Tag Archives: Divine grace

Tough Stuff Requires Tough Response

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Sayer fight

Sayer fight (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We live in a very controlled space.  Vacuum above, rocks below, winds, storms, great cold and heat, all assault our experience here.  Then there’s bugs of various sorts, some can cause harm, others are simply a bother.  Animals abound; some to eat, some to treat, some to abhor, and some would love to eat us.

Then we have the humans themselves.  To make a friend is a milestone in our experience.  To keep a friend is a milestone in itself.  But we can be sure we will be assailed by humanity, along with all the other plagues we encounter here.

Added to this boxing match, arrives political, social, economic troubles, personal thoughts and attitudes that need adjusting every day all day long.  We all know about these things.  But what has arrived among us is something a bit out of the ordinary.

It was that sins were a bit isolated among men.  One city would embrace a certain sin.  But you could always walk or ride to another place to escape their folly.  But with the advent of communications and faster, more reliable, transportation, the isolation of the sins of man have encountered a boundless habitat.  Now I challenge anyone to point to a place on earth where we can set up a roof and live a life absent of the refinement of wickedness we have come to teach each other.

How I desire to be removed from the complicated garbage that man advertises as prime today.  The body has replaced the concentration on holiness of spirit.  Medical commercials, ways to play, and financial “get well quick” schemes abound.  It is getting to where we are more aware of the things of this world than of eternity where God lives; forever past and forever future.  The temporary has become man’s god en masse.

This is not the end to escalation for sins.  There is a place where man is allowed to abandon all trace of conscience.  If it is hard to live in purity today, what will happen in that day?  Gone will be any hint of a peaceful little town where you can leave your doors unlocked.  Gone will be the day when owning some kind of lethal tool to protect what you call yours is an option.

Most people I know simply don’t want to talk about what they see happening anymore.  And if you bring them the Gospel, you find them backing up.  They no longer see the Gospel as a message of hope.  They only perceive another demand.  And they are absolutely inundated with demands.

What a curious ruse has been set upon man.  He is in a position of defence, from waking to waking again.  Peace is no longer an option.  And this isn’t even the height of horror that is bound to come.  Slowly, man is being squeezed into a stark choice; Fight or die cowering.  The evil one has man just about where he wants them to be.  And the end of things can’t be far behind that point.

All this said, it is important to encourage one another to fight the good fight with even more strength.  Even the best of us today is plagued with a monstrous onslaught of sin.  Hold each other up.  Look for signs of tiring.  Strengthen trust between your brothers and sisters.  The silver lining surrounding all this is the grace of God in Christ Jesus for all who are struggling to obey.

I posted this to say that I see it clearly enough (the struggle you face every day).  Oddly, this is a post of encouragement.  May God bless this message to all His people.

By His Grace.

Lack of Will = Lack of Productivity.

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Productivity

Productivity (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Lord has given as He pleases to men.  To some He has determined to restrain the mind.  To those He extends a wonderfully beautiful grace.  Yet to most men He has given a full mind, capable of understanding and free to choose what is good or evil.

It is the way of men, in all generations, to do what is partial.  To work, think, will, and choose, with half a heart or less.  We see it appear in the work place.  And productivity suffers as a result.  We see it make itself known in the family.  And parents, as well as children, suffer under an oppression of half heartedness.  And we see this choice to live half-hearted lives make itself known in even the Church of Jesus, the Lord of pure life.   And the testimony of the Most High God suffers under the oppression of this rebellion among men.

I urge all of us, including myself, to consider what you are capable of producing for the sake of God’s grace extended to us.  If your mind works well enough to rebel against what is good, then it also has the potential to obey.  What is it that causes this lack of productivity in the world and in full sight of Heaven?  Is it not laziness?  We prefer to remain ignorant of what is good.  We make that choice with our very desire to be less than what we know is good.  “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 4:17)

Strengthen your will.  Move toward what is good and God will bless you for it.  Every step you take toward His perfection will receive what is appropriate.  God is wise, merciful, yet is judge of all men.  Be wise then and turn away from the slothful spirit that grips all men.  Be diligent.  Become aware of what is right and good, and then do what you know must be done.  There is no other word, given to men, concerning this.  It is up to each of us to work hard to present the Lord with the fruit He deserves on the day He judges His people.  All good things belong to God.  And those who render their lives to the doing of the will of God will not fail to receive what is promised.

Is there something you do not fully understand?  Have you come to a place where what is good is obscured, and confusing?  Then we should pray in these places.  Does anyone rightfully believe that God will restrain understanding while holding us under judgment?  It is not His will that any should die, but that all should come to an understanding of His Holy Will.  He will give you what you need to endure such tests.  But we are not talking of those moments as much as the simpleton ideals of sloth.  If we present ourselves toward what is right, so that we might do it, we will prove far more able to encounter those moments of doubt.

If you stand as one who does not believe, then reach out toward God and believe.  It is for this very reason that you were given life.  If you are of those who believe, yet find yourself less than you ought to be, surrender to what is right.  We are only given this one life to allow our hearts to be tested.  And after this we will give account to Him regarding His testimony in Christ Jesus.  And let us not mistake this:  Right now is eternity.  The future belongs to God.  What has been done belongs to God.  Only this very moment belongs to you to make choices toward what is right and good.   And it is at this very moment that you can choose to do what is in your hand to do.

Do not be fooled by liars.  He who does what is right is righteous.  And He who chases after the things of God receives the blessing of God.  All else will be destroyed.  This is a truth:  Only God and what is His will enter eternity.  All else will cease to be.  Let us all be willing to produce for the sake of His Holy Name.  If you lack willingness then ask Him for a willing heart.  Those who earnestly seek Him find Him.  Those who chase righteousness with half a heart will end their days with nothing.  And those who remain willingly in rebellion will receive the reward which is held in waiting for the destruction of “the accuser”.   What more can be said about this?

By His Grace.

Reach Deeper

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English: Bridleway crossing The signpost looks...

Sometimes I post things I learn.  Sometimes I post things I’m being taught.  In this post it of the latter.

The world around us is so very demanding.  Sleepless nights abound.  The body gets weaker.  And our resistance to temptation becomes less.  It is at these very moments when our strength is shown for what it is.  And far too often we find ourselves slipping where we would not have slipped before.

Because I am in the throes of just such a time, I urge us all to consider that the testing of our hearts does not end at the end of any certain moment.  We are rightfully expected to endure to the end.  This expectation has mercy laced through it.  But let us strive hard enough so that we don’t need to rely on the Grace of God to accomplish the things He has put in our hands.  What I mean is that we shouldn’t find ourselves coming to Him begging forgiveness because we have sinned.  It would be immeasurably better to come to Him to thank Him for having given us the strength to endure.

When you find that temptation is rousing strength within you, reach deeper.  Who contends in any sport or business or relationship with half a heart and wins?  Those who overcome are those who consider the winning worth everything.

 

By His Grace.