All men love the truth, for a moment or two or three.
Whisper in their ear, and their eyes alight with glee.
But speak of their obligation, and their lamps quickly grow dim.
For they desire glorious reception. Certainly not to obey Him.
By His Grace
Tag Archives: pride
Pure Water
He lifts the veil, and a man sees. His hand glides through sin to lift it from the man’s face. Forgiveness comes with strength in hand. Compassion is the clothing of the Great Physician.
Pride rests strong on the eyelids of the wicked. Though they try to perceive the holy things of God, their eyes are too heavy to open. Sealed, as if with the dust of sleep, their eyes are stuck shut. But even this their pride cannot perceive.
What does God require of man, that he may open the eyes? Believe. God simply requires that we cast away our own knowledge. He requires that we be willing to learn.
A proud man sees the ways of this world and thinks he knows. In his folly he can produces reason for the things that are. But he cannot produce proof as to why. The sleep of pride restrains his strength. He is blind and cannot walk without stumbling.
But let belief grow. Let a man read the Holy words of God and believe. God reveals in wise measure, according to a man’s willingness. A revealing does come.
God watches the response. Does tiny wisdom retain pride? Or does it produce humility? When the latter is true, roots are set into the soil of eternity that the man may begin to grow.
In his compassion God restrains the unveiling, lest the winds of temptation destroy what is built. As a man sees, he is accountable. As a man knows he must do.
Believe to the fullest you can. Humble yourself as far as you will. You will see a receiving come to you.
Let your roots seek the pure water. Dig and thrust through the water you have found. There is purity to be had. What is pure among men is full of fault before God.
Do you see? Give thanks and search for more. Praise God with your actions. For out the mouth of man comes many beautiful things, even while he himself is full of abhorrent behavior.
He is able to teach and to console. He is able to raise from the dead even while you think you live. And when life comes, he shows us the difference.
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
By His Grace
Humility Takes Hard Work
Will a man take pride in being a Christian; lording it over others in his own mind? It would do well for him to remember his humble beginnings.
He himself did not ask for salvation. By the provoking and unveiling of God, by this alone he has perceived. Before the Lord touched him he did not even know to ask. How then can the pride of man accompany the Christian faith?
But isn’t this a perplexing ritual? It is as if a caustic liquid that cannot be contained. No sooner do we seal the leak, and judgment of others comes from another place. Even the maturity of a man does not repair what lacks.
From the day of our birth in Christ, to the day we are received, we will find fault with ourselves if we look. It is wise then to humbly consider ourselves every moment we are in this place.
Only with holy, God born, introspection, can a man stem this flood of sin. We not only need the Living God’s Son for the sake of the day of judgement, we desperately need him for every breath.
What is not of God will be stripped away. What does not belong to God will not inhabit his kingdom. Sobriety, prayer, humility, and righteous doing is required. A man should never be able to say to himself, “I have arrived! I am mature!” (Certainly not while in this place of testing).
Renewing a mind of humility is a detestable work to the flesh. But it is primary among the things of God.
It is impossible to command a man to be humble. The best we can do is remind. If there is choice in Christ, is it is to go to him and ask. And we know those who ask in truth, receive.
By His Grace
The Sharing
Reluctant to love.
It looks like a man.
But a candy bar, still wrapped, looks like plastic.
Do you know what’s inside?
You might if you asked.
But what a thoroughly dreaded task.
Soul or sugar; you can’t taste either without unveiling.
Why has our mind a taste for the sweet, yet our pride denies The Sharing?
By His Grace
Humility Wins, Hands Down
The humble man in Christ Jesus may suffer a great deal of loss.
But the proud man, who fends for himself, suffers no loss at all.
The true Christian will be compensated beyond his wildest imagination.
But the godless man will die with the things which now protect him.
Define loss and gain, as you perceive them. Consider what is written above. Then redefine loss and gain.
When you have read this far you have lost that much more time. How much more time will you squander, o’ godless man of self? The door to your life has closed a fraction more as you read these words, which you are likely to dismiss.
Dear Christian brothers and sisters:
Entice loss to come up on you, even as our spiritual siblings before, enticed the wild beasts. Let the glory of our Lord Christ Jesus excel! He will certainly not withhold his hand from reward.
We suffer but a little while. Then the glory of the Living God explodes upon our soul, and it will never recede. How insignificant this time will become; as we have willingly suffered for his Great and Majestic Glory.
____________
While you, godless men
and women, continue in your willing blindness. The Holy Lord stands ready to give you eyes to see, a mind to understand, and a heart that is willing to obey. But you will have none of it.
Each man decides for himself. Will he humble himself and pray, and seek the Lord’s Holy Face, and read his Holy words, and strive with all his mind, strength and soul to learn? Or will he count all these blessed words as if they are less than trash?
15 “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24)
Shake the trees with your great in majestic strength, O’ Living God in Christ! Send your righteousness upon all men. Inspect them, Father in Heaven,
even as they live dead among the dead. Rise up and judge your enemy. Bring a close to this great place of testing.
Let the righteous remain
righteous. Let the wicked remain wicked. Let all who seek Your mercy find it in vast abundance. But let all who hate you now be put to utter shame on that great day when you stand to judge the world.
In Christ Jesus, the Holy Son of God, amen.
By His Grace
Lessons Begun
Things I have begun to understand in the last three days:
Any school boy can understand words, even good words. But there is a place where good words begin to come alive in a man. It is the latter which provokes this post.
Lowered eyes that cannot be raised, may be a sign of humility. (Keyword being “cannot“. Shame can have the same effect.) While eyes that will not lower, often are accompanied by the chin.
________
As a man desires, so he will become. The man who desires the things of this world, has already attained them. Even though they are not yet in his hand. Likewise, with the man who desires the things of Christ Jesus.
________
As a man compares himself to others, godliness leaves him. While the man who is able to be satisfied with what he has, is capable reaching toward godliness. The former sins by his comparison. While the other opens himself to the peace of God.
________
In the matter of godliness: The young man may think he has attained. But he does not know the extent of what is required. The old man has begun the journey. But no man can live long enough to attain all there is to attain. Continuance for both must be established.
______________________
In summary: Our dependence on the Holy Righteousness of Christ Jesus does not diminish with our accomplishments. It only grows stronger the higher we climb on the Mountain of holiness. Toward the pinnacle, the fall increases. While at its base, pride remains king.
Woe to those who do not consider these things, for what they lose, no man can count. And the sadness of their loss will never cease. For if it is difficult for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
Yet who can tell where a man may begin? Those who remain In the Way of Christ may well accomplish great things. Perhaps the “greatest” has not yet been born; whether of flesh or spirit.
These things have come to me as I have entered 61 years of living. Why should those of lesser years give up now? And these things have come to me in a relatively short three years. What great hope lays, therefore, before my seniors?
It is necessary to encourage one another as the days grow more wicked. As these things become known, it is not right that we should bottle them up.
And it is not a righteous thought to believe that others will recognize the truth as they as they see it displayed in us. Where is the wise word of counsel from those who know? Laziness and fear are not godly traits.
By His Grace
Words From There 