Tag Archives: Christianity

Alive in Christ

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We speak the words of condemnation.

Do you listen?

Can you do what you know is right?

We speak the words of Purest Hope.

Can you perceive?

Can you imagine a life without sin?

 

Man is not flesh.

He is soul dressed in flesh.

The world knows this.

The soul has understood what the body denies.

Do they not avert their eyes from one another?

The eye is the window to the soul.

And by these tiny balls, one soul can see another.

 

What if you could live your life without sin?

What if you could drive your flesh according to the will of the soul?

This is not what man does, on his own.

Man allows the things of flesh to direct his soul.

But there is a life, in Christ Jesus, where we learn the inverse.

 

Mysticism teaches about such things.

They call it an “out-of-body” experience.

They perceive the key, but fail to accomplish.

They know that living in the body cannot produce true life.

They speak of leaving this place to experience “more”.

And they will tell you that man can do this himself.

 

Christians will tell you that is a lie.

Christians will speak of living an “in body” experience.

Christians will tell you that there is a place,

Where God will grant a man’s soul to be driven by the Holy Spirit of God.

Christians learn to drive the flesh into obedience to what is Holy.

Christians will testify that the body can become slave to the soul’s holy desire.

 

And Christians will willingly testify that this ability does not come from their own ability.

It is a gift of God in Christ Jesus, the Holy Son of God.

Transformation comes, in time, and the believer becomes the intent of God for man.

All the while Christians learn to obey the Holy Laws of God.

I am not speaking of those who call themselves Christian and go no farther.

I am speaking of those who believe to the “doing of the will of God”.

 

Can you hear what I am saying?

Is there understanding emerging from your soul?

I am not speaking down to you.

I’m trying to wake you to the truth of our life here.

Men go about providing for the flesh all day long.

But what about the, more important, soul?

 

Do you yearn to be free from the wicked things you find yourself doing?

You will not be free if you continue to allow your flesh to dictate the day’s doings.

Condemnation abounds against us for such things.

For your flesh desires only the things of this world.

It knows nothing of heavenly things, nor desires it.

And we all, all men, know better.

For we ARE soul.

 

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.   8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

9  “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?   10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?   11  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7)

Do you remember?

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Do you remember?  Do you remember what hopelessness feels like?  We struggle along the “Way”.  But how can the struggle be compared to endless sins?  Do you remember?

Do you remember when there was no prayer?  We look back now and have forgotten the agony of life.  Like the rest of the world, we called on things of our imagination.  We learned from others what they thought worked.   We did not know God’s Christ.  All we knew was his Holy Law. 

Let a vicious dog stand in my way, and I will find another way around.  Even if the way around takes far too long and robs me of my expectation, it is better to arrive with all my limbs.  Do you remember?

So it is with the world.  Do you remember?  They have nowhere to go but expectation of judgement.  Their soul knows it and they avert their eyes.  Do you remember?

The cold of hopeless sleep.  The necessity for sin as a distraction from what is sure to come.  The chasing after things that do not last, for what lasts does not belong to them.  Do you remember?

They cannot pray and no one prays with them.  So they worship angels and idols.  Prayer to them is the hope of gain.  What little and temporary they can gain with their hands is the sum of their prayer.  Do you remember?

Or have we begun to feel sorry for ourselves?   The way of God can be impossibly arduous if we’ve try to walk it in the flesh.  If such is the case, we have forgotten.  Remember.

Another Religion?

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Why do Christians preach to man?  What right do we have to firmly believe that we have the answers? Men will say to us, “You are just like us.  We see your sins.  We perceive your faults.  There are plenty of religions among us.  What need do we have for yours?  By some reason, you think what you believe belongs in the belly of everyone.  You are no different from any other cultish behavior of any other obnoxious religion.”

We are just like you.  Therefore we know the extent of man’s rebellion against God.  We too are sinners with plenty of faults among us.  And what we preach presents itself faultlessly as the final answer to all man’s troubles.  From without, you cannot understand what we say.  But if you would enter Christianity the Lord would prove His words to you.

However, your problem is that once you enter you will find yourself compelled to stay.  By your questions you prove you are not ready or willing.  But neither were we.  We do not preach fables.  We do not believe as we do because a man has told us.  We believe because the Heavenly Father has drawn us to His Holy Son.

Because of the rebellion of man against the Holy One, there are plenty of religions, indeed!  But we have found that man’s need is not satisfied by opinion.  We have found that Christ Jesus fulfills every need of every religion.  He leaves no stone unturned.  He is Holy Truth embodied.  For this reason (That the Lord Jesus is the embodiment of truth) we are obnoxious to you even as the Lord Jesus was once obnoxious to us.

The pride of man will refuse to believe that he is nothing.  The pride of man builds his own answers, as if a man can say he has seen the Holy Living God.  But as we believe, the Lord strips that rebellious spirit from us.  Humility comes to understand.  Humility fears the Living God.  Humility is the necessary first step in understanding what is Holy and Good.

Jesus proves to His people that He has every right to claim the singular title of “Son of God”.  We are not tossed about, as are other religions, by every desire and fabrication of man’s mind.  Yes there are many who claim to be Christians yet offer a seriously blemished testimony of God’s perfect commands.  And the best of us will falter from time to time.  But Christ Jesus remains the same in His Holy command to, “Be holy, even as your Father in Heaven is holy”.   And He teaches His people to understand these things.

You may find fault with us.  But you will also find absolute truth within us.  Ask.  Provoke the testimony within us.  Keep asking questions.  The Lord will testify from within His people.  We willingly confess our lack before all who ask.  But you will not find fault with the Son of God.

You will say, “How can you be sure that what you believe connects with Heaven?”  We know it by the living words of the Bible.  And it is confirmed within us by the Holy Spirit He gives; the Spirit which is sent from the Living Lord Jesus Himself.  Though it is by faith, this faith is not like that faith a man holds in things unseen.   The faith we have is given to us from the Heavenly Father. He confirms His Lovely Son’s position before Him.   There is a leading from the Lord.  There is a “proof”, which over time, confirms without doubt those things we preach to the world.

Warnings vs The Power of God

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Christians are warned, all day long, to abstain from a variety of worldly delights.   “Don’t watch questionable movies.  Don’t listen to ungodly music.  Don’t read the books printed by godless souls.  Don’t dress to entice or to display your wealth.  Don’t purchase necessities that are ornamented to promote your position in life.  Watch your tongue, lest you speak filthy words.  Love everyone with a godly love.”  On and on it goes.  Warnings are spouted day and night.  And even I have warned against many such things.

But do the warnings work?  Or do they do more harm than good?

Take a look at the members of your church.  Consider those you know who profess themselves to be Christian.  I’m not asking you to judge them.  I’m asking you to assess the viability of warnings.  Do you see holy living appear in most professing Christians?

There is a distinct difference between obeying the words of another, and becoming obedient yourself.  If you are doing simply because someone told you to do, you are falling short of the possible height to which God can raise you.

Those who warn you are doing so from two possible sources.  Either they have heard or read that such warnings are useful.  Or they have come to understand the Christian life personally.

To read about the life of a saint is a good thing.  But to use the writings to create your own Christianity is not a good thing.  “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builder builds in vain.”  Don’t only emulate what is good.  Come to know the Living God through Christ Jesus yourself.  Then you will begin to see His Holy hand create the things of Christ within you.

When He is your God (and you cease from allowing the understanding of others be the power of God within you) you will see a transformed life that requires no work from you.  For now, you work hard to remember how to act and do righteousness.  But when the power of the Spirit dresses your soul, your heart becomes transformed to emulate the Living God.

Warnings no longer apply to you.  Now you see possibilities.  Your mind is freed from concentration on the words and lives of others.  Now you become one of those whose life can be an example of all that is holy among men.

On your own

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What is the difference between the tears a believer in Christ and the godless?  What is the difference when a believer in Christ is afraid or the godless know fear?  What difference is there when the child of a believer dies or the child of a godless man dies?

If you would cry or be afraid or lose your loved ones, why would you try to do so on your own? 

You will cry.  You will be afraid.  You will lose your children to death.  You yourself will inhabit a life of hopelessness.  So what is the difference whether you inhabit that life alone or with the living God’s help?

Do you know what keeps you from him?  Do you know why you reject the gospel?  It’s not because God is invisible.  And it’s not because this world is so wicked.  You simply reject the gospel because you are simply proud.

You have to face life alone.  You exercise faith every moment of every day.  Why not put your faith in Jesus?  Why not allow humility to take the place of pride?

My heart aches for you.  I know what is coming upon the world.  You will cry.  You will be horribly afraid.  You will lose your children and your loved ones.  Some will starve to death.  Others will die from hideous disease.  Earthquakes and Wars will kill and maim at random. 

Why would you face this?  Most men and women will curse God to his face.  Why would you be one of them?  Humble yourself.  Why is this too much to ask?

By His Grace

The island

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In the pitch like darkness of the deep ocean a rumbling of silt and sand occurred.  The slime of refuse gave way to molten rock.  Without approval, a mountain began to grow in the darkness.

The place had been desolate and quiet.  Though it had been a place of gathering for refuse, peacefulness and quiet had attended upon it. But now violence erupted where once there was nothing but filth.  The lord was pleased to cause a new place to grow.  And in his pleasure he spoke growth and life.

Lava forced upward the plate of rock that had once been the bottom of the ocean.  Months of great pressure and violence pushed the plate of rock toward the top of the sea.  Light began to touch the surface of the rock and it cringed at the new world it was being forced to inhabit.  Convulsions shook the plate and the edges curled around its new support.  “I am to perish!  Surely I am dying!”

“What are you doing Oh Lord Great God?  Did I not serve you well in the place where I was?  What is my sin that you should rip me from my rest?”  But the plate heard no reply.

Soon the sound of waves crashing at the edge stirred the plate into near panic.  How deeply it desired to return to its former place.  “This is no place of peace!  It is a place of torture!  What have I done to deserve this horrific uprooting?  Was I not content and faithful to support what the world no longer needed?”  Again, there was no sound from the Living God.  Only the frightening roar of water at the shore.  The tumult threatened to rip the rock apart.

In the years of a rock, very little time passed before the silt upon it top begin to produce.  Shrubs and rough grass filtered in to begin the final transformation.  Seeds had appeared by virtue of the birds who came to visit.  All the while the little island was frightened to see his surface so abused.

As the Island got use to its new place it began to see the beauty of the violence.  The Sun would rise and set, warming the rock in a new place called day.  The moon would bathe him in glorious shimmers; not at all like the darkness he had known.  And the sound of the waves often put him into peaceful sleep.  The wind of God shaped him into smooth and various form.  And the storms which came and went were a wonderous delight of activity.

One day, still a great mystery to the island, an animal set foot on his soil.  With great interest he watched this one.  It was not at all like the others who had come to visit.  Nor was it like those who had been a part of his previous world.  For the first time since his peaceful slumber of filth, the island felt pure joy.

“I like this one Lord.”  The island was heard to say.  “He tickles and scratches at my surface.  And now I am pleased for what you have done.  The pain and memory is receding and now there is joy.”

Centuries passed, and the island was a happy place of thriving life for a multitude of creatures.  What he had been before, he no longer desired to remember.  Joy filled his days and his new place produced great fruit for the Sovereign God who had caused him to be.

“Give thanks to the Lord and be faithful for He is good.  His mercy endures forever!  Be faithful and joy filled.  Give thanks and praise to God.”   The island had come to sing a new song.  “Do not be discouraged at the tumult which now attends your days.  For soon you will be thankful for the violent uprooting.”

By His Grace