Category Archives: parable

The Single Arrow

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A man has only one faith.  It is not possible that he should have many.  For as his faith is pointed, so the man becomes.

Give an archer a single arrow.  Place the target 100 yards away.  Now tell him that if he does not hit the bull’s eye, you will kill him. 

With the target the size of a 25 cent coin, the variable wind and heat, the skill of the archer, and the executioner standing near, the odds are slim the man will see the next sunrise.

Our faith can be likened to the arrow.  In this, every man is an archer.

The man draws his arrow of faith and sets it in the string of action.  He pulls back hard on his bow of hope.  After taking careful aim he lets it fly.  Will it hit the mark?

It depends on what he was shooting for.  The target makes all the difference.  Even the very best of marksman will fail if they do not know where the bullseye is.

How difficult is it to hit the mark for eternal life?  Let everyone understand we are not shooting for a target 100 yards away.  For faith is the substance of things unseen.

Straighten your arrow and point it toward the stars.  Wait until your place on earth points specifically at the Holy Throne of God.  Then at the right moment, and with all your possible strength, release your faith.

What’s the chances it will find the mark?  Will the Holy One watch it skitter across the throne room floor and land at his footstool?

Do we need Jesus?  Go ahead and say no.  If your faith is to find the mark of eternity it must arrive at the footstool of God. 

But first it must travel the length of the sky.  It must pass through the orbit of the moon.  Let your imagination see it whistle through the vacuum of space, to the edge of the universe.  After that it must travel through the very fabric of heaven itself.  Where in heaven, is the Holy throne of the Most High God?

Whats the chances any man can hit that mark?  God has not given men wisdom to write that number.

Does every man need Christ Jesus?  You bet your life we do!

For as the Apostle Peter said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4)

By His Grace

Pure Water

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He lifts the veil, and a man sees.  His hand glides through sin to lift it from the man’s face.  Forgiveness comes with strength in hand.  Compassion is the clothing of the Great Physician.

Pride rests strong on the eyelids of the wicked.  Though they try to perceive the holy things of God, their eyes are too heavy to open.  Sealed, as if with the dust of sleep, their eyes are stuck shut.  But even this their pride cannot perceive.

What does God require of man, that he may open the eyes?  Believe.  God simply requires that we cast away our own knowledge.  He requires that we be willing to learn.

A proud man sees the ways of this world and thinks he knows.  In his folly he can produces reason for the things that are.  But he cannot produce proof as to why.  The sleep of pride restrains his strength.  He is blind and cannot walk without stumbling.

But let belief grow.  Let a man read the Holy words of God and believe.  God reveals in wise measure, according to a man’s willingness.  A revealing does come.

God watches the response.  Does tiny wisdom retain pride?  Or does it produce humility?  When the latter is true, roots are set into the soil of eternity that the man may begin to grow.

In his compassion God restrains the unveiling,  lest the winds of temptation destroy what is built.  As a man sees, he is accountable.  As a man knows he must do.

Believe to the fullest you can.  Humble yourself as far as you will.  You will see a receiving come to you. 

Let your roots seek the pure water.  Dig and thrust through the water you have found.  There is purity to be had.  What is pure among men is full of fault before God.

Do you see?  Give thanks and search for more.  Praise God with your actions.  For out the mouth of man comes many beautiful things, even while he himself is full of abhorrent behavior.

He is able to teach and to console.  He is able to raise from the dead even while you think you live.  And when life comes, he shows us the difference.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

By His Grace

Inexpensive Poverty

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It affects us all; the infection of want.  And a world of commerce which lowers the prices of goods aids in its own decline.

The rich get richer, while the poor become more greedy.  Empty houses fill up with shining objects.  Thus lives are lit on fire with trouble.  Thus invisible greed takes shapes we can hold. 

Financial ruin brings poverty back home.  But this time poverty lives in a house filled with shining objects, and greedy eyes.  But it is not just shining objects which bring poverty.  Moral decay is worse.

A society that does not divide between righteousness and sin, is bound to bring eternal poverty.  The lust for women is set on fire by inexpensive clothing, jewelry, perfumes, and makeup.  The lust for the man who has a nice car, clothing, house, and purchased social position, sets ablaze the wayward wife’s desire.  And all of this a godless society promotes with abandon.

The children learn early that divorce is an option.  No longer are they taught to work out their troubles.  Mommy and daddy prove that righteousness can be attained through the back door.  The children are taught to bind quitting with their vows.  The word “vow” becomes diluted and worthless.  The once stable world spins out of control.

The wicked man never wonders why he does what he does.  The greedy man simply reaches for “more” to massage his aching conscience.  But time moves by and the cost increases.  Time goes by, and the expense of poverty increases exponentially.

The life span of a man does not give him the luxury of finding righteousness by mistake.  As if we stumble over a stack of 100 dollar bills as we walk down the street.  The odds of finding righteousness by happenstance are billions to one.

Blessed is the man who is concerned by his wickedness.  Blessed is the man who wakes in the night for fear of what he has done.  Blessed is the one who allows himself to feel burning and consuming regret.  Blessed is the man who panics for the sake of his wrongdoing.  This one has the potential of learning to do what is right.

Blessed are those who have never tasted wantonness.  Those beautiful souls who have patiently endured with what they have.  Blessed is the one who considers greed a sin, and keeps his hands to himself.

The proverb still rings true:  every man will reap what he has sown.  But a godless world teaches that this is a lie.

By His Grace

Shining Folly

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It has come and stolen what is precious.  But no one seems to notice.  The treasury of man has been ransacked while the guards were sleeping.

Even making this proclamation requires that the story be told of the things that have been stolen.  For humanity has forgotten its used to own a precious gift.

A man was walking down the street.  In his pocket he had 7 golden coins.  His hand would not leave his pocket while he walked about in public.  This is how lovingly he protected his wealth.

A stealthy creature, dressed in white, stepped out of an alley in front of him.  With beaming smile he addressed the man.  “I am pleasantly rich and have chosen you, that I may grant you the desire of your heart”.  So the creature spoke to the man.

Because the creature was lovely, and the offer so desired, the man stopped to listen.  “What do you offer and how much do you require?” 

With entrancing eyes and a beautiful smile, the creature produced a shining large coin.  Its beauty was magnificent and it seemed to hum in the hands of the creature.  The man’s heart was set ablaze with desire. “This coin is rare indeed.  It has been mined from a place where only three men have ever been able to reach.  But because I have chosen you, all I require are 7 gold coins.”

Without another thought the 7 coins in the man’s pocket were exchanged.  With best wishes they parted company and the man left for his duties.

He could have spent the 7 gold coins that were in his pocket.  He could have thrived well for the rest of his life on what property he did own.  But he exchanged it for a worthless plug of metal. 

For two reasons it is worthless.  Because it is not the currency of the land, no one will exchange it for goods.  And because the man thinks it is more precious than his very life, he will not part with it.  So the man is ruined though he does not perceive it.

To poverty he plunged before he took the first step away from the creature. Man has exchanged a very valuable resource for the things that do not last.

In the days before technology men believed in deity.  This is the time of which is written, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galatians 4: 4)

With what will man today reach to purchase the things that last forever?  He has exchange his wealth for shining folly.

God’s people yearn to see a love for the living God displayed in all men.  But they will not listen because they have exchanged their wealth for that which will not last.

By His Grace

The Duty of Grace

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Resourcefulness is born by the union of ingenuity and necessity.  When an impasse is encountered such a child will prosper.

As our body encounters limitations in this world, so it is with our faith in the Spirit.  There is room for resourcefulness.  Such is the duty of Grace.

By His Grace

The Profitable Child

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I considered myself wealthy.  So much that I could not spend all that I had.  So desire was conceived in me to raise up the child.

I am no amoeba.  And I have no partner in “The love”.  So I ask the Holy One to give me a child.

His response was quick and the child was born far before its time.  It was born in the night when my strength was spent.  So I put the child to rest and went to rest myself.

In the morning I woke to see my child in the daylight.  With my mind and eyes sharpened, the vision came much clearer.  To the eyes of man this child is ugly, misshapen and obscure.  But to my eyes of love and desire it is beautiful to behold.

There is no place of nursing.  The child is able to fend for itself.  The birthing was longer than the child’s maturity took.  So I gave it clothing and set it on its way.

My desire for a child was not that I may have a place to love, but that my Lord may benefit from my life.

So now the child is set among the many.  Let it be gawked at.  Let it find ridicule.  Or let it be embraced and cherished.  The child belongs to the Lord.

He has given me my desire that he may have his.  And in our mutual desire, many others prosper also.

As oddly as the child was conceived, so is its name.  As is its state of letting go, so is the place it remains.  Maturity, prominence, acceptance or rejection, who cares?  Let those who love him benefit.

This is the name of the child:  https://hiwaychristian.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/the-righteous-state/

By His Grace