Tag Archives: Bible

The Alarm (Don’t push snooze)

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The Zygmunt (Sigismund) Bell in Kraków, Poland.

The Zygmunt (Sigismund) Bell in Kraków, Poland. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I look around at the people I see.  What does my mind perceive?  I see the majority ignorant of the things of the Lord.

I look again at those who have a clue about Jesus.  What does my mind perceive?  I see the majority ignorant of the things of the Lord.

I look again at the remaining few.  What does my mind perceive?  I see the majority ignorant of the extreme calling to holiness from the Lord.

I look one more time and what does my mind perceive?  I see a tiny few who have entered into the full scale war against the flesh by the power of the Spirit of God within them.

How can I say this?

Let’s take a look at what I have just said by considering a number.  Let’s give it the value of 100.  I’ll be generous because I don’t know the state of people like the Lord does.  I’m only making these statements by what my mind can perceive.  The Lord sees the heart of every man.  I can only look on the outward appearance.

Out of the 100 I see 75 who don’t care at all about the things of the Lord.  Out of the remaining 25, I see people who recognize that God is greater than any man.  They attend a service or two.  But there is very little difference between their lives and that of the first 75.  Ask them about the Bible and they can’t answer.  But they will tell you they believe in Jesus.

Out of that 25 I see, perhaps, 1 or 2 who are awestruck by the things of God in Christ Jesus.  Their lives are turned upside down by the Gospel of Christ.  You won’t see their prayer life very often.  But it is obvious that they are intense in their prayer life.  They are so distinctly different than all the others in everything they do.  These are the ones everyone else hates.  Not because they are Bible thumpers harassing everyone else, but because they make the others look bad just by being alive.

What makes the difference?  And how do we encourage any of the other 98 or 99 percent to join this tiny band of people?  I confess that I don’t know how to incite others to become absolutely sold out to the things of Jesus.  All I know is that it is impossible for any man to attain the full measure of dedication to the Lord.

I take a look at this from my own perspective (I’m not allowed to judge others in their faith.  So I am forced to look inward to explain this).  What do I see within myself that provokes me to a deeper commitment to the things of Heaven?  I see the warnings of Christ Jesus ringing from every “house” within my mind.  The warnings are not words to me.  They are a screaming call all day long and into the night.  I wake and I hear the warnings.  I work and hear them.  I sit still and they provoke me to think of Him.  Everything I encounter has that sound ringing loudly from it.

Who makes this sound I keep hearing?  Did I wake up one morning and decide to make a mental bell to sound in my mind?  That’s foolish to consider.  This state of alarm is from the Lord.  I asked for it.  And He gave it.  I will tell you that I know He can silence those bells if I prove that I’m not willing to obey His next command to me.  It is the Lord who does this to me.  And I conclude that He has done it to that 2 percent I mentioned above.

Now what of the rest?  I don’t know.  What is the threshold of entrance into the things of God through Jesus?  I don’t know.  Some point to the simple confession of lips, which mouth the name of “Jesus”.  Ok.   I can’t accept that.  The bells don’t mellow their sound when I consider going that direction.  So I conclude that perhaps it is a good beginning.  But it is obviously not the end of the road.  In short, I can’t testify that speaking the name of Jesus is good enough.  There’s more.

Is it going to church or even reading the Bible when we feel the urge?  Nope.  Still got that alarm going off.

How about if we go to church and listen to the sermon really hard?  Nope.  Bells still ringing.

Ok.  Then I’ll try be a good man.  Nope.  ALARM!

You see what I mean?  No matter how deep I go into Jesus, there is still an alarm sounding which calls me farther.  How then is it a good thing to be like any of the others?  And woe to me if I teach myself to ignore the sound of alarm.

I post this, not to brag about my Christianity.  But to open a discussion in the heart about the urgency of Jesus’ call to all men.   I care, and I can’t afford to care, where you are on that list of people.  What does it matter if I say one man is such or another?  Each of us gives complete account of ourselves alone.  I’m just trying to open a can of worms here.  Let’s see where they slither.

In the Blink of an Eye

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Regardless whether you believe it or not there is a place where you will give full (I mean full and involuntary.) testimony about what you have done in this body He has given you as a test of your heart.  The Lord once showed me how quick and permanent this testimony is.  He approaches you unseen.  And in less than a blink of an eye you know what He has found within you.  It is quicker than anything you have ever known.  And the concluding judgment is made by the One who is the final authority over all heaven and earth.  Though you deny what He finds He will simply retain His own judgment of you.  Your denial will accomplish nothing in your defense.

You will leave this body soon.  And you will be a soul who will appear before the Lord Jesus.  What will you say for yourself?  Will you dare say that you simply couldn’t curb the natural instincts?  If that’s your plan you know nothing about what the Gospel offers.  Look into it my friend.  The message of God through Jesus has the power to set you free from the things that will surely destroy you.  It is not religion.  It is true freedom to do what is good and right and just; to stop sinning!  No one who listens to Him will return to sin.  And this steadfast heart, that He will give you, will set you free from the condemnation you now face with a certainty.  No man can tame the body by himself.  Without Jesus you are locked in the perception of the body.  With him, however, your perception becomes as God sees the world.  This perception is a gift from God to all who call out to His Son in faith.

I have spoken here from God’s perspective.  Do you hate what I have said?  Do you find yourself doubting that you can lead a sinless life?  It is because you are locked in the perception of the body.  If you had been set free by the Lord you would have had an entirely different response to this message.  This perception I’m talking about is called living by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we live by this Heaven born perception we are living by His Holy Spirit.  This gift of perception is the very power to be free from sin.  How can you listen to what has not been given to you?  How will you fight the sinful nature that you are, without being able to perceive what it does?  Enter into Jesus and He will show you clearly what the sinful nature (that is the body) is doing.  And He will set you free to choose what is good, right, acceptable to God, and eternal.

As you learn to love Him, you will learn to hate what He hates.  Come on now.  You have only a few years to live in this body before you are to give account of yourself (and that in less than the blink of an eye).  If you accept what He offers now you will never die.  If you refuse to listen to this message, you will certainly die.   As the Bible says, “He who is righteous does what is right.”  Come to Him in prayer and begin the journey into what is right, good and eternal.  Why would you die?

The Man Who Lived When Men Died Quicker

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The Sacrifice of Abraham

The Sacrifice of Abraham (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A man lived, in the years when men died quicker.  It was there, a certain place in eternity, where God took His stand among men.  “I will cause you to be the father of many nations.  I will bless those who bless you.  And I will curse those who curse you.”  And the man submitted.

All things belong to God.  You who hold so tightly to what you think you own, I have a message for you.  You who think you can control your own destiny.  You who think the world is simply a place where profit lay hidden, waiting for your greedy fingers to uncover as a child would look for eggs on Easter.  You are full of pride in the accomplishments of your mind.  And your heart is cold to anyone who would compete with you to gain.  The way you are living is not the intent of God for man.

All things belong to God.  But many take as they please.  No thanks is given for the air they breathe unless it is a thankful heart that they can continue to plunder.  You will deny that your god is greed.  But your actions speak far louder than you know.

All things belong to God.  The man who lived when men died quicker was not like you.  He was a righteous man.  And his son was a righteous son.  What is it to us if we are asked to lay down our desire?  Who are we that we should compare ourselves to such a man?  “Sacrifice your son.”  This was not spoken to such a man as I.  Yet this man who lived when men died quicker was willing.  Greed was not his god.  Even to the dispatching of his lovely son, this man was willing to give all he had.  He reasoned that God was able to raise the dead.  And it was credited to him as righteousness from God’s Holy Throne.

Consider what you think you own.  Consider the way of your fingers to gain what you should not.  Consider how hard your heart has become since you were an innocent child.  For now, you believe that who you have become is who you must be.  I tell you that such thinking is a direct lie.  You need not live like that.  God will provide for you.  But you will be asked to suffer loss for His sake.  I tell you, it is worth everything you think you own to gain what God offers all men.

Consider: All things belong to God.  Get yourself away from greed.  Enter into the presence of the One who owns all things yet is generous beyond our understanding.  Sacrifice what you have.  Though you are not as the man who lived when men died quicker, you still present yourself unwillingly before the eyes of He who sees even into the darkest night.  All your ways are counted.  Yet He offers you what is Good.  Let go of what is not yours.  All things belong to God.

Living Testimonies

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Oxycarenus lavaterae English: A ground bug

Oxycarenus lavaterae English: A ground bug (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Bible is the living testimony of the very words of God to man.  We who believe and receive His gift of salvation become a living testimony to all who witness our lives.  Therefore we are compelled to ask, “Would anyone who loves the Lord add words to His Holy Bible which detract from His Holiness or mention the things unseemly?”  The answer must be a categorical no!  Then if we would not do such a thing to God’s word which is the living testimony, why do men think it is acceptable to add to their own living testimony the things which detract from His Holiness or do the things which are unseemly?

This is a question we ought to ask ourselves often.  It is of the utmost importance that we hone our self-control and restrict the sinful nature so that our testimony mirrors that of the words we love so dearly.  We are told that we walk as if in broad daylight.  We are clearly and fully known in our every way.  This is true of our testimony as it applies to our ways among men.  Every word is being counted by them.  Every action is divided into what is good and what is not.  Even the bugs and other creatures will give a complete testimony before the Lord on the day we stand before Him.

How, then, should we propose to live?  Let us all, including myself, strive to please that pure teaching which the Lord has so generously given to His people.  Let us put aside the things of folly and embrace the pure wisdom of God with the understanding He has given us.  It was written and we all agree: “. . . Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”

By His Grace.

Three Sure Fire Ways to Gain Eternal Life

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Their are thousands of artworks created in the...

Their are thousands of artworks created in the art world depicting St Paul. This painting was created by the famous artist called Rembrandt. It hangs on the walls of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Confusion abounds in the mind of man.  Regardless his standing with the Lord, a man finds himself contemplating things ungodly from time to time.  I do not mean a contemplation of sinful desires.  I mean that a man’s mind will continually drift toward what is untrue, much like a ship who’s rudder is bent.  I believe this is what the Apostle Paul pleaded with the Lord, three times, to remove.  The Lord’s answer was, “My Grace is sufficient for you.”

And this statement from the Lord leads to the point of this short post.  “The Way” is a difficult and impossible task for man to walk.  We think in terms of perception.  But God demands, rightfully so, that we walk according to the Spiritual way.  (That is to say by the way of God which is Spiritual in nature.)  Even speaking of these things is difficult due to the nature of man.

All these things require that we live by the Holy Spirit’s power.  And let it be widely proclaimed that “The Way” is not something that a man can attain without the power of God through prayer, Bible reading, and an extreme sense of humility which is born from an understanding that God is greater than man’s deepest imagination.

What shall we do in response to this understanding?   Pray, pray, and pray.  Read the Bible, read it again, then read it again.  Humble yourself that in due time God will lift you up, then humble yourself, and humble yourself again.  I can testify that if you do these things you will be taught to walk in “The Way of Christ Jesus”.  Another approach, wether lesser or greater, will only cause you to miss the mark.

I caution all men not to rely on the work of other men.  Do not listen to their words and conclude that you understand.  Do not read their writings and conclude that you walk “The Way” because you have gained what they offered.  Do the things I have mentioned so that what you see in them becomes what you are.  No man can save another.  All we can do is urge and provoke one another to seek the Lord Jesus, who alone can give Life in “The Way.

By His Grace.

hmmmmmmm.

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I was standing on the back porch, again.  And a thought came to mind.  For the life of me I really couldn’t answer a question.  Why is it that the language in print is so dramatically different than conversation?  Especially when it comes to the things of God, we are avoided and laughed at behind our back.  Even in a Church setting we are expected to speak with one another in a very different tone than what we read in Scripture or hear in the sermon.  Oh, it’s ok to speak God things like “bless you”, or speak some great thanks to God in the presence of others while we are in some kind of Bible study.  But close the book and we all seem to go different ways with our minds and tongues.

I admit I used to be very irritated when the sermon was over, the prayer was prayed, and the last blessing was given from the Pastor.  Because immediately after that people left the building.  If there was conversation it would be rather trivial.  And I wondered how such a beautiful God could be loved while a man was speaking from a certain place, yet ignored in conversation immediately after.

Why didn’t we gather together to pray in little spontaneous groups?  Why didn’t someone come and take me by the shoulder of my shirt and smile while he led me to a corner to pray?  Why was talk about fishing, cooking, football, and cars, so much more important at that moment?

Lots of questions.  Anyone got some good answers?

Detail

Detail (Photo credit: Wikipedia)