Tag Archives: comfort

How Much?

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Can you name anything on earth that’s free?  Everything costs something.  Even breathing requires an expense of energy from the lungs.  So, even air is not free.  We pay for it by physical labor.  Someone will say, “It’s a voluntary reflex.  And the energy expended is so small”.  But something is paid, regardless.  Isn’t it?

The Christian will tell you that salvation is free.  Now, I will differ with that.  We must believe that God’s word about himself is true.  That’s an expense of personal security, (at least as we perceive security) isn’t it?  Even salvation costs us something.  And the deeper we travel into Christ’s Holy will, the more we are asked to give up.  The more of our “trustworthy” perception we’re asked to relinquish.

I was going to target this idea to the atheist and such like.  But as I went to the Lord about it, I remembered the faithless Christians I’ve met.  I’m not going to go into an attack here.  But it’s important to make this point to all men, evidently.

If you want salvation from the Holy Lord of Life, you’re going to have to be willing to surrender some portion of your “dearly loved security”.  The more you sacrifice your safety, so that you can rely on God, the more He will grant you faith.  And why wouldn’t this be so?

From the man who is sure there is no God, to the one who thinks Christianity is a social club, you need to understand this.  Nothing on earth is free.  And the cost of Christianity is everything you’ve got.

Secret Christians

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You heckle from the sidelines.

What shame belongs to you!

The one who is blameless, and purified,

Has willingly died for you.

And you!  You keep it secret,

That faith you say you have.

While he endured the scourging;

That bloody nail pierced bath!

What shame belongs to you who hide,

And hope it goes away.

You live with joy because you think

He’ll save you on that day.

You laugh and dine without a care.

You dress yourself in the finest fare!

All the while your fearful stare,

Identifies who you are.

By His Grace

The Carpet of Potential.

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White

Image by Tolka Rover via Flickr

Before me lay the day.  It is rolled out in front of me as a clean white carpet.  I have never stepped one foot on this new “place of possibilities”.  And as I look about me I perceive the carpet to extend in every direction for the distance of a day. 

Where shall I set my first step?  How shall I know which direction to begin?  And haven’t I been here before?  I remember the days like this from years and years past.  How they settle against me now.  They are like an army of days of darkness.  I walked about on their carpets as a blind man.  And now they have amassed against me as an army.  They hold in their hands weapons of regret.  They hold my potential hostage, and wait like lions in the bushes to grasp this day’s hope.

I know what I will do.  I will call upon the Lord of Life.  He has in His hand the days of eternity.  He knows the way of each day.  And has seen the end of things from ancient days before.  I will beg His Glory to guide my first step.  I will set my face in the direction of His Holy whisper.  And I will allow the wind of His Pure Flame to direct my strength upon that foot. 

From the beginning, His Son was slain.  He set the foundations of the world with the intent of sacrificing His Son for a people blind, naked, hopeless, and purposeless.  This is the God who now directs the steps I make on this pure carpet about me.  I will walk in the strength of my God.  And I will not be ashamed. 

Rail against me, you days of regret! 

Speak of my failings, go ahead! 

I walk these days without your help. 

For I rest on the Lord of Glory!

By His Grace.

Has the Lord Been Here?

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Entrance to the cave

Image via Wikipedia

Every night my tent is pitched at the place my feet arrived.  And I settle down to rest from the noise.  The body seeks that certain death from activity.  And this rest is simply added to the history of many before.  I hope to dream something of interest; not just vague weird shapes.  The night has come.

Every morning I wake to check my camp.  “Has the Lord been here?”  He has come in nights past and left a blessing to that rest.  But none is found this morning.  Yet I take no note of sorrow or disappointment.  For another day has dawned.

The walk is like the masses are camped along a ridge.  And the shape of what lies before us lies vague but daunting beckoning.  “I bid you walk!”  The future thunders with a voice all men hear, “You will walk toward me!”  And we are forced to obey.

I will choose the place my feet will step.  I’m looking for that certain place.  In each day’s journey the Lord has placed a through way.  It might be a bridge, so narrow and spindly that only one may pass at a time.  It might be a hill so high and rugged that it will require every skill I possess.  It might be a dark cave, with only the dim glow of His presence shining from the deep bowels.  It might be a crumbling wall, impenetrable and tall.  Such walls are crumbling with time.  And only those who contain the Spirit of God will see the decay.

Some days are filled with “wait”.  Some are teaming with activity.  Some days are so threatening as to cause us to desire death.  And some days are filled with the blazing heat of God’s presence.  But each day is of its own character.  And the sleep before did not perceive the One who created what we now encounter.

He is God!  He IS!  Forever His will is to be accomplished, regardless man’s willingness to perceive or embrace it.  Look at your way, you people in the land of death.  Look at how your day dawns.  Consider your end and look around you with eyes of understanding.  One more night has escaped your grasp. Though you wished to hold it to your chest, it has evaporated none the less.  Do you really think the day belongs to you?  It will belong to God!  As the night has gone, so will the day.

Eternity is His.  Goodness is His.  Righteous belongs to God alone!  Hatred, ignorance, blindness, doubt, stumbling, and striving are ours.  Yet He is More!  Rise up and look with wisdom at the place you find your soul.  Today is all you have.  And even that is not fully yours.  For our hearts might fail this very day.

 

By His Grace.

The Noise Not Heard.

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Animated noise

Image via Wikipedia

Only sounds close reach my flesh.

The older I get the closer they must be.

Yet there is noise upon noise.

The older I get the less I hear

Of the noise the world affords an ear.

It’s the voice of God I seek.

And no ear will serve me well.

Rattle and prattle your wicked noise of hatred.

The din will rouse no saint.

There is a noise of always which rings with joy.

And no clanging will drown it out.

Speak, my Lord, I listen with heart.

Your ways and Your words are so welcome.

Turn back the rustle and bustle.

Let the voice of God stir my soul.

 

By His Grace.

The Troff

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During a time in my life when I was warring with immorality, I had a vision of a troff.    It snaked from side to side and was filled with perfect bodies.  Every one of them was face down and sliding along in a clear liquid. (It appeared like an endless water slide, in which the bodies floated en mass)  There was no ability for them to move or speak.  And I could detect no ability of these people to resist their position in their state.  I perceived that they had no control of their muscles.  I knew, without doubt, that this was the place of discipline for those who were caught up in any form of immorality in their lives here.  They are consigned to this place untill the Father has considered their punishment enough to drive this desire from them.  As if to say, “You desire the body?  Then here, I will give you bodies untill you are eternally sick of them.  You will NOT desire perverse pleasure from My creation!”

Now, I’m not going to tell anyone that this vision is absolute.  There would be no supporting scripture.  And I can’t draw worth a bean.  So it would do no good to try.  But what I can tell you is that God the Father is deadly serious about immorality in His children.  And the impact of His judgment against the immoral will be severe.  In short, He’s not Joking, as Americans often seem to believe.

I will post this following scripture as a reminder to us all.  This passage comes from Hebrews chapter 10.  If you even dabble in the thought that your bend toward immorality will be over looked, I’d strongly (STRONGLY) recommend that you rethink your position.

26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The Father is absolutely serious about His commands.  And those who allow themselves to be caught up in sin will suffer the consequences.  I don’t care if you mock the Lord’s solid commands.  But I can testify that such visions alone are enough to burn the conscience. 

Beautiful are the Lord’s commands!  He alone has it in His hand to accomplish salvation.  May the peace He had from the foundation of the world return to Him in full.  And may He reap the sweet fruit of obedience from all His children.  His enemies will suffer endless punishment.  But His mercy to those who desire Him will endure forever.  Do not be deceived, a man will reap what he sows.  God will not be mocked.

By His Grace.