What attribute of Christ do I see people needing most?
Godly patience to replace their lethal greed.
Tag Archives: patience
Please Hear This
The Lord reasons with me this morning. I don’t desire to make anyone feel bad, or compel them to do what they do not find themselves able or willing to do. But how can I keep this to myself?
How many centuries has our Lord been diligent to save souls? What great strength of patience and faithfulness has the Lord shown us, as the world rebells against him, and his people so blatantly lack faith?
Then the urgent question comes: Are we, who have received his Great Mercy, unwilling to struggle with him for a few short years?
No one answers to me. Who am I that I should matter? But isn’t there One to whom we do answer? And isn’t the answer found in the doing?
By His Grace
Vivacious Abandonment
We are in the days of vivacious abandonment.
(vivacious
[vi-vey-shuh s, vahy-]
adjective
1.
lively; animated; gay:)
What is man abandoning so happily?
God
Purity
Mercy
Righteousness
Peace
Prayer
Holiness
The Bible
Humility
Holy suffering
Christ Jesus
Eternal life
Pure judgment
Justice
Restraint
Holy speech
Propriety
Godly love
Patience
Endurance
Here’s the sad part:
It is impossible for Man to be empty. If he is not filled with God, he will be filled with everything that is not God. If we give the Living God’s Christ no place among us, the ambassadors of death move in.
Look around. Do yourself a favor. Ask what day it is.
By His Grace
A Ruse and a Noise
I have come to perceive that nothing men do in this place of testing matters.
They can not sin against me, for I am no standard of excellence, and that the Lord has promised me eternal life.
The only thing that will stand forever is the work of Christ Jesus among men. This matters greatly!
No, there is nothing men do in this place of testing that matters. All their wickedness will be covered with an eternal grave. And too, the sins of those who place their trust in Christ alone will be covered over and obliterated.
No, the things men do in this place of testing are of no consequence. They do not matter. They are only a ruse and a noise.
By His Grace
Sibling Rivalry
Millions of people, all over the world, know the nature of Truth. They know the God who made us all.
You know them. They walk among you. And they are not ashamed to testify about what they have come to know.
How do I know this? Because I am one of them. I know that the Living God, the Holy Father, would not leave this world without testimony about what is more important than anything in this world. He gave His Holy Son into the hands of man to die. And this for the sake of saving us all. Why would He now abandon man by having no witnesses among us?
They are all at various stages of understanding. But God works in them to testify, with reliability, according to the Gospel. By the power of God, their testimony is reliable. It is the ears of man which muddy up the “Word of God”. And it is their “past man” which conflicts within them to deliver what they have come to “know” by faith.
Perhaps you have one in your family. You know that person, so you discount what they say. You remember the person they were before they came to understand the Gospel. So you assume they are only spouting what they believe, as if what they now believe were only another opinion (of which there are, apparently, billions).
By rejecting what they say, because you have known them, you reject the One who has transformed their thinking. Did you know that?
I know it’s hard, but if you would only listen to what they are saying, you too can become a child of the Living God. I am, after all, speaking of Christianity.
Now if you find it too hard to rid yourself of the image of the man or woman you used to know, as you strive to listen to them, then go find a stranger that speaks the same things.
It’s curious, about people, that they get stuck in a rut when it comes to the Gospel preached by family or acquaintance. But let us recognize that such difficulties exist. Fine. But don’t let that stop you from looking into the things of Christ.
Don’t let the natural mistrust divide you from eternal life. Don’t let sibling rivalry, (that hideous tendency of man to discount the words of another man, simply because that person is another man just like you) rip eternal life from your fragile fingers.
Right now you have no idea how precious the Gospel is. You don’t know what is at stake. You don’t know the glories you are throwing away by not being willing to listen. You are judging the content by the wrapper. Strive to get past what you think you know. Strive to understand what you’ve never comprehended.
And have mercy on that person. He or she is trying, with all they have, to interpret the things of heaven to human ears. It might take some time to get the message out clearly. Encourage them to try again, if what they say to you makes no sense at all. If you want mercy from God, be willing to give it to your sincere brother.
You’ll have to put on patience, something we humans seem to have extremely little of. But if you comprehend what they’re trying to tell you, you’ll find every difficulty more valuable than all the riches in the world.
Inexpensive Poverty
It affects us all; the infection of want. And a world of commerce which lowers the prices of goods aids in its own decline.
The rich get richer, while the poor become more greedy. Empty houses fill up with shining objects. Thus lives are lit on fire with trouble. Thus invisible greed takes shapes we can hold.
Financial ruin brings poverty back home. But this time poverty lives in a house filled with shining objects, and greedy eyes. But it is not just shining objects which bring poverty. Moral decay is worse.
A society that does not divide between righteousness and sin, is bound to bring eternal poverty. The lust for women is set on fire by inexpensive clothing, jewelry, perfumes, and makeup. The lust for the man who has a nice car, clothing, house, and purchased social position, sets ablaze the wayward wife’s desire. And all of this a godless society promotes with abandon.
The children learn early that divorce is an option. No longer are they taught to work out their troubles. Mommy and daddy prove that righteousness can be attained through the back door. The children are taught to bind quitting with their vows. The word “vow” becomes diluted and worthless. The once stable world spins out of control.
The wicked man never wonders why he does what he does. The greedy man simply reaches for “more” to massage his aching conscience. But time moves by and the cost increases. Time goes by, and the expense of poverty increases exponentially.
The life span of a man does not give him the luxury of finding righteousness by mistake. As if we stumble over a stack of 100 dollar bills as we walk down the street. The odds of finding righteousness by happenstance are billions to one.
Blessed is the man who is concerned by his wickedness. Blessed is the man who wakes in the night for fear of what he has done. Blessed is the one who allows himself to feel burning and consuming regret. Blessed is the man who panics for the sake of his wrongdoing. This one has the potential of learning to do what is right.
Blessed are those who have never tasted wantonness. Those beautiful souls who have patiently endured with what they have. Blessed is the one who considers greed a sin, and keeps his hands to himself.
The proverb still rings true: every man will reap what he has sown. But a godless world teaches that this is a lie.
By His Grace
Words From There 