Monthly Archives: November 2014

Skittish, No More!

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The food is prepared.

Properly portioned;

Abundant in flavor and appeal.

_____

A trek is made down the mountain,

To the edge of the woods;

Where the spacious plains abide.

That place where,

Trees of potential wander about;

Without meaningful knowledge.

_____

With stealth before the dawn,

Loving hands deliver the gift.

Then quietly, invisibly,

I slink back to my place

Among the trees that Are.

_____

Watch and wait.

Wait and watch.

Will the fearful ones come to eat?

The breeze of the day

Comes down from the mountain,

Sending the scent their way.

How careful they are,

For they perceive;

This is not a natural food.

But hunger and curiosity win;

Shaky legs bring them near.

_____

“Eat, desired ones!”

This whisper finds no voice.

_____

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Rise up and come join me.

Together we will Live,

On the mountain of His Hope.

There, we will, with unity, prepare:

Meals of Great delight.

We will, together, come;

To the place of “delivery”.

_____

Unspeakable joy shall be ours.

For the Giver, Himself,

Takes unspeakable joy at providing.

Let us provide then!

_____

Let Him add to His

Number of joyous cooks.

By His Grace

The Family of Seeds

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The Majesty of God is first.  And there are endless reasons why.

There is not one seed man has, that he has not received from the generations past.  From before Adam, God created.  And what we have today has been sustained by the Holy Lord Jesus. 

He has brought with us, to “today”, all the things necessary to survive.  And here we find ourselves living in a time that is “today”.  Glory belongs to the One who has brought us here.

Let a man stop and consider.  What is placed on his table at dinner time comes from seeds that passed through the hands of billions.  Countless men and women have planted, and you receive their benefit.

When spring comes again, and the garden is planted, let a man take a close look at the seed he puts in the ground.  Try to imagine where this seed’s family has been.

Did Noah touch its ancestor?  Did Cain plant what you now hold?  How far back, in the time of man, does this “passing down” of that little seed go?

As it is with the food we eat, so it is with the Holy Word of God.  Yet even more so!  For God created all these things we have from what was not.  But his Holy Word is delivered to us from eternity; more than trillions of centuries before the creation of anything.

Let us marvel at the things we can hold in our hand.  But let us allow ourselves to be stunned by the age of the Word of God that comes to us. 

No man can pronounce the years that God has been.  There is even great debate over how long man has been on this planet.  What is the generation of the seed you hold?  What is the generation of the day you hear God’s Word?  What year of God does man live in now?

Yet, this Holy One, in his great wisdom, has made this place that does not know his beginning.  How can man know?  He rarely thinks of the lineage of the seed he holds.  It is to his shame, he does not think of the lineage of the Word of God.

If we do not appreciate the creation in which we live, how can we appreciate the vastness of God?   Yet the opposite is also true: What shall be said of the man who looks to see these things?

By His Grace

The Aberrant Me

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The wisdom of God, now attends my days.  If someone must place a percentage, I confess that the Lord Jesus rules, well over, 90% of my thoughts.  Personally I think that is a conservative percentage.  But the opinion of man cannot be trusted.

He has done all this!  The entirety of the gospel belongs to him.  And from the message of the gospel the ascension from sin has become.

I am not saying I am sinless.  Rather I am saying there is placed a brutal guard over all my thoughts and actions.  And if one escapes, he is captured and brought back for examination.  Execution belongs to the culprit.

Yet more credit belongs to the power of God to transform.  For God instructs, moment by moment, according to His perfect righteous ways.  According to my willing ability to obey.

These things are marvelous, and a very welcome life!  But something “other”, even more amazing, comes to visit from time to time.  And this “other”, is the provocation for this writing.

I am often reminded, by some familiarity, of the man I used to be.  And with stunning clarity,, and regularity, I find no righteousness in my past.  The word “no” has a definitive meaning.

Let any memory come to mind, and my response is shocking revulsion.  At first I am shocked that I would do such things for such reasons.  And then quickly comes the shocking revelation that I am not dead.

We have all heard it said, in one fashion or another, “If it were not for Christ Jesus I would have no life at all”.

If confession were made, most Christians would confess, their nod is without full understanding.  By what they know of Christianity, that saying must be true.  Though they embrace it, spiritual fruit in their life displays their lack.

In this the saying of the Lord is true, he who is forgiven much loves much.  Conversely, he who finds little need for forgiveness, is likely to rely on his own ability.  This one’s love is likely to be split between the Sovereign God and himself.

I do not mean to say this with judgment.  It is simply a fact of life.

But the longer and farther I walk with Jesus, the more alien and repulsive my past becomes.  It can be likened to a virus, which has attached itself to every memory; this lack which provokes amazement.

I pray this has some value to my brothers and sisters, and to those who desire to become Christians.  May every child of God come to abhor who he was.

It occurs to me, that there may be an oddball or two out there like me.  A few who actually desire this place the Lord has brought me to stand.

How can such a one hope to arrive?  The answer is rather simple.  However the journey is anything but.

Give yourself permission to examine every action and every motive you have ever had.  Hold it up as one would a transparency into the light.  Examine it before the righteousness of God.  The comparison will be stunning.

Such a life is not for the faint of heart.  But wasn’t it said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven is forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it”?

By His Grace

Afraid to DEATH

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Afraid to testify.

“Oh my!”

Afraid to be rejected.

(Afraid to be included,

By the only One who matters;

Afraid to be singled out,

Afraid of the label of Christian,

Afraid to be introduced to what is

Holy, lasting, pristine.

Afraid to take part with Christ

In this Holy war of will.)

Afraid to lose.

Afraid to win.

Afraid of hell.

Yet afraid to enter in.

SO BE IT!

Do you think you’ll go unnoticed,

When you stand with all the rest;

When God throws away the useless,

And blesses what is best?

May it be done as you have believed.

How much fear do you think you will own,

When your name is not found in the book?

For now you fear their perception.

Don’t you fear God’s contemptuous look?

If fear has held you hostage,

What will that moment be?

For now you fear what Man can do;

Who can only harm your body.

A man belongs to whom he serves.

Dishonor strives to keep what is his;

Not considering the honor of Christ.

Honorable love fears the One who IS.

Understanding that Holy, paid price.

SO BE IT!

Honorable love honors He who IS.

It says, “I will stop my cowering.

I will give myself to what is His”.

“SO BE IT!”

Weeping and gnashing of teeth belong

To the weak and faithless many.

Who hid among the rebellious throng,

Trying to save “life“,

As if pennies.

By His Grace

Blown Away Like Dust

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Wonderous, Magnificent, Holy and Righteous is God Most High!

He, alone, has set Life in its place.

All of Heaven praises His Holy Name continually.

And those being transformed, on earth, praise His Holy Law.

Together, Heaven and earth sing that song of Praise.

As in unison, the mouths of all God’s creatures return thanks.

They are fed, according to the Holy will of the Most High God.

For God has chosen His Righteous One to stand in the Gap.

No sin, nothing unsure, no lack of faith will ever stand alive on the Holy floor of the Throne Room of the Living God.

Yet, He has raised up His own right hand to intercede.

There is a messenger from the Living God, who will never fail to deliver Life.

His Holy name is Jesus, the Christ of God!

All of Heaven bows at this Holy name.

It is only the putrid and ungodly men of this world who refuse to bow.

But God has allowed their rebellion.

Let them remain:

That they may be a test for those of faith.

Let them remain:

That they may have opportunity to learn.

Let them remain:

That the Glory of Christ, the Holy Son of God, may prosper.

Let them remain:

That the harvest of righteous be fruitfully tested.

Let them remain:

That the abundance of bounty from this “Place of Testing” be equal to the Glory that is God Most High.

Let them remain:

Until the “moment of ending”.

Let them remain:

Until the transformation of those who have loved He who is Love.

Then, then, let them be blown away like dust.

Then, then, the Holy Name of the Living God will be praised with a unified and explosive sound of praise.

Then, then, heaven will vibrate and shake with shout of  joyful noise:

“Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb!

Holy is He who has promised! 

Great is the Living God!

For He alone speaks Life!

May His Holy Will be done forever and ever!

Glory to Christ Jesus;

The One whose Holy name never ceases,

Whose faithfulness has become the Living Water of Life!”

And the “Amen” will never cease to be heard.

Victorious in Loss

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Among people, who are those who suffer well?  It is those who own nothing of what they own.

These are prepared to lose everything, even while they have it all.  It is the one who is determined, while in wealth and health, to die penniless and miserable.  This one cannot be held hostage to expectations full of error.  If prosperity of possessions continues to a peaceful death in his own bed, such a one will have lived his life without fear of loss.

Though all he has is taken.  Though sickness viciously tears at his body.  Though the wicked greed of man rips his belongings from his control.  This one will prosper.

Yet is it enough to be stoic in our life?  Is it necessary to pass by the loaf of bread while you have money and hunger?  Is it right to purchase the rust bucket chariot so that you will suffer the pains of upkeep?  Is it required of us to live under a pile of leaves in a part of the forest we don’t, and can’t own?  Such people are not being responsible with what has been given them.

What provokes the Responsible life?  Is it the desire of a man to become completely humble among all men?  That mind-set is produced from the pride of life.  Pride can’t, by its very nature, produce humility.  Such a man might feel pretty proud of himself, after all, he has forsaken what other people crave.   But his humility is crushed by a whisper of pride.

Jesus provokes the true strength of life.  His strength in a man is beyond ALL the things of this world.  Because His teaching and “in dwelling” comes from Heaven; a place which has never entertained the temporary wealth of this place.  And NEVER will.

If we want to be strong.  If we want to endure with stellar conviction.  If we want to live that “over coming” life, we will have to appropriate the teaching and character of the Lord Jesus.  While we live in relative peace, it is best to be prepared for the worst.  Let us not compile “things” so that we will be able to endure hardship.  Let us prepare our heart to be God’s champion, even if the entire world comes after us.

How does cancer become a trophy to be desired?  How does molestation become a crown of joy?  How does losing our job, or place in the family,  become a stepping stone to eternally born victory?  All these things, and the myriad of things that can happen to a person, become glory when we embrace failure.  We love our weakness, because it gives us an opportunity to overcome!  Even our own sins can become trophies of Grace.  Such things  can produce a certain kind of humility that cannot be manufactured by the desire of a man.  Nor can it be purchased by any of our possessions.

We encounter hardship for the sake of Christ.  We encounter hardship for the sake of testifying that God’s love and promise are vastly more, and true, than anything the world can provide.  We testify that life can be lived, even while this world has strapped us to a post in the middle of a raging fire.  We can clap our charred hands, even while the skin of our bodies walks toward becoming a lump of coal.  Thus, we encourage others to love the God who bestows such incredible strength.

Let us testify that God in us, is greater than all things.  Prosperity, health, wealth, sickness, persecution, joy, poverty, alienation, or fame,  cannot take away the riches of Christ in any man!  It is the man who counts any of these things as more valuable or stronger than the promise of God.  This is the one who will likely lose it ALL.