Tag Archives: Jesus

Making God Proud

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There is a saying among men that is worthy of inspection.  Anything that’s worthy is simply worthy.  Come on, let’s get after it.

“Be the kind of man of which God can be proud.”

On the surface it sounds pretty good.  It’s inspirational.  It provokes a never-ending stream of good behavior.  As far as I know, it’s grammatically correct.   But it is also seriously wrong.

A mother may be proud of her ugly and inept son.  But her pride is not due to the fact that he is a supreme representation of humanity.  She is proud of her responsibility.  She is proud of her gift from God.  Frankly, she is proud of God.

God is no respecter of any man.  To say that he is proud of any man, can be considered pure folly.  This is the same God who said all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags (let the reader understand the meaning of the words “filthy rags”).

What can a man possibly do that would make God proud of him?  Every righteous deed we do is as if under duress.  For every man will readily tell you that if he does not behave he will be punished.

There is One of whom God is proud.  His name is Jesus.  As we obey and praise God’s Holy Son, the Pride God has for him is enhanced.  Let us then, revamp the saying. 

“Let us be the kind of men who honor the One who has roused God’s pride.”

By His Grace

To “Do”?

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The day belongs to you, my God, Christ Jesus.  Then as is right to do, I present myself before you.

What shall I harvest? 
What seeds shall I plant? 
Shall I water,
Shall I weed,
Shall I plow,
Or shall I rant?

Shall I give strength to the weak?
Shall I humble the proud?
Shall I glorify the Living God out loud;

In word,
In deed,
In work,
In thought,
With all my soul attentive?

Or has my mind turned to works of man; that glory is mine on the day of presenting? 

Is not my place a special gift, as according to your wisdom you do?

To provoke,
To provide,
To prosper,
To hide,
All my ways within your Righteous blood.

This day belongs to you my God, Christ Jesus.  Do as you will with your servant, I stand as ready as you cause me to be.

By His Grace

The Intent of Preaching

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If I stand on the street corner and proclaim that all men should go to Christ, I cannot possibly expect any to remain with me. 

No one arrives at a street sign and makes his bed beneath it.  The street sign is only a directional source of information.  Neither does the street sign expect anyone to remain with him.  No, everyone who comes to the street sign is in route to someplace else.

It is only proper then that everyone who comes to me, simply gets the true and eternal directions to salvation. 

The one who looks for a job, does not stay seated in the employment office.  In that chair he will never earn a wage.  Rather, he goes where he is directed.  And it may well be, he will never see that chair again.

Christ Jesus is all in all.  It is to him we point.  By all means then, go to him!

By His Grace

Ownership

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I own nothing, because I am nothing.

God is All.  In the terms of man, God owns all things, and is All things.  From the vacuum of space to the qualities of the tiniest diamond.  God owns, and is, all things.

Righteousness is, because righteousness sustains.

A man may drop his pen.  Therefore he is not righteous.  Righteousness sustains perfection.  This is Jesus, the Christ of God.

I may know certain righteous things.  But they only belong to me because I perceived them in a moment of my life.  Yet, memory fails me to remember them with perfect consistency.

Not one scale of skin belongs to me.  How can the Righteousness of God be mine?  No, All things belong to God.

Sin is “Not”.

God is perfect, and sustaining in all His Holy ways.  Sin is destruction of perfection.  Yet this too does not belong to me.  For all I have done is destroy the things of God.  I have not sustained, even my sins.

Wickedness is “Not”.

I cannot even be considered to be fully wicked.  For every man stumbles across a righteous act from time to time.  Even a drunken man can make a few steps toward his bed before he staggers into the wall.

I have “righteous” knowledge within me.  But where did I get it?  And considering my faulty mind to remember, how is that knowledge sustained?  Personally, I can trace the beginning of understanding of what is good and Holy to the reading of Proverbs.  But from where was every single word in the Proverbs of the Bible before it was written down?  They were in the Holy Mind of the Living God.

Summation:

We are nothing.  Jesus is All.  He is the very Living Word of the Sovereign God.  In all He does, he is perfection, for He sustains All.  As the Holy Father thinks, so the Christ does.

Where is pride?  Where is accomplishment?  Where is “a sustaining” among men?  For failure accompanies all our moments.

I do not own the past, for I cannot undo or add to anything I’ve been.  I do not own the very next split second, for I live in a constant state of surprise.  Yet Jesus is the “Same, yesterday, today, and forever”.

From mercy to murder, man is “Nothing”.  For God owns Eternal Mercy, as well as the soul of the one murdered.

All things belong to God, for God is All.  As it is with the Living God, so it is with the Living Word of God; Jesus.

Amazing Transformation!

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structural1A 40′ X 18″ I Beam weighs about 400 lb.  How excited would man be if he could find a way to construct that same span and strength to weigh only 3 lb?  What kind of material could do that?  I would guess that search has been on since the invention of steel.

But man doesn’t have to look very far to find a material that’s stronger than such a fantasy.  He need only look to his rebellious soul.

Nothing on earth, or in all creation is harder than the rebellious soul of a man.  Yet Jesus is famous for exchanging such a marvelously difficult material into a heart of flesh.  The stone cold heart of man is easily rendered into one that understands and does the will of God.  But don’t think you’re going to do that yourself.

It takes the slightest will, in a man, to yield to Christ.  At that point, a flaw is found in the amazingly hard heart.  It is through that flaw that Christ Jesus begins his work.  Yes, it takes time.  But those who yield early in their life can likely expect to become that elusive material that man has sought since the time of Adam.

The Living Light Switch

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Curiosity has touched me.  I tried to hide among the bushes, but he found me out none the less.  I thought I could rely on understanding.  But understanding is like a loosely built fence, which through the cracks between,  I can receive a glimpse of heaven.  And it is while I stand along that fence, in the shadow of obscurity, that curiosity comes to greet me.

I know the answer to the question, but that there should even be a question marvels me.  The question covers three topics.  By necessity, I can’t figure out how to make it short.  But the answer is supported by the legs of the three topics.  At the top of the “Table of answer”, I lay my conclusion.

Leg 1. Why is constant and enduring self-discipline necessary for the things of God?

Leg 2. Why must man be encouraged, and even sometimes forced, to pray?

Leg 3. To where do the words of the Bible disappear after we have read them?

Human beings are so amazingly capable of learning, doing and retaining.  The volume of technology is proof of this.  There are those who have mastered virtually the complete volume of Technology ( Make no mistake, the word volume is misleading.  How many books are written on various subjects by various masters of their own trade?).  And the list of those who aspire to join them in this accomplishment is very long. 

Self discipline, zeal, and retention, do not lack among men.  What I find mysterious is the lack of understanding of those three “legs” in the things of God.

I know there is a distinction between what is flesh and what is Spirit.  But even a man who contains the Holy Spirit of God finds himself being dragged back to the flesh from time to time.  Today he remembers and does.  Tomorrow he forgets and stumbles.

Obviously, dedication to God’s things is not accomplished by a momentary decision; as if one flips the switch in the room and the light comes on.  Now he can go about the room and do as he pleases, forgetting the switch.  No, it is more like the man must rise from his chair to switch it on again.  For the switch tends to move down to the off position, as if it were a being in itself. (Please don’t become paranoid, and find yourself watching the switch.  It’s just an analogy.)

The answer to this mystery, is that God has made these things so that he may test the fullness of a man’s heart.  Laziness in the things of God is not an option.  It requires a constant straining toward the things of heaven.  Relax, and you will surely suffer loss.

A man may study technology, then take a vacation without loss.  But the man of God who does this, will find himself horribly lacking.  The information of God does not arrive without direct connection to the Spirit of God.  And it cannot be reliably retained by the flesh.  And dissipates rather quickly with non-use.  But where does it go?

I have found the Lord Jesus to be incredibly humble.  He does not force himself on anyone.  Neither does he help us unless we ask.  Agreed, there are circumstances beyond our knowledge in which he must help us.  Rest assured, he does and is.  But the volume of what is Holy belongs to him.  If by derilection, we push him away, the things that are Holy go with him.  That my friend, is where the words of the Bible go.

I am warned afresh.  Yet in this I also find a great promise.  The Lord has promised us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”.  And he has taught us, “Without me you can do nothing”.  But I am struck by the reality of his promises as they play out in our daily life.

This is not hidden knowledge.  It is not only available in the Bible, but all his people testify of these things everyday.  Perhaps what is more amazing, is that there are still Church going folk who do not know these things.  For I perceive how often the Pastor must encourage the flock to read the Bible, to pray, and to do the things of Christ.

Indeed, the mystery of godliness is great!

By His Grace