The Lord! The Lord has done this!
My soul is at home while my body sucks dust.
Where your treasure is, so your heart will be also.
I am a citizen of heaven proclaiming the unseen.
Considered a fool among men, my lips stammer His Glory.
I have seen with my blindness a promise of He who cannot lie.
And my hands reach out frantically to touch the feet of The Righteous One!
No longer do I belong to this world of foolishness and sin.
I am His!
The Lord! The Lord has done this!
By His Grace.
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This thought has been posted before. I can’t remember where or how long ago. But it’s a thought which bears repeating a thousand times anyway.
It is not appropriate for us to leave doubt in the minds of people as to our salvation. When someone dies, we often will hear, “I hope he’s in heaven now”. I am constantly struck by the importance of our witness in this regard. Wouldn’t it be better for everyone who knew you to be able to say, “I know he’s with the Lord now. Because everything about that man dripped Jesus.”
What shall be our witness? Consider what the Lord said in regard to this: “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” (Luke 13:24) Salvation is not simply asking God to save you through Jesus. If that were so we would see Christians and churches filled to over flowing with horrible examples of the transforming power of Christ. Oh. Wait, isn’t this the current state of affairs in America? Sorry to have offended the majority.
Strive to leave a legacy of God’s work in you. Of all the things you can leave behind, holy living should be our utmost concern.
By His Grace.
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In my work I often ask the Lord to bless certain things. The intent is that I might render my employer a good service. Much like the floating Axe head story. But often His response is curious, “no”. Then he whispers to me that to bless the company is to bless its owners. If they are in His will, then the blessing will flow. But all things such are done by a wise God. He alone knows how to redeem. The strain of this world will pull and pull. Things break down. Stresses continue to come. But He alone knows the heart. “It is enough that My people work earnestly and with a full heart. The blessings come as I direct.”
By His Grace.
You have heard that nothing corrupt will ever enter eternity with the Lord. I know I’ve mentioned it a time or two. And you’ve noticed how corrupt you are, I hope. Now there’s a problem here, ya think? It’s a problem we all struggle with. You’ll be cruising along just fine one day and, all of a sudden, you realize you’re pondering or doing something you KNOW the Lord will not allow entrance into Heaven. It’s one thing to ask for forgiveness from the Lord and believe you have received it. But what will you do next time? Is there a place a man can live where he commits these wicked things less and less? I can testify that there is such a place. And though I don’t know how Jesus will deal with you personally over these issues, I know of a clue to learning how to obey Him more often.
When you were a child you learned how to do many wicked things. You learned early how to lie. It was, at first, a way of keeping out of trouble. But remember, there was also a time when you had no clue how to lie. So you learned how to be wicked so you could do what you wanted and get away with it. From that moment on lies became a tool in your tool box. And you’ll notice that through out every day lies still come to mind. You might not play them out. But they’re still hangin around.
The key to transforming your mind from wickedness to purity is called learning. Think of the things you used to do as a child. How many things have you forgotten how to do? Like crawling through the grass. Adults don’t do that much. But children love it. How did you come to forget how to enjoy that? The answer is, you stopped doing it. You learned to lie the same way. You stopped living in innocence. It’s our practise that leads to who we become. If I practise playing guitar, I get better at it. If I stop playing guitar for a year or two I hardly even think of it anymore. It’s not that I can’t remember if I pick it up again. But I will have to learn all over again how to get pretty good at it. Practise.
Be innocent of what is evil and wise about what is good. But how do we become innocent of what is evil if we have lived evil lives? How do you forget what is evil if that is all you’ve been all your life? The Lord’s reply is amazingly simple. “Practise doing what is good and you will forget what is evil. Just as when you begin to practice what is evil you forget what is good.” (As I heard Him whisper to me one day)
Peter put it this way: As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy because I am Holy.’” (1 Peter 1: 14)
But the Apostle Paul pens the words like this: “. . . but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” (Romans 16:19)
Learn from the Lord by listening to the Word of God in the Bible. Learn from the Lord by listening to His leading in your conscience. Learn to listen to His voice of guidance from the Holy Spirit within you (if, indeed, you are a Christian). For if you are not a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, it will do you no good to practice what is good; for you are still bound by the father of lies. Only in Jesus can we hope to find help in our attempts to become holy and practice what is good. Before Jesus within us, we can only play like children at accomplishing the holiness God the Father demands. The power to please God comes from an intimate relationship with Jesus. And we have heard that those who practise evil will never enter God’s peace. Practise!
By His Grace.
Pondering the life I’m leading, I’m struck by the difference between the mind-set of the world and the awareness of Jesus in my life. To the world, ownership and identity are the primary reasons of life. They chase after absolutely everything that can be grasped by man. But the Christian will learn to abhor these things and become consumed with the Spiritual things.
Sports, sex, houses, land, title, friends, and money are the objects of the world’s affection. But righteousness, pleasing the Father in Heaven, evangelism, prayer, and watching against sin are the objects of the Christian’s affection. Every moment is consumed with the things of the Lord for the Christian. Yet the very last thing a worldly person wants to do is ponder religion and God.
This difference is never so plain as when, after a time of reflection on the things of Heaven, I talk to a worldly person. Our conversation will be sharply divided. No matter what we talk about, I am headed toward the connections between the things of this world and the things of God. Yet the worldly person will stop his thinking at the things of this world. To him, life is simple and radically confusing. To the Christian, life is never simple or confusing. God is primary to the one who has accepted Jesus. Jesus is the stench of death to the worldly person.
I feel the strain every time I talk with the worldly person. And it causes me to yearn for isolation again. But isn’t this the state of affairs? We are not our own. We are bought with a price. And we no longer belong to the system of understanding this world craves.
By His Grace.
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There is a place where our voice will meld with the truth of our hearts! Here, we sing the praises of God through a singular heart. Here, we are alone in our experience of the Lord. Though we band together with millions to sing the same song, our lives are held seperate.
But there is a place promised where our hearts will be open and no longer isolated from each other. There, we will sing a song of praise borne from the presence of God’s Son. OH how I look forward to that moment. The first song of eternity. The noise of melded hearts will rattle the posts of God’s throne! HE IS WORTHY!
by His Grace.
We: Live, Die, Face Judgment. Jesus or die twice.
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