In Jesus’ people there is no happenstance, only certainstance.
By His Grace.
Tag Archives: knowing
Caught Working.
There was a professor at a certain college who would be so caught up in the beauty of the knowledge of God that he would often be seen wandering the campus without the slightest regard to the activity around him. One night during a basketball game the players had to stop playing while this professor entered the court reading a book. Oblivious to the game, he walked on through the gym and out the other side. After he was gone, the game resumed.
It would do us well to be so caught up with our own service to Jesus that we overlook the chaos around us. There was chaos before we were born. And, without the coming of the Lord, there will be chaos when we lay dead. What is of absolute importance is that we bend our backs to the tasks of the Lord with such intensity that we notice only He who IS. Serve the Lord and refuse to be caught up in the distractions of the wicked.
By His Grace.
Beautiful is He Who is.
My Lord, this Jesus, is Beautiful.
How many words are laced by His people to describe what they see.
Yet we have not found the words to speak of His Glory.
We strive with all our might to encase Him in gems brilliant.
So that those who do not know Him might consider with ponderous hearts.
Yet we cannot do justice to what He is.
He is MORE!
He is MORE!
He is MORE!
Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty!
Taste and see that the Lord is Good, for all His ways will last forever!
By His Grace.
Watchman, What is Left of the Night?
“Watchman, what is left of the night”? The watchman replies, “Morning is coming, but also the night. If you would ask, then ask; and come back yet again.” (Isaiah 21: 11, 12)
We wait as men condemned. We search the sky for the appearance of He who never lies. The world has condemned all who would be godly in Christ Jesus. Yet we know we live as free men. We do not want death to come upon anyone. Yet the Lord of Glory has proclaimed, with absolute justice, that death will come upon all who remain in wickedness. It is not ours to condemn anyone. But it is our glorious duty to proclaim that message along side the message of hope. For what is hope without the horror of death?
May we not forget His promise against all that is corrupt. We hear the “good news” being spread all about us. But it seems that many forget why we call it “good news”. God is just and perfect. He demands all people everywhere to turn from wickedness and seek holiness. He has given His Son that all who desire might find Him and receive the power to become God’s people. Yet the world invents their own brand of religion to cover over their wickedness.
Here is only one warning among many. There is darkness about them. They cannot see what is coming and will not inquire. Yet the darkness only hides the approach of The Day of Judgment. Darkness which envelopes man does not cancel or delay God’s Day of Truth. Read this with wisdom and consider that it remains before all men as a truth which will not be taken out of the way.
Mock, if you desire. You do only yourself eternal damage. Laugh and ignore, if that is what “floats your boat”. It’s not my concern, but you will be concerned. God is true and will keep His Holy word to accomplish an end to the wickedness of all men. And what God promises comes true. We can consider what God has promised as though it already is.
“‘The end! The end has come
upon the four corners of the land! The end is now upon you,
and I will unleash my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your conduct
and repay you for all your detestable practices.
I will not look on you with pity;
I will not spare you.
I will surely repay you for your conduct
and for the detestable practices among you.
“‘Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
(Ezekiel 7)
Though you did not ask me, I told you. Though you did not seek, you were warned. And was the warning necessary? God has said that no one will own an excuse before Him, for all His Glory is displayed about men every day and every night. There are days which will come and you will doubt His promise of “The end”. Yet that day is coming. Day will come, yet so will the night. And then the sky will be rolled back as a scroll and you will see Him who you do not desire. It will not go well for anyone who is not sheltered by the power of Christ Jesus toward holiness. Prepare today and do not put this off.
By His Grace.
Come to Me
How beautiful, from sovereignty, what God with glory did.
He set us here against the cliff, then, “Come to Me”, He bid.
He gave us eyes that cannot see, yet offers sight to all.
“Come to Me and you will see! All men, both great and small”.
“Come to me”, He promises, “And I will give you ears”.
How do we know His words of life? It’s faith alone which hears.
“Come to Me”.
By His Grace.
And God Swore an Oath, That They Should Never Enter His Rest.
I woke this morning and saw something in myself that concerns me. It is a vague something, yet it’s markedly dangerous. It’s hard to put my finger on what the cause might be. But I recognize it’s danger from what I read of the people who God swore would never enter His rest. It is a spirit of discontent.
This spirit of discontent is the very bend which condemned those who were written of in Hebrews:
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
I have heard His voice. I am seeing what He is doing. And yet this “hardness of heart” is bubbling within me. The Lord is making me aware of it’s potential. And I rest assured that He is able to help me crush it before it grows to a problem.
What shall we say regarding this? There are a number of items of importance which this subject brings to the forefront. I’ll line them out and allow them to be displayed. Often if we shine God’s light on such problems they have a tendency to evaporate before they cause damage.
- It is a “hardness of heart” and a symptom of rebellion. It’s as though we set our feet in the sand and act like a little child who won’t go or do what dad says he must do.
- It was what caused Cain to murder Able. Cain decided that he knew better what was correct. And the result of this rebellion was murder. What did God respond to Cain? ” If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
- The potential of this spirit of rebellion is that we are cast away from God for eternity. Potential is the key word. Nip it in the bud before it begins to grow. For this sin is the very essence of death to God’s people. Through it we begin to allow our hearts to go astray and through it we forget (thus never knowing) His ways.
- Once more, and with power, we proclaim that God is able to rectify this spirit of rebellion within those who are being called out. But we cannot even know it is within us without His leading. The hideous nature of this sin is that it is so very like our natural state that we hardly recognize it’s growth untill it’s too late.
What shall we do to repair this “glitch” in our walk with God? Since it was God who showed it to me, it will also be God who will remove it. Yet He has spoken that our salvation is a mutual work. He speaks to us regarding our sins and it is up to us to agree. Yet it is not with our own strength that we will war against these sins.
I can’t describe what we are able to do about our sinful nature. It is beyond me to know how to remove such a natural tendency as rebellion against the rule of God in my life. But I can clearly show what should be done in this matter: I will turn to Jesus. It is He who will be glorified in my life. It is He who will announce to me that there is something needing our attention. It is He who will cause me to consider the problem. It is He who will advise the proper understanding regarding sin. It is He who will send me through the paces necessary to remove the problem. And it is He who, in the end, will remove it.
It is not our strength or will that receives the certification of God’s Holiness. It is the very interaction of Jesus, the King of Kings, who brings us to His Father. It will be Jesus who receives all Glory come that day. If I build my house on anything else it will not stand. What do we mean when we say “To God be the Glory, forever”?
I’m going to post this as is. I am aware it’s not complete. But it is essential enough to post quickly. I am struggling at the top of my game to obey. Yet I know I am not alone in this matter. There are thousands who reach these points in their walk with Jesus and falter, never to rise again. I can say, without doubt, that the answer is Jesus. And I encourage questions, additions, and corrections to this post. I could have saved it as a draft and worked on it later. But I know I wouldn’t get back to it in a timely fashion. I submit this, then, for the building up of the body of Christ.
By His Grace.
Words From There 