Vivacious Abandonment


We are in the days of vivacious abandonment.

(vivacious
[vi-vey-shuh s, vahy-]
adjective
1.
lively; animated; gay:)

What is man abandoning so happily?

God
Purity
Mercy
Righteousness
Peace
Prayer
Holiness
The Bible
Humility
Holy suffering
Christ Jesus
Eternal life
Pure judgment
Justice
Restraint
Holy speech
Propriety
Godly love
Patience
Endurance

Here’s the sad part:
It is impossible for Man to be empty.  If he is not filled with God, he will be filled with everything that is not God.  If we give the Living God’s Christ no place among us, the ambassadors of death move in.

Look around.  Do yourself a favor.  Ask what day it is.

By His Grace

There, it is.


I look within myself, and I find it.  I look at the words of every man, and I find it.  I look at my errant deeds and I find it.  I look at the errant deeds of all men, and I find it. 

It is in the words of the wicked.  It is in the words of the socially righteous.  It is there in every advertisement for profit.  It is in every enticement to sin.  It is in every political statement and desire.  And to the great shame of humanity it is in every religion of man.

What am I finding that is so very replete?  What is it among men that can be so very blatant, yet so incredibly and deftly hidden?  Every man is blind and deaf to its presence.  Yet by his words and deeds his agreement is obvious.

Every man who has ever lived, has desired to put Christ last.  Only those who are driven by the Holy Spirit of God, rightly desire to put Christ in his proper place as First.  Everyone on earth, and everything of men, disagrees with the Glory of Christ Jesus.

Do yourself a favor and ask why.  The Living God, the Holy Father of all life, has put his Holy Son as first of all things.  At the unveiling of Glory, every men will perceive his irrevocable Kingship.  And what a great surprise it will be.  Yes, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

By His Grace

Two Promises


Profit and loss.  The entire world is based on these two concepts.  Absolutely everything we do contains things that are considered profitable, and those things that are considered loss.

In every possible way, creation has been subjected to loss.  It takes serious diligence to build and maintain anything.  And if we are slack, we will quickly witness our work returning to “nothing” from which it came.

This is true of material things.  It is true of our relationships with one another.  It is true of all “life”, which is so very abundant in this world,  And it is absolutely true of Spiritual things.

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)  We could easily say that all creation was created from what was “not”.  And if left alone, to its origin all things glide.  Creation could easily be perceived as a great splash in an eternal ocean.  The water will reclaim its equality of height, by absolute necessity.

It is the blessing of God to provide Life.  It is the curse of God to restrain His hand.  That’s all it takes for man to experience loss.  Just as we can produce loss by neglect, so it is with God.

He is the Sustainer of all things.  But even the idea that something must be sustained, indicates that it tends to obliteration.

There are two promises from God.  If you will consistently turn to me, I will sustain you.  But as you desire your own strength, you will suffer loss.  The first promise leads to eternal life in Christ Jesus, for God offers no other source of blessing and life.  The second is simply our natural destination; we came from nothing, and to that nothing we will return.  But God offers eternal life to every soul that will turn to His Holy Son in faith.

I know that there is a massive misunderstanding of these things.  Man thinks that he can save himself.  How can you save yourself if your hands are busy trying to hold up your own roof?  What knowledge do you have of eternity?  Isn’t it true that eternity is only a concept within the heart of every man who ever lived?  We are born and die.  That’s not eternity, friends!

What do we know of Holy Sustaining?  We can’t even make it through an entire day without causing some sort of destruction.  We crush a bug as we walk.  We speak an unholy word in casual conversation, or we do not speak what is holy when it should have been spoken.

Proof lies abundant within us, that we can’t sustain anything for very long.  Quickly, the glide to oblivion pushes past our strength to keep things going.  We are, by nature, walking death.  God alone, and this in His Holy and Righteous Son, is LIFE.

Make your own choice.  Consider these things with the utmost diligence, or relegate these promises to obscurity.  Choose death or Life.  The one is a given, we slide through time to the place of obliteration without any effort at all.  But life must be gained from He who is Life, Christ Jesus, the Holy Son of the Living God.

Making God Proud


There is a saying among men that is worthy of inspection.  Anything that’s worthy is simply worthy.  Come on, let’s get after it.

“Be the kind of man of which God can be proud.”

On the surface it sounds pretty good.  It’s inspirational.  It provokes a never-ending stream of good behavior.  As far as I know, it’s grammatically correct.   But it is also seriously wrong.

A mother may be proud of her ugly and inept son.  But her pride is not due to the fact that he is a supreme representation of humanity.  She is proud of her responsibility.  She is proud of her gift from God.  Frankly, she is proud of God.

God is no respecter of any man.  To say that he is proud of any man, can be considered pure folly.  This is the same God who said all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags (let the reader understand the meaning of the words “filthy rags”).

What can a man possibly do that would make God proud of him?  Every righteous deed we do is as if under duress.  For every man will readily tell you that if he does not behave he will be punished.

There is One of whom God is proud.  His name is Jesus.  As we obey and praise God’s Holy Son, the Pride God has for him is enhanced.  Let us then, revamp the saying. 

“Let us be the kind of men who honor the One who has roused God’s pride.”

By His Grace

Peace, of God!


Man is not ashamed of his greed.  He is only fearful of being exposed. 

The zealots of false religion do not hide their zeal.  They are only fearful that their lies are exposed or denounced. 

The timid are not ashamed of their fear.  They are dressed in false peace.  They are only fearful that someone may rightfully ask “too much” of them.

Man pursues what he desires.  And with all his strength he is zealous to gain or retain.  But make no mistake, so is God! 

Why should God’s people not be zealous for the things of their master?  It is like man to be zealous for all He desires.  Why can’t that zeal be reigned in for the Son of the Most High God? 

What right do we have to fear?  Where is it written that God’s people will fear?  Is there such a thing as cowering in the Kingdom of the Most High God’s Holy Son?  Isn’t it true that he has spoken exactly the opposite?

Men desire what they want, and with all their strength they pursue it day and night.  All God’s people are purchased from man.  How is it that when a man becomes a Christian he loses his desire to pursue?  Before we belonged to Christ we fought tooth and nail to keep what we desired. 

Who told us that the Peace of God rips desire from our heart?  Capture such who say these things and put them to open shame!  For the fruit of their false words diminishes the Army of our God.  Our brothers fight with less strength, because the liars turn away their fellow warriors from the battle between righteousness and ungodly wickedness!

There is a war that has been since before you were born.  This war will continue until God says “Enough”!  Do you desire to take part?  Then by all means, with what is left of your ability, move yourself to the fracas!

If you are an able Christian, with healthy arms and legs, run to the battlefield.  If you were wounded and nearly dead, grab hold of rocks and grass, and slither yourself to the field of blood.  Let your soul stand for Christ!

Let us endure the “holy pain”, for the sake of the glorious Lord Jesus.  Let us put our selves in a conspicuous place.  Let us swallow fear.  Let us fight for Christ!

This place of testing is nearly finished.  Will we be caught as desirous of “peace”?  When the Son of man returns will he find us amiable and willingly among the ungodly and the wicked?  Will he find us embroiled in friendship with the world?  Or will he find us being ripped to shreds on the battlefield of godly intent?

By His Grace

The Intent of Preaching


If I stand on the street corner and proclaim that all men should go to Christ, I cannot possibly expect any to remain with me. 

No one arrives at a street sign and makes his bed beneath it.  The street sign is only a directional source of information.  Neither does the street sign expect anyone to remain with him.  No, everyone who comes to the street sign is in route to someplace else.

It is only proper then that everyone who comes to me, simply gets the true and eternal directions to salvation. 

The one who looks for a job, does not stay seated in the employment office.  In that chair he will never earn a wage.  Rather, he goes where he is directed.  And it may well be, he will never see that chair again.

Christ Jesus is all in all.  It is to him we point.  By all means then, go to him!

By His Grace