Tag Archives: Christ

What is the Power of The Gospel of Jesus?

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Power Lines

Power Lines (Photo credit: shaundon)

What is the power of the Gospel of Jesus?  How does it manifest itself among men?  What is its target?  And how do we know we have entered into the envelope of salvation?

The power of the Gospel is that The Sacrifice necessary to gain The Holy Father’s smile has been paid.  We are now free to live our own interpretation of the “Good Live”.  We who believe have gained a confidence to live that others cannot own.  Not only eternity is promised, but guidance and protection is extended from the only One who can give it without reservation.  So the power of the Gospel of Jesus is a powerful peace, confidence, freedom, and hope that cannot be taken away by anything.  It is God who gives it.  Who can strike His Kingdom and rip away what we have?

The manifestation of this Gospel among men is a violent love.  It does not care what others think about what we do.  Those who love as God loves are not bound by the laws of men.  Social norms of men are but a shadow of a tree in the darkness of night, while the norms of God’s rule are like blazing explosions of good in the streets of the city of blind wickedness.

God’s good works among His people cannot be hidden.  But they are never announced with pride.  The Gospel does not announce itself to men, as if to say, “I am about to do a good thing.”  The good work begins and comes to completion; power displayed and unrestrainable.  Do the clouds announce that the sun is about to rise?  Doesn’t the sun simply come up every morning?  While men will praise their light bulbs, they also complain that the sun is too hot, that there are too many clouds, or that it came up too early.  But the Gospel moves forward despite the desires of men.

This is the target of the Gospel:  That God should receive all praise for what has been established.  Men will contrive many means to manipulate what He has ordained should be.  They will build houses to shield themselves from the elements.  Men curse the night.  They curse the day.  They curse the cold and heat.  But the elements are established by God.  And it is praise that is due what He has caused to be.  Many other elements of life here in this place of testing are cursed by man.  But it is those who trust Him completely that find release from this cursing. They learn to accept what comes upon them without murmur.  This is the target of the Gospel of Jesus: that His people should learn to live with God as their leader, no longer listening to their complaining desires.

This is how we know we have entered into the envelope of salvation; that we no longer perceive our life as a victim.  Through belief in the message of hope we are transformed from hopeless men to partakers in God’s lovely scheme of transformation.  We endure without complaint.  And when we find our hearts complaining we also hear a restraining voice within, compelling us to reconsider our attitude.

Violent love attacks all sin in the heart of the believer of the Gospel.  As if someone were to step in front of our folly and push it back, while pulling us forward to trust at the same time.  Refinement of thought toward what is good grows.  Restraining of stupidity holds us back from the things that lead to death.  And, in the end, the believer of the Gospel of Christ grows from a walking dead fool to a semblance of a righteous man.  We know we are His as we witness this occur in our very bones.  It does not announce its presence.  And there is no written word that appears on our forehead, marking us as those who are being transformed.  Yet the transformation will be obvious; first to the believer, then to all who know who we were.

“Do-Less-Ness” is Not a Gift of the Spirit

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My Work Bag

My Work Bag (Photo credit: pennuja)

One of the hardest lessons for the chronically poor to learn is doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done.  I know there are many who are poor yet are very diligent in what needs to be done.  But it has also been my personal experience (and observation of others) that a certain “do-less-ness” attends the daily routine of many.

Perhaps it’s fear of confrontation that blocks dutiful behavior.  Perhaps it’s just that they focus on matters they deem more important.  Perhaps there are other reasons.  But the bottom line is that when we know what we ought to do and do not do it, we encounter a guilty conscience.  This guilt leads to introverted behavior in many fashions. And, in the end, we own a large portion of “sucky life”.

This is a truth that should be embraced by every Christian.  We expose our faith by our living habits.  And we often drag down the Beautiful Lord Jesus’ reputation by allowing our own to become soiled with neglect.  I can’t imagine what this place would look like if God took on that same “do-less” behavior.

I’m not chiding anyone with this post.  I’m pointing out a truth we should all consider as we serve the Lord.

Stupid Intelligence

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Stupid signs

Stupid signs (Photo credit: pkevinconnell)

I cannot understand us.  How do I put this?  I guess I’ll start with what we all know.

Men love selfishness.  And I guess that’s natural.  I’ve often said that we are born defensive.  After all, we can’t get outside our vulnerable skin.  So we are on the defensive from the moment we notice we have fingers.  Ok, I got that.

Now I know that this selfishness lends itself to rebellion against manipulation of any kind.  Even if we try to help another man understand his responsibility to others, it’s like pulling teeth without pain-killer.  Isn’t that what we face raising teens?

And what if a teen has not learned responsibility when it was due to learn?  He becomes an adult full of selfish and childish attitudes about life.  In this way, we see rebellious adults all over the place.  So we know about rebellion first hand.  Yea?  I think we can all nod about that.

Now we don’t really know a whole lot about pure good and perfect responsible behavior.  We all take stabs at it as best we can.  But we all know we fall short of purity in one way or another.  Again, I think we can all nod to that.

Here is what I don’t get:

Perfect isn’t a word that lends itself to interpretation.  Perfect is perfect.  That also means perfect is eternal by nature.  So why do we find men trying to water down the word “perfect”?  Why don’t we find them, instead, admitting that they are far less than perfect?

I am astounded that certain men, who know better, believe and teach something other than the whole Gospel.  Some how they have been duped into something far less than the perfect message of the Gospel.  And they seem to think that it’s ok to just kind of tear away at the concept of perfect.  I’m sorry.  I’m just amazed at us!  In the end we have to say this (as it was said by that wonderfully deficient character), “Stupid is what Stupid does.”

Two Sets of Legs

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Lamb

Lamb (Photo credit: freefotouk)

Are you a Christian who has sin in your life?  I want to mention something you may not be aware of:

There is a story of how the shepherd breaks the leg of a lamb who continues to wander off from the herd.  The problem is that the sheep will teach others how to disobey his master.  So to keep the flock in line, it is necessary to resort to radical means of insuring obedience.

Now, in the matter of breaking the legs of His people, there are two sets of legs every Christian owns.  One set of legs enables that Christian to chase after things he shouldn’t.  Breaking those legs may mean taking away the means the Christian uses to rebel against his Lord.  In this we are talking arms, legs, eyes, lungs, etc..  It also might mean taking away any other means to sin, money, social contacts, mental ability, etc..

There is another set of legs the Lord has at his disposal to break.  These are the legs we use to enter the Throne Room of the Holy Father.  It is quite possible that these legs will leave a far deeper impact in the Christian.  Only Jesus knows what is necessary, and will work for each of His people.  But I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone speak about His correcting actions in this manner.

Regardless what happens to you (those who are living a life of sin), I urge you to listen with understanding to see if any of this fits your condition.  If you are not caught in sin, don’t apply this to your walk with the Lord.  However, if you’re caught in something you know you shouldn’t be in, it might be wise to consider what He has done already.  And consider that He is quite able to do far more to entice us back into the fold.

By His Grace.

Treating the Lost With Respect?

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Sonoma's Left Ear

Sonoma’s Left Ear (Photo credit: BreckenPool)

Spam we get on WordPress is amazingly funny to a Christian.  It is designed by men of the flesh and targeted at greed and pride of men of flesh.  But let’s not get too heady about the ability to read through their ruse.  What’s that saying?  “But for the grace of God. . . “.

How often to we really sit down and contemplate the knowledge we have been given?  We see through a myriad of lies and temptations that the world embraces without even questioning.  The Holy Spirit speaks to all men.  But so few have ears that will hear His prompting.

Just about everyone has ears that work.  And if the ears don’t work, another sense tends to supply the lack.  When it comes to Spritual matters, however, everyone has ears.  If we listen intently and provoke a desire within us to do what we hear, we end up hearing more acutely.  Should a man whose ears work just fine boast because he can hear things a deaf person can’t hear?  Now that’s really a foolish idea.  Curiously, we seem to elevate the deaf regardless our spiritual standing.  Hmmmmmmmmmm.

“You Didn’t Build That. . . “

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Walk through a grave yard and no one waves hello.  Smile at a blind man and he has no idea you even looked at him.  So it is with those who live in the land of the dead.  Though you introduce yourself they have no idea what you’re saying.  And even if you offered them the bounty of the King Jesus they would simply laugh.

With that introduction, we turn to the picture.  What business is it of the world if we prefer to do our Father’s bidding beyond the eyes of the dead?  And if we explained what we are told to do they would not understand it.  So they turn to insults against the King of Kings and His people.  Is this the best they can do?  Of course this is the best they can do.  They haven’t heard the Lord’s voice direct them in the things of the Father.  So they naturally think no one else has either.

Just as an aside:  The response to Chick-fil-a was more a matter of support for free speech than it was a Christian response to an unjust accusation.