Tag Archives: hope

Concrete Man

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My feet plod along through this withering wind.

And my body is perched top them both.

There is stealth to my way which few comprehend.

But I promise you now with an oath.

If you’ve met this new that I’ve come to be,

Then you’ve stood near the One who is true.

Though my skin and my words are how you see me, 

The One who gives rest is near you.

I carry His word and His promises strong.

Though the wind around me shoves hard.

He has given me power to move forward headlong.

He has made much more than a card.

By His Grace.

The Deer

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I watched helpless yesterday, as three dogs killed a deer on the other side of  the rushing water.  No sticks to throw.  No voice loud enough to drive them off.  No stones on the muddy bank to throw.  No gun.  And, in the end, there was no hope for the deer as she thrashed bellowing like a bear.  In a short time she would be no more.  And by the time I had arrived her legs had become useless.  Nothing I could have done would change her situation.   I ponder her fate.  How horrible to end her graceful life at the teeth of such ravaging. 

Now I ponder my own future when I too will encounter my last moments.  As all men will do.  Will I have lived for the Glory of He who never dies again?  What pain He endured at the hands of hateful men.  And He did it for us all.  Will I embrace my certain time as He? 

This Deer might have been food on the table of a hunter.  If the circumstances of her death were different.  And yet, look.  How has her death become a testimony for all of us.  Without her terror, this post would never had become.  Now we are left with a ponderous task.  Shall we pitty her and forget her in a moment as we go about our day’s tasks?   Or will we allow that her death impact us toward God’s throne.  May the Lord allow that her testimony of life entering death become a reminder to us that we too are bound for the same place.  And yet we are man, we are not animal.  We make choices.  She could not but obey.  And what is there in your life which the Lord might use to wake you from slumber?  Surely there are more testimonies regarding death.  This whole world yells out the message of God: “I made you that you might seek My face.  Look around you and listen to what is before you.  You will soon come to Me and receive the reward of your life.  What do you say regarding My Son?”

Lord, give me strength to see Your way.  I wish to do Your Holy will for the sake of Your Holy name.  Glorify Yourself in this man.  My time is surely coming.  And I, like all men, have never been to that place.  We are like grass in our way.  And You have determined the end of our days here.  This is a place of testing.  May I move through this place with the power of Your Glorious hand.  May Your Will be done forever.

By His Grace.

God’s Voice

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The Sovereign God of Glory,

if He spoke one word to you.

You would wither and die.

So He remains at a distance for your sake.

No man can bear the weight of guilt he has.

How’s that for patience.

When He spoke, the entire universe came to be.

How’s that for eloquence.

When He spoke to the Israelites, the mountain shook.

And fire consumed the top.

How’s that for power.

Yet see how much He loves you;

For He now speaks a barely audible whisper to His children.

How’s that for Grace.

Yet, when He speaks next in His normal voice to all which is created,

The entire creation will burn with a heat enough to melt the elements.

How’s that for finality.

Got ears on your head?

Got eyes in your head?

Got common sense about you?

Choose Jesus before the Father speaks, “Go”.

Thunder, lightning, smoke, and immediacy will ensue.

By His Grace.

What Have We Learned?

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What have we learned?  Jesus, even Jesus desired that the cup of trial might be taken from Him.  Yet what did He say?  “Yet, not my will but Yours be done”.  What have we learned?  Even Paul the Apostle said that he had learned to give thanks, praise, and glory to God during every situation.  And that he had even learned to be content in times of trouble.  And we read that Paul had encountered many seriously threatening situations for the name of Jesus.  What have we learned?

Are you floundering in troubles that you can’t fix and do not understand?  Get up and get on your knees before the Most High God.  What have we learned?  What was Job’s response to terror and loss?   He praised God as the One who had every right to take what He had given.  What have we learned?

Have we learned to do these things?  Or are we still only going to nod yes to the words we read.   Many read about the appropriate response to troubles.  But when it comes their turn, they revert to selfish sorrow.  We are not called to be victims.  We are called to be warriors in God’s army.  When a soldier goes in to battle he doesn’t consider himself a victim.  Nor should God’s people consider themselves slaughtered.  That soldier will swing his sword till there is no strength left, for that is what he is called and trained to do.  God’s people also should perform as a Holy family when they are called upon to lift their heads in suffering.

To have learned something is to be able and willing to do it.  Reading about it and looking back over the history of others will do you no good if you can’t find that same strength now.  Look, if you are having troubles praising God in your plight, at least give God the Glory He deserves.  Soon you will find the strength to stand in this battle you’ve been sent to encounter.  His promise is that He will lift you up.  Look to Him and give Him praise.

By His Grace.

Earthly Trials We Deserve.

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There is a place a man purchases.  For most these places are many.  We forsake the Lord’s commands and reap the situations such forsaking spawn.  A thief, for instance, might well have forsaken the Lord’s command regarding stealing.  When he is caught and punished, it is not likely the Lord will remove the punishment.  Each of us must encounter the results of what we have done in this world.  If we lie to someone and are caught later, we will need to endure the fruit of that sin.

Shall we say that the Lord has forsaken me because I forsook His commands?  No.  Though we are standing trial for treason, we may still have Him by our side.  He will never leave us.  Isn’t that the promise?  Yet He made no promise that everything we do wrong will find good and favorable things at the accomplishment of their end.  He has promised help to do what is right.  But sometimes we must encounter the results of our wrong doing.

What shall we think, then , if we are about to enter a period of troubles of our own making?  Face them.  Enter as a Child of the King.  Humble yourself under the hand of justice and accept what is coming.  It was you who built it.  It will be you who endures the punishment.  He will not leave you during these trials.  But He warned you before you committed the act for which you now pay.

Above all, remember, the Lord of Life is perfect.  Perfectly merciful, perfectly just, perfectly powerful, yet He demands an accounting.  It is no good mark in your favor for receiving the punishment you are encountering.  After all it’s the result of your wrong doing.  But there is a blessing which will help you encounter this punishment with humility and wisdom.  Take what is offered by your God during these times and bear the punishment as a willing participant.  If anything can be redeemed, it is that you will accept God’s will in regard to sin.

By His Grace.

Can God Murder?

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Many consider God at fault because they were hurt by the death of a loved one.   “It’s God’s fault he’s dead”.  “I hate Him”.  “I’m angry at God for taking . . . . . .”   And so on.  I don’t want to make fun of the tragedy of losing a loved one.  But there needs to be said that God is good.

How do we balance the loss of our love with a Good God?  Consider what our life is.  He gave us life in this place of testing.  And when He decides to finish our test where do we go?   We go into eternity.  We perceive life here as the end of things.  “I’m alive and I don’t want to die”.  Ok.  But your very life here was a gift from God the Father of Life.  And when He is ready, He brings you into His presence. 

By His Grace.