Tag Archives: Memory

Damaging Judgments of Memory

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There was a fountain in the town square that used to be connected to an underground stream laced with sulfur.  When the fountain had been built the water was clean.  But over time a pocket of sulfur was released by the flow.

The people in the village knew to avoid the water in the fountain, and it’s no surprise they considered it a filthy thing.  It was obvious this was not a place of nourishment.

But for some unexplained reason, one day the water in the fountain ran clean.  For years the people in the village avoided the fountain, not caring that the water was pure.  They couldn’t forget what the fountain used to contain.

Instead of enjoying their newfound convenience, they would walk nearly a quarter mile to the fresh flowing spring outside the village to get their water.  By habit and a memory of insult, they refused to drink the water of the fountain.

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Do we judge the value of a man by what he used to be?  Or are we diligent enough to take a look at what he has become?

By His Grace

Defining “The Difference”

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Yesterday morning, I drove to the garden supply to gather some things.  As I drove, I found myself filled with a different perspective.  The beauty of Spring overcame my mind.  I saw the houses, lawns, people, even the shining aspects of my truck, as though they were worthy of “righteous” praise.

I have not had that perspective for years.  The difference between what has become my perspective in Christ Jesus and what is the perspective of man, was astounding.  It scared me to witness my thoughts turning from what is holy to what is obscene before the Most High God.  (It is possible that the reader might raise an eyebrow at that last sentence.  But bear with what is written here, that understanding might surface.)

In writing this post, I am reminded of the words of Jesus.  In regard to my experience yesterday.  “He said to them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.'” (Luke 16: 15)

How can I relay the difference between what is holy and what is common, to those who do not believe?  By His Grace, I have become a man who sees the things of this world as an enemy to the soul that belongs to the Christ of God.  How can I help others perceive the things of this world in the same light?  If the war of Christ has not become the primary resident in the soul, the things of this world will appear as a friendly.  We either gravitate (learn to live) to the battlefield of Spiritual Difference, or we continue to live in the encampment of the enemies of God.

The draw of man’s things is powerful.  Powerful enough to cause men to demand the death of Jesus.  Powerful enough to entice men to spit on the crucifixion of the Holy Son of God.  Powerful enough to draw a soul away from Christianity.  And powerful enough to retain eternal hold on any soul who does not seek the face of the Living God continually.  Even the slightest withdraw from the Holy things of Christ, is enough to unveil the desires of the flesh.

Let me try to convince the reader (If indeed, there is the slightest desire to disbelieve these words.)

There was a man who starved himself to death, some time ago.  I don’t remember his name.  I don’t remember his cause.  He is simply gone.  All I remember is that there was a man who did this in the last 20 or 30 years.  He was an American.  That’s all I remember.

But see how useless his life was.  I do have the sense that his plight was not provoked by Christianity.  It was some political miscarriage of injustice.

He is gone now.  What was written about his “statement” would be difficult to find.  Even the memory of him is obliterated by the demands of this Place of Testing.  His family may know to remember him.  But the fabric of America doesn’t even think about him.

But what should a man of Christ expect, as he works out his salvation with fear and trembling; knowing that it is God who works in him, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (From Philippians 2: 13)

The things of this world are obliterated from the memory of man, as time moves from one year to the next.  Even if it is written down, either on a headstone or in a book, our provocation to live and do comes to nothing.  But the things which are done in a man, by Christ Jesus, are retained forever.  They take their place as living testimony to the Righteousness, humility, godly doings, and hope that remains in this place of testing.  Not only that, but they take their place in Eternity.

Either we endure the “warfare within”, that is caused by conflict between the things of God and the things of man, or we suffer the futility of life that comes from living the things of man.  I will add, I would not have known the difference in perception if I had not become accustom to the things of the Living God’s Christ.  I have to admit, the difference in perspective is enough to frighten my soul.

I guess it’s up to the reader.  Do you even know that there is a difference between the perceptions of the flesh and the things of God?  Do you even know there is a war to be fought?  Or have you never tasted the perspective of Heaven?  This place of testing is a passing ruse.  Heaven is the eternal perspective.  Those who have never tasted the things of God, are helpless to remove themselves from the things of man.

I testify that there is, indeed, a radical difference.  Those who will live eternally, will be incapable of memory toward those who do not join them.  The Glory of Christ will overwhelm His people.  The doings of those who remained in this place of testing, enjoying the things of man as if they were worthy and eternal, will be obliterated.  All their days will come to NOTHING.

Ownership

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I own nothing, because I am nothing.

God is All.  In the terms of man, God owns all things, and is All things.  From the vacuum of space to the qualities of the tiniest diamond.  God owns, and is, all things.

Righteousness is, because righteousness sustains.

A man may drop his pen.  Therefore he is not righteous.  Righteousness sustains perfection.  This is Jesus, the Christ of God.

I may know certain righteous things.  But they only belong to me because I perceived them in a moment of my life.  Yet, memory fails me to remember them with perfect consistency.

Not one scale of skin belongs to me.  How can the Righteousness of God be mine?  No, All things belong to God.

Sin is “Not”.

God is perfect, and sustaining in all His Holy ways.  Sin is destruction of perfection.  Yet this too does not belong to me.  For all I have done is destroy the things of God.  I have not sustained, even my sins.

Wickedness is “Not”.

I cannot even be considered to be fully wicked.  For every man stumbles across a righteous act from time to time.  Even a drunken man can make a few steps toward his bed before he staggers into the wall.

I have “righteous” knowledge within me.  But where did I get it?  And considering my faulty mind to remember, how is that knowledge sustained?  Personally, I can trace the beginning of understanding of what is good and Holy to the reading of Proverbs.  But from where was every single word in the Proverbs of the Bible before it was written down?  They were in the Holy Mind of the Living God.

Summation:

We are nothing.  Jesus is All.  He is the very Living Word of the Sovereign God.  In all He does, he is perfection, for He sustains All.  As the Holy Father thinks, so the Christ does.

Where is pride?  Where is accomplishment?  Where is “a sustaining” among men?  For failure accompanies all our moments.

I do not own the past, for I cannot undo or add to anything I’ve been.  I do not own the very next split second, for I live in a constant state of surprise.  Yet Jesus is the “Same, yesterday, today, and forever”.

From mercy to murder, man is “Nothing”.  For God owns Eternal Mercy, as well as the soul of the one murdered.

All things belong to God, for God is All.  As it is with the Living God, so it is with the Living Word of God; Jesus.

Let it Do Its Work

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People pay all kinds of money to attend concerts.  They endure all manner of inconvenience to go to the movies.  And it used to be, that people would trudge miles just to attend an hour or two speech by someone important.

But the sweetest rendering of a song, is played in the memory.  The visual effects of a movie come to life in the imagination.  And the words of a great orator are best heard when they combine with personal experiences, unique to each one who heard, and delivered in their proper time.

As it is with the life among men, so it is with the things of Heaven.  We should not fall to manipulation as we hand out the words of life.  It is better to let the one who hears stew as the heat of his soul allows.  If there is a boiling over to occur, it is best to be done by a direct source of heat.  We don’t put the pot near the burner.  We carefully place it centered above the heat.  Then, we leave it alone to do its work.

All things in creation tell the story of Christ Jesus.  Even the sins of a man speak the testimony of the Christ.  Let the Glory of God do its work.  Deliver the Gospel, and then step aside;  as if all we do is turn on the switch to the burner.  Show me a man who keeps his hand on the knob while the food cooks, and I’ll show you someone who lacks any reasonable judgment.

Answer to Prayer

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When the Lord shall give you answer,

To a question you have had.

Sear it in your memory,

As the receiving child is glad.

Play with it and own it.

Toss all it around.

Look at it, with joy’s intent.

Study from the upside and down.

Take it apart as far as it will.

Examine its inner part.

Then let your soul decide to be still.

Understanding with grateful heart.

By His Grace

Do you remember?

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Do you remember?  Do you remember what hopelessness feels like?  We struggle along the “Way”.  But how can the struggle be compared to endless sins?  Do you remember?

Do you remember when there was no prayer?  We look back now and have forgotten the agony of life.  Like the rest of the world, we called on things of our imagination.  We learned from others what they thought worked.   We did not know God’s Christ.  All we knew was his Holy Law. 

Let a vicious dog stand in my way, and I will find another way around.  Even if the way around takes far too long and robs me of my expectation, it is better to arrive with all my limbs.  Do you remember?

So it is with the world.  Do you remember?  They have nowhere to go but expectation of judgement.  Their soul knows it and they avert their eyes.  Do you remember?

The cold of hopeless sleep.  The necessity for sin as a distraction from what is sure to come.  The chasing after things that do not last, for what lasts does not belong to them.  Do you remember?

They cannot pray and no one prays with them.  So they worship angels and idols.  Prayer to them is the hope of gain.  What little and temporary they can gain with their hands is the sum of their prayer.  Do you remember?

Or have we begun to feel sorry for ourselves?   The way of God can be impossibly arduous if we’ve try to walk it in the flesh.  If such is the case, we have forgotten.  Remember.