Tag Archives: eternity

Two Boxes

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Another day, driven from the possibility of opportunity.  Ripped from our hands by the weakness of humanity.  The seconds, appearing on the day, have exacted their proper respect from unwilling victims.

What was accomplished remains as “was”.  And our failures retain the same name.  The front of a second is full of potential.  Its back is an eternal seal. 

Every second becomes like an impenetrable box.  They appear predictably, yet mysteriously, then vanish from our grasp.  Nothing else in creation is quite like them.  In the language of men, seconds are the building blocks of time.

Forgiveness and glory are stored in the one kind of box.  Sin and regret have a box of their own. 

Yesterday becomes but a wish.  We wish we had done more.  Or we are forced to wish we had not done.

Today is upon you.  Today is upon us all.  What will be in the boxes of tomorrow is in our hands right now.

Millions of people prove that it is entirely possible to leave the box of forgiveness and glory completely empty all their lives.

I am up the firm persuasion that it is equally in our grasp to leave the box of sin and regret empty also.  But for that you need the power of Christ Jesus in you.

The end of every day must see additions to a box.  And each man owns two.

And by the way, this entire concept applies to our thoughts as well.  Just because they refuse to unveil themselves to our perceptions, doesn’t mean they don’t have substance.  If anyone thought they were in trouble because of their doings, they should realize their thoughts are also vulnerable to condemnation.  After all our brain belongs to us.

By His Grace

“Have”

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The word “have” is very curious.  With that word we pronounce ownership.  “I have a car.”  “I have a coat.”  “I have an apple.” 

Perhaps there is a moment when those three things can be true.  But just like with everything in this world, “have” is destined to face a certain demise.  Three of its letters are taken away and one is given.  In the stroke of a moment, “have” becomes “had”.  (pun intended)

This being the case, it is right to ask the following question.  Does “have” own and eternal definition?  Is there a place where what we have cannot ever leave us?

And forgive me for meddling in the affairs of men.  But why do we place such prominence on the things we cannot keep?  Why do we love the word “have” and despise the word “had”, when the second reigns supreme over the first.

I’ll leave it to the reader to think it through.

By His Grace

Time and Eternity

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Among the things of man there are places that we “wait” to encounter.  We wait for Sunday, that we might attend worship with our brothers.  The time in the middle of the week to gather together and study the Holy Word.  Perhaps there is also a time in our lives when we gather together to pray as one.  And there is a “waiting” for these moments to appear.

But there need be no waiting to become one with God in Christ Jesus.  The body needs to wait for the next appearance of event.  But the soul has no sense of time.  For the soul is of the same essence as the Spirit of God.  It is timeless.

Those who live according to the needs of the body separate one moment from another.  Those who live according to the nature of the soul, find recognition of time a burden.  They do not take note of passing moments that have come and gone without productivity.  But they live in eternity.

Prayer and worship are not a place on this earth.  they are a matter of posture.  It is the result of a life led in the Spirit of God.

No Beast at All

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The imagination of man is a most hideous place to live.  In that realm, a man envisions his fellow man as an enemy of ghastly proportions.  Such an enemy is able to decapitate him with a Q-tip.  How much fear does that generate?

In the night, while sitting under a tree, a man hears a small noise.  Fear whelms up and fires the furnace of imagination.  Seared by an unholy fire, the man perceives that the falling of a twig is the presence of some horrible beast with glowing eyes, 12 inch razor claws, and frothing jaws.  And this beast does not wander aimlessly!  It has the very man in his perfect sight!

What we don’t know can certainly destroy us.  Not because it is.  But simply because we cannot perceive it with our senses.  How tiny are we who live in the land of the dead?

Even when we encounter the Gospel, we often turn to imagination to explain what we don’t understand.  Isn’t this the reason for idolatry of various kinds?  We strive to make “something” out of what we perceive to be from “nothing”.

With the imagination, we hate our brother out of unfounded fear.  With the imagination, we turn the Glory of heaven into the ravaging chaos of hell.  With the imagination, we dispel the hope of Truth by employing an endless volume of lies.  And all this resides firmly within every man.

We fear what we don’t understand.  We grasp with iron fist, the things of death.  For that is the only reality man has ever known.  “Certainly, if I listen to the Gospel, I will find a God who takes glee at my destruction.  For I am a wicked man who loves wicked things.  And the man who comes to me to speak the holy words of God, only desires to decapitate me with a Q-tip!”

My fellow brother of flesh.  I do bring you the Gospel.  But strive with whatever strength you can, to understand the meaning of that word.  “Gospel” means “Good News”.

I know your heart, for I have the same wicked things in me.  It is not a monster that calls to your soul.  It is the vibrant Love of the Living God that calls to you.  He has proved His Holy Love in the Holy Body of His Beautiful, Faithful, Strong, and Righteous Son.

He wants to ease your fears.  He wants to quench the flames of your unholy imagination.  He wants to replace lies with Eternal Truth.  He wants to relieve you of the drunkenness of fear, to be replaced by the sobriety of peace.

By His Holy Wisdom, He has left free will alone.  You must make the choice to accept His willingness to heal you.

As foolish as it may seem, laying down our lies is a very painful process.  But lies are death.  Truth is Eternal Life.  You don’t have the latter.  Will you endure the former?

The noise you hear, as I speak these things, is no hideous monster.  It is the foot steps of the One who has already proved that He loves you.  Will you find the strength to love Him back enough to be devoured by His Holy Promise of Love?

Equality?

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Holy Father, Righteous Sovereign God, I hear what they say about you.  They say they are like you; that all the qualities of God reside in man.  Such are the ruminations of darkened minds, distant from your Holy Throne.

How can we possibly be like you, O’ Holy One?  But the sea imagines itself suspended above the earth.  Men glorify themselves but they give you no place to reside.  In the desperate weakness of imagination, men bring you down to equality.

But your Majestic Holy Throne, Glorious Father, blazes with perfect intensity.  For eternity you have been, with not one misstep through countless ages.  You alone are Life and Good!  Not even the smallest grain of dust exists outside of your knowledge.  Still men seek to bring you down.

Lazy souls who will not rise, they imagine you kneeling before them.  They imagine you giving them excellent praise for their good and sound ways. 

Darkness covers them with the greatest of covering; a thick sheet of black slime covers their unholy eyes.  Not one sliver of your Glorious Majesty penetrates to their perception.  Yet they announce their great knowledge, with a vast joyful pride.  They have learned to roll mud into a ball, and they praise one another as if they are gods!

They have dispatched the Living God to obscurity.  His Holy and Righteous Son they ignore.  For eternity he has been your very mouth.  Your every desire, Holy Father, has found excellent willingness to accomplish in your Holy and Righteous Son.  He alone have you elevated to the highest place of honor.  For in all things he is, you are First.

But he too, men relegate to obscurity and uselessness. “Leave this Jesus to the children and to fools, we must establish our place and make a profit.  For now, we have no time for the Son of God! 

Perhaps when we are aged we will give him some consideration.  He will have to wait, for the things of men are desperately important. 

The volume of men has spoken, God and His Son are useless in this glorified place of man.  But we will retain the beauty of angels, for as servants they make no demands of our time. 

Let God and his son come and walk with us.  Let them put their hands to work that they may be useful among us.  Cause us profit and feed are aching bellies! 

Be useful and help us in our times of need.   Retain your place among us, as we have prescribed, and we may give you glory when we have time.”  With this they render you blasphemy instead of praise!

You have seen all these things Holy Father.  And you have prepared a place to encounter them.  There they will be fully ashamed, and you will sweep away their frail hope with the beauty of your appearance.  There they will realize the folly of their useless imagination.

You have raised up a people for yourself by your own perfect desire.  You teach them how to love you.  Your Holy beauty and wisdom, righteousness and patience, provokes them to obey.  Because of this, kneeling before you with humble hearts of praise is first in their mind.  Equality with God is not an option!

By His Grace

Curiosity is

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It is not possible to live in Christ without testifying.   If we speak that testimony with words, then good.  But everything we are reflects who we have been willing to become before Him.  It can’t be hidden, not before every creature in heaven, nor every human on earth.

Has this come home to roost in our tree of understanding?   Have we come to place this truth in front of everything we think or do?  How would our life change if we forced ourselves to remember this, as if a “First” habit?

Give a young man a Ferrari for his birthday.  There will come a place where he will certainly test its ability.  Isn’t that the nature of humanity?  And isn’t that why we consider such parents to be foolish?

We are disciples of the Most High God in His Holy Son.  By the power of his endless Holy Spirit we serve Him.  Excuse me for stating the obvious, but how does a Ferrari compare?  Tell me, if you can, why do we suppress our natural tendency to “Give it all its got” when it comes to the promises of God?

Man is not stripped of curiosity when he becomes a Christian, in fact it is enhanced.  Despite the shocking ability of a Ferrari, it has a limit.  It requires a road, gasoline, and a human to drive it.

But what God offers us comes from his Eternal Sovereignty.  Why wouldn’t it be advisable to take some time and consider this?  What does God offer that we are not willing to test?  Why do Christians lay down their curiosity before they enter His Holy Throne?

Curiosity is not of the flesh.  It is a gift from God to our soul, that we may search out his marvelous willingness.  The flesh is only curious about the things it can get away with.  But our soul should be curious about the things we can receive.

If what you want are the Ferraris of this world, then yes, you are living in the flesh.  But if what you desire are the eternal things of God, then apply your curiosity to attain.

He has sealed his willingness to give, with the promise of the Holy Blood of His Holy Son.  How much more proof do we need, that he is willing to give us endlessly more than we can even imagine? 
Let your soul enter.  Strap yourself in with the restraints of faith.  Place your frail foot on the Holy ground.  Prepare your heart for a mind shocking ride. Grip His promises with steel hands, and press your foot down hard. Why should we not try to find out how far God is willing to take us?

By His Grace