Mistakes are made by even the best intentioned, yes.  Sin abounds in this corrupt place of testing, yes.  But even these serve the Lord’s purpose.  Relax.  Rest and know that the Lord is God.   For in the “Shaking”, hearts are tested.  “Who will love Me?  Who will not?”

By His Grace

I did not put in a special request before I was born.  Life appears before us and we endure what we are born into.  The Lord has established the nature of things in this place of testing.  We are the ones who do not understand.  He has set things in motion long before our life began.  Wisdom from God reveals these things.  The flesh will think it is the beginning of all life.  But the Spirit of God teaches otherwise.

One tree is cut down in its prime.  It was destined for lumber.  A mansion was to be built by the owner of the land.  The tree has no more rights to question than do we.  Another tree is allowed to grow until it is nearly dead from age or blight.  It is cut down to provide heat within that mansion.  Who are we to question our life?

Both trees belong to the One who has owned the land, planted the trees and harvested them for His purpose.  Let us be wise and consider these things with sobriety.  One kind of tree for fruit.  One for shade.  One for lumber.  One for heat.  How shall the trees change the mind of the One who planted them?  He has done so for His own purposes.

The trees grow according to their kind.  They do not consider their life.  They endure without fret or concern.  They are provided for a purpose.  What will come of any one tree?  It does not think.  It is man who considers these things.  What animal considers the purpose of its life?  It is man alone who ponders these things.  Either he will let wisdom speak to his heart and mind, or he will provide his own answers.   What then is man?

4  “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

 ⁵ For You have made him a little lower than the angels,  And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

By His Grace.

Men and women say, “I have understood.  There is no truth but what I have understood.  And if I have not understood the entirety of truth, how can I be blamed?”

Have you approached God?  Have you asked for understanding?  Or did you simply accept your own wisdom as the sum of possibilities?   You live in a land of lies.  Yet God has provided truth among men.  There will be absolutely no excuse given to anyone.

“I understand love as I have understood it and this is sufficient.  I have dressed myself in what is acceptable among men.  I will find mercy for the coming day of God.  I will be acceptable, for I have gained what can be gained among men.”

God is Holy.  He has not created us to be unholy.  He is complete and righteousness never ending.  We are called to join Him in this eternal Righteousness.  But you do not even ask.  How will you be acceptable before His Holy fire of purity?

“Love is but an emotion and desire of the body.  My soul, as you might call it, craves to be fulfilled.  That craving is sufficient.  I will feed it until it is healthy and vibrant.  My craving is the measure of what is good for me.”

You crave what is of the body.  But God is eternal Spirit.  You crave what is filthy.  But God is pure and Holy.  You do not fight against the bodily lusts.  You feed them.  You do not even question your understanding.  How will willful ignorance be acceptable before God, who is so willing to share what is true and unshakable?

There is a place of calling.  All men are called, compelled, to appear before God.  It will surely come that you will enter into His Holy presence.  If you will not do it here, you will surely do it on that day of judgment.  There will be no lying lips to hide behind.  There will be no clothing, arranging of hair, makeup, expensive trinkets, money, fame, position, or blindness to hide behind.  His Holy fire of purity will bathe all in truth.  What is shakable will be shaken.  Nothing impure will endure His blazing test. 

Regardless whether you believe these words or not, you will surely appear before Him.

Jesus has been sent among us to provide the help we need to leave these foolish lusts and become acceptable before His Father.  But you have not even inquired into this ready help.  How will you be acceptable?  You accept the validity of the lies of man before you will consider these words valid.  How shall you be acceptable?

By His Grace.

Awake!  He has sent a word for you.  Listen as you sit on the edge of your bed.  Pause and get your bearings.  It is He who will guide your mind and heart.  Even your feet and hands will find direction as they swing from fore to aft.

He has loosed the mooring ropes.  He has set you adrift in the harbor of humanity.  He will teach you to lift sail.  He Himself has vowed to be your compass.

Windless days, violent storms, favorable winds or contrary, they shall not cause you fear.  He will show you what it means to have faith.  He will take you through the impossible.  He will allow violence and calm to come against you as pleases Him.

Wisdom attends His Holy love for you.   You will dance before Him as does a blanket on a clothes line.  The Breeze of God will drive you forward.

Fear will leave you.  You will come to know that He is God!

By His Grace.

13 A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road,

a fierce lion roaming the streets!”

14 As a door turns on its hinges,

so a sluggard turns on his bed.

__________________

The spider bites and no flesh is there.  The Lord has already caused you to move.  Gather wood without fear, for it is the Lord who gives strength.

The snake dashes forward to injure its prey.  But the Lord has already given you stride.  Before he strikes, you foot is already in motion.  It is the Lord who gives His servant strength.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment.  The person who is afraid has not been made perfect in love.”  (1 John 4:18)

The runner runs as command has been issued.  In his hand he carries a torch.  Vibrant fire atop the brilliant base; a blazing, living fire.  Within the flame are every color, dancing in Holy rhythm according to the holy command of He who has sent.

“Do not be entranced by what you carry.  Do not stop your stride to admire what was sent.  Run without ceasing.  Run without pause.  You are sent among the darkness to deliver what the Holy Lord has commanded be displayed before dark souls in a dark place.  He who stops to admire what is sent is like he who ceases planting to admire his planting.  How shall his work continue while pause attends his feet?”

We are given a Holy charge from He who is Holy.  May those who run, by His Grace, run with agile stride.  May His command be encouragement to our desire to serve.  What we carry did not come from us.  We did not invent the Gospel.  We did not help Him shed His Holy blood.  He is King, and rightly so.  Eternity and its work among creation belongs to Him.  May understanding attend our hearts.