If a man is not fully in love with righteousness it does no good to give him a “to do list”.  Sooner or later he will revert to impulsive behavior.

But this idea is at the root of the gospel.  If we will spend time with the Lord Jesus, he will change our earthly desires to Heavenly ones.  Instead of a heart of stone, over time, he builds within us a heart of flesh.

Serving the Ten Commandments as if law does nothing to the heart.  Learning to love as God loves produces a righteous heart.  But how should you learn if you do not spend time with him?  He is the great teacher.  Are you willing to be a great student?

By His Grace

The more rich, powerful, good looking, socially refined or affluent a person is, the more corrupted he is likely to be.  If this is not so, then why did Jesus warns us that it is harder for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven then for a camel to go through the eye of a needle?  Those who have a plentiful bounty of the goods of this world are far less likely to have the good from God within them.

Close your ears and eyes when the world demands your presence in its class room.  Throughout the length of every session you will be taught that the sum of the worlds wealth is more precious then anything else.  But they can’t tell you why the sum of humanity is a corrupt and futile mass. 

The gospel of Christ Jesus is laid out in perfection.  You can trust the Lord when he tells you anything.  But if the world tells you something you ought  to be highly suspicious.

By His Grace

This will be my last post on Facebook.  And I would not have left one if there wasn’t good news.

I have kept that blog for over 3 years and averaged 2 or 3 visitors a day.  As of now there have been 62 visits today.  They visited from Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Brazil and the United States.

Today is also rather monumental for another reason.  This morning I posted post number 1400.

All these things the Lord has given me.  And all these things belong to him.  I am but the penmen.  The Lord Jesus is the author.

If anybody wants a window cleaned or a floor scrubbed you know where to find me.  Oh, I’m not too shabby at pushing a grocery cart around either.  But that is the extent of my skills without him.

Thank you for your loving support.

By His Grace

By His Grace

He stood there with the rarest of coins in his hand at last.  Years of research and bartering have finally produced fruit.  Destitute and homeless he now held in his hand 7 million dollars worth of gold.

For the next five years he wandered from city to city searching for some way to claw himself back to prosperity and the warmth of his own house.  He stayed in city missions.  He slept under countless bridges.  He ate what he could find.  And he gathered clothing from whatever source was free.  Still he held his wealth with a vague hope that he could not articulate.

Though his manner was usually joyful, suspicion was the rule among men.  The focused greed he had used to obtain his wealth was the very filter through which he saw all men.  Free to do as he chose he chose to be a prisoner of his wealth.

Day six of the year six, a generous man spotted him sleeping in a bus stop.  He approached the sleeping man with an open heart.  With a tender hand he reached out to the sleeping man’s shoulder.  But the touch did not wake the man to conversation.

Years of suspicion found their place.  A knife glinted in the light.  Fast and accurate steel plunged into the generous man’s heart.  The sleeping man was no longer asleep.  But now he would be called by a different name.

For thirty years more the man slept in a bed that was not his own.  No longer free and his riches taken, he was now a prisoner of his own folly.  Steel and chaos surrounded him.

No compassion carried him there.  No justice appeared to relieve him.  No friends or loved ones to console him. Thoughts of fatherless children and a widow haunted him everyday.  And dreams of prosperity became nightmares.

____________

What do we hold that will keep us from the glorious promise of God?  Is it truly worth you’re very life?

You have scratched hard against the rocks of this world to produce the things you love.  All the while your soul has been homeless, destitute and nameless.  In your present condition you will bear an entirely different name when you appear before Him.

Go!  Speak to Him and ask.  Justice and mercy are in His hand.  Why would you hold that which is not from God?  All the while everything you could possibly desire is offered to you freely.

“Unless the Lord builds a house the builder builds in vain.”

By His Grace

Take away from before you that plate of delicious food.  Though it sustains for a moment it is rotten and useless.  You have been taught to teach your tongue.  But your tongue has been taught in error.

Place before you the things you consider bitter.  Force your tongue to learn.  In time you will consider what was before delicious as if it is rotten and putrid.

The taste of delicacies in this world of sin is an abomination at the Lord’s table.  From childhood we are taught, from without and within, to enjoy this banquet of corruption and rebellion.  Pleasure is sweet and the aroma captivates the soul.  But this food is rancid it will make you horribly sick;  even unto death.

What is bitter to the flesh is a delicacy of God.  The one who trains himself to enjoy what is good is wise.  There is a banquet table being prepared from which the pleasure seekers will revolt.  Only those who love Him will attend.  And their joy will never end.

By His Grace

10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.[b] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.

By His Grace