Tag Archives: Grace

Will the Real Christians Please Stand Up? We’re a Bit Confused Here.

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A large crowd gathers [at Madison Square Garde...

Image by Kheel Center, Cornell University via Flickr

I have met and know a few people who love the Bible.  These people adore Jesus.  And they’re willing to obey God.  By all appearances, these folks are “good” people.  And if you met them, you’d think God must be pleased with the way they have come to handle the life God has given them.  They are acceptable humans; both by men and by the Church.  And no fault is easily found in them.

However…………………..

These same folks will accept what they think they can handle from the Bible.  That’s why they love it.  They will adore Jesus, as long as He remains simply a loving God, or a baby in a manger.  They are willing to obey God, as long as He doesn’t ask them to become something or someone they don’t want to become.  And though they appear godly, there is a test you can perform on these folks that will surely show their true colors.

Speak to them about the reality of the Bible’s message and watch how they react.  These folks will be nice to your face.   But it might be the last time they will willingly talk to you.  Speak to them about the Glorified Christ, who has made all that is and is the final authority regarding the righteous worship of His Father.  Watch how their eyes dance as they try to find a way to say “good bye.”  And as you watch them go, you’ll see them quickly rid their minds of what you  just said.  Again, they meld into the socially acceptable activity among men.

It is so very interesting how people are willing to believe the Bible, yet so quick to avoid anyone who talks about the Bible.  Most people simply adore leaving the Lord within the pages of the Book.  They gladly receive instruction from the written Word, but will balk severely when that Word becomes flesh among their fellow humans.  They will listen to a sermon while in a group of people.  But when it’s over you’ll find them talking about anything but the sermon’s content.

The Lord is not fooled.  And only He will assess their value to Him.  It is good to point these things out.  Far too many are doing what we are seriously warned against:  If we turn away from those who warn us on earth, how will we hope to receive Him who warns us from heaven?

 

By His Grace.

Isaiah 53:2 An Ordinary Human Body, An Extraordinary God.

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JESUS

Image by Daniel Y. Go via Flickr

Jesus, such a magnificent personage.  And isn’t it just like the world to look to authorities to vet the beautiful people in this world.  None compare to Him, yet very few come to admire Him for who He really is.

“He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”

This place we live in is indeed a place of testing.  The heart of every man is tested every moment of life to see what he will do with this Jesus.  How blessed are we who know Him; that the Father has seen fit to open our eyes like this.  Let all God’s people in Christ Jesus give thanks for the fact that they are learning to worship the One whom God the Father has set above all.

By His Grace.

Genesis 11: 1-9

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History (Australian television channel)

Image via Wikipedia

I have some time this morning to sit and relax a bit.  What, I wonder, should I do with this time?  I could watch TV.  Perhaps there’s a channel of learning.  Yea!  History channel…… That would be interesting.  Then I reflect on who makes the History Channel.  Well, perhaps I could find something better to do with my time.

This outcome of reflection has brought something to the surface in me.  I spent years, more like decades, learning about the world around me.  And I find something very curious, I’m not interested anymore in the things of this world.  A special lack of interest flares up at learning from those who do not openly announce the Son of God in their work.  I’m sick of allowing myself to become interested as a program unveils it’s information, only to find them preaching that I came from a monkey.

Perhaps I could watch that show, “How it’s made”.  But that becomes rather common place in a very short while.  Not that I don’t enjoy looking and learning about innovation.  Man’s ability to turn rock into some shiny and useful tool has always captivated me.  But what part of me is captivated.  That’s the question.  And I know the answer.  I could watch “Myth Busters”.  But everything of man is, in the end, a myth.  So what can they tell me that I don’t already know.

I think I’d rather sit in silence a while and consider the Lord and His ways with man and myself.  At least in this I accomplish something eternal.  Any other contemplation only leads to corruption of the eternal.

I was thinking of how the Tower of Babel went unfinished.  God looked down on the work of man and decided that He would rather they remain as they were until Jesus had appeared among us.  And I consider that since the Lord appeared in flesh, man has became rather adept at turning his world into a more sensual place.  Now that thought would be incomplete if I didn’t allow myself to consider the current explosion of sensuality.  By sensuality I mean the fulfilment of every possible lust man owns; from building houses which have become far more than a shelter from the elements to every possible convience.

It was not God’s desire that man should fend for himself like this.  If he had obeyed the Lord from the beginning, I’m convinced that the elements of this world would have become far more man friendly.  God desires to care for His creation.  But it is man’s continual rebellious ways that have resulted in a quite complex war with the world around him.

In the end of this thought comes something worth thinking about.  If it was God’s desire to provide for man from the beginning, why would His desire be any different now?  Even though I am part of this carnival of the works of man’s hands, I can still make a choice to trust the Lord to provide for me.  And why does He provide like this for a people who will certainly die in a couple years?  What benefit is there in this providing?

FAITH!

By His Grace.

Tower of Babel by Lucas van Valckenborch in 1594

Image via Wikipedia

Conquering Sin.

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The morgue in a abandoned hospital in Deventer...

Image via Wikipedia

“I can’t take it anymore!  I don’t care if I ever see your face again.”  These words were spoken by a husband to his wife, one gentle Spring evening.  He walked out the door vowing to himself to never speak to her again.  Three days later, he spoke to her.  But she didn’t answer.  The last conversation he had with her was as she lay on a slab in the coroner’s prep room.  He had to go identify what remained of her after a violent car accident.  His vow broken, along with his heart, was a vow that should never have been made.

Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends, and enemies make vows of silence toward others every day.  And it is a rare thing when those vows can’t be broken.  But these situations are avoidable.   I could go into great detail about what to do to avoid using words you will surely regret.  But how useless would this post be?  Who would read a 10,000 word post?  Instead, I will go our relationship with God to make the point necessary.

The ultimate relationship anyone can have is that of himself and the Lord who made him.  How often this relationship is broken by the human alone.  We decide we will chase after a sinful path we knew well would not end in the pleasure of our God.  But we did it anyway.  And isn’t this what causes all human discord?  We want something the other doesn’t.  So we willingly break the bond of love and trust between us.

We can avoid every possible break in our relationship with God if we love Him more than those things which tear us apart.  It sounds simple when I type it here.  But in practise we find ourselves pulled into sin by a lack of love for His ways.  “. . . Do you love Me more than these?”

When was the last time you found yourself loving God more than the pleasures of sin?  Perhaps you’re stuck in a cycle of sin, confession, and restoration.  Retrospect tells us plainly how we define the word sin.  Hind sight is very clear when we find the relationship between God and ourselves broken.  We all have a weakness which we allow to trip us up and rip us from the loving and powerful prayer life.  This can be avoided if we train ourselves to love God.

We can’t conquer the sinful nature without a distinct and vibrant love for God.  What Jesus has done is to open the door for us into this relationship.  But He leaves it up to us to decide that this relationship with His Father is worth forsaking everything sinful.  My only hope is that those who read this will consider their love for God in a very deep manner.  There is a place where most will end up like that husband.  They will speak to God with a deep and overwhelming grief.  But it will be too late.

By His Grace.

The Threshold of the Second Coming

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greed [aka cost/benefit]

Image by the|G|™ via Flickr

How fast the world is deteriorating into evil.  The darkness covering the land today makes the 60’s look more pure.  While there was nothing holy about the rise of immorality of the 60’s, the embrace the world is giving to wickedness today has increased by folds.  And all indications are that this increase will explode.  Are you ready for absolute chaos?  It is coming.

 

Throughout the ages, since the resurrection of Jesus, men have proclaimed the return of the Lord of Glory.  I’ve often pondered, as have others, just what the signs will be when the Holy God of Israel has had enough.  Because, when the Lord God sends His Son, this world will endure all manner of horror.  Many thought their age was the one in which the Lord would surely return.  But wickedness had not run its course.  This observation has given birth to an understanding within me.

If the world has become increasingly wicked and the Lord has not yet returned, just how wicked must the world become before the Lord comes?  Personally, I believe anyone would not be far wrong to expect His return very soon.  But how much more violence, godlessness, and unholiness needs to come to maturity before God responds with His Holy Promise to do away with man’s rebellion?  If it’s this bad now, how much more horror must man manufacture?

God has given man over to the desires of his heart.  The central desire of man is to rid himself of the God who made him.  How long will man rebel?  How much destruction will he be willing to reap from the works of his own hand?  The answer is “A LOT”!  Murders, greed, anger, rapes, thefts, lies, corruption of every sort on every level, even within families, all these things are going to increase until there is no one left on the face of the entire earth who is willing to allow God to be the King of their life.  At this time, the Lord of Glory will appear with Great suddenness; when they least expect it.

May the Lord have mercy on those who read this post.  May He open their eyes to see.  Billions and billions of blind are, even now, awaiting their fate at the hands of the Living God.  Yet hell still has room.  Why would you seal your eternity as they have?  Why not humble yourself before the Most High God, through Jesus, and accept the testimony of His people?

By His Grace.

Awake! They Also Rise.

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“Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [Jesus] rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there.”

I rise at the call of the Spirit, “Enough sleep.  Rise and seek the God of your soul.  Search your heart before Him and ask the things which are life.  For the day is approaching, and the wicked stir in their beds.”

Soon, while the prayer ensues, the lights of houses from New York City to Los Angeles will shine.  The world around me begins to wake.  The wicked of the night stumble to their beds to sleep the sleep of thieves.  While the wicked of the day stumble to the bathroom to begin their assault on each other for the sake of “gain”. 

This was so in the very day when Jesus rose before sunrise to seek His Holy Father.  Frankly, it should be more so for those who love Him today.  I will say no more.

By His Grace.