Mary Magdalene loved the Lord, because she had nothing left to lose. The Apostle John loved the Lord, because he had everything to gain.
Why do you love the Lord Jesus? Or do you?
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
By His Grace
Tag Archives: Jesus
What if?
Pick a town of moderate size. Let’s suggest that the town has 45 Christian churches in it. Just for giggles let’s say the average attendance is 80 people. That’s 3600 fictional characters.
What would that town be like if all 3600 of its Christian citizens turn to God with full obedience?
I’m not talking about tithing. I’m not talking about reading the Bible. I’m not talking about prayer or good works. I’m talking about a complete abandon to do the will of the Living God in Christ Jesus.
We hear an awful lot of excuses being handed out for the sake of drawing people in. One I’ve seen recently says, “No perfect people allowed”. I understand the premise, but it’s also an open door to a lack of devotion.
But I’ll just throw this idea out there. And suggest a little more Bible reading. What happened to Israel when David stepped up? What happened to Israel when Samuel took his place? And what of Gideon, and all the rest who took their rightful place before the Most High God.
If an entire nation can be turned around by one faithful servant, what might happen with 3600 of them? What might happen with 3? Look at what has happened because of 11.
I better hurry and post this before the Lord returns, or we will never find out.
By His Grace
Corrective and Punitive Action
Dear world:
Will you be patient and righteous for a moment? Will you let a prisoner speak to you?
You have placed me in chains, I can do you no harm. But will you entertain the words of this man you have accused and imprisoned? I ask you no more than that.
By the necessity of survival, you have made laws against such men as I. And it doesn’t matter if your laws are just. They are your laws and you enforce them just the same.
So I have been accused and condemned, before the Society of men, as one who does not play well with others. For the sake of propriety I speak softly among you. But propriety is the steel you have forged to enclose me in my cell. But if I must speak to you for the sake of understanding, I must speak to you in the language of propriety.
Propriety is a shifting mechanism; it changes according to the fashion of men in every generation. And so men like me are forever jailed by your own laws. You do not seek to rehabilitate me. Your accusations, condemnation, and imprisonment are sufficient to please you. The horrors of your prisoners never enter your mind as you celebrate at your feasts.
I do not hold this against you. You will not change, and it does no good to accuse you. But I must begin this message with what is true.
You have tattooed my forehead with the word “MEAN“. And you were not wrong to wield the branding iron. At first when you accused me I was angry. And I gathered what truth I could and slung it back at you. So your accusation was confirmed among you. And you rightly confined me. And this according to your own laws.
But in my confinement your accusation has become unfounded. For since you would not let me be a one with you, in my confinement I searched for what is true. And I have found Him!
Your own laws of confinement speak of corrective action. But this is the purpose which you ignore. For if one who is confined by your laws turns away from violent behavior, you do not accept his change. You do not offer corrective action! You simply seek to rid yourselves of what you do not approve. Anyone who is not profitable to the ways of men is cast away forever.
By this foolish standard you are the ones who are jailed. And the brand you have placed on my forehead has become my glory. So I am right in releasing you from any accusation concerning me. You have meant it for evil, but God has used it for good.
The One I have found, while imprisoned in your social standard, is the pure standard you think your yourselves to be. He is not limited by death, as are we. He is not limited by a tidal wave of lies. He is the absolute truth. And he teaches all his people to be bold among you. Thus I have written this message.
He is the standard by which every man will be judged. For he has walked among us with perfection. And God the Father has placed Him eternally as FIRST.
While I have been imprisoned, he has come to set me free. Even while your bars of social standard are placed squarely between you and I. I range freely in the open space of forgiveness and love. And from this place I warn you. Your ways which you hold in such high esteem are wrong.
Were I to gather a crowd of a million people, and speak these things to your face, you would no longer desire to jail me from your celebrations. You would, in fact, desire to kill me. Even as the men of a generation, which saw the Christ walk among them, murdered the Holy One of God.
You would see a man who is just like you. And this man would proclaim that you are wicked and worthless, as one. I do not make the proclamation on my own. I speak only what the Living God has said.
Yes I am a man like you. Yes I was trained in the volume of your lies. Yes I was violent toward you, both in word and in deed. For you yourselves trained me!
But the Christ has come to set us free! And any who believe this message, can have this freedom. We need not be chained in the volume of teaching that is a lie, any longer.
I stand boldly and tell you, “Man can become holy”. I stand boldly and proclaim that we need no longer to live as liars. God is willing to teach us what is true and faultless. And his teaching is full of power to overcome the lies of this place.
Most of you will balk at this message. For you love the volume of lies more than you love the volume of truth. And you will not put up with one who calls your ways wicked. But I will call your ways wicked just the same.
I was mean when I did your will. Now you count me mean when I do His will. You see how your corrective action is at fault.
But I have not written this for the sake of meanness. And I have not straightened my back before you as an act of defiance. I have appeared before you as one who is not ashamed or afraid any longer. And it is love that straightens my spine.
Love makes me turn around. I had been kneeling before the One who is love. With awareness of what he has done for me, I have remembered the people from which I came. I have returned without fear to give you this message of truth. God will see, how many of you respond.
These words belong to God. They are only mine, in that he has given them to me. Yet they are not mine, for I give them to you. I have come as a messenger and nothing more.
By His Grace
True Excitement!
Sometimes the prospects of heaven excite me. To hear the name of Jesus spoken by His Holy Father. That name only his father knows.
To listen to the stories of ages past long before this world was created. The exploits of our Lord, and all the noble deeds of great creatures.
To see the great honorable ones of different ages. And to worship among billions with not a shred of shame or doubt.
By His grace we have such a great hope!
By His Grace
How to Start Your Soul
A few years ago they gave me a tractor to drive that was rather odd. In order to start it, you had to push two unmarked switches simultaneously while turning the key to start the engine.
Anyone who was not trained how to start the tractor, could not possibly steal it (unless of course they towed it away). Fortunately for me, the company wanted me to drive the tractor so they explain the process.
I know a man who is convinced that God has lied. The man has a certain tendency toward sin. He has heard what others have said. They speak about freedom in Christ. They speak about forgiveness and the power to overcome. But in his search this man did not find either. So he assumed that Jesus has lied.
God wants us to live a life of overcoming and freedom. And he has written a manual as to how we can accomplish that. But the man I spoke of does not read the manual. How then can he know?
He refuses to believe the testimony of others. He refuses to believe there’s something he doesn’t understand. He cannot start his soul. So he blames the one who made it.
Now, the way I explained it doesn’t sound reasonable at all. But it makes perfect sense to this man. And I will say he is not alone.
There are millions who have not been able to grasp the freedom of forgiveness and strength to overcome. Perhaps they are not as bold as this man, in that they do not call God a liar.
But if God has promised the freedom of forgiveness and the strength to overcome, their actions speak louder than their lips. For they have ceased struggling for what is expected of them. And they quietly wait their turn to be judged by God. I really can’t imagine what they’ll tell him.
Let’s sum this article up with what is simple and obvious. If you want the freedom of forgiveness and the strength to overcome sin, all you have to do is read the Bible and pray. Yep. It’s that easy. (Did I mention you have to believe? Yes those two unmarked buttons work just like they said they would.)
By His Grace
The Same
In the eyes of my mind, I perceive humanity as a whole. I do not divide them according to the trappings of any one generation. Whatever toys or tools a man may hold, God sees the man. Any man who lived 2000 years before Christ is equal in God’s sight to the baby born today.
Yet I am of this generation. And I perceive that the kingdom of God is no different between any generation. What was expected of men is still expected. What is offered today is the same as was offered then. And the outcome of the righteous and the wicked remains firmly established.
And the nature of man has not changed simply because he can fashion dirt into different objects than his ancestor imagined. He is still as wicked. He is still a liar. His righteousness is still nothing but a shadow.
Two things remain throughout every generation of man. The kingdom of God thrives among the wicked, he chooses those he will, in his eternal wisdom. And man is totally helpless to save himself.
Do not be fooled by the proclamations today. They are saying we are on the verge of greatness. But they lie. If they tell the truth, it is only that they show their pride and arrogance.
Let he who has eyes, see. Let he who has ears, hear. Let he who understands, proclaim.
By His Grace
Words From There 