Tag Archives: power

RISE UP AND LIVE IN HIS HOLY NAME!

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God!  To God we send our service.  The world serves themselves so that they might eat from their bountiful table of waste.  Yet the servants of the Lord Most High will eat of what He gives.  We struggle through this place as a people foreign and forgotten.  But we are not aliens to the floor of God’s Holy Throne room.  And we are remembered by He who cannot lie. 

How should His people walk in this great blackness?  Should our feet not find each step with a sure boldness?  We stand by the strength of the One who stands forever.  He enables as He sees fit.  And we are not left as orphans. 

Beware, all you who stand against the Holy Will of God.  You stand amiss.  He is about to close the door on all that is wicked.  For He has promised that His Spirit will not contend with the wickedness of man forever.  Be wise and consider your ways.  It is God who will judge.  You do not stand beneath the judgment of men, even the men of Christ.  You will be judged by your own standards, and that against the perfection of the Holy One of Israel.

Strength!  Be strong, you people who call upon the name of Jesus, the Christ of God!  We are entering into His rest.  Watch!  Watch with eyes of an eagle.  For He calls us to Holy service for His Glory.  Speak to one another with Holy words.  Speak to your heart of the peace He gives.  Remember your calling to become His people.  We do not serve any but He who never ends.  Rise up and LIVE!

By His Grace.

Scarlet is the Color of Extreme Sin.

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I posted a passage from Isaiah this morning regarding the nature of God’s expectations for men.  In the passage, God speaks of our sins.  He says, “Though your sins are as scarlet . . . “.  So why is God referring to extreme sins as a deep shade of red?

We think of good and bad in shades of light.  Horrible is marked by utter darkness; absolutely no light.  And Purity is marked by light; a great brilliance.  So why is God referring to extreme sin as a deep shade of red?

I thought, “Perhaps I don’t even know what scarlet is”.  So I did a google search for the color.  Then I went to image search to find the color depicted.  Ya know what popped up?  Porn.  “Oh!”  “Now I remember the ‘scarlet letter’ given to prostitutes and the sexually immoral.”  “Oh!”  “Now I remember how God often refers to His people as prostitutes; those who sell what is good for what is evil.  Oh.

In God’s eyes we are not shades of black and white.  We are labeled, either as those who chase after the things of the flesh, or those who chase after the things of God.  Which are you?  Which am I? 

By His Grace.

We are a People Set Apart.

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Attacks against what is called Christianity will abound.  There is no end of turmoil within the ranks of Christians.  But isn’t this the beauty of what Jesus has done?  He is actively creating a people for Himself.  We should not expect that God’s people are a polished stone in the tumbler of God’s will.  We find our righteousness in Christ alone.  And we await the day when He will grant perfection to our ways, hearts, minds, and desires.

Now, to be sure, we should do all we can to limit our folly for the sake of God’s Holy name.  It would be best to give no fuel to those who would cast accusation on the Church of God.  In our faith we wrestle with that which is Holy.  We are called to completion while we struggle with what is unfinished.  Christians struggle with the same problems as does the world.  The difference is found in the power of God to rectify our understanding.  It is He who guides us into what is right and Holy.  In short, Christians hear the very voice and will of God as He directs His people.  Some hear Him through the pages of His word the Bible.  Some hear Him through that voice which whispers in the inner man.  Some hear Him loudly, often, and surely.  Some simply follow what others are hearing.

We serve the Living God not some set of rules and regulations.  Our faith is built on liquid truth.  This truth is not that which varies according to the will of man.  Our house is built on (not by, or over)  the very river of truth which flows from the Throne of the Living God.  By faith we listen to His voice.  We walk in places where darkness is the only light.  Yet we walk in this darkness with the light of God Himself.  It is in the interaction of the Holy God to a people struggling with the nature of sin that sets us apart from every other creation. 

I know the world can only see what we are by the actions and words we produce.  Evolution is looking for the next stage in development.  Christians are that stage.  We no longer fit into the mold of the world’s expectations.  We are more yet less.  Through humility before the Greatness of God we are being formed into something eternal and beautiful.  And that, right before their very eyes.  What the world sees is chaos and dischord in the Church.  What God sees is a people being transformed.

If anyone wants a better explanation of what Christianity is, they will need to seek the face of the only One who can explain it.  Jesus is willing to lead you to a living faith.  It’s not what we believe that makes the difference.  The difference resides in Who we believe.  And it’s not what we are that stands out so strongly.  It’s who we are becoming that sets us apart.  If you seek Him, you will find Him.  If, indeed, you seek Him with all your heart.

By His Grace.

Pet the Lion and You Will Be Saved.

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Pondering the Glory of Jesus’ birth I am put to a task.  I have seen a baby and there are very few living on this world who have not.  We all know of animals and the places where they live.  We know about Dads and Moms.  We know about breathing as Jesus breathed as a baby.  But there is something about this baby that defies understanding.

If I point to a sock and say this is a sock, and I ask someone to consider something that is like it, that person might say “A bag is like it.”  If I point to a tire and say, “This is a tire.  What is like it?”, someone might say, “A doughnut is like it.”  And so it would go with everything in this world.  But let me point to Jesus and say, “This is Jesus.  What is like Him?”  What will we compare Him to? 

He made the universe with His hands.  Hebrews tells us that “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”  And we have no understanding or likeness with which we can compare this statement.  We live in a world already created and we have no reference to “speaking into existence”.   To what will anyone compare the creator coming into His creation to live among those who do not know Him?  The birth of Jesus is an intense mystery to man.  And it must be taken by faith.

Faith is designed by God to test the hearts of man.  It is by faith we believe and are saved.  Yet it’s not just believing that will cause our hearts to rejoice.  Lets put a lion and a kitty side by side.  The lion is the more awesome animal.  We would be naturally drawn to his magnificent form.  Now tell someone that embracing the lion is the way to be saved.  They might nod with wide eyes at what you’ve said.  They might even believe what you’ve said.  But few would venture forth to embrace that awesome creature.  They would much rather pet the kitty.  God says, “Come to Me.  For only by entering before My Majesty can you find safety”.  The lion has spoken and few enter His Holy Fire to find safety.  Most run to the things of this world and embrace darkness and death rather than risk all for Him.

God has spoken and now you’ve read it.  These words are life in that they point to He who can save.  He is the true life.  He is a Holy Fire which will consume His enemies.  Only those who venture to believe in action will find peace on The Great and Terrible Day of The Lord.

By His Grace.

Here, Eat this Plastic and be Healthy.

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Imagine how foolish it would be for God to say to any man, “Follow Me and Keep My Ways”.  Only to turn and walk away, leaving the man to flounder in his own understanding.  Yet isn’t this what most believers in America believe?  Is it true that God left His people as orphans after saving their souls?  We all know that the answer to that question has to be a stern NO. 

Who taught you this?  Where is the power in human understanding?  I’m not accusing anyone.   Just pointing out that Jesus does not leave His people to fend for themselves.  And what shall we say of Jesus’ statement to Pilate:  “You can do nothing to me if it were not given to you from above”?  We often look at what we are caused to endure as “just part of the game of life”.  But Hebrews teaches us differently: “Endure hardships as discipline.  God is treating you as sons”.

There is a belief that God’s activity in this world was completed during the times when the Bible was written.  This is to say that all God’s activity in mankind lasted only about 100 years.  I don’t find this to be true.  He is speaking and leading into great things this very minute.  It is possible that we are so busy with the demands of this world that we miss His calling.  Remember the statement: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”?  If He was willing to announce His Glory through the early Christians, He is willing today to do the same for us.

If I’m wrong, I encourage anyone to prove it.  Sincerely, show me where we are supposed to go about becoming Holy as He is Holy on our own.  What does any man know of Holy?   Wouldn’t this be something like giving our children bubble wrap and telling them that if they eat it they will grow big and strong?

But if I’m right and we do have access to the very voice of God through Jesus.  Then consider the possibilities.  What could a people accomplish when they hear the very voice of God directing them in His Holy Will?  Only, let us be careful not to adopt a religion which has no power.  It is not God’s will that His people remain in darkness.  He is more than willing and able to lead them out.  And I find that as I watch every aspect of every minute, God is working His Great will through, around, and in me.  This should be the case for all who proclaim the love of God in Christ Jesus!

By His Grace.

Elk Mountain

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One day in the dead of winter I came west across I-84 through Cheyenne, Wy. I came up to Elk Mountain pass (a very dangerous and fatal crossing for some). The Lord spoke to me in that tiny whisper of a voice. He told me to sit up in my seat, to tighten my seat belt, to hold the wheel with both hands. With the upcoming mountain and unknown before me, I obeyed gladly. He seemed to say He was about to take me through the pass. Happily, I gave Him my obedience. I’ve only been behind the wheel of this giant hunk of metal for a few months.

We encountered Elk Mountain with all it’s blowing gusts of wind against the trailer and tractor. The snow blowing side ways across the road so that you weren’t sure where the road was. The trailer threatening to leap off the side of the road and take you with it. Looking to the road with the shear ice covering it. Seeing a big rig against the cliff on the other side. Watching other rigs dash side to side as they slipped and were pushed by the wind. All the while, the peace of God was over me with complete calm. He and I meandered through the pass as if in the middle of summer. Down on the other side there was another 100 miles of packed snow on the road. All the way from Larime to Rock Springs we traveled.

On the other side of this chaos the tiny voice came to me again. “I brought you through the wind didn’t I”? I answered, “yes Lord”. I brought you through the drifting and blinding snow didn’t I”? I answered, “yes Lord”. “I brought you over the ice didn’t I”? I answered, “yes Lord”. “Behold, so it will be with you and I. I will take you to my paradise if you will but listen to me”.

And so it has been for me in that GREAT GOD JESUS.

By His Grace.