Tag Archives: God

Under the Eternal Oak

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Remrkable oak at Saeul, lieudit Hëlzent, Luxem...

Remrkable oak at Saeul, lieudit Hëlzent, Luxembourg. This oak is around 280 years old. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Still I sit, head bowed in utter dismay.

Breaths come because they have to come.

In my lap are things sincere; righteous acts done in earnest.

Someone has opened my eyes and true light enters them.

Now they stare in disbelief at what I thought was good.

“I did these things?”  I whisper with dry lips.

“All of this, which lay in my lap, is a putrid mass!”

God has spoken, and my heart heard the message.

But understanding only came when I sat here to pray.

Offering was made and my eyes were opened.

The things brought for His pleasure are but a steaming pile of dung.

He alone is Righteous!

He alone is Pure!

He will grant me what is good.

Then, at some place distant, I will sit again under that eternal Oak.

And I will praise Him with Pure things.

For He will dress my ways with Glory along this way to the Eternal Oak.

By His Grace!  Again, by His Grace!  All good things are solely by His Grace.

Responsible

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Father Ford in the fire truck

Father Ford in the fire truck (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A dead body cannot be responsible.  Neither can a fool be responsible.  It is even hard for a righteous man to be responsible.  Why?  In answer, let me take responsible apart:  Response Able.

God has given gifts to men for the sake of His Holy name.  He has given forgiveness for sins.   What is our response?   Do we dress ourselves with ability to respond?  Or do we take His Glorious gift for granted.  He has spoken in the gathering of wickedness.  He has danced a Holy dance in a body for all to see.  He endured this place of testing without sin.  And God has granted Him, (Jesus) Glory, Joy, Eternal Life as the Ruler of all.

I look at the ability of Jesus to respond to His Father as He walked in this utter black world of decayed souls.  And I am amazed that He performed perfectly!  He did not cave to the words and actions of man.  He desired only to be available to the will of His Father.  And He shunned all proposals to capitulate with the enemies of His Father.  He made Himself able to respond to the will of God.  He is perfectly Responsible to God, the Father of all Life and Righteousness.

With that in mind, I ask again, are we individually able to respond to the Grace given us?  Are we responsible Christians?  I write this with a severe anger at the sinful nature within me.  I remember what was spoken, and will not be taken out of the way, “Hate what is evil and cling to what is good.”  This is what is asked of us.  And it is not an unjust request.  For He gives us the power to over come.  What will be our response?  Are we able to be willing to work?

We retain men who have learned to put out fires.  If they are not responsible, what is the possibility that they can carry out the charge that has been laid upon them?  God has retained us through the sacrifice of His Holy Son.  Are we responsible?

Dedication to He Who IS

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Fear The Lord The left hand of the two similar...

Fear The Lord The left hand of the two similarly carved stones either side of the west entrance to St Leonard's Church. 32432 "Fear the Lord your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name." Deuteronomy 10:20 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Let poverty envelop me,

I will serve the Lord.

Let sickness render me to death,

I will serve the Lord.

Let my limbs be limp,

I will serve the Lord.

Let all abandon me,

I will serve the Lord.

Let my life appear useless,

I will serve the Lord.

Let them rail against me,

I will serve the Lord.

May my body endure the will of the Spirit of God.  Let the Lord fill up His testimony by the sacrifice of this body.  May the Living God, the Father of Jesus my Lord, find pleasure at the life His Great Mercy has sent unto me.  I am His.  I do not belong to myself.  I do not belong to the ways of this world.  I do not belong to the desires of man.  And, by His Grace, I will stand apart to serve the maker of my soul.

Amen.

The Bridge Over Troubled Waters (The hand Up is the Same Hand of Out)

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Footbridge near Stumble Wood This bridge is on...

Footbridge near Stumble Wood This bridge is on a path (No. WC347) from Halden Lane to Stepneyford Lane. It passes over stream feeding into Stumble Wood (on the left). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Past the beginnings of a relationship with Jesus, the Glorious King of Kings, a man will find places where he falters and tumbles back into the sins he thought were left in the dark dust of the past.  He will look down at his feet as he walks and smile with joy at the steadiness of his gait.  But sometimes he finds himself tripped up by lust, greed, lies, pride, or ignorance.  It has happened to me countless times.  And I know it happens to the very best of saints.  How should the beginner be surprised if it happens to him?

There is something about this which needs to be spoken.  It is one thing to remain in sins and never seek a way out through Jesus.  When we are in that state of affairs we should expect no help when we fall.  For we are as those who are still sitting in stench and the fall we experience is nothing more than the slip of our hand as we try to readjust our sitting.  The tumbles I am speaking of happen to those who have come some distance from that stench and have learned to walk on legs of righteousness given to them by the Lord Himself.

You will slip from time to time.  Take that as a given.  So I would advise my brothers and sisters to do this:  When you are able to walk make a considerable distance from the possibility of slipping.  Add some speed to your ways so that you move as far away from sin as possible.  Now, when you slip it will not be a pattern of behavior.   It will be simply a part of the experience we share in Christ.

There is a vast difference between holding on to some sins so that you continually revert to them, and stumbling because of things which remain in hidden in your mind.  If your heart is clean and your desire to serve Him is pure, you will find His reaction to your stumbling and tripping a great deal different than what you tasted as you began this walk.

Regardless your understanding of what I have written here, take heart.  He has seen what you desire in regard to holiness.  He has witnessed your ways with perfect and knowledgable eyes.  The Lord you trusted to take you from where you started is quite able to take you from where you are.  Do not let your faith be shaken.  Get up.  Dust yourself off.  Go to Him.  Give thanks for what He has done.  Ask for understanding, wisdom, and strength.  And start walking again!

“The Way”

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This way ...

This way ... (Photo credit: tmblue)

Some mock Christianity.   They say there is nothing to this Jesus teaching and worship.  They think the mind and the habitual glorification of man is of better stock.  After all, what we have is the culmination of centuries of evolution of man.

Some play dress up, as though it is appearance which wins favor from the Living God.  They dress their words, their social standing, and their knowledge of the traditions of the Church.   They think the Church has evolved past the teachings of holiness and the coming judgment.

Some moan under the oppression of their conscience and remain in a deep and cold cave of hopelessness.  They are dressed in their own rebellion, and loathe their clothes.  Yet the two above have considerable weight in their decision to remain as they are.

And there are some who recognize the intense warfare within the soul that Jesus came to ignite.  They take their clothing (that is, they take their conscience, thoughts, and actions.) to the Lord of Life so that He can examine them and give direction, help, and renewal.  These are walking “The Way”.

Jesus spoke of “The Way” in these words:  “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.  Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” (John 7:17)  In this the fourth group prove the validity of Christianity.  They know the hatred for the ways of this world, the folly of the social gospel, and the utter contempt for groveling in our sins.  These will testify of both the power and difficulty of “The Way”.

It becomes very clear to them, the meaning of Peter’s words:  “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:18)  The last group have, within themselves, a testimony which the other three rarely ask about.  And this is why they flounder in their confusion.  It is far easier to remain drawn to sin even though men suffer under horrible oppression.  Yet, though “The Way” is most difficult, it is by no means above us to accomplish the Father’s Will in Jesus.  For we are given strength from moment to moment so that we can over come.

In Hopes of Helping

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A cardboard box that appears to look shocked a...

A cardboard box that appears to look shocked and unhappy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I will relate what the Lord has done for me.  I hope this is helpful to others.

He came back to get me when He had let me chase after sin for a season.  During the last three years, or so, He has spoken plainly to me regarding what I must do every moment of every day.  Now, if that were the sum of my testimony about what He has done for me it would not be fair to others.  One more thing He has done that needs mentioning:

I had no teacher during those three years.  It was the voice of Jesus alone which guided me toward what was pleasing to His Father.  And as I understood I noticed Him ceasing to speak of certain issues.  And when a new issue came up about my behavior He would instruct me in that also.

Now I have reached a point of understanding that seems to please the Father enough to suffice.  There are many more things to build on, to say the least, but they will become a testimony of what is “more”.  I am not saying I have arrived at a holy life.  I am saying that it was the leading (the direct leading) of Jesus that has brought me to this place.

I mention these things because many of my brothers and sisters struggle against many sins and difficult times.  I want to encourage you to seek His face with all patience and humility.  I know you already do that.  But I urge it all the more.  He has taught me to listen to “what is.”  I mean that He taught me to look for Him in the present, for the present is what eternity is.  He has allowed the memory of what I have done to remain as He has uncovered the reasons for it and shown me the proper way to live my life.  I hear His voice less clearly now.  But there is absolutely no loss.  For He has taught me how to live what His voice was urging me to attain.

Was there a formula I used to get here?  The answer is a yes and no.  These things you have known from the beginning:  Read your Bible, pray, then do what the Bible and answer to prayer says you should do.  If there is a formula that is it.  Seek the will of the Holy Father in Heaven and do not lean on your own understanding.  Don’t rely on man’s version of Christianity (psychology and the watered down gospel of the day).  But seek the pure will of the Lord.  He will show you what is necessary.  And if you do not have a worthy teacher in Christ, Christ Jesus Himself will show you.

He once showed me a vision to give to another:  I saw a box with eyes and arms with its hands folded in prayer.  He commanded me to fold my hands like that and speak.  What my lips spoke I relayed to the man, “Though they are led in darkness, yet will I lead them out.”  So I can say with great confidence, take great heart in the Lord you serve in faith.  He is willing to lead you to the Father.  He is willing to give you the prosperity of eternity.  And He is quite able to accomplish what He has promised He will do.  Only be patient and humble while you wait for Him to arrive in that certain moment of eternity which is called “today”.

By His Grace.