Moments


Sometimes in despair, a moment can seem like an entire year (perhaps even having its own particular seasons; beginning with a drought of summer yet ending in the joy of spring).

A moment owning seasons similar to a year seems a ridiculous thing to say. But then I am reminded of the faithful continuity of God. And that it is written, “. . . to everything there is a season”. From the Glories of heaven to the tiniest circumstance on earth, God’s Holiness and Glory and Righteousness are revealed.

To crown this thought with awe, this is the nature of Christ Jesus. Nothing is beyond his knowledge. Nothing is beyond his grasp. His people are forever in him. And he is always seeking to heal the wounded.

Let the seasons come and go. Let the moments be what they will. Christ Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

If you are in despair, having read this, listen to “what IS”. Christ is as near to you as your soul calling out to him.

When?


One day you make an unexpected friend of a previous enemy. It’s happened to everyone of us.

When will we learn? When will we stop pre-judging? When will we give room for the hope of God in others? When will we forgive past deeds so that life can come?

From where comes your next unexpected friend? Life never comes to us as we expect it to be painted. Yet, when will we learn what we already know?

Be wise in Christ toward evil, but do not close the door to hope.

The Orphaned Altar


During an exquisite time of visitation from God this morning, I fell upon something that gave me the child’s belly laugh for a while. Though I tried to sober up and stop chuckling, it kept coming back. Much like a living cartoon from the Far Side.

Today’s times are not what they were in the day of Abraham. Such visitations from God inspired those beautiful men to lay an altar of stones in a place here or there. They were a testimony to HIS love and faithfulness. And people well respected them as long as they understood the reason for the pile.

But after this beautiful visitation from our God, shall I gather a few stones and make a small altar to his love? He came upon me in a truck parking lot. Yeah, let me just do that.

There is no place for understanding what is holy in today’s world. A man will come along and see a small pile of rocks on his pristine blacktop. “What kind of a fool would do a thing like this!”

Busying himself with some kind of tool, the small pile of rocks would quickly be moved back where it came from. No understanding. No sense of holy. No one does these things today. And the irony of two different days is a joke before the Holy Throne of He who inspires souls to give endless thanks for His love.

This picture of futility stirred me to pure laughter. Go ahead, someone tell me modern man is closer to God than he ever was before.

Vegas Everywhere


Vegas, is there some mystically important to that geographical place? They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

I’ve got news for everyone, what happens anywhere in this world accompanies us to the throne of the Most high God. Not one particle of dust in this world will offer us immunity, no matter what we call it and no matter where it is.

If you want immunity, live the life of Christ.

8. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

Christ is not a box to be checked. He is a life to be lead.

He IS


Consider the Lord Jesus.

From the beginning the Living God spoke Living words.

This is the Lord Jesus, the Christ of God.

He IS.

Consider His testimony among us. Faithful,

He IS.

His crucifixion is not what He was.

He IS.

The machine of our sin had no hold on Him. From the Living God,

He IS.

Of the Living God,

He IS!

The “Other” People


God is permanently first. Those who earnestly seek his lovely face in Christ will be living an entirely different life.

Their life is born from heaven. It is a life granted by the Living God out of his mercy in Christ Jesus and for His own purposes.

It is a life lived by the rules of heaven. It is a human heart that aches for home. For them, the voice of the Spirit of God overrides society’s supremacy.

Outwardly, they are like any other human. Inwardly, the violence of the war within them evades description. The end of their war will come the moment they can tear off their flesh and ascend to the home they desire so deeply.

They cannot define peace like the world defines peace, they cannot have tranquility here. Tranquil, to them, is the promise of God.

21. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5)

We are forced to ask this question, “Who does our actions and thoughts say we are?” The answer is already in the hand of God the Father.

How many even ask the question, comparing themselves to the expectations of Christ?