Tag Archives: Religion and Spirituality

Winter Past, Victory Attained!

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English: Yosemite Valley in winter

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The people of God wake to spring in America.   As I sat in the dark to listen to the rain sprinkle life to new born plants, I thought about the winter past.  I thought of how quickly a season passes once it is done.  How odd that the strivings of winter fade to a single picture of either success or failure when Spring moves in.  And at the end of that inspection I find work.  By His Glorious Grace I have worked through Winter to become something more than what I was in the Fall.

How beautiful to find that growth has been logged in my history.  I did not do this.  It is God, because of His beauty, who has done this for me.  And not for me only, but for all who hear with ears not their own.  For those who have been given eyes to see what cannot be seen with the eyes of man.  And for all of us who fight that good fight with a strength that only comes from the One who is absolute strength.

How glorious to remember that God is eternal!  To know that there is no shadow of turning within the God Most High we serve through Jesus.  We rest in knowing that unending seasons will continue because God cannot fail.   Death belongs to sin.  And there is no possibility of God sinning against Himself.

With this I rise to serve.  And I remember this:  There is no fear in love.  For fear has to do with punishment.  And he who fears is not yet made perfect in love.  There is no reason to fear Spring this year.  For I remember that He has granted me sweet memories of holy work within me through the Winter.   May God bless all His children with the same victory, and more.

Amen!

By Hiis Grace.

We Know

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We know when we have passed from death to life.  That is to say, we know when we have entered into His blessing.  We know it by the heart of flesh He gives us.  We know it by the intense desire to do what is good.  We know it by the Spirit He causes to live within us.  For we know that the Spirit of God envies intensely for the Good Things Of God.

If we have entered in, then let us explode with the Lovely things of God!

 

Amen

A Necessary Evil?

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May God grant to the living _ Westminster

There is such a thing as “honor among thieves”.  In full, we can consider all man’s intentions without God to be such.  But there is an honor among the holy.  And this can only be owned by submission to God’s Righteousness.

I mention this because all of us face temptations to gain what is not to be gained.  James put it this way:

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 So then, if you know the good you ought to do and don’t do it, you sin. (James 4)

What shall be said regarding this? We who worship the Living God through Jesus MUST strive to be a honorable people.   In the end, we must ask ourselves two questions.  Are we willing to admit that we are chasing after something that should never belong to us?  And are we willing to lay aside this “chasing” in order to do what is right before the Holy eyes of the Father in Heaven?

Since we will give account of all our actions, it is wise to become ready to abandon any evil chase.  This is a hard thing to accomplish.  And sometimes it is a hard thing to know what is purely good and what is called “a necessary evil.”  May God grant us wisdom to know the difference.  But above all, may we be willing to accept loss for the sake of what is pure and good.

Peace Offering from the Trench of War.

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Annamite prison cell

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I have been thinking of how this blog is rather unwelcome to so many.  I’ve thought about the firm stance I take against sin with the words I post.  And I’ve been thinking of how strongly I agree with what God has said regarding the sinfulness and utter wickedness of all man’s desires.  While it is possible to come to many conclusions about this, it’s not really that hard to narrow them down to less than a handful.   I’ve come to a certain conclusion that is quite undeniable.  I suppose, like any man, there are other conclusions to be unveiled as time goes by.  But this one sticks out quite clearly.

If worse comes to worse and Christians are asked to endure the kind of treatment as we did at first in Rome, who would you want to be your cell mate?  Would you want a “nice” person who gets along with everyone, smiles all the time, changes position of crucial issues when the winds of society blow from a different direction, and who has never made up their mind regarding the command, “Be holy, for I am Holy.”?  Or would you want someone who has allowed himself to become a stench in the noses of those who love the wickedness of the world.

I know that my words are often irritating, abrasive, coarse, and without the pleasant tone of two friends who meet for coffee in an upscale restaurant.  But I know who I am.  I know who I must be, because of where I have been and where I see us all heading.  And I know that I am not alone.  Who are you?  Are you ready to endure the test as they were forced to endure in the beginning of the Church?  Are you prepared?   Are you even preparing.  Just questions to provoke introspection with a godly eye.  I make no slanderous remarks about anyone who reads this.  I’m just providing a spark of thought about what is radical vs socially acceptable and pleasing to man.

One thing the readers of my posts don’t know is who I was.  I could make a list that you would have to hide from the children, regarding what I’ve done and who I was before Jesus lifted me into what I am becoming today.  Just accept this:  Short of having actual human blood on my fingers, I have committed every possible sin.  I was outcast from the most wicked among us.  Yes, I was that bad.  Do you expect someone with such a view of humanity to be a soft cuddly little Christian?

Now, I agree with God regarding the wickedness of man.  And, brothers and sisters, I would gladly sit in a putrid filthy cell with you and sing praises to the Lord God, our Great King and Redeemer.  Don’t mistake my demeanor for a lack of love.  There is a love which protects with a violence.  Don’t we call them soldiers?

P. S.

The Lord has shown me what I am in the sight of man and in His sight.  In no way does He degrade me for what was posted here.  But one thing that needs said is this:  This is not a licence to attack without specific cause.  I hear what He has said to me.  And He had sent a Lady of His chosing to confirm this to me.  May He grant me the wisdom to recognize a battle from an oportunity to teach.  Amen.

Amen.

Oh Holy Men of God

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English: Resurrection of Christ

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Oh, holy men of God.  I salute you with an earnest heart.  I would have gone with you as you engage the enemy on that bloody ground in the land of lies.  But I allowed my hands to be tied with sin.  How I cried as I watched you go.  How regal you appear as you marched in the feet fitted with the Gospel of peace.  But it is given to me to carry firewood and water for your families.  How earnestly I desired to go.  But I find myself fit for the task He has given me.  And in my amazement, He has granted me this task!  Peace to you who fight the good fight.  Glory to He who calls us both.

My brothers go in assurance.  Your families are well cared for.  I will carry the wood and water till my hands bleed.  I will break my back for you.  You go to accomplish that which I can only dream.  Though imagination fill my heart with grand visions which belong to you, still I am but dreaming.  He has chosen you to fight with a strength I will never have.  He has gifted you with a righteous life behind you.  He has raised you up with a holy history that man cannot assail.

And now, I pause to wipe my eyes.  Look at how beautiful He has made you!  Look at the sparkling among your ranks from the Holy Sword of the Word of God.  How beautifully it is wielded in the hands of a righteous man!

Go in peace my brothers. Your back is where I belong.  Through tears of regret I watch you go.  But I will now turn, with all my might, to care for those you are sent to defend.  In the end, we serve the same Glorious Lord!  And we will celebrate with great joy on the marvelous day of God!  Bless you, that He has considered me worthy to serve those who rise so tall.  Glory to Jesus!

I wipe my tears and pray for iron hands, a backbone fitted with steel, and a heart filled to over flowing with purpose, for the Holy One they serve.

As I turn I consider you who laugh at this display of love.  Subduing wrath, I will speak to you.

There is a place where the wickedness of man will be decimated!  You laugh now, but you will ache with a deep and eternal sadness.  You revel in rebellion now.  But you will desire to run for shelter from the face of the Most High God.  You celebrate every wicked thing, and even call God a liar.  But it is you who will shudder as your lies are brought out for all to see.

Those men of God I salute tell you the truth.  As a man I beg you to listen to them.  For now you hate those gallant men.  But there is a day coming when you will desire even the strength to look at them.  Listen to the Gospel they speak.  They speak the truth from lips blessed by the Most High God!  They speak what is true and it will not be taken from them.  Please, please, listen to them!

REACH!

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Each of us, who worship the Lord Jesus, must seek out the truth.  We seek the truth of the Father that He has revealed in His Son Jesus.  And we seek out the truth of our standing in His kingdom, both in heaven and on earth.  All this seeking begins in faith and ends in faith.  This faith we own begins as a granting of God’s grace to us that we might believe in the name of His Holy Son.  But as we mature in that seed of faith the Father grants, we enter certain understandings. As we grow in the knowledge of our Lord we perceive that we are able to accomplish certain things according to the place we hold among men.

The question is presented to us, even at the first glimmer of our granted faith; “Who are we in the kingdom of Heaven under the Lordship of Jesus, and what is the limit of blessing the Lord is willing to grant us that we might serve Him in the redemption of souls from this place of testing?”

It is no sin to desire to serve the Lord.  Regardless our history, regardless our past willingness to obey His Lovely Commands, regardless our

Jesus

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hypocrisy, fellowship with sin and wickedness of this world, it is not a sin to desire to serve Him.  It is a sin to remain in rebellion to the receiving of the things He stands willing to give His people.  But it can also become a sin to allow yourself to expect that which you are not worthy to bear.

Many assume that they are pronounced as important in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Their assumption can easily be proven false by the fruit they are able to bear.  Some resort to lies, which their wicked hearts make up from their evil desire to be important.  Others proclaim what is true with an authority that they do not own.  And some, sadly, turn away from seeking the fullness of His blessings because they do not believe the Gospel of peace sent from He who cannot lie.

We are cautioned to consider ourselves with sobriety.  And it is not possible to say that with the proper urgency and power of words.  We serve the Living God through Jesus.  We have not come to a man who dispenses the riches of the world as he desires.  God is not a man that He can be manipulated to granting our personal desires, yet so many live as if this were true.

Consider carefully what it is you are asking for.  Consider carefully who you are, who your history has proven you to be.  Are you a man of integrity?  Does your heart allow you to bear the full responsibility of a position in Christ Jesus’ kingdom?  At the same time, let us also consider what we have left in the hand of the Lord.  What has He been willing to give that we have not even asked to receive?  Is your heart clean?  Have you led a life before men that is able to stand up before their prying eyes of hatred?  Are you able to bear the full responsibility of a position in Christ Jesus’ kingdom, but have decided not to receive it?  Have you rejected this position out of a fear of men?  Where is your faith?

Both men, he who is not able and he who is able, sin before the Lord in differing ways.  The first robs the Lord of Glory because he asks for something selfish and that without understanding. This one perceives the Most High God as a simple dispensing machine.  The second robs the Lord of Glory because he fails to ask the Lord for the very things the Lord has been willing to give him for years.  And both rob the people of the Lord at the very time when they needed truth and integrity the most.

Please consider these words carefully.  Let us bring the Lord a bountiful store of gifts on the day of His appearing.  Let each of us seek to serve Him to the fullness of His intent.  And let each of us aspire to that which is holy, lest we fail to grasp the fullness of the life He has granted by the freedom to do what is good.  Remember what our Lord has said, “He who would save his life will lose it.”  Seek what is good; both the restraint of selfish desires, and the sacrifice of life that the Lord commands.