Tag Archives: God’s will

The Telling Average

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I just wrote an article about the popularity of the Gospel.  And out of curiosity, I went back to sum up the total average of visitors to this blog.  Sometimes we have a sense of things, but when we quantify, we are often even amazed at the least possible expectation.

Over the last 5 years, this blog has averaged 4 visitors per day.  There are well over 2,000 posts here.  And one would think that even the worst writing would gather more than 4 people per day.

I will gladly admit I am not a good writer.  But I have seen some people’s writing, that has become very popular despite the horrendous value of it.  So then in the pondering of this, I have come up with three possible answers.

The first is obvious, I am a horrible writer.  How could I not agree with that?  I’ve reread my posts enough to know that I am ignorant of grammar and too presumptuous to be careful.

The second possible answer is that the words that I write are so foreign to the joy of men that I am willingly placed into obscurity.  This is a great possibility, for I have never been known as one who plays well with others.  Why and how should that change now?

And the third possibility is full of ponderous contemplation (Redundant yes but it sounded cool).  Perhaps God Himself has placed me in a “cave”.  Greatly distant from the eyes of man.  And I wrote concerning this in the post called “The Craftsman”.

I have seen others that write virtually the same things as I.  And the numbers on their blog are well into the two hundred and five hundred thousand views, and this in far shorter time than I have been writing. 

I could surmise rightly that I am a lousy writer.  I could surmise rightly that the way I write is so abrasive, few have the palate to eat.  But I very much like the third.  For it gives summation to the other two.

The reasons why God has done what he has done to his servant fit into a variety of explanation.  And there is no need to expose them here. 

It is impossible to take pride in obscurity.  Such a man would be considered fully insane.  Yet there is reason to be proud of the Lord Jesus.  For he is God incarnate.  And in the eternal wisdom of the Holy Father he dispenses God’s will in all creation.

There are many who will sit and count their numbers with great joy.  I recognize that is a broad assumption, but I have no reason to think otherwise.  Every Church that I have attended counts their numbers regularly.  Most of them have even displayed a little plaque at the back of the chapel to honor their victory; “Number in attendance this year 4000, number in attendance this month 400, number in attendance last week 6”.

But God has left me to count scraps from the dinner table.  He is Glory!  His wisdom is pure!  He is faultless in all his Holy judgments.  And rather than give praise or regret to myself,  I will give praise and honor to the one who lives forever by the precious blood of his Holy love for Righteousness!  He is Jesus the Son of the Most High God and the Son of Man!

May the will of God be done forever!  God alone is good!

By His Grace

“I’m a Man!”

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With every thought.  With every action.  With every word he speaks.  Man proclaims, “I am a man”.

With pride of accomplished adulthood, man stands.  As if there is something to be proud about, by the simple doings of expectations.

How many perceive the shame of man?  How many are able or willing to perceive the length, width, height, and depth that is God?  With such a perception, man is no more than a tiny baby.

Wisdom escapes man; holy wisdom from ancient of ages escapes man.  The doings of God that were done endless years before the creation of Adam.  Where is this wisdom among man?  How small is every man?

With every prayer.  With every desire.  With every movement of soul and body.  The man of God seeks the will of God.

Where is the boasting pride of man before God’s Holy Throne?  Such things are not even allowed entrance.

The Living Prayer

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From eternity the oath is spoken.  The Holy Son asks by the ministry he is sent to accomplish.

Every word of every prayer is the fruit of a perfectly earnest life.  By this the Lord Jesus lives the answer to his own prayers.  How shall the eternal Father in Heaven not give his own flawless will?

From the birth of the Son to the holy words spoken, “It is finished”, the Holy Son lives his prayer.

7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of iron;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Often the prayers of men are naught but words.  And in this they take stabbing guesses at the Holy will of the Living God.

But the life of earnest obedience produces effective prayers on its own.  As the fruit tree does not strain to produce what it is made to produce, so the obedient servant of Christ Jesus is made effective.

By His Grace

The island

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In the pitch like darkness of the deep ocean a rumbling of silt and sand occurred.  The slime of refuse gave way to molten rock.  Without approval, a mountain began to grow in the darkness.

The place had been desolate and quiet.  Though it had been a place of gathering for refuse, peacefulness and quiet had attended upon it. But now violence erupted where once there was nothing but filth.  The lord was pleased to cause a new place to grow.  And in his pleasure he spoke growth and life.

Lava forced upward the plate of rock that had once been the bottom of the ocean.  Months of great pressure and violence pushed the plate of rock toward the top of the sea.  Light began to touch the surface of the rock and it cringed at the new world it was being forced to inhabit.  Convulsions shook the plate and the edges curled around its new support.  “I am to perish!  Surely I am dying!”

“What are you doing Oh Lord Great God?  Did I not serve you well in the place where I was?  What is my sin that you should rip me from my rest?”  But the plate heard no reply.

Soon the sound of waves crashing at the edge stirred the plate into near panic.  How deeply it desired to return to its former place.  “This is no place of peace!  It is a place of torture!  What have I done to deserve this horrific uprooting?  Was I not content and faithful to support what the world no longer needed?”  Again, there was no sound from the Living God.  Only the frightening roar of water at the shore.  The tumult threatened to rip the rock apart.

In the years of a rock, very little time passed before the silt upon it top begin to produce.  Shrubs and rough grass filtered in to begin the final transformation.  Seeds had appeared by virtue of the birds who came to visit.  All the while the little island was frightened to see his surface so abused.

As the Island got use to its new place it began to see the beauty of the violence.  The Sun would rise and set, warming the rock in a new place called day.  The moon would bathe him in glorious shimmers; not at all like the darkness he had known.  And the sound of the waves often put him into peaceful sleep.  The wind of God shaped him into smooth and various form.  And the storms which came and went were a wonderous delight of activity.

One day, still a great mystery to the island, an animal set foot on his soil.  With great interest he watched this one.  It was not at all like the others who had come to visit.  Nor was it like those who had been a part of his previous world.  For the first time since his peaceful slumber of filth, the island felt pure joy.

“I like this one Lord.”  The island was heard to say.  “He tickles and scratches at my surface.  And now I am pleased for what you have done.  The pain and memory is receding and now there is joy.”

Centuries passed, and the island was a happy place of thriving life for a multitude of creatures.  What he had been before, he no longer desired to remember.  Joy filled his days and his new place produced great fruit for the Sovereign God who had caused him to be.

“Give thanks to the Lord and be faithful for He is good.  His mercy endures forever!  Be faithful and joy filled.  Give thanks and praise to God.”   The island had come to sing a new song.  “Do not be discouraged at the tumult which now attends your days.  For soon you will be thankful for the violent uprooting.”

By His Grace

God’s will

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Everyone of God’s people want to know His will for them.  Classes are taught.  Spiritual gifts are explored.  Examples from God’s people in the Bible are exploded before our minds.  The teachings of the Apostles are illustrated with all diligence. And personal testimony is given that we might excel.  We search and search.  Still we are all but lost.

I have found, personally, the help of men to be useless in discovering God’s will for me.  Though no aspect of known sound doctrine is useless in itself, there is an end to its usefulness if we do not connect ourselves to the sovereign God.

Though all the things I mentioned are extremely useful and should never be put out of the way, they are like studying the scriptures and believing that by our study we are saved.  But salvation comes from God.

Jesus has taught me over and over again to “Consider what is.”  By this, I look at all possible views of my situation .  By His grace I consider all possible repairs.  Then when I go to prayer I strive hard to listen to my thoughts.  If something appears in my thoughts that is noteworthy, while in prayer, I ask about it.  He has been faithful to clearly point to the answer.

Yet I will mention here that there are times when all possibilities have not arrived.  It is quite possible that we need to go.  Simply move in faith and God sometimes brings completion to our request.  In all things I have been taught to carefully consider what is.

All things are by faith from first to last.  But we should not hold too tightly to the instruction of men.  The best of intentions can sometimes lead us horribly astray. The truth resides in the living God through Christ Jesus. 

I testify that he is willing and able to lead us clearly.  We go to him with everything.  We expect every possible scenario.  We receive what is.  And in that, it is our rightful place to be thankful.

Holy Father, I ask you to bless these words with understanding.  Millions have tried to help in this regard.  I suspect that few have succeeded.  I cannot hope to succeed unless you intervene.  By your grace and mercy then, may your people find direction.

By His Grace

Blessings Aren’t Always a Miracle.

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Replica Danish axe head, Petersen Type L or Ty...

Image via Wikipedia

In my work I often ask the Lord to bless certain things.  The intent is that I might render my employer a good service.  Much like the floating Axe head story.  But often His response is curious, “no”.  Then he whispers to me that to bless the company is to bless its owners.  If they are in His will, then the blessing will flow.  But all things such are done by a wise God.  He alone knows how to redeem.  The strain of this world will pull and pull.  Things break down.  Stresses continue to come.  But He alone knows the heart.  “It is enough that My people work earnestly and with a full heart.  The blessings come as I direct.”

 

By His Grace.