Too Weak to Speak.


Christian symbol: This symbol was used primari...

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I’ve talked to many Christians who think they don’t know enough about their faith to encourage others or convert the unsaved to a faith in Christ.  I was there too.  For many years I didn’t know what to say.  How did I get to the place where I’m creating a blog for the Lord?  I got here by watching others struggle with the truth themselves.  I saw how they stumbled around for the words.  And I was encouraged by their faith.  It’s not that they were able to make a mountain move off into the sea.  They didn’t have the faith to raise the dead or even heal the common cold.  They had the faith that in their trying they would gain from the Lord the understanding and strength to continue.

Look at how you’ve been encouraged by the faith of others who spoke out against wickedness or spoke of what is Righteous before the Lord.  When you begin to speak with what knowledge you do have, you will accomplish at least two things.  You will gain a confidence you didn’t have.  And each time you exercise that confidence it will grow.  And you will encourage others to speak out also.

Many are silent because others have been silent.  I encourage you to do your part to spread the Gospel.  Risk embarrassment.  It’s worth it.  And you’ll never become proficient as long as you never try.

 

By His Grace.

Nail it Down Now. Don’t Add to Regrets.


Screw the deck boards in

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The deck out back wasn’t built very well.  The uprights aren’t spaced evenly.  And there aren’t enough of them to steady the weight from wiggling laterally.  It’s old.  And the nails they used are beginning to loosen.  I’ve hammered them back in a few times.   But they come loose again each year.   The frost, rain, and heat do their work to loosen what was done.  So I’m putting deck screws into the joints to help the deck last a few years longer.

While I’m doing this, I’m looking for similarities between my Christian walk and the deck I’m working on.  (No. It never stops with me.)  Then it dawned on me.  I consider the shoddy work done at the beginning of building.  And I’m here doing work to make that bad work last longer.  It will either come down on its own some day, or it will need to be torn down and rebuilt.  Either way, it won’t last as long as it might have done if the work in the beginning had been done well.

Consider your Christian life.  If you have had a rather shaky start, or allowed the world to mingle with your Christianity while you were forming the foundations of your faith, you’ll be fixing it till your last day on earth.  If you’ve begun a strong foundation to your Christianity, you’re likely going to be able to support more weighty problems.  And you’re less likely to be swayed by the winds of wickedness that the world will throw at you.

If you’ve had a shaky start, get in there and strengthen what remains.  Isn’t that what the Lord told us to do?  Keep what you have.  There’s no sense in tearing down what remains.  Refine your faith in the Lord.  Nail down those weak questionable choices you keep making.  Solidify your understanding in the Lord and learn what the Lord’s will is for you.  

Why am I out there sweating like a water faucet today?  I’m out there working on the deck because it needs to be done if I expect it to endure another winter or two.  What about you?   How long do you expect to have to endure this world’s assaults?  1 year?  30 years?  You’d do well to start strengthening yourself now.  The Christian walk either gets harder or easier come the end of your life.  Either you’ve planned and learned well to obey the Lord, or you’ve begun to forget the foundational teachings because you’re letting the world influence your choices.

By His Grace.

Days


May - Oct 2006 Calendar

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The Lord has allowed me to live 21,142 days.  What have I done with them?  How many more has He in store for me?  What will I do with them?

Are you?


A Solar Flare, image taken by the TRACE satell...

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Are you ready?

Are you watching?

Are you actively working through the Holy Spirit in the Work of the Lord?

The universe will see the Glory of God descend to earth.  The sky will rip open with the Holy Fire of God to reveal the Lord of Glory as He comes to gather His people.

Are you ready?

Are you watching?

Are you actively working through the Holy Spirit in the Work of the Lord?

By His Grace.

Pure or Crooked.


TEST

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“to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.” (Psalm 18:26)

How we perceive God and what is good, depends on the state of our heart.  Each man receives the value of his heart.  A little child’s innocence will allow it to hold a worm with wonder and joy.  But one who is older and jaded will regard that worm as ugly, hideous, and worthless.

Purify your heart from wickedness and you will begin to see the purity of God’s creation.  We say, for instance, that we forgive someone for what they’ve done.  But for most these are just words.  A little later and they will find themselves hashing the incident over again with hatred.  The forgiveness God demands does not come from a wicked heart.

A godly man will wake in the morning to the sound of peace in his heart.  He knows he has entered into a place where he can accept the will of God regardless the circumstances.  A wicked man will wake to consider the hatred he harbored the day before.  He counts all the offences against himself and others.  He looks for this same hatred in everyone else, for it resides so deeply in himself.  While a godly man will see beyond the actions of others to the reasons why they might do what they do.

The righteous man will consider death and suffering a task the Lord has presented for him to endure.  And will gladly accept the task, for he knows the Lord is pure and loving.  A wicked man will consider the same two tasks as hideous and revolting.  He will desire to be rid of both.  And will accuse the Lord of being too harsh.

We encounter life according to our own level of love or hatred.  A wise man will hear these words and consider his own heart.  The day is coming when our hearts will be shown for what they really are.  There will be no place to hide and no excuse to use.  Today is the day of testing.   You are tested by the world around you.  Are you shown as a man of God?  You are tested by your own actions.  Are you a man of God?  You are tested by the Lord.  Are you a man of God?

By His Grace.

“They Win Because We Cheer”.


Armchairs

The “Arm Chair Quarterback” makes the plays with his fat pork.

And rails against the legs of those who fiercely play the sport.

He’s at a loss to cause a win.  He only uses noise.

And those who play with all their heart gain money from those boys.

There’s ones who rail and cuss all day, and gather against the Lord,

They’re much like they who sit to watch and yell in one accord.

They ridicule, chide, and mock, at those eternally bound souls.

As though they too could pick it up and winsome walk the coals.

“The players rustle all their might, yet they are men like us.”

“So too these folk, these ‘righteous folk’ who preach at me, ‘You must’.”

They testify that all the work the Christians hold so dear,

Is just a noise the players make.  “They win because we cheer.”

 

By His Grace.