Can a Stick be Guilty of a Beating?


stick stick stick stick stick stick stick stic...

I often (understatement) point to the faults of men.  But I will allow for a few things:

Even a violent man can live at peace with a few things.  He usually doesn’t abuse his drink.  He’ll coddle a glass till it’s gone.  But he might just as likely throw the glass against the floor when the drink is gone.  A corrupt politician will take care of his money.  He will take care of it like a sow bear guarding it’s cubs.  A mother might take good care of her children.  But without the rule of God in her life, she will allow her children to watch television all day long (except when the gossip programs come on).  A husband might well take care of his wife, which was his pledge at their wedding.  But without the rule of God in his life, he’s just as likely to gawk at other women as they pass by.

With the rule of God in our lives, we learn (emphasis on “learn”) to continue our obedience out into the remotest reaches of our life.  We listen to what the Lord says and strive to apply it to everything we are.  There is a significant difference between socially acceptable behavior and Godly behavior.  And this is what you will find posted in my writings.

Yes, I am learning to hate the “ways of the world”.  And I ask for forgiveness when I slip into considering the individual rather than the sin.  It is sometimes extremely hard to tell where one starts and the other leaves off.  And if a man is beating me with a stick, I’m not likely to blame the stick.

By His Grace.

Swarm of Words


“What is the Kingdom of Heaven like. . . ?”  Why did the Lord say that?  Was He not sure?  No.  He was sure of His vision of where He had come from and where He was going.  But, “How shall I describe it?”  He was speaking to men of this world, who had never seen what He was describing.

I consider the vision He has allowed my mind to conceive.  How shall I describe this meager vision?  It is meager because I can only behold His words through the mind of man.  And I speak to the mind of man.  So what shall I say?

I wish to speak words of beauty.  The words that describe the joy He instills within my soul.  So:

Fill me with a swarm of words Lord!

Caress my soul with tools of Your beauty!

Allow me to speak what is true and eternal, to men of my own blood.

I sit enthroned in this tent of flesh.

And I see things radically “other”.

How shall I describe, and to what shall I liken, this beautiful vision You give?

 

By His Grace.

The Swatter is Coming.


Common house fly (Musca domestica).

Image via Wikipedia

The fly buzzes my head.  And he gives no thought that he is irritating me to violence.  He does not notice as my hand reaches for the fly swatter.  And he takes no notice of how I have dressed myself in patience for his destruction.  I will wait for him to lite in a place of my convenience.  Then I will unleash his end.  What was tethered in patience will become a lightning end.

So it is with the wicked against the Lord.  They give no thought of how irritating they are becoming to the Lord.  They do not notice how their lives are headed toward a place the Lord has established, the place of their destruction.  They speak and rail against Him while they take no notice of how He is dressed in an eternal patience.  They are the ones who count the minutes.  The Lord only counts for the sake of those who number, for eternity has no number of days.  He waits for them to lay down in the dirt; their days spent in rebellion and hatred for His Righteousness.  And then, He unleashes His perfect and Righteous Judgment upon the wicked.

By His Grace.

I’m Not the King.


Delivery Truck

I presented a witness to you.

And you thought you mocked me.

I stood before you and spoke.

And you shot your hatred at my head.

I did not flinch, nor did my soul respond.

While the dust of your words passed me by.

I knew, without doubt, that those words you cast out,

Were not meant for one such as I.

The dust of your words left no trace upon me.

Every speck has landed somewhere else.

It is the Lord you’ve insulted.

I am only His messenger to your face.

And how foolish to dash the messenger,

Then turn and boast that you have killed the King.

 

By His Grace.

“Blessed is the man . . .”


Psalm 1, Verse 1 and 2 in Biblia Hebraica Stut...

Image via Wikipedia

I used to think that a man could consider himself blessed by God if he did certain things which pleased God.  I equated “blessed” with God being thankful for our work/s.  And to a small (very small) extent this might be true.  But I remember that nothing we do actually pleases the Lord.  “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”  (Isa. 64:6)  So I am forced to reconsider what blessed means from God’s point of view.

Psalm one says, “Blessed is the man who . . .”.  And the psalm goes on to describe what this man’s blessing will manifest itself as.  The blessing is not a future promise as much as it is a present and real way of life.  The Lord causes a man to become what He desires.  Man did not know to do good.  It was the Lord who caused the man to do good.  There will be no boasting before the Most High God that a man has done a good thing.  God prompts us to desire Him.  We react with some action, according to our personality.  He rewards that reaction with another prompt.  And so it goes as we develop the fruit He desires to produce on us.  Eventually we are to become holy, even as our heavenly Father is Holy.

If you do not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the mockers, then the Lord has caused you to be like this.  Perhaps you thought or think that you choose to do these things.  But you are blessed by God to bear His desired fruit.  So praise Him, for this is your function.  Humble yourself to worship Him.  For He has been kind to you.  He has allowed that you should not be a fool in your actions.  He has blessed you.  You have not become a righteous man on your own.  You did not desire to serve Him or read His word on your own.  It was His Spirit which has brought you to this place you now live.  So render to God what is His due.

By His Grace.

Ah. To Know to the Doing!


Wacka' Mole!

Image by Tom Stamp | Photography via Flickr

I know how to tie my shoes.  I know how to feed myself.  I know a lot about the body and the world around me.  But what do I know about the Kingdom of God?  I want to know more.  But I don’t just want to know for the sake of knowledge.  I’m not intending to attend a trivia party.  I want to know to the doing.  I want to know what the Lord allows a man to know regarding holiness.  I want to be set apart from the ways of this world.  I want to honor His name!

Yet my heart is wicked and full of sins.  I quash one this moment, and another pops up a little later.   We are so horribly locked in a battle against what is pure and what is not pure.  I want to know to the doing of the Lord’s will.

by His Grace.