Tag Archives: Christ

Slaves to Freedom?

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Old Leg irons

Image via Wikipedia

All men want freedom to do as they please.  And look how we balk and complain when we are forced, by any means, to do something we don’t want to do.  Listen to how many grumble as they are required to end their weekend and serve others on Monday morning.   Listen to them as 5 pm comes nearer.  Listen how they cheer as the moment comes near for them to be released back to their “freedom”.

Billions have lived their entire life chained to the will of others.  We called them slaves and prisoners; the masses of men, women, and children who lived under the horrible hand of someone else’s ideals.  It was the life they knew from birth to death.  Did they complain also?  Of course they did!  But they were not able to gain even one second of freedom more than the one allowed who ruled over their very breath.

It is not acceptable before God to grumble at restrictions placed on you.  It is honorable, however, before God to accept these restrictions with a certain joy; knowing that we are but a short number of years in this place of testing.  I know I speak the truth in this.  Yet I also know I will find myself grumbling today because I am forced to wait for someone else as they push their way in front of me.  How pitiful is man that he should know to do good yet not be able to find the ability to do it.

Christians are those who are learning to submit to the absolute rule of the One who made them.  We serve Jesus because He shows us that He knows what is best.  We love, because He first Loved us and gave His life for us.  He has said, “Whoever would be first will be last”.  And He has said, “”If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  24  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  25  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self ?” (Luke 9).

Men crave freedom.  Jesus tells us clearly that freedom in Christ Jesus is not the freedom of man.  We are set free, not of submission as a slave, but set free to serve as a slave to righteousness.  So let us consider how to spur ourselves and others into a life of service to the Most High God through the Spirit.  Jesus plainly said to us that He would ask the Father and the Spirit would be sent to His people to guide us into all righteousness.  Are you a willing participant in the things of God through Jesus?  Or are you still looking to be set free, as men count freedom?

Service Remembered.

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I thank You Lord, for Herman Wilson.  He is now with You.  But you guided me to his feet when You opened my eyes.  I thank you for what You did within him.  And I thank you for the memories I have of him.  Of all the men I have ever met, he is the one who remains beautiful within me.  I also thank You for his wife Mervine.  What a lovely creature You had made in her.  And I am so very blessed to retain a memory of their service to You.

Lord, You know that Herman gave me this painting many years ago.  But You alone know its value in my heart.  Not even I can know it’s true value.  But when I consider the love Herman and Mervine showed me and my family during those years, I am brought back to a place of sobriety in my walk with You.  So I present this post as a testimony to their service to You.  And I post this picture here to set up a place of memory.  May You receive Glory from their service to all who You brought across their path.

For those of you who love this picture:  http://www.warnersallman.com/about/the-artist/

Will the Real Christians Please Stand Up? We’re a Bit Confused Here.

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A large crowd gathers [at Madison Square Garde...

Image by Kheel Center, Cornell University via Flickr

I have met and know a few people who love the Bible.  These people adore Jesus.  And they’re willing to obey God.  By all appearances, these folks are “good” people.  And if you met them, you’d think God must be pleased with the way they have come to handle the life God has given them.  They are acceptable humans; both by men and by the Church.  And no fault is easily found in them.

However…………………..

These same folks will accept what they think they can handle from the Bible.  That’s why they love it.  They will adore Jesus, as long as He remains simply a loving God, or a baby in a manger.  They are willing to obey God, as long as He doesn’t ask them to become something or someone they don’t want to become.  And though they appear godly, there is a test you can perform on these folks that will surely show their true colors.

Speak to them about the reality of the Bible’s message and watch how they react.  These folks will be nice to your face.   But it might be the last time they will willingly talk to you.  Speak to them about the Glorified Christ, who has made all that is and is the final authority regarding the righteous worship of His Father.  Watch how their eyes dance as they try to find a way to say “good bye.”  And as you watch them go, you’ll see them quickly rid their minds of what you  just said.  Again, they meld into the socially acceptable activity among men.

It is so very interesting how people are willing to believe the Bible, yet so quick to avoid anyone who talks about the Bible.  Most people simply adore leaving the Lord within the pages of the Book.  They gladly receive instruction from the written Word, but will balk severely when that Word becomes flesh among their fellow humans.  They will listen to a sermon while in a group of people.  But when it’s over you’ll find them talking about anything but the sermon’s content.

The Lord is not fooled.  And only He will assess their value to Him.  It is good to point these things out.  Far too many are doing what we are seriously warned against:  If we turn away from those who warn us on earth, how will we hope to receive Him who warns us from heaven?

 

By His Grace.

Isaiah 53:2 An Ordinary Human Body, An Extraordinary God.

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JESUS

Image by Daniel Y. Go via Flickr

Jesus, such a magnificent personage.  And isn’t it just like the world to look to authorities to vet the beautiful people in this world.  None compare to Him, yet very few come to admire Him for who He really is.

“He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”

This place we live in is indeed a place of testing.  The heart of every man is tested every moment of life to see what he will do with this Jesus.  How blessed are we who know Him; that the Father has seen fit to open our eyes like this.  Let all God’s people in Christ Jesus give thanks for the fact that they are learning to worship the One whom God the Father has set above all.

By His Grace.

An Odd Observation

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badger

Image by canopic via Flickr

I was thinking of discipleship.  And noticing how difficult it is to train even myself in the way of Christ.  I firmly believe that a man would easier train a Badger to sit gently on his shoulder than to train a man to become godly.  Thus we learn how corrupt the heart of man really is.

Romans 12: 18

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Wisdom

Image via Wikipedia

“If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men.”

Ok.  I hear the meaning of this passage loud and clear.  Some passages in the Bible are not easily divided in their meaning.  But this is certainly not the case here.  Or is it?

Men are corrupt by their very nature.  We can’t know all things, so we often get involved with things we don’t understand.  On top of that, there are millions of men who plot to gain the upper hand every moment of every day.  Then we have those who decide to refrain from fighting all together.  Somehow we are expected to make sense of these things and learn to live at peace with everyone?  Not really.

There are moments of clarity we all receive.  There are situations which demand that we take a stand against the desires of another.  I’m not talking about judging others here.  But we all have faced a situation or thousand, in which, we were expected to simply cow tow and shut up, take it on the chin….. and other weird responses to evil.

I could go into detail about our responses to such things.  I could use a million examples to help any reader come to an understanding about how to live at peace with others.  But who would read it?  And even if they would read forty billion words typed, who could live it?  Any situation encountered would surely have a subtle difference from any example I could come up with.  So I will use common sense here and simply say that, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”  (James 1: 5)

Who can navigate the morass of human expectations?  And the more people involved, the worse it gets (if that is possible).  And what shall we say if the world begins to take on “good deeds” without Christ Jesus at the helm?  How do we hope to please all men?  We simply can’t.  That is why we are given the perfect wisdom of God; so that we can maneuver through this world without getting caught in the stupidity of the world’s perplexing puzzles.

If you want to please everyone, you’re welcome to try.  But you’ll quickly become nothing more than a stick in the path.  And someone will surely come along and kick you out of the way.  We are compelled to stand strong for certain things.  The answer to all this ends up where it starts:  God.

By His Grace.