Tag Archives: Perception

Seeing and Hearing

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I said to a man, “I have prayed often that the Lord would cause you to see and to hear”.  What is his best response?  “I see just fine.”

I know the man meant to be truthful.  And I don’t doubt that he does see.  For he was asking me questions in regard to the Living God.  But what does he see?

Earlier he referred to me as a religious man.  He does not yet make the distinction between religion and faith, lawful and holy.  He does not yet see any differently than any man who ever lived.

We have spoken together about the things of Christ hundreds of times before.  But he has not heard my words.  He still thinks he is a religious man.  He has not yet comprehend it the Eternal meaning of righteous.

Jesus heard the Father clearly, for he is the very Word of the Living God.  And he saw all things from the perspective of Eternity.  For he was sent from eternity into time.  There never was a man who could be said to have accomplished that in his life. 

What locks us in such a place that our eyes and ears can only see and hear the things of man?  Simply put, it is the pride of man; that somehow he is able to save himself.  Perhaps we estimate by percentage; “I am more good than evil.  I am as compassionate as I can be.  And I give to others what I think I can afford.  I strive hard to restrict judgement of others within myself.  All of this because I know God is watching”.

Is that how we find ourselves perceiving the things of salvation?   Is that how we see and hear?

It Can’t Be, But it is.

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I am remembering.

How blessed I am.

For consciousness no sooner returns to my sleeping mind, and the things of my God come flooding in.

I am remembering who I was.

What an unspeakable blight to heaven and earth, was I.

For in those days,

No sooner would consciousness come to my sleeping mind and everything I could do came flooding in.

No thought of God.

No thought of righteousness.

No thought of restraint,

Except for apprehension by the laws of society.

I am considering.

There is a place where creatures are not blind.

There is a place where there is no break of sanity.

It is not a place of “was”.

It is not a place of “will be”.

It is a place of “is”.

Here, righteousness floats about like Cottonwood seeds on the breeze.

Here, righteousness is like the irritating mosquito.

Here righteousness is, “I will get to it when I feel like it”.

But in the place of “is”, sin and blindness are like those things.

So I wake to eyes in my soul that see.

Among the people of abject blindness, this one can see.

I am remembering.

What mercy is the Living God, that a man such as I should know these things like this?

I am remembering.

What potential lay in the blind souls of every man on this planet?

And now I remember my pleasurable duty;

Speak release to the captives.

With the cunning of a predator,

With the gentleness of a good mother to a newborn.

With every skill of captivity man has invented.

Yet with every possible release the living God offers.

I wake to holy sanity.

This cannot be!

But it is!

The glory is not mine.

I am no inventor of righteousness, skill, hope, regeneration, or release.

I do not have it in my hand to do any of those things.

What is in my hand is only to point:

There is God.

Here is God.

All around inclusive and exclusive, there is God.

Nothing is hidden from his sight, as it is in the eyes of dead souls.

He is perfectly dependable,  full of righteousness, peace, mercy, justice, grace, patience, life and hope.

Show me the place here that even is a shadow of a likeness to those things.

That I should know these things!

It can’t be, but it is!

Thankful Children

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10,000,000 people are told the Gospel, only a thousand believe and receive eternal life.  Perhaps thousands more understood it.  But only a handful have believed with all their heart.

The message of God goes out freely and like a flood.  Many souls are washed by the message, but so few love their new cleanliness.  In the Gospel we read that there were ten who were cleansed of leprosy.  But only one returned to give thanks.

It is so simple a child can do it, and frankly folks, that’s exactly what it takes.  The mind of an adult only wants more; he has been spoiled by pride and greed.  But the heart of a child is elated at the smallest token of love.

Let me ask the Christians, “Where is the proof of your thanks?”  I am not insinuating that you are thankless.  I’m simply asking where the proof of your thankfulness lays.

Perception, that’s what it is.  That’s what steals the bold testimony of Christians to the world.  “God promises me eternal life, but if I tell this to others they will hate me.”   Is the promise of God so ineffective?  Is the promise of eternal life really such a trivial matter?

With all the strength my mind can muster, I cannot understand why Christians are ashamed to share the Gospel.  I surmise that the answer must be found in the perception of God’s promise.  “Thank you Lord for giving me eternal life.  Please excuse me now while I go join the world in its celebration of futility.”

I sat here this morning for nearly an hour, frustrated that I could not reach more people with the message of God.  That’s all that consumes me!  It’s no pat on my back, the blessing of God is that great!

And I am only speaking of the reality of eternal life.  I have not yet begun to speak of the beautiful things he has rescued me from.  And I’ve made no mention at all so far, about the billions who never heard the testimony from a Christian.

Nine of the lepers simply disappeared into society.  But one came back with a full expression of shameless thankfulness.  Did the nine ever speak again of their former shame, and how God had released them?  Who knows, there is no written record of their testimony.  But I think the story might have ended differently, if all ten had returned with shameless thanks.

But of the one who returned, we can surmise, he could not shut his mouth.  Where is the Christian who cannot conceal the Gospel of Christ?  Where is the one who is not ashamed of the love that God has given him?  It’s easy enough to find 10000 who have decided to keep it to themselves.  All the while, the world spirals out of control.

By His Grace

The Holy Friend or Foe: Time

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In the beginning of Creation, God created all that is.  The hands which formed all things belong to the Heavenly Lord of all, Jesus The Christ.

One moment following another, the Lord of All moved to accomplish the Holy, Holy, Holy, Will of the Father of all Life.  Faithfulness and Duty, beyond words to describe, obeyed and accomplished.  Time was invented and produced.  The intention of Eternity has sustained each second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, decade, and century.  Yet make no mistake, He who has created time will remove it.

This created time has dictated the ways of all men.  With this time, has come choice; the very essence of God’s will to display the heart’s intent of every man.  “Will each heart desire to worship the One who has obeyed and made it?  Or will each heart desire to remain in rebellion?

What do you do with your moments of life?  When sin beckons, do you yield?  When forgiveness and instruction are offered, do you receive?

Time is God’s gift to man.  But it is far too often used to remain in blindness to His Holy, Holy, Holy Will.

They spoke the ultimate wickedness.  They said, “God is dead”!  And oh how welcome were those words to many.  “Finally!   Time belongs to us!  We free all men from obligation to serve out their moments according to the Holy Law of God.  Our mouths have spoken.”  What is the state of affairs for those who spoke such abject folly?  Their precious time has run out.

They will rise up from the dead in great terror.  They will be ushered into the presence of the One they have spurned with such violent words.  The smell of fear will come up from their souls with visible vapor.  The stench of their hatred for Righteousness and Holy intent will cover them as a mist.  And they will perceive their utter destruction.

What are you doing with your moments of time?

Do you seek the face of the Living God?  Or do you continue in your unholy way?  You need make no choice at all.  You are free to reek from the stench of fear on that Holy Day.  But you are invited to encounter the Holy war against the wickedness that lives within you, with binding strength.

You can remain bound to rebellion and unholy blindness.  But you are also invited to be released from your ungodliness.  You are invited to become holy.  Seek out the Gospel of Christ Jesus!  Or die, having lived a useless and unprofitable life.

God can release the humble from their bindings.  He can open their eyes and ears to understanding.  Your very next moment does not have to lead you to eternal regret.

What will you choose?  Choice belongs to the lazy.   Choice belongs to the diligent.  See how you choose, regardless your response to these things.

Understood or Only Perceived

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A man is given a job.  What is expected of him is taught.  In many cases the expectations are written down thoroughly.  The man is tested to be sure he has grasped what is essential.  Still the question remains, has he understood.

The man who understands is rare.  Yet the one who understands will learn to do what is expected of him. Most people do their job to their best.  But there is always some lack of full understanding.  By this mistakes are made and the employer suffers loss.

Only the seriously diligent will truly understand what is expected of them.  In truth, at best, most of us can only say we have perceived the expectations.  Understanding is an entirely different animal.

The more complicated the expectations, the less the possibility that the man will understand.  Yet, as he is taught, his perception becomes more clear.  At some point, if he applies himself, he becomes a reliable representative, and perhaps one who can teach.

If this is true among the things of men, how much more so the things of God? 
Shall we stand and proclaim that we understand the Gospel?  Is not very likely that understanding has come.  If it is true that few believe the Gospel, how much more rare are those who understand?

If a man is able to do what the Gospel demands, then he may be able to say he has understood.  But more likely, truth will say he has only perceived very well.  Even in the best of us failures come and go.

The Lord has told us what is expected of us.  Do we find ourselves willing to listen?  “It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.”

Sadly the majority of people grasp the beginnings of the Gospel, but fail to understand the fullness of it.  Like rudimentary students they live their lives lacking understanding.  All the while simplicity rules their life, and they find themselves falling horribly short.

Like the worker who simply shows up to perform some menial task, the manual of expectations is rarely read.  Such a man may be coerced or forced to do what is expected of him.  But he does not have the will to succeed. 

What employer will give promotions to those who are not diligent?  The productivity of the company will surely lack for the sake of laziness and rebellion.  How is the Kingdom of God any less?

The wise go back to the Bible everyday.  They kneel in prayer often.  They watch carefully to the things that come to them, striving to gain understanding.  In such men, loyalty is supreme.

Men will pay us according to our willingness to serve.  Should God treat us any differently?  The answer, in words, is obvious.  Does our performance give those words life?

The key to understanding lays in our loyalty.  Perception obeys like a servant.  Striving to understand obeys like a son.  The difference between them is the quality of love within the heart.

As a man loves the one who gives him the opportunity, the service is more beautiful, and understanding is bound to come.  Equally, as a man loves only himself his service to the one who gives him opportunity will lack.  The one who truly loves the Lord will find himself very prosperous for the Living God. 

Again, the proof of our love will be shown by the things we do.  And the things we do present themselves clearly before us, that we may determine how we love the Lord.

“If you love me, obey my commandments.”

By His Grace

Well Intentioned

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This article has no intention of casting judgment.  But let who will, come and eat.  Let them come and taste that the Lord is good.

Those who keep their faith to themselves (those who fail to testify openly regarding the Lord who beckons them) have not seen what Life the Living God is willing to reveal.  These perceive from the darkness of death.  These have not perceived the greatness of distance between Life and death.  They have not yet understood that death must die.  They have not yet understood that only that which is God, lives forever.

If they had encountered the Holiness of God, that which He is willing to reveal to men, they would be compelled to share their living faith.  But the faith they own is the faith of a dead man.  It is the faith given to such as are “newborn” in Christ.

Such reluctance has been chided.  Such unholy restraint has been cast on the pile of the filth of man.  Chided and cast by those who have, yet with a limit of ignorance regarding what is true.  Men have been shunned from the congregation of well-intentioned souls for such unwillingness to overcome.

It has been perceived as weakness, this restraint of testimony.  “Fear” has been the label given to such as withhold the Gospel from men, and properly so.  Yet this is not the full.  For casting and chiding have no value in driving a man through his fear to glory.

I have been guilty of this also.  Yet I will confess, without desire to find excuse, that such treatment is done in ignorance.  Here is the fullness of inspiration:

He who climbs the Holy Hill of the Lord must have clean hands and pure heart.  His worship must be of truth and the Spirit of God.  Nothing else will ever be allowed to approach the Living God.

Yet, those who do approach, return with a distinct lack of fear for the threats of man.  They have been witness to the enormous chasm that lay between Life and death.  They have perceived to the point of testimony.  No matter how the enemy has tried, such men can not be silenced.

This is the reason why such casting and chiding is proper; it is unavoidable.  But the reason they testify is also proper.  For the Lord has set His Anointed One in place to enable all men to ascend the Holy Hill of God’s Holiness.  The ones who balk will never ascend.  They will remain in fear of man.  They will remain in fear of He who is Life.

No flesh will enter the throne room of the Most High God.  As a man draws near, his flesh is burnt away.  The purity and cleanliness born of obedience to the Living God’s Christ is all that may enter.  In short, only the living Blood of Jesus may enter the Holy Throne Room of the Living God.  What part of a man remains exposed, is denied entrance eternally.

Your fear is the direct result of your lack of will.  Your reluctance to speak openly about he Gospel of Christ, is a direct result of perception.  He has allowed all that is necessary to enter.  But who has accepted His Holy willingness to give what is eternal?

Many will continue to live in fear.  It is, indeed, comfortable to live with the “known”.  It is difficult to let go of the familiar, even at the threat of death.  Even if that “comfortable known” is death itself.  Who will persuade them differently?  The choice to live or die belongs to every soul, independent of counsel of others.

But that they might know that there is hope, I have written this word of encouragement.

May whoever will, approach and encounter the Living God.  May whoever will, ask for understanding in these things.  The Lord is willing for all to live.  He has sealed His intent by the very life, death, and resurrection of His Holy Son.  Yet who will believe to the doing?