Tag Archives: Grace

The Time Has Appeared

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Fire consuming an old brochure

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Holy Father, they die all around me.  I see with eyes not my own.  I hear the cries they do not cry.  I feel the shaking of earth from the horror in their breasts.  How they cower in the light!  And how terrible it is for them.  They have met the God they have spurned.  With no place to hide they now beg for mercy.  But no mercy will be extended.

I do not accuse Your Holy ways for the terror that now belongs to them.  You have spoken from the time of Adam to now.  But they have refused to listen.  Now they face You on a foreign ground.  They are overcome by eternity.  Before my eyes they stand with a consuming fire.  Their guilt melts their flesh with fear.  And all this they endure because they desired rebellion over Your Holy Ways.

Please Father in heaven, dress me to deliver the message of sure doom to a people without ears.  No man perceives Your Holy Son unless You open their eyes.  I ask You to go before me that I might not walk in vain.

By Your Great Grace I pray.

 

Amen.

Believe

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Grace Baptist Church (1882) - steeple

Grace Baptist Church (1882) - steeple (Photo credit: origamidon)

Believe.  Such a simple command.

Yet see how many build on the sand.

“Upon the Solid Rock I stand.”

His voice, a whisper, so true and dear.

Reminding me that He is near.

The Way.  The Way!  It is so clear.

But eyes transfixed on wickedness,

Will miss His Grace; that Blessedness.

Believe.  So lovely to confess.

The Letter.

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The First Letter

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There is something I feel compelled to address.  I confess that, though I understand the subject, I’m at a complete loss as to how to begin or where to take the reader.  So I will call upon the Holy Name of the Lord Jesus to speak through me in this matter.

 

I came across a letter I had written in my days of abject sin.  As I read it I realized that this was from my hand.  Embarrassment, humiliation, and fear gripped me as I read the words.  In my mind I considered the blessing that through Jesus’ sacrifice the Father would not read this letter to my face.  The letter would have angered me if I had thought it came from another man.  But it was me.

 

Fear swarms like hornets around the heart of a man who comes to an understanding of his own unholy folly.  And while there is comfort in the forgiveness of Christ Jesus, there is still that morbid consideration plaguing the heart in regard to “what if”.  What if I had not known the Gospel?  I would have stood before the Holy Lord of Life and given account of myself naked of defence.

 

I appeal to all who read this to consider what you have done in your life with a sober judgment.  Without the Grace of God in Jesus, you will stand alone against the One who has never broken His Holy ways.  If you are a Christian, consider how precious the Lord’s gift of forgiveness is, that He has promised that those who put their trust in Him will never be brought to shame.  If you are not a Christian, please consider that every idle word you have ever spoken will be brought up before your face.  You will most certainly give account of yourself to a pure and all powerful God.

 

The details of the letter pale against the over riding message of the coming judgment.  That letter is only one of thousands, perhaps millions, of things I would have stood judgment over.  What hope is there outside of the salvation of Jesus?  NONE!

 

By His Grace.

 

Let God Work!

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English: Bird flying from the branch. In the b...

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We want the Lord to work in our lives and through us.  So why do we complain that things aren’t going as we think they should?  Rest in your faith.  Grow in your faith.  Allow God to work and do not consider that you know what should happen.  Does a ball complain that it isn’t rolling downhill fast enough?  Doesn’t gravity control it’s decent?  Does a bird complain that it doesn’t have enough feathers to fly higher?  Should we complain that our mouth isn’t large enough to consume the meals set before us?  Isn’t it foolish to say, “My feet can’t be used like my hands are.  And my hands aren’t able to support my body like my feet can.”

God has set His will in motion from ages past.  We are not the ones who direct Him.  It is the other way around.  Who knows better what is true, God or man?  So let us set aside all desires for manipulating the Lord God Most High.  Let us, instead, practise accepting what is upon us.  Let God be God.  And let us be His people.  It should be enough that He has had mercy on us.

By His Grace.

Behold! I am to Blame

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Finger pointing

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“Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.”  I believe this.  I know this puts all the burden on us to obey.  But God’s grace covers us while we struggle with our failings.  He calls us to a life free from sin.  But covers us while we accomplish.  He is not unjust in His judgment of us.  We are indeed the ones at fault.  But look at His love to lift us from death to life.  I can’t blame anyone or anything for who and what I am, or was.  Accepting this is fundamental to salvation through Jesus.

Today’s teachings in the world speak of us as victims.  God does not look at His people like that.  He rightly judges us guilty.  Yet He offers a way out.  Jesus never taught that we were victims.  He taught that we were sinners from birth.  How often he told us to repent of our sins and live a life pleasing to His Father in Heaven.  Today, we hear that we can’t hope to rid ourselves of this burden of foolishness.  It was not so in Jesus’ teachings.

I am the one to blame for all my sins.  Jesus is the One who forgives them.  Forgiving them does not mean they didn’t happen.  And forgiveness doesn’t mean that I am innocent, or that I am a victim of things beyond my control.  “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.”  Live with that truth or suffer as a victim.  Fight against what does not please the Father, or suffer the life of a sinner.  He gives us everything we need to over come.

By His Grace.

The Conspiracy of God.

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English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ

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Men who do not know or love God will think that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in a conspiracy to destroy them.  They perceive that there is a war between God and man.  This perception comes from observing the wickedness in the world and the corrupt nature of death and decay.

They are wrong.  Indeed, there is a conspiracy from the Holy Trinity.  But it is not against man.  It is against sin.  The beautiful thing is, man is invited to join God in this war.  You can make your mark on the book of life by accepting the leadership of Jesus, the Son of God.  He will count you as one of His own.  He will dress you in fine clothes fit for battle.  And He will endow you with the weapon of The Holy Spirit.

Again I say, this battle is not a conspiracy against man.  It is a battle against sin.  If you want to die, just keep what you already have.  If you want to live, approach the Lord of Life in the name of Jesus.

By His Grace.