Tag Archives: Christ Jesus

The Surpassing Great Advent of Wickedness

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Christogram (labarum) with Jesus Prayer in Rom...

Christogram (labarum) with Jesus Prayer in Romanian. Jesus Prayer in Romanian Doamne Iisuse Hristoase, Fiul lui Dumnezeu, miluieste-ma pe mine pacatosul. English translation Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner. This image appears on the cover of all editions of Romanian translation of Philokalia Français : Christogramme entouré de la Prière de Jésus en roumain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I was a child I was taught to respect my elders, be kind to everyone, and consider myself last in everything.  This teaching was taught to the extreme.  By the Grace of God, I have developed out of that harsh treatment (to a great extent).

Being taught by Jesus now, I am taught to respect my elders in the faith, be kind to all while keeping in mind that there is a “justice” in the world, and to consider myself the servant to all men.  This teaching is being taught gently with mercy for my ignorance.  By the Grace of God, I am developing into the kind of man we all aspire to become.  (This is not to my account a righteousness.  But it is a gift from God through Jesus.)  Understanding that none of us can fully attain to the Glory that is Christ Jesus, we are encouraged to emulate the truth He allows us to “hear”.

I am shocked, however, to be witness to a new breed of human emerging on the scene.  People I thought would be steady and mature are beginning to adopt lies to themselves.  They hear some accusation against the righteous and run as a herald.  Foaming at the mouth with hatred of all that is pure, they run head long as servants of demons.  This is not the kind of place I was raised in when I was a child.

The very fabric of the world has changed, as if a blanket has developed a mold.  Young people wear disrespect for truth just as the young of past ages wore truth for the simple reason that they were taught that truth endures.  Older people are the most surprising to me of all.  For after living their lives through experience of lies and truth, they now prefer to spout ungodly lies against everything associated with God.  And I am surprised at how willing they are to put on the clothing of liars and demons.

Though I speak of being surprised at these things, there is no reason for my astonishment at the increase of wickedness among men and women.  We have been warned that such things will take place.  And of “increase”, the wicked will continue to mold their souls till the Lord comes to war against them Himself.

“Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.

Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.” (Rev. 22: 11-15)

This warning remains for all men.  Regardless your background, the Lord does not lie.  If you want to be clean seek the Lord Jesus’ mercy.  If you find yourself unable to care, consider this:  The wicked will not find pity before the Holy Throne of the Most High God if they appear without the covering of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Amen!  Even so, Lord Jesus, come.

The Eunuchs of Heart

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To be made a eunuch of heart, in a sea of immorality.  What a wonderful gift is given to those who press their souls against the glass floor of heaven.  While men all around worship the visage of woman; pressing their heart toward desire and admiration of decaying flesh.  God’s men are blessed to inhabit far loftier places.

Each body we encounter becomes a soul.  The eyes of the Spirit do not see the outward adornment as primary.  Instead, they perceive the companionship of testing which attends all people.  Slaves to Righteousness, they walk unhindered by the lust of the flesh.  Set free to inhabit that far loftier place of Life, they are a blazing fire in the night to weary travelers.  They are a warming glow of fire to frost-bitten souls.

All Glory to God the Father through Jesus His Christ for the release from bonds born of flesh.   Given is the freedom to walk according to His commands.  Purified in heart far beyond the limitations of man, these blessed ones perceive the truth without error.  They will not be ashamed on the day they see His face.  For He has set them free by the Holy Spirit of Life.

To live in this Spirit of Life is to Live in Christ Jesus our Lord, Master, Friend, and Love.  Such strength displayed against the lust of the body is the same strength which the holy Martyrs displayed under all kinds of torment.  The smiling countenance they showed during those trials.  The songs they sung while their flesh was taken from them.  The praises for the God who saves were in abundance.  And the love of tormentors through forgiveness and encouragement, still rages in the soul of those purchased through the power of God to impart Life.

Come taste and see; The Lord is Good!  There is eternity even here in this black and twisted “place of testing.”  This testimony is true.  And all who partake of eternity, through the Holy Spirit of God’s sending, will testify the same answer.  “There is a purity among God’s people that the world knows nothing about.”  We are not simply commanded to restrain the desires which rage within us.  We are also given the Perfect strength to desire and perform obedience.  His people come to expect obedience as much as we can expect a wicked man to do what is wicked.  What does it mean when it is said, “They have washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb?”

Make no mistake regarding religion.  “He who does what is right is righteous.”  And this not of ourselves, it is a gift of God lest any man should boast.  Only come and taste what He offers to everyone who will dare to believe unto righteousness.

No longer does belief remain speculation.  There is a faith which turns to a Knowing.  Seek it out!  Prove this testimony.  You will not be disappointed who seek after this truth with all your heart, mind, strength and soul.  He will meet you where you stand, regardless the stench of your ways.  And He will fill you with that strength of Life which you lack so very much of now.

It is through this filling that we become so very much more than men.  Restraint is not the answer, though it is proof of a present and good desire.  Transformation is the superior key.  And this is what He has promised to all who rest in Him.  We, who belong to Him, testify that God cannot lie!  How else is it said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled?”

By His Grace.

To the Walls!

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English: Castle Wall Castle wall as seen from ...

English: Castle Wall Castle wall as seen from its walk Framlingham Castle Framlingham Suffolk. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

God’s wrath will certainly come upon the wicked of any age.  And there is a purification due all His people.  We read this: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (1 Timothy 3: 12)

These are two points worthy of consideration; that the wicked will suffer under the hand of the Most High God, and that God will purify His people.  I find it interesting that the wicked mock their prophesied suffering, and that many “Christians” ignore the promise of purification.  Rest assured, both are imminent!

Please, my siblings in Christ, consider our state of affairs today.  We enjoy a certain freedom to love God openly.  But we are not guaranteed that this will remain the case.  I do not pretend to know the mind of God regarding the things that will soon appear.  But by the testimony of our brothers and sisters who went before us we see that they were not held exempt from suffering for the name of the Lord Jesus.  Though this turned out to be a blessing to them, fearsome acts were sent against them.

We do not live in a place void of suffering.  And let us not forget what we have been told:

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” (Hebrews 12)

Let us not consider that we will be held exempt from suffering simply because we live among masses of men who keep their life of ease.  God is not blind to our situation.  And He is not a man that He should take certain pity in the way of worldly ease.  If this place was built to test the Son of God through suffering, how do we think we will fair?

About 4 years ago, when the Lord had come to again pick me up from horrible suffering, a saying came to me in the midst of prayer.  This saying holds a special urgency today, as it has for every generation of God’s people.  “To the walls!”  Let us climb to the top of our perceived fortifications and listen for the approach of what will certainly come upon us all.  Let us prepare to open the gates for the Sovereign One.

By His Grace.

He Did Not Ask

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Pool of Siloam

Pool of Siloam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

He did not ask.  The question never crossed his mind.   He had never seen red, let alone to consider the subtle difference between red and orange.  Dirt had no color at all.  And, beyond the reach of his fingers, the world was filled with utterly ghostly challenges.  Textured blackness was all he knew.  Noise and smell were the only possible warnings before something unknown drew near.  Living in the night with no light to guide his feet, who had testified the impossible possible?

He did not ask.  He was simply the subject of debate between the Lord Jesus and His disciples.  “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  How could the man know he had been born blind so that this conversation would find a suitable object for a lesson?

He did not ask.  Why those things had happened that morning; those things which brought him to that square foot of ground at just that moment?  There was no need to question anything.  But something was about to change forever.

He did not ask.  Yet someone plastered mud on the man’s eyes!  Of all the humiliating things he has endured.  Now he was the object of an art class.  Had he known he was to become a model this morning he might have presented a bit of persona different.

He did not ask.  But he was told to go wash in the pool of Siloam.  “So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”

He did not ask for the reaction from his parents, or the subsequent verbal thrashing from the Jews.  He did not ask to be able to see their faces, nor to be quantified a liar.  And he did not ask that he should be thrown out of the temple that day.

He did not ask to be able to walk by himself in places before forbidden.  But now he did.  I wonder if he struggled to stay awake that night; afraid to close his eyes and see nothing but darkness again.  But surely sleep came, just as it had every night before.

He did not ask.  But the morning brought confirmation to a dream he had last night.  Eyelids flung open as soon as the mind brought him from dreams.  Breath filled his lungs with explosive inhale.  And this without his will.  “It was not a dream!”

He did not ask for time.  Who asks for time to come?  Most of us simply endure the next moment.  Time, however, had a different effect on this man than it does for most.  From that day and for years to come, that man lived in colors, shapes, textures seen, and faces recorded.  But the days and years ticked by without restraint.  I do not think that man ever regarded his eyes as people do who have always seen.  Even as old age came to take away what he did not ask for, there was the beauty of fuzzy objects to enjoy.  In the end death took away the gift.  But what need had he of those amazing little marbles then?

He did not ask.  He had no idea of what was coming.  Brilliance surrounds him now.  Colors, living colors dance through perfect eyes.  He did not ask through all those remaining years.  For who could know what he was about to see, even as death came to take back the colors and shapes.

He did not ask to be an object lesson.  For eternity, however, he will be an object lesson of the majesty of the God who caused him to be born blind.  And we should not doubt that he will enjoy his status in this regard.  What remains within Promise is more lovely than the colors and shapes this man saw without asking.

We did not ask.  For we did not know we were in need.  Wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked we are.  Who has known to ask when there was no question?  “Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

We did not ask.  But we were born in our own circumstances.  Who asks for mud?  Who craves to be “sent”?   Who has come away from Siloam healed for the Glory of God the Father?  I remember one more time when 10 were sent.  Only one re-appeared to praise God.  And I ask, “Who am I?”

I did not ask.  I did not dare approach, even in prayer.  Just when I thought I would die that Death, He came to deliver me.  And these words, all together in this place of testimony, praise the One who set me free.  This story has testified, there is a freedom yet to come which I cannot ask for.  How can I know what to ask that He hasn’t already prepared beyond my knowledge?  He will forever be first.  And we will forever be those who receive with praise, dedication and thanks.

Billions have not thought to ask.  Yet they received God’s generous gift of eternal life.  Do you dare hope for something you have never thought to ask?  Here you are reading these words.  Do you dare ask for what you do not know?  “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.”  Isn’t that what is written?

No one asked.  But He has prepared this place of testing for His own Glory.  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”   Have you ever thought that the entire world was created for the sake of judgment?  What judgment could provoke all of creation?  Think about it.  And He does not ask too much of us.  For at His return, His reward is in His hand.

“No eye has seen,

No ear has heard,

No mind has conceived

What God has prepared for

Those who love Him”

We did not ask, but:  “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’”  “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”  He has answered even before we were created!

Glory to the One who lives forever!

Opportunity

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Vision from Book of Revelation

Vision from Book of Revelation (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

The current movement of the world toward a one world government, the rise of Islam, the promotion of “good works” driven by secular man and government, the demise of freedom, and the imminent threat of violence against Christians and Jews, can be a frightening concept to watch appear.  But there is a word from the Lord that must be spoken now.

All these things hasten the believer in Christ Jesus into a realm of strength never before seen on the face of the earth.  If you will hold your hope in Christ Jesus you will see your strength increase dramatically.  Do not fear what they fear.  Hold your head high as you see the day approach.

This will be a day of extremes.  One side will see the extreme hatred unleashed against the Lord and all His people.  The other side will see the Holy Spirit as never before give “The Faith” to all the Lord’s people.  This is not the horror for the Lord’s people that it will be for those who are not.  This is a day, coming quickly, when men’s hearts will become hardened in their way.  But it will also be a day when the hearts of God’s people in Jesus will become free to worship in fullness.

This day we are entering will be a singular opportunity to shine like the sun as we hold out the words of life.  Men will torment us.  But they will not break the Spirit’s power within us.  Instead it will fan our Spiritual gifts into a raging fire of steadfast hope.  Many will witness God’s people suffer with joy.  And they will wonder at a people’s religion and faith that can withstand such an onslaught and grow.

Hold the Lord high within your heart!  We are offered a time to gather for Him a marvelous abundance of glory!

May the Lord be blessed by His word among all His people.  And may we render what is His with a glorious joy, which is unknown among the faithless, sinful, godless, and wicked.

Amen

Tough Stuff Requires Tough Response

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Sayer fight

Sayer fight (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We live in a very controlled space.  Vacuum above, rocks below, winds, storms, great cold and heat, all assault our experience here.  Then there’s bugs of various sorts, some can cause harm, others are simply a bother.  Animals abound; some to eat, some to treat, some to abhor, and some would love to eat us.

Then we have the humans themselves.  To make a friend is a milestone in our experience.  To keep a friend is a milestone in itself.  But we can be sure we will be assailed by humanity, along with all the other plagues we encounter here.

Added to this boxing match, arrives political, social, economic troubles, personal thoughts and attitudes that need adjusting every day all day long.  We all know about these things.  But what has arrived among us is something a bit out of the ordinary.

It was that sins were a bit isolated among men.  One city would embrace a certain sin.  But you could always walk or ride to another place to escape their folly.  But with the advent of communications and faster, more reliable, transportation, the isolation of the sins of man have encountered a boundless habitat.  Now I challenge anyone to point to a place on earth where we can set up a roof and live a life absent of the refinement of wickedness we have come to teach each other.

How I desire to be removed from the complicated garbage that man advertises as prime today.  The body has replaced the concentration on holiness of spirit.  Medical commercials, ways to play, and financial “get well quick” schemes abound.  It is getting to where we are more aware of the things of this world than of eternity where God lives; forever past and forever future.  The temporary has become man’s god en masse.

This is not the end to escalation for sins.  There is a place where man is allowed to abandon all trace of conscience.  If it is hard to live in purity today, what will happen in that day?  Gone will be any hint of a peaceful little town where you can leave your doors unlocked.  Gone will be the day when owning some kind of lethal tool to protect what you call yours is an option.

Most people I know simply don’t want to talk about what they see happening anymore.  And if you bring them the Gospel, you find them backing up.  They no longer see the Gospel as a message of hope.  They only perceive another demand.  And they are absolutely inundated with demands.

What a curious ruse has been set upon man.  He is in a position of defence, from waking to waking again.  Peace is no longer an option.  And this isn’t even the height of horror that is bound to come.  Slowly, man is being squeezed into a stark choice; Fight or die cowering.  The evil one has man just about where he wants them to be.  And the end of things can’t be far behind that point.

All this said, it is important to encourage one another to fight the good fight with even more strength.  Even the best of us today is plagued with a monstrous onslaught of sin.  Hold each other up.  Look for signs of tiring.  Strengthen trust between your brothers and sisters.  The silver lining surrounding all this is the grace of God in Christ Jesus for all who are struggling to obey.

I posted this to say that I see it clearly enough (the struggle you face every day).  Oddly, this is a post of encouragement.  May God bless this message to all His people.

By His Grace.