Tag Archives: death

Likewise

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You can not sin against God without consequences.

Likewise:

You cannot love God without consequences.

One destroys, the other brings life.

You cannot remain apart from him without experiencing death in many fashions.

Likewise:

You cannot be included in his love without experiencing life in many fashions.
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PSALM 34

1 I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

By His Grace

Perhaps

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“We interrupt this presentation of the NFL for a special message from Billy Graham.”  And for the next hour and 12 minutes, Mr Graham gives us the Gospel.  How might such a thing be received?

A godless man will hate the living God.  A godless man is a tyrant over obedience.  He will not allow his heart and mind and soul to do anything for the Living God.  He is like a violent and jealous husband.  If he suspects that his heart desires what is good, he beats it cruelly, and treats it to all manner of vile behavior.  “Back to pleasure with you!  You will not do what is right!”

So the godless treat themselves.  Pleasure is their king, and they will not obey what is holy. 

They are like the young man whose eyes are full of insolence as he works at his job.  Though his boss says nothing, it is easily seen the boy does not love his work.  Trouble will surely come, for the child hates his place.

But there are some who will die watching football this season.  For them the interruption is not a mere hour and 12 minutes.  Eternity will break on them in less than a heartbeat.  And they will find their pleasure rudely interrupted.  They will finally obey God; their soul will remain in hell.

Not only will this happen to some who watch football.  It will happen in the sleep of some.  It will happen while they do their work.  It will happen to a few women as they go out to shop.  Death will appear without notice, claiming their soul for God.  The shock of death belongs to those who have not prepared their soul.

God is sovereign, he answers to no one.  But look how men treat him; as if they are sovereign and have a right to do as they please.  But God has already determined the end of a man’s life.  Go ahead and make three guesses, who wins, God or man?

You insolent masses to hate the Holy God who gave you life.  Pleasure is your god.  Rebelion is your worship.  As you despise going to work on Monday, for it interrupts your pleasure, so you despise obedience to the Holy Living God.  But you are the ones who will suffer.

During times of trouble you call on God.  Why should he listen to your words, you have not listened to his.  You act like you pray for a touchdown.  Expecting God to bless your desires.  How utterly void of understanding.  How fully insolent and arrogant!

“I am not a religious man.”‘  You say.  I am not a Jew, nor a priest, nor a Christian.  God does not expect of me the things he expects of you.” 

Your heart thinks in foolishness.  God has made every man.  And will surely call every man to account for the same Holy standards.  And you know this!  Look how you blame a label instead of taking responsibility for your own life!

You have already rehearsed your excuses.  But not a single one will do, when you lose your perceived sovereignty.  It will happen faster than you can think.  And eternity will be more sure than what you have now.

But do go and fill yourself with pleasure.  By every means, fill up the judgment against you.  To rebuke a foolish man is to incur wrath.  You do not listen to the Sovereign God, why should you listen to me?

When’s the last time you even looked at a Bible?  Have you ever spent time on your knees in prayer?  Have you used the name of God’s Holy Son in anything other than profanity?  Have you even considered the end of your days?

“Prop me up beside the jukebox when I die.”  This is the stupidity of the folly of man.  You will not be here for your corpse to enjoy.  Yet you think there is something to be gained by the life you lead now.

Since before you were born men have been warning of what is to come.  And even while you slept this morning, preparing for your hated Monday, the Holy Lord allowed me to write this message to you.

What use is it to say more?  I do not expect a single one of you to even find this message, let alone read it and understand.  Perhaps the Sovereign God will have mercy on you and show you this place.  Perhaps he will have mercy on you and strike you with a holy fear.

               Perhaps.

By His Grace

This Day, the Trembling Rabbit

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This day has never been.  And wicked men wake with fear.  Yesterday is now a testimony both for and against all men who lived it.  It is written in stone; unmovable and sure.

As men slept. their testimony of yesterday was rolled up as a scroll.  It was set in a place unreachable by the desire and hands of men.  It was set among the scrolls of all their yesterdays.  And the living God, himself alone. knows the place.

Men may remember small elements of yesterday.  But they are powerless to affect the testimony, either for good or for bad.  What remains in the hand of men is either regret or joy.

Left alone, regret is quickly covered up.  Perhaps a man drinks himself to oblivion to forget.  Perhaps he dresses his mind with the things he has learned to enjoy.  He says,  “I will cover my regret.  It is too much for me to bear.”

But regret is like a hungry wolf who walks beside you in the woods.  You hear the leaves rustle, just beyond your ability to see through the brush.  The snap of a tiny twig.  The brush of a branch against heavy fir.  The sound of heavy breathing as desire looks your way.  And if you could hear it, your ears would hear a drop of salivation strike the ground beneath his gaping mouth.  So it is with your regret which you hurry to mask as you wake from sleep.

If this is the case of yesterday, what will be today.  You will sleep tonight.  Will the morning see you scramble to cover today’s crop of regret?  Will you spend tomorrow trembling as you walk its path?

WHY?  Why do you live this way?  Why do you allow all your days to hunt you in the darkness?  Is it that you don’t know how to be released?  Is it that you have so well learned wickedness that you think it is normal?  Have you even come to the point where you attribute your own wicked ways to the living God and His holy son?  Do you say with confidence, “There is no way out!”

By this testimony you have no joy!  It is ripped away from the reach of your hand.  And you have ripped it away of your own volition.

How pathetic that men cover their regret with such trivial joy.  How sad that men should even know the word eternity.  How horrible the men should speak the word “joy”.

Black and dark are your days.  Hunted like some terror filled rabbit, you spend your day in useless trivia.  Ignoring the wolf does not quench his hunger for your blood.

Would you be free of this hideous cycle of hopeless behavior?  Or have you come to love the thrill of death?  Do you take joy in your useless life?

Have you heard of the gospel of Christ Jesus, the Holy Son of the living God?  I tell you a truth.  He can release you from your days as a victim of regret.  But the choice remains yours.

You may read the Bible.  You may listen to sermons.  You may witness people who live free of regret.  You may ask them and receive their answer.  But if you would join them you must do the things of God.

It is not enough to hear.  A blade of grass may shiver in its place from the sound waves of truth that shake its form.  Never the less, it is cut down by the gardener.  So it is with those who hear and do not do.

What is the urgency in your heart to be free of this cycle of death?  Go!  Go visit the holy and living words that can transform your very soul.  Force your blind eyes to read.  Then ask the living God for release.  And continue for the rest of your days doing these things.  This is the life that will bring you freedom.

Do you think he does not love you?  Is not this thought a product of your own wicked and unloving heart?  If God did not love you, would he have sent His Son to be murdered in your place?  Why would the Holy living God do such a foolish and wicked thing?

Release is!  The transformation from pathetic  rabbit to a godly joyous man is real!  Do not let your eyes look at others.  Many will testify that they have looked and found nothing.  How then can this man write these words?  Pay no attention to them.  They lie from the wickedness that is stored up in their own heart.

Regret comes to you because there are words describing joy.  People are clean and are free and you have seen them.  What will you give to join them?

Two cats

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Two cats lay dead on the road this morning.  They were squished by something far larger than themselves.

They came to that place to argue, fight and kill.  So which one is the victor?  I suppose one may say, “The one to die last.”

They could not conceive there was something greater than their greed.  So they held their worthless ground until judgement was passed.

Is this is what you want?  Are you determined to be the last one to die?  Why do you approach your brother with a callous heart?  Will you stand your worthless ground until all is done?

Do you really think you will escape the greater judgement?  For now you think your judgment is righteous.  But there is one who is waiting to lay low.

If the cats could have understood, they would have made fast friends of one another.  They would have watched each other’s back.  They would have died in peace together under a tree.

Check your foolish wisdom at the door.  The only right you have is to obey the commands of the living God in Christ Jesus His Holy Son.

Think about it.  That light approaching is the largest semi you have ever seen!

In the likeness

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He who continues in a life of rebellion against the Holy God can be likened to wild animals.  Such creatures do as pleases them, regardless where their feet take them.  They pursue ambition blindly, and ignorant of a certain and present danger.

There is the land and presence of man.  If a creature proves that he will not stop molesting what the man treasures, death or inevitable and permanent restraint  approaches quickly.

Imagine that a few animals were able to conspire against man as man does against God.  Would the animals understand the deadly instruments the man may wield?  Quite likely, not.

Once a bullet has found flesh, it does what bullets do.  Whether death or serious injury, change is made in the conspiracy.  But until the confrontation the conspiracy continues.

Man can be likened to God, in that he has patience.  Is there not an end to the patience of man?  How is it man assumes there is no end to the patience of God?  And yet they conspire with confidence.

Who is wise among men but that he ceases his activity of conspiracy?  Who is wise among men but that he that appeals to the “Most High” for truce?

Who is foolish among men but he who does not consider these things?  Who is foolish among men but he who continues in his rebellion thinking their are no consequences?

The Impending Wreck

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One by one he connected the couplings.  Moving forward then backing up.  By the length of his day, 200 loaded cars stretched out behind.  To rest and prepare, he bid his eyes sleep.

Just before dawn the engine roared again.  This time not for idle speed.   Black smoke billowed toward 70 miles an hour.  His mind focused on what must be done.

It is too expensive to waste time fretting; what loss may come along the way.  Evening, and he will reach his destination.  He sets his mind like steel.

Doing all he can, the wheels pounding, whining, whirling.  A blast of noise pierces the air:  “I’m coming through and you can’t stop me!  Let all who bleed beware!”

Heed is taken normally.  But this time life’s awry.  There’s someone stuck upon the tracks.  This someone’s about to die.

What happens next is not worthy of words.  The judgement has come for one.  And in his wake great tears will flow.  What justice can be done, with words written here?

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O’ man, you are like that train.  You couple your days together with sin.  All day long you do what you think is best.  You have believed the lie that every man does as is right for himself.  Come morning you push the throttle full, mindless of what comes next.

“There is danger.  Yes.  But I am here, and I will do the best I can.  Competition demands my excellence.  And I will give it to them in spades!”

You do not let God guide you.  You do not submit to His Holy way.  Therefore you speed, with all intensity, toward the gates of hell.

Who will stop you now.  And how long does it take to stop the train?  Would it not be wise to stop as soon as you can?  Would it not be wise to slow down and consider?

“I do not have time for your nonsense!  I have babes to feed and clothe!  Away with you!  You distract me from my goal.”

What do you think the engineer would give to allow his prey to live?  What precious thing might he own that will dry up the wells of tears?  What repair can he make to put salve upon regret; that his ruptured heart may heal?  All the while you believe it will not come to you.