For Today


Oh, Israel.  You who are called to bear His Holy name.  You are he who wrestles with God.  You wrestle against the things that wrestle against your Lord.  And inside you are those things that wrestle against Him.  You blessed ones who wake to engage in the holy war of life and death, of suffering and great peace, and of the dispute between truth and lies.

May the blessings of the Living God fall on you today.  May his desire to create a people separate to himself become your singular and most important desire.  May your hands be restrained to destroy the work that he is doing within you.  And may your day provide the great bounty that is due His Holy name.

Let our souls resound in unison.   May we give consent to He who lives forever.  May we be willing to become his great desire, which he sealed in Holy Blood for His Holy name’s sake.

Let us go to him.  Let us willingly fill up in His body the suffering that caused his Glory before the Holy Father.  Let our doings proclaim Him worthy to be King.

His name is Jesus.  He is greater forever than the sum of Man’s Imagination.  He is Glory, Honor, Righteousness, Peace, Joy, Mercy, Justice, and the immeasurably  great Grace of the Living God.  Honor His Holy name.

Amen.

The “Assumption”


Let me speak from my own experience.  How can I be sure this applies to others.  Yet I strongly suspect it does.

People will assess another’s value by the things they saw him do and say in the past.  Put any distance between them, and people will assume the negative long before they consider the possibility of the positive.  The distant stranger, whom they knew before, will always be considered somewhat less than human.  In my estimation this is a given in regard to Human Nature.  In the Flesh, “Distance provokes animosity, not love”.  In the Spirit of God the opposite is true.  But how many walk in the Spirit 24/7?  And aren’t we the sum of our doings?

I speak for myself, I know who I am.  I know what I did.  But I also know what I have become.  And I would be wrong to expect others to see me as I currently am.  I have no right to demand that you love me.  I have no right to demand your forgiveness.  And I have no right to demand your understanding.  If I don’t have any of those things from you, I must say, “That is the way things are.  That is the best you can currently deliver.  And by His Mercy, I am strong enough to carry you”.

It’s alright if you cannot receive me like I am.  Absolutely no charge will be held against anyone, come Judgment Day, because of me.  Why should I blame anyone, when He has promised me eternal life and forgiveness for all my sins?

I only ask that everyone consider this from their own perspective.  Isn’t the same thing true in your own life?   For the sake of God’s mercy in Jesus, leave room for His work in others.  Prejudgment is brother to murder.  Try not to listen to the slander of your heart.  Things are rarely as they appear.

If we cannot be unified because of what we were, at least let us be unified in what we have become.  And if that is still too much to bear, let us be unified in God’s promise to make us complete.  If He has grasped you for His promised Joy, He will complete his promise.

In the coming age, there will be no separation between us.  There will be no remembrance of wrongs done.  We will not have to assume anything about anyone.  Love will be our master.  And as much as it is possible, isn’t it right that we should strive, with all we have, to live that Day now?

Know this, I love you with all I have to give.  For the good of all,  I pray this is enough.  And this is because He has loved me.

By His Grace.

The Summation of Charitable Giving


The mantra of today is “Compassion to everyone”.  But compassion delivered without wisdom is no compassion at all.  How should someone know what to do and when?  The answer is to be wise.

If you want to understand charity, then understand this, Jesus is the answer folks.

People will think that they can listen to government and to social movements and know how to deliver compassion.  They will give their goods, money and time, to these organized establishments, thinking that someone else will do what is best.  “They are educated and devoted to delivering compassion.  Surely I can trust them.  Their advertisements are compelling, thus they must be right.”  So a great many say and do.  I will tell you by personal experience, there’s a lot of money to be made on the backs of the poor.

How many people see some apparent need and give without thinking?  Have they truly done God’s will?  Or have they just massage their conscience?  Have they truly understood the situation?  Or have they just wasted their resources on something false?  “I felt in my heart, it was a good thing to do.”

People will think they can read philosophy (That body of literature designed to teach social wisdom, the keeping of social order by logical restraint.)  and know what to do.  People will think that all kinds of charity is good, sound and best.  So they give and give without regard to wisdom. 

You cannot find the wisdom of God in the government, social movements, your own errant heart, or the philosophy of Man.

People will think they can look at history and know how to deliver what is pure and good today.  They look at how the poor and lame of yesterday were treated.  “We have created hospitals and charitable organizations we are far better than our ancestors!”  Really?

People may even read the words of the Bible and think that by these words they can decipher their own way through life.  “How much more the simple act of giving?”  What did the Lord say?  39 “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5)

When will we learn that we can do nothing without him?  When will we understand that to deliver one aspect of God is not delivering the fullness of the Lord?  No, compassion without the wisdom of God is no compassion at all.  Such Things fall under the heading, “The works of Man’s hands”.  The good of Man it’s not the same as the Good of God.

Such attempts at Compassion actually deliver more damage than if we had done nothing at all.  But we feel good, don’t we? 

When will we stop being lazy?  When will we decide to reach out to the Living God, and remain his True servant?  When will we spend more time on our knees than praising ourselves for the good things we do?  A lot of activity is done, but uselessness is its fruit.  Look around.  With all the busyness of charity done today, is the world in any better position?  If you say yes, I suggest you look again.

We do some “good thing” and wander off into time thinking we are good people.  With a smile on our face we forget the one to whom we have shown compassion.  But we don’t see what happens when we leave.

But the good things that are done by a servant of the Living God’s Holy Son do not have that same affect.  If we ask him, wait patiently for the answer, then diligently deliver the things he gives, we can be sure that a true good has been done.

But Man is in a hurry to change his world.  He thinks that God moves too slowly.  He doubts that God will listen to his request.  Worse yet, comes the common understanding that man is expected to do all things good by himself.  (This is what you will find the Mormon Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, often the Catholic Church, and more and more many branches of the Christian church, saying.)  Even so, the good he thinks he has delivered is no more than a javelin through the heart.

People follow the examples of other people.  But are their charitable heroes servants of the Living God’s Holy Son?

So when will people consider what he has said to us?  “You can do nothing without me.”  I will tell you when.  They will serve the Living God when they stop trying to drag him down to their level, and ask to be raised to His.

The Luckey Ones?


“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

The godless think they are enroute to their own pleasure.  They neither consider that God sees, nor that he can do anything about them.  Ignorance and willful abandon are their are gods.  And doesn’t their pursuit of pleasure demand slothfulness?  They obey diligence just enough to get what they want, and no more.  Violence, greed and pride are the mantra of their every step.  Hatred and destruction are their prime reasons for life.  “Destroy your enemy, then you can have their goods.  Love others just enough to steal them blind.

These are real life zombies.  They walk about and do, according  to the rules of death.  But they are not useless, these people of self-will.  God is directing them to the path of his people.  He allows them to float about in reserve until he needs them for his purpose.  Then their path is brought to bear down on his people.

Men and women of The Faith come to believe this is true.  Maturity in Christ demands such a perception.  Righteous obedience to the Lord requires that mindset.  The peace God gives his people proves that His Holy will is being done in all things that come to them.  Nothing, nothing in Christ is arbitrary!

Your path moves in a straight line toward eternal life in Christ.  The wicked mill about in their chaotic endeavors.  Where does your path intersect who?   Think about this with all earnest thought.

Happenstance belongs to those who are godless.  Luck belongs to the dead.  Chance belongs to the groping blind.  But to those who believe by The Faith born from God: “You have intended it for evil, but God has intended it for good”.

Gather your holy wits about you and walk with confidence.  If the Living God is your God in Christ, you have no room for doubt.  If that’s not so, then why does James instruct us to say, “If God is willing”?

(Please don’t let these words sit on my blog.  Have the guts to share them with someone.  Let us do as God commands, “Encourage one another in the Holy Faith”.  Look around.  Who else do you know that speaks words like these?  Why should you share trivia only?  Why not share life?  Or are you really ashamed of me, as I have come to suspect you are?)

The Price


There is a price to pay for being stupid, yes.  And as much as we are able, it is good to seek restitution.  Pay back what you owe as best you can.  But some of the things we do are too expensive for us to repay.  What do we do then?

Of all the things we do to others we are in debt to the ears of our souls.  But aren’t we a creation of God also?  And haven’t we done harm to ourselves?  How do you pay that back?

You’re not rich enough to repay everything you’ve done.   Taking money out of your wallet to put it back in your wallet is no repayment at all.  I think this one through. 

To make things right you need a third party who is greatly generous and compassionate, while at the same time being completely righteous and utterly just.  In short, you need someone who is endlessly and eternally rich.

This is what the Gospel is.

God cannot lie.  He said, I will forgive your sins and I will repay.   Only come to me and let us reason together, that we may put a stop to this flood of destruction.  You’ve heard it said that vengeance is mine, says the Lord.  But so is justice, righteousness, mercy, love, and eternal life.

There is great anger in the Lord that he will unleash on the day when he judges all men.  But in this day he is not angry.  This is the day of salvation.  This is the day when he works to secure the hearts and minds and souls of hundreds of millions of people.

If you’ve ever thought something through before, give this one your complete attention.  If possible, give it more thought than you give the things of this world.

People say they want God’s will to be done.  You know what, God wants to make you his holy and righteous child.  That’s what he wants.  If by chance you don’t believe that, then tell me why he sent his only Son to die on the cross.

Ticketmaster


image

There’s the curtain.  Dazzling red velvet.  It must be heavy, see how lazily it moves as they begin to open it, swaying like waves on the on the open ocean.  Something, something important, is about to happen!  And you, look!  You’re in your seat!

That’s what the dawn every day is.  Yesterday you purchased the ticket to watch the curtain draw back today.  And isn’t the show in full swing! 

Take two steps to the side.  See your life from that perspective.  See, hear, smell, feel, that’s life!  And you’re here!

You are purchasing your ticket for tomorrow, right now.  And at the sum of your days, you will have purchased your ticket for eternity.  Where will you sit?  Will you even be present for the show?

The Eternal Ticketmaster is Jesus.  BELIEVE!