Tag Archives: Christianity

Holy Becoming

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Two teams of men accomplished the securing of position yesterday.  The glory of man has become theirs.  Oregon and Ohio, have established the sum of their training.  Accolades are given.  Hopes of many rise to tumult.  And a place of decision waits to see the victor appear.

But there is an accomplishing that transcends any glory of man.  There is a “sum of training” that waits to be revealed.  Accolades for such as worship the Holy Son of God await.  But it is not a tumult of pride for those who endure into “The Faith”.  It is a Holy Noise of praise for the One who bought them.  It is a life of Holy power to become His.

The victory has been secured.  The world knows nothing of it.  They worship the accomplishments of their own hands.  But we wait for the New and Holy Song to appear from within our secured souls.

Let us train now!  Let us believe, listen, obey and become today!  Why can’t we overcome and glorify the Living God with the sum of our training?  Isn’t it because we have balked at the expectations and willingness of His Holy giving?

The victory has been secured.  What is this victory?  That the Living God cannot lie.  If He has proclaimed us as belonging to His Holy Son, then we can rightly receive His proclamation.

Rise up today!  Become, for the sake of His Glorious and Holy Name!  Then the testimony of His Righteous Son will shine within us.  Then we have no shame.  Then we have no fear.  Then we witness profusely and without ceasing.  Then we do not struggle for words.  Rather, we become His Holy Word.

Encourage yourself.  We only fail to stand because we have not believed.

True Pleasure

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If sadness does not accompany us on our waking.  If what is first in our desire, is to be full of joy and laugh.  If we find we can look back at our past with great pride.  If there is no fear within us for the things we love to do.  I submit to every man (Christian or not) , that such a life may not have the Living God within it at all. 

(By using the phrase “may not have”, I mean the odds are 99:1.  For those of you who know nothing about gambling or other games of chance, such odds are not even worth playing.  What sane person loves to play a game he knows he can never win?)

What is pleasurable in the flesh, stands at odds with the desire of the Living God.  There is a joy in the Holy Spirit.  But it is not like the joy of man.  Man is full of joy at what he has.  The Christian is full of joy in The Promise.

There is a history in every Christian that is worthy of peaceful contemplation.  But the world would not recognize it as peaceful.  The world would perceive such a life as a desperate insanity.  For the Christian finds that not one single thought of his own was worthy of thinking.  The Christian’s only moments of sanity, are those places where he obeyed. (And this in direct conflict with the desires of his body)

The Christian may carry a great pride, but it is not for the things he is, nor the things he does or has done.  The Christian’s pride is exclusively in the Lord who has purchased him.  Thus the vibrant testimony, which the world hates, thrives within the man of God.  The man of God will find it impossible to keep his mouth shut.

There is a trembling in fear the man of God owns.  But it is not a fear that restrains.  It is rather a fear that provokes.  It is the very engine of godliness.

The man of God will find that he loves to do the things the world hates.  He will also find that he is full of hatred for the things the world loves.  The people of the world are like a high maintenance woman; they must be entertained 24/7.  But the man of God is full of joy to do the simple things.

To those who stand outside Christianity, I testify that Christianity is not just another religion.  Christianity is always a becoming.  And to those who consider themselves Christians, yet find entertainment their highest priority, I suggest strongly that you reexamine your faith.

While the man of God lives on this earth, he is never at rest.  And the closer we get to the Living God in Christ Jesus, the more dynamic the separation appears.  The closer we get to Him, the less we are in turmoil.  But the journey is easily compared to a bloody and protracted war.  What man can endure such a life on his own?

You can have your life of joy, and peace, and pride.  I would much rather live the life of humiliation before the Living God.  I would rather own no righteousness, than to be full of self praise.

For when I find my own ways abhorrent, then I know I agree with eternal ways of the Holy and Loving God.  And this, my friends, is peace eternal.  This, my friends, is Christianity.

My brothers and sisters in Christ: Check the boxes.  Where has your faith agreed with these things?  Do you find yourself afraid to testify?  Are you fully absorbed in the things the world loves? 

How could you possibly be at peace in godly testimony?  Such a fear testifies that you agree with the world; “Jesus is an embarrassment to you”.

You may think this is a very harsh statement.  But remember that Jesus was not ashamed of his Heavenly Father.  Even to the extreme humiliation of beating and death, he knew he was at war with the things of this world.

Every hero in the Christian faith has lived his life in a desperate war.  If you find yourself living a life of peaceful joy, as you pursue and mingle with those things of the world, how could you possibly be a disciple of Christ?

Any man can call himself anything he pleases.  But there is a line of demarcation.  God himself has drawn the line, in the bloody body of His Holy Son.  And there are far more who straddle that line than those who cross it.

I wrote this to describe the radical difference between Christianity and any other way of life.  But as I came to completion, I began to realize that Christianity has been so watered down that it is almost unrecognizable.

If you consider my last few words to be an attack, you are reading with the glasses of pride, proudly poised on your upturned nose.  The man of God takes instruction where he finds it.  He may not yet be humble, but he knows that is the desired place to live.

I am finished writing this post.  I realize it is not only an instruction, it is also a declaration of war.  So be it.

By His Grace

How Much?

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If you want to live forever, seek out Jesus the Christ of God.

If you want to serve Him faithfully, seek out Jesus the Christ of God.

What is the fullness that God is willing to give to man?  Seek out Jesus the Christ of God.  Only then can you begin to know.

If you think you “have”, seek out Jesus the Christ of God.

By His Grace

Filthy Putrid Tares!

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Are you a “Tare”?  It’s highly unlikely that you’d be reading this if that were so.  Tares don’t go looking to better themselves in Christ.  And they don’t go snooping around in holy oriented writings.

They might be able to mingle among the wheat.  But they do that for identity purposes.  It’s not that they admire the wheat.  They’re not “wannabe” Christians.  They’re socialites that like being identified with the “glamorous” lifestyle of dedicated Christianity.  How pathetically lacking in insight.

There’s nothing glamorous about Christianity.  Dying to self, serving with no thanks, being hated for the way we think, and being outcast (often) from even those who seek to serve the Lord.  There is nothing glamorous about such a life.  How pathetic then are those who desire to be identified with such, yet make no attempt to “become” on their own.

No, if you’re a tare, you’re not likely to sit at home and read such an article as this.  So that begs the question: “Why did you write this then?”

Because I wanted to write something about the problem of the wheat and tares among us.  Because there are so many articles already written by a myriad of authors.  Because the problem still persists, and little can be done about it.  Because the wheat often suffer at the infiltration of filthy hearts.  Because I despise such a soul’s disregard for what is holy.  Because I wanted to poke fun at their obvious lack of respect for the Living God.  And because I hate what such people have done to the beautiful assembly of dedicated hearts.  Wherever they appear, there is a putrid stench of “self” floating through out the body of Christ!  And this comes to us courtesy of Christ’s enemy.

 

Let them come read.  Let them come and be ashamed.  Let them come and consider that they have no part in the promises of Christ to His people.  Let them come and realize that they will be gathered before us!  Let them come and understand that the Consuming Fire awaits their “first plucking”.  Let them repent of their selfish ways!  Let them realize that God desires none to perish, but for all to come to the full knowledge of salvation.  Let them REPENT and LIVE!

 

The Hardest of Things

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What is the hardest aspect of Christianity?  Contrary to popular belief, the hardest thing in Christianity is not found in the do’s and don’ts.  Even the ridicule and shunning of society is a trifle compared to the hardest thing in Christianity. 

If one can master this most difficult aspect, Christianity is a lovely place to live.  No matter what comes against us, either from within or from without, mastery of this aspect makes us invulnerable.

Making the decision to follow Christ comes after the most difficult choice.  And this choice does not fade over time.  It remains the most difficult of all Christian things.

What is the most difficult aspect of Christianity? “Believing.”

By His Grace

The Aberrant Me

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The wisdom of God, now attends my days.  If someone must place a percentage, I confess that the Lord Jesus rules, well over, 90% of my thoughts.  Personally I think that is a conservative percentage.  But the opinion of man cannot be trusted.

He has done all this!  The entirety of the gospel belongs to him.  And from the message of the gospel the ascension from sin has become.

I am not saying I am sinless.  Rather I am saying there is placed a brutal guard over all my thoughts and actions.  And if one escapes, he is captured and brought back for examination.  Execution belongs to the culprit.

Yet more credit belongs to the power of God to transform.  For God instructs, moment by moment, according to His perfect righteous ways.  According to my willing ability to obey.

These things are marvelous, and a very welcome life!  But something “other”, even more amazing, comes to visit from time to time.  And this “other”, is the provocation for this writing.

I am often reminded, by some familiarity, of the man I used to be.  And with stunning clarity,, and regularity, I find no righteousness in my past.  The word “no” has a definitive meaning.

Let any memory come to mind, and my response is shocking revulsion.  At first I am shocked that I would do such things for such reasons.  And then quickly comes the shocking revelation that I am not dead.

We have all heard it said, in one fashion or another, “If it were not for Christ Jesus I would have no life at all”.

If confession were made, most Christians would confess, their nod is without full understanding.  By what they know of Christianity, that saying must be true.  Though they embrace it, spiritual fruit in their life displays their lack.

In this the saying of the Lord is true, he who is forgiven much loves much.  Conversely, he who finds little need for forgiveness, is likely to rely on his own ability.  This one’s love is likely to be split between the Sovereign God and himself.

I do not mean to say this with judgment.  It is simply a fact of life.

But the longer and farther I walk with Jesus, the more alien and repulsive my past becomes.  It can be likened to a virus, which has attached itself to every memory; this lack which provokes amazement.

I pray this has some value to my brothers and sisters, and to those who desire to become Christians.  May every child of God come to abhor who he was.

It occurs to me, that there may be an oddball or two out there like me.  A few who actually desire this place the Lord has brought me to stand.

How can such a one hope to arrive?  The answer is rather simple.  However the journey is anything but.

Give yourself permission to examine every action and every motive you have ever had.  Hold it up as one would a transparency into the light.  Examine it before the righteousness of God.  The comparison will be stunning.

Such a life is not for the faint of heart.  But wasn’t it said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven is forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it”?

By His Grace