Tag Archives: Guilt

The Next “New”

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The whole world strains after a brand of peace and joy.  It’s as though they peer over the edge of a railing.  Wide eyed and full of anticipation, they look forward to the next “new”.  Yet when it comes is their heart satisfied?  Let’s say the next new gadget comes out on the market, or the next sequel of their favorite movie.  Is there a deep satisfaction when they get to spend time with their next “new”? 

Let’s be clear here, I was once part of that straining.  I too sought for that peace and joy in the things I could experience.  I too complained about the laws of God.  It seemed to me that the only thing God wanted was to destroy my straining for peace and joy.  And that “seeming” proved to be right.  God did, and still does, want to destroy that temporary peace and joy I so longed for.  And in it’s place He gave me a peace and joy that lasts.  This peace He gives is the very essence of joy.

How I long to share that joyful peace with those who still strain over the railing.  I know they won’t understand what I’m talking about.  Just as I hated even the mention of God and Jesus, they hate Them too.  How do I plead that they will respond?  What words or actions can I say or do that they will consider the lasting peace of God?

Billy Graham has spoken millions of words about that peace.  The whole world has heard of his name.  But where is the great throng which turned from sin to embrace God’s ways?  Sadly, there are few who truly embraced his message.  So words won’t change the world.  Those beautiful words did change thousands of lives.  But there remains millions who still strain.

Mother Teresa did many things in the name of her God, my God.  And her name is known by the world in a powerful way.  But I’ve heard my fellow drunks speak of her name with reverence and contempt.  She worked tirelessly to provide for the poor.  She did what she could to show the message of peace and joy which comes from God.   But where it the great throng which turned from sin to embrace God’s ways?  Sadly, there are few who truly embrace her message.  So actions won’t change the world.  Those beautiful deeds did change thousands of lives.  But there remains millions who still strain.

All God’s children hunger for you.  They have something precious to share.  Please give the message of the Cross a serious consideration.  I testify as one who has been transformed from worldly to godly by the power of that Cross.  You can too.  And I tell you a truth; the peace I found in Jesus is absolutely marvelous!

 By His Grace.

Come! Let us reason together.

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Tossed to and frow, we wander this world as blind men.  Each day brings another buffet from without and within, yet we do not walk alone.  Though you are most wicked, there is a promise from He who is Most Pure.  “Come.  Let us reason together.  Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall become white as wool.”

I tell you as one who knows His beautiful power to transform.  He is Able and does not lie.  For now you fear Him and His lovely law which kills.  But if you will allow, He will turn your fear into a raging torrent of love and power. 

Come!  Let us reason together.

By His Grace.

Repent and Believe. How?

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When I walked through this world, and was full of sin and rebellion, I came upon some people who did not walk in sin and rebellion.  They did what was right by the Lord’s commands.  And they encouraged others to do the same.  I joined myself to their cause.  But I was not transformed to be like them.

What they did came from the strength and promise of He who can not lie.  What I did in mimic of them was from my own understanding, strength, and struggle with my sins.  I wanted what they had.  But I didn’t know how to get it.

In short, I was practising their faith through my own religion (Religion being man’s ways of pleasing his version of God).  As was inevitable, it all fell apart when I was removed from their presence.  Many practise the religion of a “good life”, while they remain locked in their sins.  What they do won’t last.  For they pursue their righteousness on their own strength.

What has turned the corner for me?  Two things have transformed me.  Which came first I can’t say.  1. I began to distance myself from the sins I loved so dearly.  In Bible talk that would be “I repented of my sins”.  2. I received the gift of forgiveness from Jesus, and learned from Him.

I, then, repented and believed.  The punishment pending for the wicked caused me to repent of my sin.  The love of Christ Jesus caused me to believe.  But it was not a one time event.  Repent and believe is a pattern of life as a Christian.  If you’re sincerely on the path of Jesus’ people you will find something interesting and identifiable.   Repenting and believing are a moment by moment thing.  Every action comes under an awareness of His presence.  Every thought is put under the microscope of Holiness.  Repent and believe at 3 am.  Repent and believe at noon.  Repent and believe at 4 pm.  And so it goes.   It is  the power of Jesus in my very soul that gives the energy and direction we lack without Him.

By His Grace.

The Lofty Cockroach.

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I stepped out in the early morning dawn to take in the morning air.  I had just replaced the automatic lights over the garage.  Though it was daylight, the light came on when I turned the corner.  Without thinking I backed around the corner to be out of the light just a bit.  Now why did I do that? 

Pondering my action, I thought of the cockroach.  When the lights come on their little legs get into that blur of motion toward the darkness.  Kind of like what I did.  Then I remembered the Lord’s words: “This is the verdict:  Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.   Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.   But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

Man is given to rule over his domain (this world).  And consider how we look down on the lowly cockroach.  Yet how is what he does different from what the lofty wicked do with the One who Rules over us?  And aren’t the wicked considered as vile betrayers of righteousness?  And if the end of any roach which doesn’t scurry into darkness is crushed.  What will be the end of those who hate the Word of God?

By His Grace.

The “New Age” Lie.

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In my usual day, I rarely come into contact with the “new age” belief structures.  For those of you who are like me, this might need a moment of explanation.  New age belief structures praise the natural things.  By natural things I mean everything that man can see, hear, touch, taste, smell and consider.  There is a powerful pull to follow after their ways because what they worship is larger than any individual man.  Not to mention that the evil of man has corrupted the natural world by his wickedness.   So, not only does their object of worship have a larger place than man, it also has an enemy that they can identify.

But there is One who is higher.  In the new age religion peace among all men and nature is the objective.  Tolerance is the vehicle of their objective.  And wickedness is only something we can correct on our own.  There are many things to say against the religion of this age.  But these three are enough to build a case against the worship of the created.

Peace among men is a useless desire.  We want peace from a selfish point of view.  We want peace because we want to pursue our own interests.  And though we cloak our desire for peace by saying that we want peace for all men, we are not addressing the peace of God in our search and work.  Peace cannot be accomplished by selfishness.  They are at odds with each other and will never produce eternal peace.  I want what is right for me.  But by wanting that peace which is right for me, I consume, or take away, from someone else something they want.  Given full rein, this work of establishing peace will only end in a war over something trivial.

Tolerance cannot be the vehicle to that which is pure.  We tolerate everyone regardless of their actions, thoughts, desires, and ability.  But we cannot do that in order to establish purity and eternal happiness.  For in the toleration of many things we are upholding sin.  Wickedness is sin.  And there is no wickedness or sin which will remain eternally.   Those who willingly accept this idea that tolerance will produce eternal peace are fooled.  And those people are only willing to accept something less that perfection.

Many stories which come from these people portray an age where everyone gets along.  Even though their dreams depend on technology to bolster their manufactured peace, they don’t see that this is not the way into eternity.  They don’t desire to be rid of their weakness, they support or hide it by use of their own hands.  They imagine that they can invent a machine which can transform a criminal’s mind into a righteous man’s mind.  What they believe is false.  It will never happen.  They are trying to create what God has said cannot be.  All men are corrupt and are in need of a transformation that can only come from God.

And finally, the only great success this new age belief accomplishes is that they rid themselves of an awareness of God and His Holy demands of all men.  He has created us.  It is not the other way around.  They worship what He has created as though it is worthy of eternity.  But God says this place of testing will one day be rolled up like a scroll to make way for the eternal.  To you who practise this new age religion in it’s many forms I have this to say to you.  You can do anything you wish for now.  You can believe and say that anything is true.  It’s been given to you to pursue any lie you want for now. 

But you make one grave mistake.  You mistake this life you now live as an end to itself.  God has given this life in this place as a testing ground.  He is watching and will judge every action and thought of the heart.  A day is coming when what we see will be evaporated.  Right now you look at what is created, even your children, and see something “good”.   You balk at my words of warning and say to yourself, “It is not right to think of destruction of all this around us”.  You look at yourself as special and worthy of God’s approval.  But you have not sought the One who made you.  Rather, you turn to the work of your own hands to supply what you call holy.  You have no idea at all of the Holiness of the One who made you.

Even Christians are tempted to fall into your belief.  Yet it is He who corrects our understanding and continually urges us to submit to His Holiness.  In that way we do not worship what is created and keep our focus on Him.  He is willing to teach all men how to worship and follow Him.  But you must lay down your own religion.  If you earnestly seek Him you will find Him.  But if, along the path of your search, you settle for something built by man you will stumble. 

Jesus is His name.  You will find the account of Him in the Bible.  From the first page to the last, Jesus is the name.  Anything less will not survive what is coming from the Most High God.

By His Grace.

The Plot.

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There is a plot which has been since the fall of Adam and Eve.  Men have said to themselves, “Let us band together so that we will find solace in one another.  To the righteous this is a worthy plot.  It is good, before the Living God, that His people gather together to lift each other up.  And it is said that iron sharpens iron.  So this is good.

But to the wicked and rebellious this is a plot of undoing.  They gather together to bring each other solace in their sin and rebellion.  As mud mixes with mud they think they bring each other peace.   One thing they miss which will be a horrible time for them.  When God rises from His Throne to judge the world each man will stand alone before Him.  You will look for help from those who stood with you.  But they too will be alone before Him.  All men will give account of even every idle word they have spoken.  What will you do with the guilt you will carrry on that day?

We worship Jesus, The Righteousness of God.  Though there is great peace and hope in Him for those who surrender to His will, there is also great terror for those who ignore His Holy calling.  The words I am given to speak concerning this are often perceived as harsh.  But it is not I who will condemn anyone.  And I do not judge anyone.  The message is from old and will not pass away till He stands to judge.  “Repent or die.  For the Lord will not allow evil to enter eternity in peace”.

I speak these things with boldness.  I answer to He who is Life, as will all men.  I do not seek your friendship if in that friendship you desire to bring me away from Him.  I embrace the Lord of Glory with a fire and passion.  And it is to your advantage to do the same.

By His Grace.