Category Archives: Encouragement

How Dare You!

by

2


Shall I keep the following words to myself?  Shall I be tender, soft spoken, and reserved, as I share what comes?  I will not.  I will speak with a voice different from the current “brand” of Christianity, being proclaimed among so many today.

I will speak with defiant authority.  I will say what is right.  And I will encourage all to “hear”.

How dare you keep it to yourself?  How dare you shrink back from assault (as if today’s world will do you any more harm than to ignore you)?  How dare you keep the Holy Words of God to yourself, while the entire world around you burns to the ground with wicked abandon?  You call this Christianity?  You call this “Love”?

When Christians stood up and pointed to the truth, this world was a different place!  The wicked feared their approach.  “Oh, Crap!  Here comes one of those Christians!”  And they would hide for the fear such faithful ones brought with them.  But today, it is the Christian who hides.

How dare you live your life at ease and contentment, while the millions of unsaved sinners pass you by!  How dare you think you will be well received by the Holy One who endured such a horrible beating for His willingness to proclaim the truth.  How dare you think you will have a place among the holy ones who have proclaimed despite their fears!  And how dare you leave the proclamation to such sinners and fools as I!

The Proud and the Weak

by

5


“God and religion are useless to me.  They are for the children and the weak.  I’ll take real life.  Keep your “holy” garbage out of my sight.  All it does is weaken my resolve to survive.”

And another:

“I can’t move!  I’m afraid to think for myself.  I’m afraid to accept the promises of God, for I fear it will ask too much of me.  Keep your “holy” words far from me.  I would rather hide here in my darkened cave, than turn and face what you call “light”.

Isn’t that what you say?  Perhaps you don’t say it in words.  But your actions are clear.

Weak, you say?  My friend, you have no idea what strength it takes to believe.  And what good would it do to try to explain to you how much strength it takes to submit to the Living God’s Christ?  You know nothing about overcoming sin.  And you are not able to conceive what difficulties await every moment, as His people walk “The Way”.

No, my friend, it is you who are weak.  Look how you suffer under the burden of expectations.  Look what the world demands of you.  Look at your inability to perform with consistency.  Look at your own fear level.  You’re the one who’s weak.  The very fact that you stand with bravado, tells me how weak you are.

I’ve lived among the drunks.  I’ve lived among the proud.  I’ve come to recognize the signs of fear.  The cocky one who brags about all the things he can do.  That’s the one whose the weakest.  The strength of his life is found in his violent hands and quivering lips.  You call that strength?

And you who cower in a corner.  You who keep the windows of your life closed.  How utterly helpless you are to go outside anymore.  You turn away from Christ.  You turn to religion, in its various forms.  You keep to yourself, the things that are true and eternal.  If indeed, you have them at all.

You who cower look at the victorious and moan.  You think you can’t achieve anything.  How utterly weak are you?  But at least you recognize your weakness.  You are not like the proud, you don’t brag about your weakness.  But you have it just the same.

The proud.  The fearful.  Both miss the central point of the Gospel.  “I will be your strength!  It is I who will lift you up.  Humble yourself before Me, and in due time, I will lift you up.  The weak will become strong.  The proud will be humbled.  The Way of the Lord shall remain, narrow and Holy.”

The proud looks to weakness.  The fearful looks to strength.  Both fear to move, lest what they love is crushed.  The proud fears to lose his strength.  The fearful fears to lose his excuses.  But The Way of the Lord moves through the sea of men, unscathed, unhindered, eternally set, and arriving at perfection.

Put down your pride.  Put down your fear.  Stop groveling in your putrid mess.  Look up and believe!

The Dent

by

0


There’s a dent in my hand,

In the palm near the side. 

I did not know it was there. 
But to my surprise,

A glorious great joy

Has appeared!

An object was taken by prayer. 

It does not impede my usefulness. 

To the contrary,

Now I can work.

But I marvel at the dent,

As it is;

That mark that had gone unnoticed. 

It has distinct markings

Of a well worn rope. 

Well formed calluses tell the tale.

I would never have known

The dent was there,

But that He took from me

A great heavy care. 

How pleased now

Is my soul to see!

To take note that He

Has sprung me

LOOSE,

To serve him faithfully!

What would you have

My dear friend,

Oh so loving,

Dear friend?

Oh I’m willing! 

Employ me.

Restrained as I was,

The profit was half. 

But now when I lift my arms,

They extend to equal length. 

Now each

Embrace of Mercy is full.

Glory to God in the highest! 
All praise to his Holy Son!

He has set millions free for his service!

And now I perceive I am one!

By His Grace

The Nature of Heaven

by

0


As I drove along in the dark last night, I let my thoughts drift to the nature of heaven.  With whatever my imagination could provide, I thought about peace, living creatures, a safe and inviting environment, and a people that will never again know any sin.

I tried to think of heaven millions of years passed the day of judgement.  I thought of a place where what is here is never mentioned.  They do not remember the wicked greed of man.  They do not remember sickness and death.  And for eternity this will be their life.

As I woke up this morning I tried to consider my thoughts about heaven.  I recognize that they are only based on what I can perceive here.  And then I found myself amazed at how little God has revealed about eternity.

His message to man does not contain the indescribable beauties of his heaven.  God and all his creatures have lived in splendor for millions of millions of years.  But exceedingly little information has been given to man.

Partly, the restraint has to do with our language.  And partly the restraint has to do with the frailty of this creation.  But more so, the restraint has to do with God’s will toward Man.

God is not interested in making us happy here.  The entirety of this place is designed to cause us to hate it.  Nothing is stable.  There is no secure place.  Nothing is friendly unless it is manipulated.  And the strength of our bones wears out so that we can no longer manipulate.

The entirety of this place is designed for faith.  We have hope in faith alone.  We are to put our trust in the Living God and His Holy Son Christ Jesus.  Even the very character of our mind is full of unrest and unpredictable behavior. 

God did not desire that we should live at peace here.  It is God’s desire that we desire his peace.  So instead of describing what is his, he tells us that he is firm and true, peace, safety, strength, purity, and that his promises are fully reliable.

The nature of this place is designed to test the heart of every man.  The question hangs in the sky over the head of every man here:

“Do you desire what you have; this place full of chaos and unpredictable things?  Or will you open your heart to honesty; looking about you and confessing the true nature of this place of testing.  And that you yourself are not able to do one right thing.”

If we will turn to God out of despair, for the sake of the things we can see that are wrong, he is willing to embrace us.  But if we want to dig in our feet, and live in this place of lies, full of rebellion, full of unbelief, full of hatred for our fellow man and for God, we will suffer unto death then be cast away as unprofitable.

If you want to know the glories of heaven, listen to the righteous words of God and do them.  Allow yourself to believe in the Holy Son of God, do not harden your heart with restraint.

Read his Holy words that HAVE been sent us.  Believe them and stop second guessing the Holy Word of the Living God.  Listen to your conscience and confess your sins to him.  Ask him to strengthen you in the things that are pure and right.  Then do what you are told to do.

All of these things can be gained in Christ Jesus.  He has promised, and is reliable, overcoming this place of chaos is possible. Heaven can be attained if we listen to him.  Then we will know the nature of the eternal heaven of the Living God.  Then our language will be like his, for the place of our perception will be an eternal place.

So many like me desired to know what is in heaven.  What a perfect example of wasted time.  A better deployment of the minutes is to teach myself godly restraint, and this according to His Holy Word and the prompting of His Holy Spirit.

May God have mercy to grant understanding to those who read these words.  Those who desire will hear.  Those who hate God will stop up their ears.

In Christ Jesus, the Righteous and Holy Son of God, I pray.  Amen.

By His Grace

Risk

by

0


To live is Christ.  To die is gain.

It is the Christian who should be willing to take chances, so to speak.  He is the one who has God in his favor.  And he is the one who is promised eternal life.

It is not good to shrink from danger, for the ones who say they believe in the promise.

Imagine a group of five people, one of which is a Christian.  If one must give his life for the other four, which one should it be?

And if we find ourselves vying for the resources of this world, who should take the less?  Isn’t that the one, to whom God has promised all that he needs.

It is the Christian who should be willing to take great risk.  If you pay attention, you will find opportunity every single day.

By His Grace

The Fullness of Christ

by

0


It is said in every place, “The Holy Father has given all things into the hands of His Holy Son.”

We read it.  We strive to believe and understand it.  We strive, with all we have to “do” the testimony of it.  But “it” remains beyond our grasp to fully understand that simple statement.

This morning, while I went to that habitual place of reverence to the Lord, He brought to my soul a remarkable understanding.

Now, I’m going to try to relate this using human understandings.  There is no way to relate what is of heaven, in the language of man.  I say this to avoid any possible attacks from some who rightfully strive to defend what is holy and of Christ, their Love.

As to the Glory of Christ Jesus:  If all of heaven were to be utterly destroyed (as if such a thing could happen).  If all of creation were to suddenly perish (yet isn’t that part of the Gospel of Christ?).  Christ Jesus would remain untouched.

The Holy Father has dressed His Holy Son Jesus, in such a manner as to be Sovereign.  What I’m trying to say is that Jesus does not depend on anything in creation, whether of heaven or earth, to secure His standing.  Everything else, absolutely everything else, in heaven and earth relies on Him for “continuing”.  Nothing, and no one else holds any possible equal to the Majesty of Jesus.

He, Jesus, and the Father are ONE.  As God the Father is Sovereign, so it is with the Holy Son.  Grasp this, and your understanding of the Holy One of God changes drastically.   Have it spoken to your soul from the Father Himself, and your entire day just got injected with unshakable strength!

As the understanding covered me this morning, I stood in wonder.  For it came to me dressed in everything I know.  It was not given as if a statement.  I guess man might say it was a revelation from God.  For I struggle so to relate what I perceived.

May God bless you, my beautiful family in Christ, this day.  May He open the volume of Heaven to your holy heart.  May all that His Holy Wisdom desires come upon all His people.  May Christ Jesus dawn in our hearts, that we might hold the strength of testimony due His Holy Name.

May the will of God be done among us all.  For the Glory of His Majestic, Holy, Loving, Patient, Merciful, Just, Righteous, Pure, and Blessed Holy Son!  (In that Jesus has been blessed to be Sovereign, as has always been the Holy Father, it is impossible to exhaust or articulate His Holy Name).

Amen!