Tag Archives: gospel

Fear Constrains. God Releases to Boldness.

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I woke to be with the Lord this morning.  In our time together, he revealed a mystery to me.  I will try to relate it as best I can.

Why are people so reluctant to grasp a fearless doing of the Gospel?  What cuts some apart to boldness, while most live out the Gospel as if in secret?

The answer is simple, they fear.

Fear of man compels most to withdraw from public displays of Holy Truth.  Desire to “profit” among men drives most into a life of subdued worship and expression of God’s Holy Will among men.

They hear what the bold disciples say.  But they also see how such bold men are treated.  They quickly weigh the prospects of shunning, and make the determination that such travail is not worth the effort.  They must make a living.  They must eat.  They must compete in this wicked world.  And a bold proclamation of the Gospel will surely diminish their chances of survival.  Men will certainly hate them and exclude them from “prosperity” among men.

But what makes the difference between those who fearlessly proclaim the Gospel, and those who believe yet hide (to whatever extent)?

Two things play within the bold.  It’s hard for me to describe which one comes first.  Perhaps they come in unison.  One provocation to boldness is the blessing of God in the way of knowledge.  God causes the bold one to understand that the way of God is absolute, true, and sustaining no matter what.   The other provocation is that the bold perceive the wickedness of man as endless chaos.  No matter what they do, man will never protect.  Man is incapable of sustaining.  Man is full, and endlessly so, with lies and empty promises.  And the riches of man, that so called  “profit”, can provide nothing eternally valuable.

It is written, “They hated me for no reason”.  The bold receive the same treatment.  Their brothers and sisters in Christ see this treatment of the bold and withdraw to secrecy.  It’s that simple.

There were only 12 Apostles.  There were only 72 that were sent out.  And of the mass of men, there are (in my personal estimation) less than 1 percent of the population that will give all to God for the sake of His Holy Son’s Honor.  And it’s quite possible that I have over estimated the number of those who are bold for Christ.

I have seen many rise up to boldness.  But I have seen very few remain bold.  Usually, when a man stands up for Christ, the world around them beats them back into submission, and quickly.  They sink back into the “profit” of man and never rise up again.   Let no one misunderstand the power of the world to destroy.  This even happens, often, to men who wear the titles of pastor, preacher, evangelist, and so on!

If you would be bold for Christ, then be bold.  But first it would be wise to learn to hate the ways of man’s “profit”.  For they will surely use it against you to drive you back into their slime.  But if you would be willing to loose all for Christ, then, by all means stand!

Who is willing to die for Christ?  Who is willing to receive the beatings that man is all too ready to dispense?  Is it you?  If not, then ask yourself, “Why do I fear”.

God will sustain the willing heart.  He will feed the wicked, why won’t he feed you?  And if they come and take all you have, what have you lost?  These sayings are readily available among  Christ’s people.  But the key to making the decision to be bold lay in a fearless belief.  Are the promises of God TRUE?

Paleness

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Christian-Cross-Coloring-PagesThe mother of a little girl sat her child at the kitchen table.  Mom placed a drawing of a cross on a hill with a shash before the child to color.  Then mommy went about preparing dinner.

The child knew the color of wood.  She knew the color of grass.  She knew to shade the rocks with gray, and the sky with blue.  But when it came to the shash, the little one was perplexed.

“What is the color of the cloth?”  The tiny one asked.  Mother responded with the wisdom from God.  “Let God tell you what color to use honey.”

Tiny fingers reached for the box.  With the pure faith of a child she drew out the proper one.  And with all the care she had she shaded the cloth.

“It’s done.”  The precious one said.  But when mom came over to see, understanding reached deep into her soul.  God spoke to Mommy with clarity.  The color the child had chosen was the palest pink in the box.

As we are, so we teach.  Does God see?  Yes he does.

Do we worship in the true Gospel?  Or is our version so watered down that the very blood of Christ is but a pale pink?

Without Regret!

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I cannot know the fullness of the Life that lives within the Holy Power of the Holy Living God.  But I can know in part.

What I perceive is beyond the expectations and dreams of man.  If man says something is worthy, God is more.  If man says an action is righteous, God is more.  If man speaks of a life that is worthy to live, God is more.

I can rest assured that the Living God in Christ Jesus is infinitely more than anything of man.  And I can rest in knowing, with great boldness, that the Living God’s Christ is willing to lift me into His Holy Life.

I may not know the fullness of the Gospel.  But I can proclaim with great confidence the things I have heard.  I cannot “do” the Holy Life my Lord Jesus has done.  But I can do the things He speaks to life in my soul.  For His Holy words are living.  They give and grant life wherever they appear.  If I survey my soul’s proof of “Doing”, and find clarity of conscience before the Living God, then I can rightly surmise that I have known Him.  And doesn’t this “knowing” provoke proclamation?

From this wellspring of holy Life, that beauty He has extended within me, I can proclaim with excellent boldness and fearless determination.  It matters not that I am void of full understanding regarding the things of God.  What matters is that I open my mouth and allow the Holy Spirit of God to use my tongue, and this to the Glory of Jesus the Christ of God!

Glorify the Living God, all you who know of His Good News.  Yield up what rightfully belongs to Him.  Give what belongs to God, even your entire life, body, mind, strength, and soul.  What reasoning should we use to excuse our partial and unwilling service?  What regret belongs to us if we hold back?

There is a day, and a day which is fast approaching, in which we will give full account of the willingness we offer today.  Shall we provide regret in that moment, by refusal to serve Him today?  Shall the eternal soul, which belongs to us, despise the choices we make today?

Wouldn’t it be so beautiful if our soul should be able to stand before the Living God’s Holy Son with a fullness of accounting, full of joy, boldness, and surety of accomplishment?  Wouldn’t it be so lovely a moment to hear the words, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.  Come.  Enter into the joy of your master.

How is your soul’s stance not your responsibility today?  What excuse stands well before the Living Truth of God?  Regret is a monster of monstrous proportions!  Why would you capture him and try to make him your household pet?  Don’t you know that a “Regret” will surely consume, without mercy, anyone who desires to tame him?  If this is the case with a single regret, what of an entire herd?  They will surely raze your entire house to the ground!

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?

Let it Do Its Work

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People pay all kinds of money to attend concerts.  They endure all manner of inconvenience to go to the movies.  And it used to be, that people would trudge miles just to attend an hour or two speech by someone important.

But the sweetest rendering of a song, is played in the memory.  The visual effects of a movie come to life in the imagination.  And the words of a great orator are best heard when they combine with personal experiences, unique to each one who heard, and delivered in their proper time.

As it is with the life among men, so it is with the things of Heaven.  We should not fall to manipulation as we hand out the words of life.  It is better to let the one who hears stew as the heat of his soul allows.  If there is a boiling over to occur, it is best to be done by a direct source of heat.  We don’t put the pot near the burner.  We carefully place it centered above the heat.  Then, we leave it alone to do its work.

All things in creation tell the story of Christ Jesus.  Even the sins of a man speak the testimony of the Christ.  Let the Glory of God do its work.  Deliver the Gospel, and then step aside;  as if all we do is turn on the switch to the burner.  Show me a man who keeps his hand on the knob while the food cooks, and I’ll show you someone who lacks any reasonable judgment.

Perception

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My past has brought me to a place where I should not have arrived.  Yet what shall be said?

From birth, the desire of God was not the sin I embraced so tightly.  He had plans for this soul which did not include the wickedness that covered me.  Yet today, I find myself where I stand.

Now I seek to know Him with diligence; that I might receive His Holy wisdom, that I might understand His Holy will to the doing of it.  Before His Holy Throne, He knows these things to be true.  Yet my doing is clouded with two things.

First it is clouded with the teachings of man I have embraced in the past.  Though I seek to be released from them, they obscure purity of understanding.  Thus my doings are diminished to some degree.  So be it.  What can be done with the mind a man brings to the Gospel?

Secondly is the testimony this past brings to the people who have known me while my sinful ways appeared before them.  It is not enough for me to say, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his home town and among his own people”.  This puts the blame on others.  I will not allow that before His Holy Throne.

Should we resist His teachings: “. . . do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”?  And what shall we do with the following scripture: 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5)

I search these things this morning.  I search to own His Wisdom for these things.  I find certain truths waiting for me, as I appear before Him.

I was not obedient before He taught me His ways.  I balked at those who taught the truth.  How then am I different now, than those who oppose my testimony?  Yet, how can I settle for their balking?  (The specific problems that provoke this introspection are not worthy of public display.  Suffice it to apply to the things which accompany your own testimony)

What is the answer?  How can it be anything other than continuance of the things that provoke the Holy Chasm between men?  The Gospel divides by its very essence.  There is the Holy, and there is the way of man.  They collide at the very presentation of God’s Holy covenant in the Blood of His Holy Son.  It will not be dispelled.  Jesus remains a rock of offence.  And all who embrace His Lovely ways, will become some measure of that offence.  To myself I must yell, “DEAL WITH IT!”

I have resolved, by the demands of our Lovely God’s commands, to obey.  Not because I have agreed with His Holy ways in the past, but because He provokes me to adore Him.  I will continue to display love.  I will continue to serve.  I will put on patience.  I will learn!

If they do not perceive, what is that to me?  If I make it my dedication to notice their refusal, I will fall into a certain judgment of their rejection.  That will bring this difficulty directly before the Holy God’s Holy Throne.  He will be forced to judge between us.  How can I count that as “good”?

Without trying to be self-righteous, let me expose a portion of my prayer in regard to these things.  “Lord, Holy God of all good things, do not judge between my brother and I.  Let the fault rest heavily on my shoulders.  Do not hold anything against any man in regard to me, but free them all from accusation.  No one can sin against me.

But let me embrace your Holy wisdom.  Cause me to understand what must be done.  Show me how to make things right.  Be strong with me, I beg you for mercy in Your Holy and Righteous Son, teach me your perfect way.

Let them be a fire against me.  But do not count that fire as sin.  Release them.  But ignite me.”

Can we rightly respond any other way?  We are the ones who receive eternity, at the hands of His Holy Promise of Mercy.  How should we ask for retribution for some perceived “wrong” done to us?  (Even if that “wrong” is a rejection of the Gospel we have come to adore.)

And how should I shake off the dust that comes from the lives of those I am put in place to love?  How shall I leave them?  How shall I put up a wall against them, and between us set a chasm?  The answer rings like a mighty bell on a hillside, NEVER!”

May the Holy Lord of Life grant wisdom to the doing of these things.  May His eternal freedom clothe all His people.  May we, indeed, become that brilliant light He has given His perfect Blood to secure.  May we strive to be godly and holy in all our dealings of this sort.

Glory for all Good things belongs to He alone who is Good.  We are but a shadow of His Righteousness, even as we “accomplish” His Rightful Demands.

Amen.