Tag Archives: Grace

The Slough of Dispond

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Slough

Image by born1945 via Flickr

The Lord has given me many words to the unsaved and the proud.  Yet there are many who will take heed from those words.  I write this post for them.

As we encounter the Truth of God regarding our sins, we often fall into a state of disrepair and despair (I take note of the similarity of those two words).   It will be expected that receiving Jesus’ gift of Life is going to become a heavy burden at first.  More weight will be pressed upon the one who receives His guidance.  For all we have done will surface for us to examine.  This is expected and will surely surprise the one who thought “The Way” would be an easy saunter, all the way to the Holy Throne of God.  “The Way” is both the hardest way for a man or woman to live and the easiest.  John Bunyan wrote of this in his book “Pilgrim’s Progress”.

“This miry Slough is such a place as cannot be mended; it is the descent whither the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin doth continually run, and therefore is it called the Slough of Despond: for still as the sinner is awakened about his lost condition, there ariseth in his soul many fears, and doubts, and discouraging apprehensions, which all of them get together, and settle in this place; and this is the reason of the badness of this ground.”

I do not want anyone to fall into hopelessness because of the burdens that will press upon them.  Keep your hope in Jesus and believe.  This place of horror will not last forever.  Yet it is a necessary part of accepting Jesus.

By His Grace.

Our Day is Here

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We have left all to follow after the promise of Jesus.  The world scorns us as fools, for we do not any longer live as they.  Let them laugh, scorn, whisper against us, and mock the Lord we serve.  We are compelled to seek His face.  He has spoken to us as to the burden of sins which are sure to drag us into oblivion.  And with this speaking He has announced to each one of us the promise of eternal life in His Holy Son.

Let them consider Jesus’ people as human waste. 

Their day is fast approaching. 

Let them live in filth of soul. 

Their day is fast approaching.

Let them be first.

Their day is fast approaching.

Let them win according to the world’s definition of the word “win”.

Their day is fast approaching.

The Christian’s day is here!

God cannot lie, and He has promised life to all who:

Call upon the Holy name of His Son,

And who submit themselves to His Holy Rule;

To rid themselves of every evil thing which brings Him shame.

Their day is coming.

Our day is here!

 

By His Grace.

The Stream

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A mountain stream in the canton Grisons (Graub...
Image via Wikipedia

What a curious place I’ve come to rest.

The hills and valleys behind me speak of a journey to here.

I sit beside a stream today and observe what lay below.

The waters have the appearance of moving.

Yet they only writhe with life.

Shimmering in the shafts of sunlight caused to be by the One who made all the earth.

I listen in the cool of the day. 

And I watch with wonder and concern.

Listen to the noise the stream makes.

A certain babbling and an occasional whisper of intelligence.

I hear the name of God called out.

But it’s not the name I’ve come to know.

Once in a while a hand lifts up, as if asking for help from somewhere.

But no help arrives, and no notice is given.

The banks of the stream are high and have worn themselves steep over time.

“This far you shall come and no more” is written on the banks.

This stream is not a stream of water. 

And the source of it’s birth is never found.

For the stream is the parade of humanity;

That brood of souls which wanders through eternity according to a clock.

I have tried to speak to them.

But my language is not understood.

How desperate I became, from time to time,

Yet they would not hear.

Looking left and right, I seek another to share this vision.

But there is none to be found.

For I have arrived in this place in the forest alone,

But for the Glory of God in Christ which led me here.

So I whisper in His ear the sights I perceive.

And how limp my bones have become.

For those who constitute the waters below are destined to dry up

When they reach the arid sands, yet unknown.

It is He who leads which will lead them out.

But they do not know His ways.

Their hands are busy praising their own works.

As the Leader has promised would be so.

Even so, “Come Lord Jesus!”

Come in all Your splendor!

The Holy Will of the Father must be accomplished!

Regardless the plight of those who hate the Light,

The Holy Will of the Father must be accomplished!

Amen, Amen, and Amen!

By His Grace.

Lucky You, Blessed Me.

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Mountain Road Lottery Ticket 1768.

Image via Wikipedia

Jesus is the Son of the Living God.  It is not appropriate to consider Him as someone who set the universe in motion then stepped aside to see what would happen.  That would be to make God a God who embraces chance.  And chance is a figment of man’s imagination which pushes the Living God away.  Luck is of that pedigree; men desire to become lucky because they ignore the Living God’s call to faith. 

The Living God will show Himself to any who humble themselves to serve Him.  His revelation comes to man as he accepts the Holy Majesty of God’s control in his life.  As we fan this humility into flame by obeying what we hear, read, and observe from Him, He continues to give more of Himself.  But as we ignore His Holy ways, we endure a peculiar blindness. 

Perhaps you don’t believe what I’ve just said.  Humble yourself before the Most High, calling on the name of His Holy Son, and you will begin to see what is true.  Remain in doubt and you will remain simply lucky; living your life according to chance.

By His Grace.

600,000. To Every Church. To Every Christian.

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600,000 men, including their women and children were led out of Egypt by great wonders and signs from God.  Yet none of them will inherit eternal life.  God swore by Himself that they would not enter His rest.  Though they were witnesses of His majesty among them, they did not combine their witness with faith.  What does this mean?  Does this apply to us today?

Hebrews says that those people heard the Gospel just as we have.  But they did not combine it with faith.  Read the account in Exodus.  Then read the witness against them in Hebrews.  Then consider this:

What have we heard?  We have heard that God sent His son into the world to save the world by offering Himself as a sacrifice for any who would receive Him.  But what does it mean to receive Him?  You have heard that Christians refer to Jesus as Lord.  Nevertheless, many refuse to turn away from the things of this world.  They retain a perceived “right” to do as they please without considering the Will of God in their daily lives.  To do this is to act just as those 600,000 who are never to see Life.

Those 600,000+ saw the plagues God sent upon Egypt.  They received the orders from Moses regarding the Passover.  They obeyed by a certain fear, born of the sights and sounds they witnessed.  They received valuables from the people of Egypt as they left.  And in this way, they plundered the slave masters who had beaten them for no reason.  They encamped against the sea as Egypt’s army approached.  They witnessed the fantastic miracle of a parting sea.  And they walked across the sea on dry land.  They watched with great surprise as the power of death at the hands of Egypt was crushed by tons of water; not one soldier survived.  They were given food and water; food from heaven and water from a rock.  Yet they complained constantly saying, “It would have been better for us to have died in Egypt.”  For this reason, God swore on oath that they would never enter His rest.

God is willing to reveal Himself to those who separate themselves from this world and worship Him through Jesus.  And in this way, we are now counted as those being tested as they were.  How many millions have already received that same oath against them?  To those who think that calling themselves something makes them that something, God remains concealed.  There is a place where we enter in.  Those who submit to Jesus’ Lordship know of that place.  While those who insist on having their own way, do not know of that place.  To them, this article speaks of something they know nothing about.  They will discount its value without consideration of what I am saying here.

What does it mean to see the wonders of God and not combine it with faith?  Simply put, it means that we recognize the work of God in our lives and put our faith in His guidance, protection, and willingness to sustain us in all things.  We turn our troubles over to Him.  We obey the call to read His Word the Bible.  We learn to pray according to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  And we grow in the knowledge of the Lord as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  These are actions, which display a faith born of the witness of His Glory, which is given to all people.  And as we walk under these things, we learn to do the Holy Works of God.  We no longer do as we please.  Rather, we learn to do as we are taught.  And in the end, it is God who will receive the Glory for His works among us.  No more of this: “God will receive me for I am a good person.”

Those who are found empty of these things are not inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven.  Though you observe many rituals and words, they are void and empty if you do not submit your life to the Lordship of Jesus.  How can I say this any clearer?  How many men have tried to warn us of these things?  Yet, how many still think that to mouth words is sufficient.  Have those who believe this ever heard it said that they honor Him with their lips, but their heart is far from Him?

Millions today think that if they do enough good deeds God will welcome them into the Kingdom of Heaven with respect and glory.  But do they do the deeds of God?  A good deed in the eyes of man has as much a chance of being a good deed of God as a frog has of becoming a gnat.  God said, and we would do well to give this great consideration, that every good deed of man is as filthy rags (the rag of a woman’s period).  How can He say this of such selfless work on the part of man?  Is it selfless indeed?  Aren’t you doing these things so that you will receive?  Even if you do not expect to receive from men a return for the work you do for them, you do expect to receive from God because you perceive yourself as such a good person.  Your good deeds, done from your own mind are selfish acts of rebellion.  God alone knows what is Good!  And your not turning to Him for guidance and restraint of selfishness will be counted against you.

I do not know how to say this any clearer.  I do not want any who hear of the Lord Jesus to receive that oath of curse.  How I long to see the number of God’s people grow.  However, you will have none of it!  Why?  Why won’t you listen to these words?  Why won’t you reason regarding the Gospel?  Why do you insist on being worthy of God’s praise without God’s leadership in your life?  Why?

Jesus alone has done the will of God in the body.  And He alone will be the source of salvation.  Nothing we can do will usher us into the Glory of God the Father.  It is Jesus alone, who has that privilege.  I caution you to consider this truth with sobriety.

By His Grace.

Asked to Haul too Much too Far?

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Freight Wing-Interstate Distributor Co.6

Image by TruckPR via Flickr

Give me a load to pull, and ‘ll start thinking of what it will take to get it there.  How many days will it take?  How much fuel?  What roads I’ll have to use.  But this information can be gained.  And I come to have confidence that the load will arrive as planned.  That is, if nothing unseen stops me.  So I hook the load and start off with a freedom of conscience and no worries other than the immediate concerns of traffic and such.

But what if I hooked a load with a half tank of fuel, and was told to take that load 3000 miles.  I would expect that there would be a fuel stop somewhere.  But what if they expected me to provide the money to buy the fuel?  Let’s see:  200 gallons at 4.00/gal, and 7 MPG.  Um, can I talk to someone about this?  The load is going to go a certain distance then it’s gonna just stay at that certain distance.

Most people approach God like this.  They think they have been asked to be “good” and perfect in everything they do in order to please the Holy Lord of Life.  But just like that load I was asked to haul, someone else provides the money for the fuel.  Someone else provides the truck, trailer, load, seatbelt, radio, and everything but my body and mind.  In the case of God, however, He even provides the body and mind for the trip He demands from us.

If you want to treat God as a distant person who is only a task master, demanding certain things you can’t do, then fine.  But you alone suffer under the burden He has not asked you to haul.

By His Grace.