Category Archives: Encouragement

Work

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They go to Church.  They read their Bible.  They give to the poor.  They have prayed some kind of prayer.  They might even have spoken openly about the Holy Son of God.  Have they done the will of God?

If they read these words, the answer must remain, “no”.  For the will of the Living God is a Living Will.  And if they can still read these words, then they are still in the place of “Working”.  The work of God has no place of completion.  It is a continual doing.

Is this splitting hairs?  Absolutely not.  When Jesus spoke, “It is finished”, He did not consider Himself to have completed the Living Will of His Holy Father.  He perceived that the most severe possible test of his continuance was completed.  But men hold their deeds as if they are completions in themselves.

“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” (John 5:17)  There is a place of rest.  But even in that place there is a sustaining.

What’s the point of this post?  Don’t consider that your work for Him will ever find an “end”.  Take a vacation from the “work of men”.  But don’t consider that you can do the same from the “Work of God”.

Heaven Bent

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Oh precious gems,

These doubts of men:

The gates twix

Death and healing.

How gladly we

Protect the locks.

His purpose

Deftly stealing.

Would you believe?

Then grab the keys.

Throwback the gates!

The Holy One waits!

Render him your life.

And don’t just say,

As everyday;

As if a dream you dreamt.

But do the deed;

Become the man!

Whose soul is:

Heaven bent

By His Grace

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?

Toward Easter

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Much to my surprise, evidently there is conflict over which day of the week Jesus was crucified.  Ok fine.  But the day does not matter as much as what God has done.

Those who should have known him.  Those who should have been able to embrace him.  These became the instrument of His glory.

It is not ours to hold it against them.  I have often been reminded that men will do what they do.

But as it was true and Joseph’s words, so it is true in Christ.  It was meant for evil, but God has used it for good.

By His Grace

HOPE!

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Do you want hope that cannot be crushed?  Then allow yourself to believe the following words of Christ. 

Though these words were not spoken to the disciples at the outset of Christ’s ministry, still they are indelible truth.  As we travel with Christ, toward Christian maturity, the beauty of these words shines brighter, even to the magnificence of Christ himself. 

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14)
Believe.

By His Grace