Monthly Archives: February 2015

A New Blog

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When I started my blog, I remember how frustrated I was for an audience.  They were glad when I left Facebook.  I wrote far too much and far too often, about a subject too few people are interested in.

I tried forums but they seem to get me nowhere but arguments.  I joined Bible forums but found people had a limit to what they wanted to give to God.  Out of frustration I simply opened a blog here on WordPress and started writing.  Not that the frustration disappeared, but at least I wasn’t fishing for responses.

In the following years, 2 or 3 would come alongside at various times, to support the things I said.  But all told, it was a lonely and frustrating adventure.

I often wondered, and still do, why it had to be that way.  Why didn’t the Christian community either embrace me or teach me what was true?  I don’t know.  And I refuse to dwell on the answer.  It is better that I be to blame.

With all that said, I will not follow the ways I encountered from others.  I’m going to showcase a blog here. 

I don’t know what the value of the content will be.  I don’t know the writer.  But I perceive there is an open heart behind the pen.  And I think it is only right to help those who strive to speak when others have shut them down.

I ask all my followers to take a look at this tiny little blog.  See if there’s something you can do to encourage the one who writes. 

This world is vast and difficult.  But they will know we are of Christ in that we have love for one another.  Do we dare contradict that truth?

Take a moment and say hi at the following blog.  https://melindagunderson.wordpress.com

May God bless us with mercy and wisdom for His Holy Name’s sake.

By His Grace

Sibling Rivalry

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Millions of people, all over the world, know the nature of Truth.  They know the God who made us all.

You know them.  They walk among you.  And they are not ashamed to testify about what they have come to know.

How do I know this?  Because I am one of them.  I know that the Living God, the Holy Father, would not leave this world without testimony about what is more important than anything in this world.  He gave His Holy Son into the hands of man to die.  And this for the sake of saving us all.  Why would He now abandon man by having no witnesses among us?

They are all at various stages of understanding.  But God works in them to testify, with reliability, according to the Gospel.  By the power of God, their testimony is reliable.  It is the ears of man which muddy up the “Word of God”.  And it is their “past man” which conflicts within them to deliver what they have come to “know” by faith.

Perhaps you have one in your family.  You know that person, so you discount what they say.  You remember the person they were before they came to understand the Gospel.  So you assume they are only spouting what they believe, as if what they now believe were only another opinion (of which there are, apparently, billions).

By rejecting what they say, because you have known them, you reject the One who has transformed their thinking.  Did you know that?

I know it’s hard, but if you would only listen to what they are saying, you too can become a child of the Living God.  I am, after all, speaking of Christianity.

Now if you find it too hard to rid yourself of the image of the man or woman you used to know, as you strive to listen to them, then go find a stranger that speaks the same things.

It’s curious, about people, that they get stuck in a rut when it comes to the Gospel preached by family or acquaintance.  But let us recognize that such difficulties exist.  Fine.  But don’t let that stop you from looking into the things of Christ.

Don’t let the natural mistrust divide you from eternal life.  Don’t let sibling rivalry, (that hideous tendency of man to discount the words of another man, simply because that person is another man just like you) rip eternal life from your fragile fingers.

Right now you have no idea how precious the Gospel is.  You don’t know what is at stake.  You don’t know the glories you are throwing away by not being willing to listen.  You are judging the content by the wrapper.  Strive to get past what you think you know.  Strive to understand what you’ve never comprehended.

And have mercy on that person.  He or she is trying, with all they have, to interpret the things of heaven to human ears.  It might take some time to get the message out clearly.  Encourage them to try again, if what they say to you makes no sense at all.  If you want mercy from God, be willing to give it to your sincere brother.

You’ll have to put on patience, something we humans seem to have extremely little of.   But if you comprehend what they’re trying to tell you, you’ll find every difficulty more valuable than all the riches in the world.

From the Beginning

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September 9, 2010, watched me write my first post on this blog.  I’m glad to see I had an iota of wisdom.  It was a good beginning.

I hadn’t learned what the word “paragraph” meant yet.  So I tried to inject returns where they might have been.   Otherwise, I didn’t change the words.  Let the man I was testify by himself.

 

There are many who will tell you various ways of ensuring your place with God for eternity.  Some will talk about doing certain things, saying certain things, thinking or praying certain things.  It’s easy to be confused.

 

If you are expecting me to give you a formula now, you’ll be mistaken.  There are millions who will give you a formula; a step by step procedure to follow to ensure acceptance by God.  So many claiming to know the “way”.  How can you really know?

 

But let me ask you something: Who do you seek to be accepted by?  Isn’t it God Himself?  Then why are you looking to humans for the way?  Before you begin, you turn away from God, in that you look to humans for the answers.  The only way to avoid all the pitfalls laid before you is to go to the source.

 

Consider something: you’re seeking eternal peace, right?  So why look here on earth for it?  There are some simple truths.   Look at the creation and think it through.  Anyone seeking God, and expecting to please Him must, believe that He exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.  So, humble yourself before Him and earnestly (with all your mind, heart, strength, and soul) seek Him.  If you do so, He will be found by you.  You’re not seeking a burger at a fast food joint, so why act like it?

 

God is the God who searches through out the earth seeking those who humble themselves before Him.  Admit that you are full of lies, hatred, envy, strife, idolatry, and more.  Look inward and consider your ways.  Listen to your mind and you will see it is full of these things.  If anyone says they are without sin, they lie.  So, humble yourself before the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

 

When the time is right, from God’s perspective, He will lift you up.

 

Jesus is His Son.  There is Salvation for eternity in His sacrifice.  But you will find that God desires truth from His people.  You will be required to lay down all sin in your life.  Through the cleansing of Jesus, you will find the power to do this.  But make no mistake, the way to eternal life is a VERY narrow path.  There are billions of ways to hell, but ONE way to eternal life.

 

Walk to God in Faith, Believe Him, accept and admit that your failings are fatal and eternal. Then. . . prepare to meet your maker.

 

Pray and act as though you want His approval.  Be ready to lay down your present life if you find Him.  Consider what he said about that: “IF ANYONE COMES TO ME AND DOES NOT HATE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, WIFE AND CHILDREN, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, YES AND HIS OWN LIFE ALSO, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.  AND WHOEVER DOES NOT BEAR HIS CROSS AND COME AFTER ME CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE” (Luke 14: 26, 27).

 

If you want a quick, sure fire way to find God’s favor, go looking.  You’ll find thousands of them.  They might make you feel good.  But they might lead you astray too.  Want God?  Seek God.    “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13, 14).

Missing Acquaintance

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Where did you go, my tiresome burdensome friend?  Have you gone to pester some other hapless heart? 

Did you not notice me packing in the night?  I could not find you as I put my things where they belong.

I do not long for your accompaniment.  Nor do I desire your council.  But I had more room on my shelves than expected.  By accounting,  I found you missing.

What a pleasant surprise

Is this foretold sunrise. 

The place where you have died,

My old friend, “Fear of Demise”.

By His Grace

The Prosperity of Lies

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They lied to me by saying, “We can be useful in our selves”.  They displayed to me what they consider useful.  But as I did those things, they told me I am useless.  The only thing they succeeded in doing was proving to me that men are fully liars.

What they proclaimed as the sum of life, I embraced with zeal.  Where they were liars, I was more.  They perceived me as one who would take the throne among them.  For this reason they cast me away.

Within their way of lying, they called me a liar.  The casting out became complete.

What reason was there to live;  what place might I attain?  Shall I be a useless man among them?  How can that be, I am alive.

They have blessed me with their lying ways.  By their casting out, I have received all there is to receive.  How can I hold anything against them?  By their nature, they have forced me to receive the King of Kings.

Holy Father, Righteous God, hold nothing against any man on my behalf.  But free them all from accusation concerning me.  No one has sinned against me.  I am no standard of truth.

Rather bless them in their ungodly way.  Let the prosperity of Lies be theirs. That they to make perceive, you alone are good.

Thank You, Holy Father, for your excellent wisdom, which you display freely among all men.  Let those who desire you ask.  Let those who love the lie remain.  May your will be done forever in Christ Jesus your Holy and Righteous Son.  Amen.

By His Grace

The Fashion Police

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Attire of the rich changes from day to day.  Their majesty is not stability, it is chaos.  They lock away acceptance by changing the combination often.  They give the number to those they choose.  Then before it is finished receiving the number is changed again.

What is this fashion?  Is it the sum of things a man might own?  No, this fashion of theirs cannot be held in the hand.  This fashion of theirs is a game of exclusion, and a ruse.

They make the rules of acceptance.  They are the final authority on the love of man.  They themselves are the police who jail all others at will.  They are the judge of what is good and what is evil.  No one enters without their consent.  And those who are in, can be cast away without explanation.  They are the rulers of all creation!

Am I speaking of the rich?  Am I speaking of the famous?  Am I speaking of celebrities, or the great leaders of this world?

Who is he who makes his own rules?  Who is he that excludes others from his friendship?  Who is he who judges by appearance?  Who is he who condemns without hearing the man’s excuses?  Who is he who loves himself more than others?

Does it take power to hate?  Does it take the fame to be proud?  Does it take excellent clothing to consider one’s self as royal? 

Why should I provide the answer to all these questions?  You would not accept them if I did.  There, you answer them!  You are the one who polices your own fashion.  Then answer these questions if you can.

From the pathetic beggar on the street, to the fool who lives in opulence, we have all turned away from the Living God.  We have set a lock on the door of our heart.  We will be king!  God himself will bow to us!  We will have his throne!  Let us simply lay our hands on him, and we will kill him!

You say this is crazy talk!  Is it now?  Prove it to me.  Show me what a tiny place you have left for the rule of God in your life.  Show me the doors of your heart.  Prove to me you have removed the locks.

By His Grace