Through or Into the Flames We Go.


fire

Image by matthewvenn via Flickr

Making a choice regarding religion is not like buying a new car.  Though there are a myriad of religions and a gaggle of new cars to choose from, there is only one God.  So how can we decide what’s right?  There are a few items for thought regarding religions.  And we will prove ourselves wise if we consider them.

1. God is the creator.  So what is made is not the creator Himself.  We can expect then that any religion which holds creation as greater than God is false.

2. Man is sinful and wicked to the core.  Look at how many times you’ve lied in the last 24 hours.  Either you lied because you wanted something and thought it would be the best way around, or you lied because you weren’t completely up to speed with reality.  But you lied.  Consider how many times you looked at your speedometer and found you were going to fast for the speed zone.  Isn’t this breaking the law?  And don’t all people know that breaking the law is to be imperfect?  Bottom line, you’re not potentially perfect.  You’re full to over flowing with sin.  God does not lie.  So any religion which brings man to the place of potential perfection is false.

3. If God is true and every man a liar.  And if He says that all men will die eternally because of their wickedness.  And if Christianity provides a sacrifice for our sins in Jesus (which it does).  Then the choices get very limited very quickly.

 

You’re not going to find a religion, regardless what they say, which offers the hope of the Lord Jesus.  Cults abound.  False hope is as plentiful as corn dogs at the state fair.  But there is One who is true.  And He has marked out the way in the Bible.  Spurn the Lord Jesus and you will reap a whirlwind of horror.  Embrace Him and you will find the power to hope and live.  We have been given one life.  It’s this one you’re using right now to read this.  There is no other chance to get it right.  The Bible holds the Gospel (good news).  Don’t listen to all the trash in this world.  Go straight to the source.

When you read the Bible you’ll become afraid.  I promise that.  And you’ll be tempted to put it down in a hurry.  But that fear is a recognition that the Holy Fire of God is present in those words.  You have to walk through that fire to find the Lord Jesus.  Live or die.  It’s your choice.

By His Grace.

And the Forecast is:


Flag of the United States

Image via Wikipedia

The forecast for America is very bleak.  Many won’t even listen to the news anymore because there’s only bad news.  No matter how they spin reality, the entire nation is on the edge of total ruin.  They talk about hope and change.  They talk about getting a “new start”.  The noise in the conservative camp is that they will jump in the driver’s seat and turn this ole rust bucket around.  But the damage isn’t at the top.

The damage which is causing this nation to plunge into ruin is being caused at all levels.  Obama is only a mirror of the country’s standing before the Most High God.  Look at how you want peace.  But what peace are you securing from the One who created you?

The country will fall into a ruin that cannot be repaired.  How can I say that?  Where is God in the conversations of the American public?  Who is omitting the Lord from every nook and cranny of American life?  Do you really think you can discharge the Lord from life here and not reap the consequences?

The forecast for America is bleak indeed.  But wait!  There’s more!  What is happening to America is happening around the world.  The entire world has jumped on the band wagon which has a banner on it’s sides:  “God is dead or powerless, and of no account in the dealings of man”.  Woe!  Woe to the rebellious!

 

By His Grace.

News Flash


Elephant in the St. Louis Zoo

Image via Wikipedia

An Elephant woke one morning to see a convoy of trucks passing by.  His tiny brain got an idea.  With smiling eyes, he lumbered over to one of the trucks.  His deft trunk reached into the truck and plucked the driver out of his seat.  Then, to the double amazement of the driver, the elephant began to try to get into the driver’s seat.

This is to all men, women and children.  You can imagine yourself as anything you want.  But the nature of our condition determines who we are.  You can call yourself a Pilot.  But unless you actually can and do fly a plane, you’re just fooling yourself.  You can imagine you’re a Chicken, if you wish.  But unless you’re really that small, feathered, beaked, and stupid, you’re still a human.

You can call yourself a Christian.  But unless the Lord causes you to be one, you’re just making noise with your lips.

“Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” (Psalms 127:1)

11For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  12Now if any man builds on the foundation with
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13each man’s work will become evident; for the day  will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself  will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” (1 Corinthians)

“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spiritgives birth to spirit.” (John 3: 6)

Go ahead.  Go to church.  And, as is your custom, continue in sin when you leave that place.  You think the sign you hang over your head causes you to be something you’re not?  Remember the Elephant and the Chicken, and the Pilot.  God is deadly serious about His Holy demands for mankind.  Only the wise will continually reach up to Him for that transformation He demands.  No man will find himself justified by his own desire.  Justification and eternal life are from the hand of the Lord.  Open your hard heart.  Drop your pride of life.  Listen to what the Lord has said.  The verdict on all men has already been rendered.  There is no life other than that which the Spirit of God builds in man.  And there will not be one shred of man’s accomplishments which will enter Heaven.  Unless the Lord has accomplished it in you and through you, you have accomplished nothing.  Pride of man is an ememy of God.  The name you give yourself is less than nothing in the eyes of God.

By His Grace.

Righteous Lame.


broken_foot_2

Image by DaveCube via Flickr

You walk through life and ponder your fate.

By the things that are now in your hand.

And you look round at “yours”, boasting proud of your name.

But have you looked to Heaven’s True land?

“Religion is mine!”  You proclaim with great pomp.

And you boast of your future great fame.

We are sin from the start, and will not mount the stars

Without eating dirt, whence we came.

Consider the Lord and His wonderous fame.

Look long into His Glorious Name!

We are dust from the first.  He is God, so proclaimed.

Render your self “Righteous Lame”.

 

By His Grace.

All the Way.


Highway

Image by yewenyi via Flickr

You’ve heard it said, “All the way . . .”.  “Pull it all the way out”.  “Take it all the way there”.  The phrase “all the way” indicates completing the task.  In Christianity, we are encouraged to “walk in the way”.  And the two phrases combine to describe the expectations of the Lord for His people.

Walk in the way.  Stay in the way.  And continue until you have reached the end of this way.  Do not let yourself slip to the right or the left.  Do not shrink back from moving forward in the way.  And continue in this manner until you have completed your life.

What is the way?  Listen with all your heart, strength, and soul to what the Lord has instructed His people to be and do.  Read the Bible with a desire to understand.  Pray with earnest honesty to the Lord for help in understanding.  Then practise what you are learning.  Continue in this way for all your life.  It will do you no good to say, “Well, at least I tried a while to follow Your requirements.”  Those who will receive the “Well done, good and faithful servant.”, will be the ones who have applied the Lord’s demands with a continuing effort to please His Holy Will.

Do not let your life become a fool’s work.  Consider both the warnings and the promises.  Consider them all day long and into the night.  Keep your feet from slipping in this world of slick ground.  Corruption abounds.  Don’t let it taint your way.

And a highway will be there;
   it will be called the Way of Holiness;
   it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
   wicked fools will not go about on it.

(Isa. 35: 8)

By His Grace.

Hurricane of Hatred Guarenteed.


Hurricane_off_Florida

Image via Wikipedia

Stand strong for the Lord Jesus and you will be misunderstood.  It is an absolute truth.  You can set everything you are and own on that.  You will be misunderstood by the entire world.  And you will be misunderstood by the majority of those who call themselves Christian.

It is acceptable to perform life at minimal amplitude.  But this acceptance comes from those who chase after Holiness through a half witted strength and desire.  Those who bend their entire self toward the Lord will not look like anything natural to this world.  They will be different in all their dealings.  They will submit to that which is “other”.  They will search after the will of God without regard to their own personal gain.  And this search will yield all the godly attributes we expect from Christians.

I look at my ability to convince others of this and realize that I have no power to help anyone else define their allegiance to God.  All I can do is jump on here and type what is true.  It remains in the hand of each of us to force our hearts to look into the perfect face of God the Father through Jesus Christ His Son.  We have all been warned.  And we will all stand individually before Him on “That Day”.

As you stand you will encounter a certain bracing wind of opposition.  Stand strong and you will face a hurricane of hatred from anyone who hates the Holiness of God.  There should be mentioned here that there is a place of “standing” in which you will not have the strength to stand.  You can’t perform a truly godly life without the Spirit of God within you.  You can pace yourself in a “religion”.  But you won’t be able to withstand the onslaught from man with God’s help.  And one more point:  No one can enter into the godly life without the Lord opening the door.

By His Grace.