Consider the Lord Jesus.
From the beginning the Living God spoke Living words.
This is the Lord Jesus, the Christ of God.
He IS.
Consider His testimony among us. Faithful,
He IS.
His crucifixion is not what He was.
He IS.
The machine of our sin had no hold on Him. From the Living God,
He IS.
Of the Living God,
He IS!
I was rightly convinced decades ago. Reverence for Jesus, the fear of God, (in the book of acts, in the first century) was not at all like Christianity today. The people were not baptized as a beginning of their Christian walk. They were baptized because they were "walking".
They were not baptized because they believed the message of the gospel. They were baptized as a sign and seal that they were living the Gospel.
How does that compare to what you have witnessed?
Every time I read the Bible, I come to those certain places that give me reason to pause. Sometimes I overlook the difficulty and read on anyway. But the older I get the less capable but I am of overlooking the difficulty without taking a moment to prepare myself for what comes next.
The difficulty is this:
God delivers Life to man in a certain place and time. It is always well received, as it should be. But not long after, evil summons its strength to come and eradicate the work of God.
It is lovely to read the joy God has sent to earth. It has become almost unbearable to witness the response of evil Man. Evidently this continual sequence of events is necessary in this godless world. Perhaps, so is my response.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Two women were complaining about all the Bible billboards down south. One said she was tired of being inundated about sin, Jesus, and condemnation. She made some remark to excuse herself for being callous to the words. Something like, “I know the gospel is important, I’m just tired of it being in my face all the time”. Surprisingly, her friend agreed.
Are you tired of hearing about God? You might want to get used to it. He owns eternity, you know. And the conversation about his glorious Son Jesus is never ending. Such people as those women are not likely to have a good time.
I don’t know what value this is. Maybe it’s only valuable to me; to let my heart speak the words.
What is Christ to me? He is a painful love. Yet, it’s not that he is painful but that I am from destruction.
I see his love. I feel his love. I strive, with everything I have, to do his love. Yet the culture of the place where I am from often interferes with peace.
The pain is not because of his love. Pain does not come from there. It comes from the store house of memories; wrapped around every thought like a leaching vine on a dying tree.
I remember I did this to someone. I remember I failed to recognize someone else’s pain. Missed moments. Murderous moments. Distracted by selfishness. Wasted times, Times spent trying to survive, encased in a body full of greed.
Sigh. So it is. But I would rather live this horror, with his love as my target, than to spend another moment living that useless life I have come to regret so deeply.
Let this be an apology where no words can repair. Let this stand as a testimony to true Christianity.
The Spirit of God calls, provokes, leads, and encourages toward what is holy. The unholy part of me must succumb. And I am gratefully thankful to my God that his promise is to destroy the destroyer. He is the rock upon which we are broken. Yet woe to those upon whom it falls, for they shall be utterly ground to powder.
Be glorified Holy Father, for the work of Your own hands in the souls You have chosen to love.
Measure how great and sure is the promise of God to save those who trust in His salvation. It is delivered to us in the body of an individual called The Word of God.
No promise on earth has ever been kept in fullness until it’s completion. Understandably then, doubt continues to plague believers. But God is not like the fallen hearts, minds and souls of Man. He is forever Other. God is Sovereign Life; He answers to no one. Believe.
Although we already know this, doesn’t our belief suffer loss? Isn’t our loss because we compare Him to the things we witness here? Christian belief then is a Life full of willful action based on trust. That’s how it is said, “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness”.
We: Live, Die, Face Judgment. Jesus or die twice.
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