Stability, the Fragrance of Love


Night or day, rain or shine, storm or tranquil afternoon; I carry within me a Spring time born of eternity.  The Love of God in Christ Jesus plays out in my heart and mind without ceasing. 

This love is like a musical waterfall of exquisite emotions, thoughts, doings and experiences.  It’s no more a religion then the beautiful explosion of love between the young man and a woman, his new found lifelong best friend.

God’s love causes me to smell the colors of the world around me.  He shows me the dance of sound in the fabric of air.  Words, all words, become living creatures as the Word of Life comes near to caress with truth.

I am useless to man.   The Living promise has finally caught me in an eternal embrace.  I tried to pay attention to the things that matter most to men, but fail miserably and often .The beautiful patience of God stoked a fire in me to make him blessed with his desire.

All of this, and vastly more, gives me reason to ponder the definition of love among men.  So very much is made of the love between a man and a woman.  Books, songs, poetry, movies, and all the trinkets produced as a celebration of joy and longevity.  All this commotion for something that cannot possibly last.  The hurricane of reality sweeps down from the mountains to devastate the joy of first love between man and wife.  Most marriages disintegrate to a bond of friendship at best.  At worst, they disintegrate to nothing.

The captivating emotions of human love produce something similar to the love of God within his beloved ones.  But people are people.  They are everything but stable.  Greed, impatience, expectations, and everything associated with self begins to ruin first love’s beauty.  Eventually death takes it all away.

But how is it that so much is made of the love of man, which is so transitory, while virtually nothing is celebrated toward the love of God?  The love of God simply becomes a place to cry out for help when everything we wanted falls apart.

Challenge


I present a challenge to all.  It doesn’t matter how you perceive Christ.  Come and convince me that anything other then the full acceptance of His Gospel is truth.

Invited is the scholar.  Welcome is the agnostic.  The atheists already know they have been invited openly.  Invitation is extended to the religious.   Let the drunkard try to compel me this way is better.  Come and speak to me about finance, and how money is the end of all good things.  Let the violent receive the best of House seats.  Let the timid display the grandiose crown of their fear. 

Regardless who you are, come and convince me. 

Christ Jesus is king of heaven and earth.  By His merciful grace I am his servant.  It will not be me you challenge.  It will be the living God in me.

Let us all either “Put up or shut up”.

Why am I making this challenge, and doesn’t it seem rather absurdly stupid?  Yeah, it does.

I’m making this challenge because I am sick of watching the world decay all about me.  I am sick of watching Christian cower,  all the while the Living God promises strength.

By the looks of things around me, I surmise one of us is a liar.  Either it is Man or it is God in Christ.  You know the summation of that.

At the outset, I will admit that I know nothing about Islam, Buddhism, and whatever other religion you want to throw on the table.  All I know about them is that they are false.  I will speak of the gospel in Christ. 

Required materials: Pack a lunch.

The Hungry Sea Creature


2061212_370I woke from sleep this morning, from a dream that most would call a nightmare.  A sea creature had taken to land.  It was a creature who had a taste for man.

I was perched on a narrow outcropping of rocks above the surf.  He was perched along a slightly lower place. With confidence, I challenged his right to hunger for the likes of me.

But, to my horrible surprise, he was able to reach toward where my feet stood.  I was in no fear of being caught.  But as he reached, the rocks beneath me began to loosen and fall into the sea, one by one.

“No need to remain in bed”, I thought.  So I got up to start the day.  It has taken two hours for this dream to find meaning.  But the meaning is more threatening than the dream.

The world moves from one moment to another.  What is past is like those rocks which were falling into the sea.  The foundation that saved me from becoming food, was a place I should not have been. Was I where I should be?  Hadn’t I remained too long in a place that was no longer useful?  If I had moved on from there, I would never had seen that creature.  I would not have been vulnerable.  I would never had known what follows.

God leads His people from place to place.  He is always drawing us nearer to His intended goal.  What we can be, in His Holy Power, lay before us.  What we were standing on, becomes a crumbling foundation.  The past is not a firm place to live. Security belongs to today.

The Living God’s protection applies to the moment.  It does not rest in the future, as some believe in the Gospel.  It does not reside in the past, as many waste away their lives in regret or accolade.  He is the NOW.  Remember, His Holy Name is “I AM”.

The Lion


I dreamed a dream fit for no weak heart.  Yet I woke with no fear or trembling.  Sobriety was in my cup as one may sip his coffee in the morning.  I drank the wisdom of God to understand.

This is the dream:

A lion was loose among men.  In his devouring of men he was noticed.  The marks of his attack were properly identified. 

All men were called up to be on the watch and report.  As if by some means the lion could be captured and killed.

In the dream I had no fear.  I decided to hunt him down myself to see what all the ruckus was about.  Men die everyday, why such an uproar now?

I spied him running from room to room down a long and extensive hallway.  And so I followed as fast as I could.

Finally, in the open space, I found him resting.  With greeting from my mouth, I went over to speak to him.

I asked him why men despised him so, for he seemed such an amiable creature.  He willingly befriended me and took me to his lair.

There we sat, and talked of things.  He even offered me a cup of delightful drink, as we sat and mused together. 
I may have heard what he was saying, but I can’t recall one word.  The actions of another lion caught my attention.  It was then I noticed the bed.

A woman lay on the bed roasted, so that the meat of her body was tender for consuming. 

His companion, another lion, gingerly split the skin and ate.  Noticing the revulsion in my eyes, the lion explained to me that it is a delicacy and very delicious.

But I heard moaning, as if from a deliriously insane person.  I looked and saw that the woman was still alive.  Even though only her eyes could be seen moving.  They were wide open and quickly glancing about, as if one may be afraid for lack of knowledge.

After a while the Lions left, having satiated their hunger.  It was then that I awoke.

No fear attended me, and I did not consider it a nightmare.  Instead I have sought the Lord to understand.  It seemed to me that such a dream cannot have its source in the imagination of man.

In the process striving to understand, certain items of Holy Word have come to mind: define the lion, define devouring, define the amiable one who destroys men. 

Yet I am perplexed by the uproar among men.  Devouring has been a part of man’s experience from the beginning.  Why should they notice now?

The following scripture has fallen into my hand.  Let those who are wise in the Living God’s Christ understand.

Isaiah 59:
11 “We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.”

I will relate no more understanding than this.  For what I have perceived may not be the full.  Yet what I have perceived is too the voluminous to write.

May God show his people what is true and faultless.  May he wake the sleeping.  May He protect and receive the righteous.

Beyond all things of man, may the will of the Living God be done forever.  In Christ Jesus he has secured his salvation.  Though the body is devoured, hope remains.

Yet, let all men worship Him, especially those of The Faith.  Let my brothers and sisters renew the urgent calling within them.  Christianity is not just religious habit.  It is a vicious and vibrant struggle between life and death. 

Let sobriety speak!  Those who count the things of Christ as if they are of this world, will not stand well on the coming day. 

But God is first.  As is the Father, so is the Son.  For the sake of His Holy name, may His will forever be done.

Even so, Lord Jesus come!

By His Grace

Sweet Dreams are Made of These


I was at a truck stop scanning in my papers while I listened to a song that was playing.  The song is “sweet dreams are made of these”, by the Eurythmics.

I’ve heard that song hundreds of times before.  But the power of what she was saying dawned on me like the rising Sun.

Everyone is looking for something.  That must mean we are all compelled to search.  And she’s right.

The variety of religions in the world range from obedience to what they call holy law, to the abuse of self and others.  Regardless, men search as a compulsion.  This is proof that there is something to be found.  Even the atheist searchs diligently to disavow the search.  But his activity proves there is something to be disavowed.

How happy then is the one who finds it?  How secure in his way, does his life become?  And what great peace should overshadow him 24 /7?

Christ is the answer.  He is the one that is provoking the search.  The errant things men do are caused by their misunderstanding. 

If you would have what everyone is looking for, search diligently into the things of Christ Jesus.  You are compelled to search. Why not search what is true?

If a man can’t find the truth he’ll create his own series of lies.  But I testify that the Living God is alive among his people in Christ Jesus.

By His Grace

The Waking of a Christian


“Expose the things that are good.

Entice them with your calling.

The trappings of holy brotherhood;

The glory of God in man.”
_________________________

He wakes with desperation, as if a bugle blew.  He’d slept the sleep of flesh; that necessary portion of man.

But before his eyes are cleared, the chasm of difference appears.  From the realm of dreams to the realm of God, he dresses himself in thoughtful prayer.

The day has dawned like a crack of thunder.  “Now, to the will of my God!”  Let fear assail his fleshly heart.  He intends his soul to soar.

From chaotic dreams to Holy fire, “Purify my heart O’ God!  Your will is first, as You are so.  Teach me and I will do.” 

The response is quick and full of love.  Without effort, the chasm is crossed. 

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2: 8)

By His Grace