Tag Archives: Christian

Nail it Down Now. Don’t Add to Regrets.

by

0


Screw the deck boards in

Image by mathowie via Flickr

The deck out back wasn’t built very well.  The uprights aren’t spaced evenly.  And there aren’t enough of them to steady the weight from wiggling laterally.  It’s old.  And the nails they used are beginning to loosen.  I’ve hammered them back in a few times.   But they come loose again each year.   The frost, rain, and heat do their work to loosen what was done.  So I’m putting deck screws into the joints to help the deck last a few years longer.

While I’m doing this, I’m looking for similarities between my Christian walk and the deck I’m working on.  (No. It never stops with me.)  Then it dawned on me.  I consider the shoddy work done at the beginning of building.  And I’m here doing work to make that bad work last longer.  It will either come down on its own some day, or it will need to be torn down and rebuilt.  Either way, it won’t last as long as it might have done if the work in the beginning had been done well.

Consider your Christian life.  If you have had a rather shaky start, or allowed the world to mingle with your Christianity while you were forming the foundations of your faith, you’ll be fixing it till your last day on earth.  If you’ve begun a strong foundation to your Christianity, you’re likely going to be able to support more weighty problems.  And you’re less likely to be swayed by the winds of wickedness that the world will throw at you.

If you’ve had a shaky start, get in there and strengthen what remains.  Isn’t that what the Lord told us to do?  Keep what you have.  There’s no sense in tearing down what remains.  Refine your faith in the Lord.  Nail down those weak questionable choices you keep making.  Solidify your understanding in the Lord and learn what the Lord’s will is for you.  

Why am I out there sweating like a water faucet today?  I’m out there working on the deck because it needs to be done if I expect it to endure another winter or two.  What about you?   How long do you expect to have to endure this world’s assaults?  1 year?  30 years?  You’d do well to start strengthening yourself now.  The Christian walk either gets harder or easier come the end of your life.  Either you’ve planned and learned well to obey the Lord, or you’ve begun to forget the foundational teachings because you’re letting the world influence your choices.

By His Grace.

Pure or Crooked.

by

2


TEST

Image via Wikipedia

“to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.” (Psalm 18:26)

How we perceive God and what is good, depends on the state of our heart.  Each man receives the value of his heart.  A little child’s innocence will allow it to hold a worm with wonder and joy.  But one who is older and jaded will regard that worm as ugly, hideous, and worthless.

Purify your heart from wickedness and you will begin to see the purity of God’s creation.  We say, for instance, that we forgive someone for what they’ve done.  But for most these are just words.  A little later and they will find themselves hashing the incident over again with hatred.  The forgiveness God demands does not come from a wicked heart.

A godly man will wake in the morning to the sound of peace in his heart.  He knows he has entered into a place where he can accept the will of God regardless the circumstances.  A wicked man will wake to consider the hatred he harbored the day before.  He counts all the offences against himself and others.  He looks for this same hatred in everyone else, for it resides so deeply in himself.  While a godly man will see beyond the actions of others to the reasons why they might do what they do.

The righteous man will consider death and suffering a task the Lord has presented for him to endure.  And will gladly accept the task, for he knows the Lord is pure and loving.  A wicked man will consider the same two tasks as hideous and revolting.  He will desire to be rid of both.  And will accuse the Lord of being too harsh.

We encounter life according to our own level of love or hatred.  A wise man will hear these words and consider his own heart.  The day is coming when our hearts will be shown for what they really are.  There will be no place to hide and no excuse to use.  Today is the day of testing.   You are tested by the world around you.  Are you shown as a man of God?  You are tested by your own actions.  Are you a man of God?  You are tested by the Lord.  Are you a man of God?

By His Grace.

“They Win Because We Cheer”.

by

0


Armchairs

The “Arm Chair Quarterback” makes the plays with his fat pork.

And rails against the legs of those who fiercely play the sport.

He’s at a loss to cause a win.  He only uses noise.

And those who play with all their heart gain money from those boys.

There’s ones who rail and cuss all day, and gather against the Lord,

They’re much like they who sit to watch and yell in one accord.

They ridicule, chide, and mock, at those eternally bound souls.

As though they too could pick it up and winsome walk the coals.

“The players rustle all their might, yet they are men like us.”

“So too these folk, these ‘righteous folk’ who preach at me, ‘You must’.”

They testify that all the work the Christians hold so dear,

Is just a noise the players make.  “They win because we cheer.”

 

By His Grace.

Can a Stick be Guilty of a Beating?

by

0


stick stick stick stick stick stick stick stic...

I often (understatement) point to the faults of men.  But I will allow for a few things:

Even a violent man can live at peace with a few things.  He usually doesn’t abuse his drink.  He’ll coddle a glass till it’s gone.  But he might just as likely throw the glass against the floor when the drink is gone.  A corrupt politician will take care of his money.  He will take care of it like a sow bear guarding it’s cubs.  A mother might take good care of her children.  But without the rule of God in her life, she will allow her children to watch television all day long (except when the gossip programs come on).  A husband might well take care of his wife, which was his pledge at their wedding.  But without the rule of God in his life, he’s just as likely to gawk at other women as they pass by.

With the rule of God in our lives, we learn (emphasis on “learn”) to continue our obedience out into the remotest reaches of our life.  We listen to what the Lord says and strive to apply it to everything we are.  There is a significant difference between socially acceptable behavior and Godly behavior.  And this is what you will find posted in my writings.

Yes, I am learning to hate the “ways of the world”.  And I ask for forgiveness when I slip into considering the individual rather than the sin.  It is sometimes extremely hard to tell where one starts and the other leaves off.  And if a man is beating me with a stick, I’m not likely to blame the stick.

By His Grace.

Curious Place to Live.

by

0


Pig 2

Image via Wikipedia

A curious place in life I stand, twist the brothers of the board.

Those men who kill the Lord Most High, then boast among the horde.

And a curious place in life I stand twist the brothers of the Promise.

Those men who handle the Holy Word, yet gladly suffer foolish.

A curious place in life I stand In this battlefested land.

I neither fit midst the sinful crowd, Nor the people of the God’s Hand.

Stripes of hatred scar my mind.  And they’d have done so greatly more.

And I beat them back with tools in kind, Till I found the sacred store.

And then I found, to my chagrin another loss I suffer;

The holy ones will stand me not, and cast me to the other.

For I brought the war to the feet of those who cared to suffer loss.

Perceived I was to war and war. I cared not any cost.

They spoke the words, but action’s missing.  Now what was I to do?

Should I ignore The Lord’s soft kissing, and act like one of you?

There’s no room for me among the throngs; not earth nor heaven bound.

What shall be said of this man I am?  I’ve lived as I saw how.

So I’m hung between the lost and saved.  I hover up and down.

And here I’ll stay with out stretched arm, till He brings me a new gown.

___________________________________________________

The above is an indication that I am not where I should be.  Yet is it a picture of where I am.   It is also a picture of the rebellious of this world, who hate the Lord and His commands.  And it is a picture of a body of people who think they own the commendation of the Lord of Life.

The world is a war ground.  And this is the result of rebellion toward God.  If we don’t hear the sounds of war in our front yard, it doesn’t mean there is no war.  God instills in His people a certain measure of His Truth.  And it is the instilling which causes all manner of turmoil among us.  All men are a people of rebellion.  Those who desire to understand more of God’s truth will encounter resistance from those who do not.  And the more truth we find or desire, the more intense will be the opposition.  The central portion of the conflict will always center around obedience vs rebellion.  And those who strive to obey will be fewer than those who rebel.   Yet one thing must be said regarding those who strive to obey.  Once the Truth of God is tasted, there will be no turning back.  I know this causes frustration in those who would wish this war to end.  But God’s Truth is a transforming power.  And once transformed from a solid liar to one who desires to know the Truth, there is no turning back.

It would not be proper to air our filthy laundry before the world.  But I find the word “our” is a bit mixed in this generation.  Corruption in teaching and in action have entered the Church, to the point that it’s hard to tell where it starts or where it ends.  What is called the church today often would not qualify as part of the war.  Men have come in to render her powerless and nullify this war.  They adopt every kind of teaching in the hopes that embracing the enemy will end in peace.  There will be no peace among men as long as there is even one person who remains in rebellion against God.  And so I speak against the diluted body of people who call themselves Christians.  I could name a pig “Christian”.  That doesn’t make it a child of God.

By His Grace.

 

By His Grace.

Swarm of Words

by

0


“What is the Kingdom of Heaven like. . . ?”  Why did the Lord say that?  Was He not sure?  No.  He was sure of His vision of where He had come from and where He was going.  But, “How shall I describe it?”  He was speaking to men of this world, who had never seen what He was describing.

I consider the vision He has allowed my mind to conceive.  How shall I describe this meager vision?  It is meager because I can only behold His words through the mind of man.  And I speak to the mind of man.  So what shall I say?

I wish to speak words of beauty.  The words that describe the joy He instills within my soul.  So:

Fill me with a swarm of words Lord!

Caress my soul with tools of Your beauty!

Allow me to speak what is true and eternal, to men of my own blood.

I sit enthroned in this tent of flesh.

And I see things radically “other”.

How shall I describe, and to what shall I liken, this beautiful vision You give?

 

By His Grace.