testifies against us.  Even the emblem he wears is a testimony against our unity.”  And so they turn their face away from me.

But I will not turn my face away from you.  My God has given even his Holy Son unto death for our sake.  Even while your empty hatred seaths toward Him, he gives command to his people to testify for your salvation.

It is right that you should turn your face away from me.  While wickedness thrives happily in your heart you have no obligation to embrace me.  We belong to two different camps.  I am your enemy but you are not mine.

And you were right to turn your face away from me while the testimony runs from my mouth like a river.  For the testimony He gives his people condemns all live in your camp.

What is the testimony?  “Become a traitor to the camp in which you now live, for with them you will surely die.  There is One who is endlessly stronger and He will win.  For now the door is wide open.   Come see and taste that the Lord is good.  Come into our camp and live with us. There is no death among us, only life.

By His Grace

If you love your loved ones, secure your soul.  At your passing from this world they will shed tears of loss.  Do not compound their trouble by causing doubt.  A cruel action indeed!

Give everything you have to secure your place in Christ Jesus.  Then make it known to them so they will not doubt.  That way, when you leave this place. You will leave behind you peace and joy.

By His Grace

Sovereign Father, we give you praise for your astounding wisdom.

You invented this place in all its richness.  It was not, then by your command, it is!  From nothing it has appeared!  And by your Holy wisdom your Son has become king of all.

You cause us to enter this place that we may gather.  But you have set a wall between here and eternity.  Where by, no thing we gather from here can be taken through that wall.

But even more importantly, you are willing to give us the things that can be useful to both this place and your Holy eternity . 

May we learn from your display of Awesome wisdom.  May, by your Son Jesus, we learn to gather the things that last.

All this you have done that you may gather to yourself companions for eternity.  Who can take it all in?  We simply thank you, by virtue of your Holy Son’s faithfulness.

May understanding bless our thanks.

Amen.

By His Grace

By His Grace

Do you think you would do “that” freely if you stood before the throne of the Most High God?  Do you believe that thought would be acceptable as you stood there and let Him inspect your very being?  Has the awe of God’s Holiness struck you like a lightning bolt?  Do you conceive the nature of pure purity?

If you want to grow in Christ then submit everything that you are and have to Him.  Tell Him that you want Him to weed out the things in your life that are not His.  Then stand as strongly as you can as you see things ripped away.  He will take you at your word and begin.

We cannot grow in Christ if we love the things of this world more than service to Him.  Along that vein comes another aspect of great importance.  The Apostle Paul pointed it out in 2nd Corinthians 10:5.  “. . . and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Among the things we own let us not forget our mind.  Every man is full of thoughts that are inappropriate before the Holy Lord’s throne.  As surely as the Lord is willing to clean up our things, He is also willing to clean up our thoughts.

Listen to what you are thinking.  Not only when you are in prayer but throughout every hour of every day.  Compare it to the gospel of Christ Jesus.  If what you are thinking is not aligned with what you have read, take it to Him.  Let Him inspect it.  Let Him help you get your thoughts under control.

What a man believes determines what he does.  As we allow ourselves to think, so we are.

The man of God can expect to become of “sound mind”.  This is a promise from the Lord.  It is also a sign of fruit from the Holy Spirit.

The purity of the Lord Jesus is far above the purity of man.  Yet He is willing, even anxious, to witness His ways appear within His people.

I have written this for encouragement sake.  We do not need to be like a fish who is left on the sand of the beach.  We no longer need to flounder about without hope.  We are pulled from the sea of men so that we can walk as true men.

Apply these things and you will prove His willingness to love you.

By His Grace

When you accept the Lord Jesus you get a whole lot more than hope.  Though  his promise of heaven is on the horizon, there are promises you can have now.

He will cause you to desire him.  You will desire a clean life.  And with that desire comes his ever present help to guide you.  There is cleanliness among men, then there is cleanliness before the Most High God.

He will teach you his Father’s will.  And you will take note of a change in your prayers.  As your life is cleaned up greater things are shown.  You will experience what has been said, “Who will ascend the hill of the Lord but he who has clean hands and a pure heart.

The greatest reward in this world is to have confidence before the Sovereign God; to know that your prayers are heard.

You will find yourself asking for prayer less and less.  And it will come to you that you are the one who has the ear of the Lord.

We tell you about the beauties of the Lord Jesus.  But if you accept him and work according to His will, you will find yourself giving the same testimony to others without fear.

If you have considered yourself a Christian for a long time and have never experienced these things, you will find that what I have said is true if you will spend more time approaching your Lord.  To be near him is to become like Him; to love him.  The more you are near him and the further away from the world you drift, the more of his beauty you will see.

By His Grace

By His Grace