To What End?


Why do you protect your family?  Why do you work so hard to earn a living?  Why do you go to church?  Why do you read the Bible?  Why do you study devotions?  Why do you pray?  Why do you speak the name of Christ?

Are all these things only for show?  Or are they so that you can become as devoted to the Living God’s Christ as are the Holy Angels?

When you have done these things for years, have they produced a holy man?  Or have you found yourself only becoming a socially acceptable Christian? 

What is the fullness that God desires in all his people?  What does that look like?  Can you point to someone and say, “That is it”?  Can anyone point to you and say the same thing?

It is like men to pursue a dream, only to find a place where they are comfortable.  What about death to all the things in this world?  Does that sound comfortable to you?  What about a beating by the hands of men because you have spoken the Gospel in their presence?  How many friends have abandoned you because you love God?  What about a burning willingness to obey God’s command, regardless the outcome?  Does that apply to you?

I ask this many questions, because you are the only one who can answer them for yourself.  I do not command anyone to do anything.  But I have an obligation to ask my brothers these things.  And they distinctly apply to me also.  And why would anyone not ask his brother at these things?

Who will shake the world for Christ?  Will it be you?  Who will cower in a corner, amassing all kinds of peace and luxury.  Will that be you?

By His Grace

An Unwarranted Suppression


I do not need bars or scars to mark out the place of my imprisonment for the sake of Christ.  I am constrained by his excellent strength within the place he has set me himself.  And it becomes my great joy to serve Him in this very place of obscurity.

How greatly I desire that all my brothers and sisters should perceive their place in the same fashion.  May zeal consume us to be joyful in our place of holy affliction.  For we have not arrived among the things we own by circumstances of chance.  But it is God in Christ who draws us to this place.

It is God in Christ who will draw us to himself.  And even now the signs of his ownership dress us with glory!  See how our hearts are marked by his indelible seal.  See how Desire desires to consume us.

Do we restrain his will?  Do we restrain the desire of God among us?  This has no Holy right to exist.  But receive this word of urging.   Receive and be strengthened for his Lovely sake.  How should the Gospel of Christ Jesus be suppressed?  How should that which burns within us find any extinguishing?  These things within us, these things of Christ, are delivered to us from eternity to eternity.

It is a childish matter to be able to point out the suppressing of the Glory of God among men.  But among the people of God, it would be right if one had to search far and wide to find such a suppressing.  Yet how my heart sinks to realize, one does not have to search very hard at all.

Does this need to remain among us; this willing restraint of the Holy will of God?  You know the answer is “no”. 

This word of exhortation is complete.

By His Grace

Growth in Christ (recovery from chaos)


No one sins all the time.  That’s just not physically possible.  Every man has a lucid moment from time to time, at least.  And because of the weakness of the body, sleep must come.

When you have those lucid moments, make the best of it.  Search out the message of the Gospel, and do it quickly.  Just as the chaos of sin cannot last forever, our lucid moments pass even quicker. 

Just as a man who wakes after a night of heavy drinking finds himself pondering what happened and why, such thoughts are signs of a lucid moment.  Treat them as a welcome friend.

Raise whatever faith you have to the surface of your conscience, and believe.  You may not have the answers.  But then is the time to approach the One who does.  And if growth is to become a part of our experience, the answer must be found in the Christ of the Living God, Jesus.

Every man is like a disturbance at the bottom of the sea.  At birth the seafloor rises in a certain place.  Then as the man grows and does the good things of God, his disturbance becomes a mound.

If the man will train his soul to listen to the words of God, eventually the nature of what he, is breaks the surface of the waters.  This “breaking forth”, lends itself to all manner of Life.

Dust in the air settles between the cracks of rock.  Storms whittle down the sharp edges, causing the filings to fill in the gaps.  The birds of the air come and deposit a few seeds.  In time, the man becomes more then a disturbance in the sea; by his nature he lends himself to the utility of the heavens.

The growth at the bottom begins when the lucid moments of a man are captured for “Good” intent.  I will admit that there are far more mounds that never break the surface of the sea, than are those who become useful to God.

And don’t we see this played out in creation, in the fact that there is more space of water on the earth than land exposed to the air.  More places for slime and few places of dazzling beauty.

But now in the emergence of the man above the surface of the waters, there comes many a travail.  Parts of the exposed land occasionally break off and fall back into the sea.  Part of the work is wasted.  But that should not stop the land from taking its rightful place.  And what broke off was not firmly committed to what must become.  Good riddance, c’est la vie.

If the use of your lucid moments has allowed you to rise above the nature of man, use them all the more as you aspire to become a place of Life.  Why remain a desolate island?

Do not let your failings cause you to plummet down under the waves.  The target here is to work diligently to produce more lucid moments than moments of chaos and decay.

If you will apply the forgiveness of Christ, as it is found in the Bible, you will find your self overcoming guilt, and far more quickly.  This does not erase what was lost.  But certainly provides more vertical growth.  And every square inch of attainment offers more potential for Life.

If you believed at the outset, if that belief has caused you to break into the air, why can’t that belief cause you to reach for the heavens?

Those who shrink back because of the storms of life, will not find themselves pleasing the soul of Jesus.  But those who believe that he cannot lie, will prosper according to the wisdom of God.  Lucid moments of righteousness will begin to grow in the place where before was nothing but chaos.

Think diligently on these things.  Apply this with diligence.  And you will find yourself growing in Christ exponentially.

When you find yourself having sinned before the Lord, in the ways you had learned and the habits you had developed, grab a hold of your belief which you had at first.  And do not delay!  When the next lucid moment comes to your mind and heart take hold and grow!

I could have held the following for another post.  But it fits so seamlessly here.

Many think that they should punish themselves after a moment of insane chaos, called sin.  Such self abuse may or may not be useful.  And I have come to understand that sometimes self abuse is only a continuance of the sin we have just committed.

It is necessary to let Jesus be God.  Who could possibly know better what is necessary and useful after restoration of lucid thought?  Should it be the one who is prone to moments of insanity, or the One who knows the very elements of righteous eternity?

I cannot speak about this to those who have not developed a relationship of communication with the Holy Lord.  A man cannot rely on his own heart to determine what should be done next.   It was, after all, your wicked heart that caused the sin and decay to abound.  Is it reasonable to trust your judgement now?

And what has been the outcome for others may not apply to you.  Prayer is necessary.  With a calm heart full of belief, wait and listen.  In reverant prayer, confess your situation to God.  Ask Him to show you what you must now do.  He will certainly respond.

Be careful not to let anxiety overwhelm you.  Anxiety is a form of self abuse.  And the best of lucid moments teach us to be at peace and trust the Living God in Christ.

If you want biblical proof of these things.  Read the story again of what David did following his sin with Bathsheba.  Take special note of how he received the judgment of God against him for his child of sin.  How is it possible that we should be any different?

By His Grace

Stings and Bites


I sit here this morning, marveling at the nature of the things of God.

His Holy Law is like a spiny reptile; those who desire to tame it will be stung by some unseen outcropping.

His Holy Gospel is like a wily snake; those who desire to manipulate one part will be bitten by the Truth, or stung by their pride.

All day long, the Lord makes straight those who desire to turn His Holy Way.  In one sense, he draws them into the Way.  In another, he seals their fate along the broad path.

He who desires to be presentable to the Most High God, by means of obedience to the whole Holy law, will also find himself dismayed at the Judgment.

And those who turn to God with humble heart will be like a tiny child rescued from the hands of a murderous thug.

Beware the Wisdom of the Most High God to save.  It is written, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 2: 12)

“BECOMING”


Galatians chapter 5 speaks and incredibly powerful word.  A man would do well to memorize the entire chapter.  A man would do well to seek the Holy wisdom of God in relation to that chapter.  And any man will do well if he “does it”!

To say that Christians are not under the law of Moses is a foolish statement, for the very Christ who leads them is the fulfillment of the law!  No man by himself is able to fulfill the law of God.  But by obedience to the Living Word, the Christ, a fulfillment will appear.  And he is able and willing to teach!

This is the power of God.  This is what is referred to when it is said that they will have a form of religion but deny the power of it.  It is what is called “becoming” (Or perhaps it is better said, that this what I have come to call “becoming”).  And this “becoming” is becoming a forgotten teaching.

Yes there is an eternal “becoming” that waits for us at our appearance before his Holy Throne.  But there is a holiness to be grasped here.  And it is a state of life that few have either understood, sought, or attained.

I testify before all men, that transformation to a Christian is possible in Christ.  It is more than what we say we are.  It is a “becoming”. 

By His Grace

Elton John and His Peers


How easy it would be so slam Elton John for his hatred for truth.   He uses his money and “power” (Sir.  Really?) to push others around.  And now he stands in his pomp to decry a truth, spoken against the sin he loves so very much.   It would be so much more peaceful, in this world, if those who say they love freedom would give that same desire of freedom to the One who made them.

How easy to speak of God’s perspective of “unnatural desire for those of the same gender”.  But to what end?  All I would accomplish is to set myself against the times in which we live (a purposeful pun against Johnny’s own statement).  And I have already done that for many years now.  And look at how many lives have been changed by my testimony for the Christ of the Living God; only me.

But shall I let the blind and ignorant talk, of the “powerful and rich”, go without response?  Why should I?  Their power to influence others into sin demands a response.

I do not respect a man because he has money.  I do not respect a man because he is poverty stricken.  I respect a man who proves he loves the God who made him.  I do not respect a man who has the approval of heads of state.  I respect a man who proves he has the approval of the Head of All Creation.

No sir, “sir” Johnny, I don’t respect your decry of truth.  And you are no lover of freedom.  For you purchase the silence of those who stand against you.  I believe the proper term for your brand of freedom is called Fascism (authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice).  How you love the idea of tolerant behavior, while you crush anyone who does not agree with your sinful life.  Not only that, but you would purchase the power, if it existed, to silence the Living God.

I really wanted this to become some kind of encouraging statement.  But I find nothing encouraging in today’s acceptance of ungodly behavior.

I guess if there is anything to be called “encouragement” in this article, it is that one man has the guts to stand up and say “NO”.

Related link
http://m.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/31896339