Monthly Archives: November 2014

You Don’t Know

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You don’t know what you’re doing

When you avoid the things of God.

When you count them as trash on Wednesday;

“Castaway! I’m glad it’s  gone”.

Somehow you think it’s your duty,

To stay God the length of your arm.

You toss away His riches,

For you think he means you harm.

Then you flounder in your poverty;

Embracing hopeless travail.

When all he wants is to lift you up;

To silence your muted wail.

How great the riches of Christ in us.

How marvelous his love.

When once, like you,

We thought little too

Of God’s gift sent down from above.

But let our soul find him near,

And there’s no dam to stop the tears.

He chases out all our frantic fears.

Unspeakable, is the way he loves.

He appears without our asking.

We find our heart free of trouble.

No longer caught up in wasting;

We are freed from all our rubble.

But you don’t know what joy you miss,

As you forsake his gentle kiss.

How can I urge you more than this?

His love is free for taking.

By His Grace

The Summation of Service in Christ

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Among men, mercy is first; over shadowed by the Righteousness of God.

 

 

How should a summation contain more words?

Not a Single One

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They assemble at dawn.  Each one taking his place along the benches provided.  The thickness of the wall dictates how many will assemble.  There is then, a fixed limit.

What do they do?  They pour out wisdom mixed with mercy.  If they preach, it is a quiet whisper.  Let the passing crowd listen as they will.

Let a man stop and ask.  Let him ask for advice or judgment in a matter.  This one has a right to expect truth from these aging men poised to serve.

 

Mercy clothed them as they made their way.  Their own failings accompanied mercy’s making.

The Righteousness of God is ever-present.  Let mercy attend their dispensing of truth.

Which one of them can perform the entire Law of God?  The answer is “not a single one”.

Are those who pass by any more able than those who sit in the city gate?  The answer is “not a single one”.

 

Then let mercy attend those who pass, just as it attends those who sit waiting to serve.

Let justice be dispensed with understanding.  Let wisdom be filtered through a man’s own willingness.

 

The dance of men moves with Grace, to the sound of God’s mercy.

Listen, you wise of God.  Listen to the sound of Love.

Dance with your partner, who strives alongside you in fear.

Learn to restrain your own feet, lest you step on the toes of your brother.

 

Such is the wisdom dispensed in the Gate of the Gospel; “the Good news of Peace from God”.

“Enter in to the store house of Righteousness.  Enter in among the Holy Army of God.

But let it be known that all who enter in will stand.  For the Master is able to make them stand.

Be merciful, my lovely servants; those who dispense the wisdom of God.  Be merciful to those who pass you by.

For they too will, some day, take their place in your well-worn benches.”

The True War

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It is not against The Righteousness of God that a man finds himself at war.  The war finds itself in the battlefield of willingness.

 

The Righteousness of God is established forever.  It wars against no one.

 

But let a man perceive the truth of life’s singular and constant war.  It is waged without weapons or blood.

 

God stands firm in His Glorious Righteous ways.  It is the man who finds his own limit.

 

What then?  Where will a man stand on that Great and Horrible day?

 

His willingness alone dictates his position among the great throng.

 

Was he willing to lay down selfish desire?  To what extent that appeared, the man will find his place before Him.

 

The Righteousness of God is as the battlefield itself.  But the vicious war is attended to by the man and his willingness.

The Single Arrow

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A man has only one faith.  It is not possible that he should have many.  For as his faith is pointed, so the man becomes.

Give an archer a single arrow.  Place the target 100 yards away.  Now tell him that if he does not hit the bull’s eye, you will kill him. 

With the target the size of a 25 cent coin, the variable wind and heat, the skill of the archer, and the executioner standing near, the odds are slim the man will see the next sunrise.

Our faith can be likened to the arrow.  In this, every man is an archer.

The man draws his arrow of faith and sets it in the string of action.  He pulls back hard on his bow of hope.  After taking careful aim he lets it fly.  Will it hit the mark?

It depends on what he was shooting for.  The target makes all the difference.  Even the very best of marksman will fail if they do not know where the bullseye is.

How difficult is it to hit the mark for eternal life?  Let everyone understand we are not shooting for a target 100 yards away.  For faith is the substance of things unseen.

Straighten your arrow and point it toward the stars.  Wait until your place on earth points specifically at the Holy Throne of God.  Then at the right moment, and with all your possible strength, release your faith.

What’s the chances it will find the mark?  Will the Holy One watch it skitter across the throne room floor and land at his footstool?

Do we need Jesus?  Go ahead and say no.  If your faith is to find the mark of eternity it must arrive at the footstool of God. 

But first it must travel the length of the sky.  It must pass through the orbit of the moon.  Let your imagination see it whistle through the vacuum of space, to the edge of the universe.  After that it must travel through the very fabric of heaven itself.  Where in heaven, is the Holy throne of the Most High God?

Whats the chances any man can hit that mark?  God has not given men wisdom to write that number.

Does every man need Christ Jesus?  You bet your life we do!

For as the Apostle Peter said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4)

By His Grace

Pure Water

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He lifts the veil, and a man sees.  His hand glides through sin to lift it from the man’s face.  Forgiveness comes with strength in hand.  Compassion is the clothing of the Great Physician.

Pride rests strong on the eyelids of the wicked.  Though they try to perceive the holy things of God, their eyes are too heavy to open.  Sealed, as if with the dust of sleep, their eyes are stuck shut.  But even this their pride cannot perceive.

What does God require of man, that he may open the eyes?  Believe.  God simply requires that we cast away our own knowledge.  He requires that we be willing to learn.

A proud man sees the ways of this world and thinks he knows.  In his folly he can produces reason for the things that are.  But he cannot produce proof as to why.  The sleep of pride restrains his strength.  He is blind and cannot walk without stumbling.

But let belief grow.  Let a man read the Holy words of God and believe.  God reveals in wise measure, according to a man’s willingness.  A revealing does come.

God watches the response.  Does tiny wisdom retain pride?  Or does it produce humility?  When the latter is true, roots are set into the soil of eternity that the man may begin to grow.

In his compassion God restrains the unveiling,  lest the winds of temptation destroy what is built.  As a man sees, he is accountable.  As a man knows he must do.

Believe to the fullest you can.  Humble yourself as far as you will.  You will see a receiving come to you. 

Let your roots seek the pure water.  Dig and thrust through the water you have found.  There is purity to be had.  What is pure among men is full of fault before God.

Do you see?  Give thanks and search for more.  Praise God with your actions.  For out the mouth of man comes many beautiful things, even while he himself is full of abhorrent behavior.

He is able to teach and to console.  He is able to raise from the dead even while you think you live.  And when life comes, he shows us the difference.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

By His Grace