Daily Archives: March 7, 2015

Ya is where ya is

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In heaven, we are told, there are the least and there are the greatest among us.  There are certainly thrones for the greatest to inhabit.  And of the lesser places the Lord has said nothing, at least to my knowledge.

But every time the Lord addresses the positions in heaven, we hear him speak of the great things a man of God must be.  And why would he not do this in an attempt to provoke us to the best possible servant.

But what if a man takes a look at himself and sees a distinct lack before the Lord?  What if that man, with sorrow, realizes he cannot make the greatest distance?  He takes stock of what he has, and confesses to the Lord that he is of the lesser.

Isn’t it like man to give up if he cannot have all he wants?  But I have come to understand of valuable lesson in these things.

As the Kingdom of Heaven moves forward in this place of testing, isn’t there enough work for even the least to be involved?  It’s good to shoot for the good stuff.  But not many have the wherewithal to make that distance. What then, is a “poor boy” to do?

We will all take our place in the Kingdom of Heaven according to the wisdom of God in Christ.  And what man can say what that is?  As C. S. Lewis had once said, “There will be surprises”.

So rather than to dwell on the things we cannot accomplish, perhaps we would better spend our time seeking out the fullness for our current place.  There is work to be done.  There are gifts of God to receive.  And wallowing in self-awareness is not a wise use of our potential.

You might not raise the dead.  You might not preach a sermon, whether good or bad.  Right now you might be praying like a man with his mouth stuffed full of nuts.  Ok fine.  “Where ya find yaseff is where ya is.”

Up and at it boys!  Daylight’s a-burnin.  Somebody’s gotta run the ranch.  Somebody’s gotta go punch the Cows (Not literally of course) .  Somebody has to mend the fences.  There’s cookin, and cleanin, and tendin to do.  So come on.  Get out of here!   Let’s get busy!

By His Grace

The Appetite of Hell

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I desire to restrain the mouth of Hell.  He has raised up, within me, and my will, yearns to agree with Him.

I am not the One who gave His Holy Life for such a restraint.

It is said that Jesus came to save the sum of those who would believe.  But He also came to restrict the appetite of Hell for the taste of worthless souls.

Why would you willingly allow yourself to become a tidbit on the banquet table of destruction?  When the “Way” out is so plainly offered?

The Gospel Lay in Plain Sight

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Please allow me to speak for you, you who have known the man I was.  I perceive what you have seen in me.  I understand your confusion.  And, to some point, I am forced by righteousness to agree with your assessment of me.

I have been an ungodly, unholy, unrighteous, wicked, mean, and vicious man.  You are not wrong.  But do you know what the Gospel has to say?

I agree with you to the place I was.  But at the advent of His Holy Mercy upon me, you ceased to know me.  You retain the perception you had.  But you did not relent with wisdom to perceive the changes He has come to make in me.  How can I hold this against you?  You perceive in ignorance.  Your eyes are covered with “what was”.

The Gospel proclaims that God will transform any soul that calls out to Him in the power of His Holy Son.  I know there have been liars who have not displayed this power.  They have proclaimed that they are changed, yet no change was ever visible in their behavior.  And by these liars, you count my testimony as false.

But I know what I know regarding what the Holy Lord has done in me.  I know my testimony to you is worthless.  For your heart rightly perceives that the testimony of a man, regarding himself, is not possibly true.  On the testimony of two or three others, on this alone is a man’s behavior justified in the presence of any assembly.

God testifies for me, for my conscience is clear before His Holy Throne.  The Holy Son testifies for me, for it is He who has brought these holy things to appearance.  And the power of the Holy Spirit teaches me to inhabit the Holy things of the Living God.  And there are many witnesses to holy behavior that you will never meet.

All three of these reliable witnesses testify to what they have made come to pass in this man.  And the group of men who have witnessed a different man than you have ever known, testify to what they have seen.

But you cannot believe, for the sake of the lies, and the man I was.  Two things must be spoken here.

I will not hold your opinions against you, for your opinions are built on a faulty excuse for a man.  You are blinded to “what is”, by the power of “what was”.  God will not judge between us, nor on my behalf (as if to defend me).  Let your accusations be stricken from the accounting on the Holy Day of Judgment.

The Gospel lays in plain sight.  You, like me, are invited to believe.  I release you from any accusations.  But you are not released to remain in ignorance.  For I have testified these things before you:  The transformation of a man is True!  And that God, who cannot lie, has offered the sacrifice of His Holy Son, that all who will, might taste the power of God to heal their wicked heart.

These have been accomplished among you.  I have not arrived at this day (this “place”) unscathed by unholy behavior.  But, my dear friends, neither have you.  You will be held accountable, on that Holy Day, just as I will.  But I will be clothed by the Holy Blood of Christ Jesus, the Holy and Righteous Son of the Living God.  What will be your case, is determined, not by my prior behavior, but on what you do with the Living Testimony that speaks far more powerfully than any man can testify.

The Gospel speaks directly to the soul of every man!  No excuse will suffice.  I have released you.  Will you continue to use me as a shield between you and your own responsibility, or will you mount up on “Belief” to receive the power of God to become transformed?  Now the choice lay squarely in your own hands.