Tag Archives: hope

The Price

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There is a price to pay for being stupid, yes.  And as much as we are able, it is good to seek restitution.  Pay back what you owe as best you can.  But some of the things we do are too expensive for us to repay.  What do we do then?

Of all the things we do to others we are in debt to the ears of our souls.  But aren’t we a creation of God also?  And haven’t we done harm to ourselves?  How do you pay that back?

You’re not rich enough to repay everything you’ve done.   Taking money out of your wallet to put it back in your wallet is no repayment at all.  I think this one through. 

To make things right you need a third party who is greatly generous and compassionate, while at the same time being completely righteous and utterly just.  In short, you need someone who is endlessly and eternally rich.

This is what the Gospel is.

God cannot lie.  He said, I will forgive your sins and I will repay.   Only come to me and let us reason together, that we may put a stop to this flood of destruction.  You’ve heard it said that vengeance is mine, says the Lord.  But so is justice, righteousness, mercy, love, and eternal life.

There is great anger in the Lord that he will unleash on the day when he judges all men.  But in this day he is not angry.  This is the day of salvation.  This is the day when he works to secure the hearts and minds and souls of hundreds of millions of people.

If you’ve ever thought something through before, give this one your complete attention.  If possible, give it more thought than you give the things of this world.

People say they want God’s will to be done.  You know what, God wants to make you his holy and righteous child.  That’s what he wants.  If by chance you don’t believe that, then tell me why he sent his only Son to die on the cross.

Chilli Perfecto

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Praying for someone to become a Christian.

It’s like this:

You want to make a perfect pot of chilli  If you want to get the most out of your ingredients, you’ve got to let it cook for a long time. 

Throw the stuff together with a lot of water.  Put it on slow burn, and be very patient.  Realize that every minute that ticks by , the chili gets better and better.

You have to watch out for it; you have to stir it quite often.  You don’t want any of it to burn in the bottom of the pan.

Prayers and the Lord’s work, in that person, need to be focused on perfection not speed.  And what good is it if you try to serve the chili too soon?  Have confidence.  It’ll taste great!

We have to realize that some people just don’t have enough ingredients to make a really large pot.  Some folks are only going to be able to make one bowl.  Some folks make a smorgasbord out of it.  The point is, great chili takes time.

The Great Expectation

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Waiting for the baby;
The baby yet unborn.
The nursery,
White and glistening,
The future place of home.

Expectant siblings pace about,
Doing all they know to do.
Arms aching,
Ready,
Reaching out,
To embrace the likes of you.

Emerging like your brothers,
With joy,
You’re ushered in!
To spend forever
Dressed in white,
And loving none but him.

(For the children of the Lord)

The Reason for Faith’s Necessity

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2 questions:
_____________

1. Why do we need faith?

2. What does the voice of God sound like?

Beginning with the second question:
The voice of God is life.  When the Israelites were released from bondage in Egypt, God displayed his voice in a thunderous noise from the mountain.  But this was for the sake of the people, that they may worship Him and obey.  As he spoke with Moses, however,  he used no such voice.  Rather, God treated Moses as a friend.  (What does that say about those to whom he spoke as a thunderous noise?)

The voice of God requires faith to hear.  God is thoroughly life.  Everything he is, everything he says, everything he does, is life.  Ask yourself then what does life say, what does life sound like, what does life look like, what does life feel like?  Look carefully at the situations and things that come to you. 

Please don’t consider that God is like a man.  The life I am speaking of is Purity, Holiness, Righteousness, Justice, Mercy, and in the end Grace to us through sustaining toward the same things.

He would prefer that we gain his wisdom to perceive with our eyes and ears, mind, heart and strength.  Isn’t this why the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength and with all your soul?  Then you will begin to hear his voice.  How do I know this?

Romans 1:20 tells us how we know this.  “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

(And we have the testimony of those who do hear his voice through faith.  The one who writes this testifies.  And some who read this testify.  The voice of God, one may say, also comes from those who know him.  Perhaps better said, those God knows in Jesus His Holy and Righteous Son.  The people would find advantedge listening to the words of such people, instead of pre-judging them as worthless.)

He speaks to us from what we can say “IS”.  Because life “IS”. 

And we must inject another slice of information here.  God does not demand too much, for he gives us everything we need to accomplish his Holy will in our lives.  To say he does not, is to join with satan in the primary accusation that has caused creation of this place of testing in the first place.  We find the second slice of information in the following scripture.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (James 1)

Rejecting this promise is a sincerely precarious place to choose to live!  For if we do not receive his wisdom, that God is so willing to give freely, we will surely lack precious gifts. (Even, perhaps, finding death in the end.  For not a single one of those who of those who heard the Thunders from the mountain receive the promise of God.)

Having read this, it is now your responsibility to act.  Though having said that, (it sounds like a threat) the Wonders that God is willing to give to any man is far worth the struggle to suppress our rebelion (That which is crouching at our very door, desiring to have us. But we must master it. [Taken from Genesis 4:7])

Think about this deeply:  we need faith because it will never cease to be necessary.

Go and see if what I have said is true.

P. S.  The voice of God is called Jesus.  Think about that for the rest of your life.

Storm

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I sat in a darkened corner of the bar.  All alone and stupefied by the things I’ve seen.  Nursing my fourth drink, my mind was nearing numbness.   Ah, that familiar and welcome place.

My eyes were obliviously staring toward the front door.  The door opened and the shadow of a ragged man filled its frame.  “Ah, something to watch”, I thought to myself.

He walked straight to my table, and just stood there.  It takes a little longer for a fuzzy brain to process information.  Eventually I stop staring.  The blurry figure took focus.  Since he appeared to be in no hurry, and nowhere to go, I let a moment pass before I offered him a chair.  With lazy movements he sat down.  So the tone was set, an easy-going lazy, easy conversation.

He put his arms on the table, not taking his eyes from mine.  With an Indescribably steady voice he said, “What are you doing here”.  I told him I was drinking to numb the pain of life.

“Do you know why it hurts?”  Kind of a curious question.  It made me reach a little deeper than the surface.  I told him no.  “I really don’t have the slightest clue.”  But he didn’t offer anything more.  No answers, no reflections, no Nothin.  So we sat there in silence for a few minutes.

I was the one to break the silence.  “It’s like I live in a hurricane.  Everything I do, everything I am, everything I say, gets blown away and tore to pieces.  And I can’t seem to find shelter.  So I come in here to numb the pain of being tossed against the wall.”

He looked down thoughtfully.  It didn’t look like he had anything to say.  It seemed he was just waiting for my mind to listen to his words.  Like getting used to silence just before the Big Bang.  He started speaking before his eyes began to rise.

“Life is a storm from birth to death.  Most people prefer the depths of a cave.  But there are some who dare to wander about.  These are better fed.  These are far stronger and more able.  Frankly, these are more useful.”

He had set the tone so, again, I followed what he did.  I lowered my head and watched the top of the table stay still.  I thought about what he said.  I thought about how odd it was that he opened the door and came to my table to say these things.  I thought about the storm of my life.  Then I thought about my weakness; how he came to me in my cave.

“If this is the storm that comes into my cave to batter me against the wall, what is it like outside?”  I was sincerely curious about these strong people.

He didn’t pause this time.  “Outside is death.  What is it like inside?”  It seems like my answer came from somebody I didn’t know.  But I was sure it was my own lips that said this, “It’s useless, it’s mundane, it’s tedious, it’s insane.  In short and in truth, it’s a slow painful death.  But somehow it seems equitable, to be distant from the rest.”  (A poem?  Really!)

Now the conversation took a bit of a faster pace.  Without the slightest hesitation he shot back, “Do you want to work?”  I really don’t know how, but I understood what he meant.  My stomach convulsed and made me say, “Yes”.  (Alright, I thought, we’re having a conversation, and I’m really weirdly involved.)  “Then go outside and die with me.”

I know my eyes got wide.  I could feel it in my soul.  Could this man be the answer?  There wasn’t a shred of apology in his voice.

“No one has ever stayed with me.  How do I know you won’t take me outside and abandoned me in a worse place than this?”  His reply shut my mouth.  “Because I said so, and I cannot lie.”

Why should I believe him?  But look how strong my want-to is.  I looked down and thought again.  What’s the difference?  Die in here or die out there, what’s the difference?  Then I knew what to say.  Then I knew what to do.  I didn’t say anything.  I simply got up and put my coat on.  Within a few moments we were silhouetted against those in the cave.  We left.

I’m writing this, aren’t I.  Yes I’m still alive.  I have weathered the most magnificent storm my mind could possibly imagine.  He has never left me.  He has guided every step I took.  He has healed my wounds.  He has taught me how to fight.  He has encouraged me to take risks that men in their caves don’t even know exist.  And there ain’t no way I’m going back!

By the way.  His name is Jesus.

The Unpopular Desire

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The antonym of adultery and greed is faithfulness.

I don’t want their bodies.  I don’t want their possessions.  I don’t want their accolades.  I don’t want their love.  I want their souls to love God eternally.