There is a saying among men that is worthy of inspection. Anything that’s worthy is simply worthy. Come on, let’s get after it.
“Be the kind of man of which God can be proud.”
On the surface it sounds pretty good. It’s inspirational. It provokes a never-ending stream of good behavior. As far as I know, it’s grammatically correct. But it is also seriously wrong.
A mother may be proud of her ugly and inept son. But her pride is not due to the fact that he is a supreme representation of humanity. She is proud of her responsibility. She is proud of her gift from God. Frankly, she is proud of God.
God is no respecter of any man. To say that he is proud of any man, can be considered pure folly. This is the same God who said all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags (let the reader understand the meaning of the words “filthy rags”).
What can a man possibly do that would make God proud of him? Every righteous deed we do is as if under duress. For every man will readily tell you that if he does not behave he will be punished.
There is One of whom God is proud. His name is Jesus. As we obey and praise God’s Holy Son, the Pride God has for him is enhanced. Let us then, revamp the saying.
“Let us be the kind of men who honor the One who has roused God’s pride.”
By His Grace
The day belongs to you, my God, Christ Jesus. Then as is right to do, I present myself before you.
What shall I harvest?
What seeds shall I plant?
Shall I water,
Shall I weed,
Shall I plow,
Or shall I rant?
Shall I give strength to the weak?
Shall I humble the proud?
Shall I glorify the Living God out loud;
In word,
In deed,
In work,
In thought,
With all my soul attentive?
Or has my mind turned to works of man; that glory is mine on the day of presenting?
Is not my place a special gift, as according to your wisdom you do?
To provoke,
To provide,
To prosper,
To hide,
All my ways within your Righteous blood.
This day belongs to you my God, Christ Jesus. Do as you will with your servant, I stand as ready as you cause me to be.
By His Grace
No man can farm more than the ground he is given. No man can perceive past what the wisdom of God has allowed. Every man then, is subject the ownership of someone else. But oh how lies and pride desire something else.
“I will be a free man! I will choose my own destiny. I will gather to myself by my own hand. I will live a free man!”
Will you now? If you will be free, what restrains you from being God? Immediately go and be the Living God. Abandon your imagination or go and be God.
Lies are all we own, if we think we are free men. If we think we own the power to choose our own destiny, then we are blind fools.
Even if a man calls a piece of fertile ground his own. Even if he knows how to plant and to grow, that he may sustain his body, the ground belongs to God. The Sun, the water, the seasons, and the wheat, all belong to God. How can you possibly be a free man, able to choose your own destiny?
“I think, therefore I am”. Descartes is said to have fallen on the most valuable of truth. But look how he qualifies “I am”. In order to “be”, he must be able to think. Is he then a free man? Was he not also subject to death?
With a proud mouth he spoke what he considered a wonderous truth. Where is he now? Where is his farm? Where is his able body and “sharp” mind? Produce him before me and I will give him aplause.
How many men balance their worth on his “brilliant” saying? How many men live their entire life encased in a lie? “I am able to choose my own destiny. I think, therefore I am! I will spit on the things of God! I will willingly despise the word holy.”
Will you now? Then produce from your great intellect, eternal life. Prove to us how great you are. Fashion your own planet on which you can live. Spin a star to grow your plants. Increase your self before us that we may perceive your great strength. And do not promise me that men will accomplish this! Do it now, if truly you are able!
You only imagine yourself as capable. You dress yourself in lies from the time you wake up until the time you sleep. The only thing you have is pride. And pride is easily shaken by a single word, “Death”.
May God be merciful to you, that you may remember my words. “You are not accountable to me. But you will certainly be held accountable to the one who has made you.”
May those words chase you down, while you wake or while you sleep. May your fortress of Lies be utterly destroyed. May sweat be your shower of cleansing day and night. May anxiety accompany your sense of great worth. May your filthy imagination become to you as a brood of Asps; that every time you reach out your hand to glorify yourself, your pride might bite you with fatal fangs. May understanding become your best and dearest friend. May humility become your daily bread. May God force you to perceive yourself as restricted under his Holy hand. And may he have mercy, that before you die, you will glorify and honor His Holy and Righteous Son.
And may the day come quickly, when I can refer to you as my brother in Christ Jesus.
By His Grace
How many times do the people of God need to be encouraged before they will take the mantle of the Gospel upon their shoulders? How easy it is to encourage them to be lax in the things of the Most High God. They readily embrace social peace. But war against what is wicked is relegated to a tiny few.
As a child abhores spinach, yet craves the sweetness of sugar, so the people of God have sought peace with the wicked. And as the sugar will rot the teeth of the child, so this craving for peace has rotted the Church of God. Where is the healthy mouth?
It is ridiculous to make a call for action for the entire Church. But let those with understanding mount up for the sake of the Gospel! To prayer with all of us! To the things of God, with godly zeal, with every willing man and woman of God!
Let us open our eyes and look around. Witness the compromise! Take note of what is unholy. See how the things of the Glorious Lord Jesus have been brought to such a small affair. It is considered a trophy to attend church twice a year! It is considered holy restraint to keep your lips sealed among the wicked!
How near the end of things must it be, that the church has become so complacent? Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Valentine’s Day, and so many more, have taken the place of the crucifixion and the resurrection. And suffering for the name of Christ Jesus has become an abhorrent obsession of a few.
So many Bibles in the world, yet so very few read and understand. So much time for prayer, yet there is hardly a flake of callus on the knees of God’s people. So many opportunities to speak out against wickedness, yet you would think Christians are mute; at baptism God rips the tongue out of the man!
If now is not the time to rise up for Christ, tell me when it will come upon us. What are the signs I should look for, that I might see an explosion of zeal for the Living God’s Christ? Who, among the children of God, will rise up and embrace the things of Jesus? And do we need to wait another 7 days for this to happen? Is it necessary to wait even another 10 minutes!
Who will come and die with Christ? Who will render his life to prayer, a serious and diligent study of the Word of God, and become an ambassador to the Holy Lord Jesus in this wicked and adulterous place?
Is it true that it takes imprisonment to wake up a soul for Christ? Will you wait for a house to house search before you commit to a boldness for Christianity? What are you waiting for? Define the obstacle so that we can speak of it openly!
Look how foreign these words are among what is called civilized Christians. So very well dressed on Sunday. But so putrid against holiness throughout the week.
The debate among God’s people is not directed at how brightly we should burn. It is more the focus of what can we get away with. Where is the holy and burning fire of obedience among Christians today? Has it not been replaced by wealth, social integration, and dedicated complacency? Unholy lies dance in our streets! Children murder one another! And if one man is caught spreading the Gospel, all Christianity feels vindicated!
Decide for yourself if this is right. Why should we listen any longer to words of restraint? Who elected the cowards as our leaders? Will God not support and catch those who step out from the cowering crowd? Or has faith in Christ really become such a rare and elusive animal?
I am so tired of watching us hide. It is sickening to the stomach to see the Glorious Lord Jesus hidden like some abomination among men; as if he had been a rapist, a thief, a murderer, and every other wicked thing! Do you really think God will honor such purposeful obscurity?
By His Grace
Man is not ashamed of his greed. He is only fearful of being exposed.
The zealots of false religion do not hide their zeal. They are only fearful that their lies are exposed or denounced.
The timid are not ashamed of their fear. They are dressed in false peace. They are only fearful that someone may rightfully ask “too much” of them.
Man pursues what he desires. And with all his strength he is zealous to gain or retain. But make no mistake, so is God!
Why should God’s people not be zealous for the things of their master? It is like man to be zealous for all He desires. Why can’t that zeal be reigned in for the Son of the Most High God?
What right do we have to fear? Where is it written that God’s people will fear? Is there such a thing as cowering in the Kingdom of the Most High God’s Holy Son? Isn’t it true that he has spoken exactly the opposite?
Men desire what they want, and with all their strength they pursue it day and night. All God’s people are purchased from man. How is it that when a man becomes a Christian he loses his desire to pursue? Before we belonged to Christ we fought tooth and nail to keep what we desired.
Who told us that the Peace of God rips desire from our heart? Capture such who say these things and put them to open shame! For the fruit of their false words diminishes the Army of our God. Our brothers fight with less strength, because the liars turn away their fellow warriors from the battle between righteousness and ungodly wickedness!
There is a war that has been since before you were born. This war will continue until God says “Enough”! Do you desire to take part? Then by all means, with what is left of your ability, move yourself to the fracas!
If you are an able Christian, with healthy arms and legs, run to the battlefield. If you were wounded and nearly dead, grab hold of rocks and grass, and slither yourself to the field of blood. Let your soul stand for Christ!
Let us endure the “holy pain”, for the sake of the glorious Lord Jesus. Let us put our selves in a conspicuous place. Let us swallow fear. Let us fight for Christ!
This place of testing is nearly finished. Will we be caught as desirous of “peace”? When the Son of man returns will he find us amiable and willingly among the ungodly and the wicked? Will he find us embroiled in friendship with the world? Or will he find us being ripped to shreds on the battlefield of godly intent?
By His Grace
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