Tag Archives: Religion & Spirituality

Limitless, Abundant, and Victorious Strength

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English: Human body Français : Corps humain De...

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Sports show us what the human body is able to do.  And every year we see a record broken somewhere.  We see science come up with new things every day.  Inventions abound.  And even right now there’s someone inventing another trinket for us to buy.  There is, apparently, no end to what man is able to do with a clod of dirt.  But these things are not strength.  Oh, I know we call it strength.  But every shred of muscle, knowledge, and plastic tools will eventually render their intent useless.  That clod of dirt will, again, regain the form it had before man picked it up.

There is a strength, however, which man can not contain.  We often find its best examples in those who are at the end of what the world calls strength.  But we also find it in those the world might consider strong.  It is the strength of a faith born of the Holy Spirit of God.  This strength faces all opposition and remains unscathed.  Even in the midst of combat, we find this strength caring dearly for those unable to fight any longer.  The resolve this strength gives defies any word of explanation.  It comes from a place where no man has ever walked.  Yet it finds its purpose met in the wilderness of opposition.

You and I have access to this strength.  It does not become ours, however, until we put it into practise.  And here is where I urge all Christians to reach deep.  When you have reached that end you didn’t know you had, reach deeper!  This is the limitless strength the Lord is waiting to coat His people with.  “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”  And too easily we forget Who’s we are.

Foolish Shame

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Fools Cap (PSF)

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A foolish shame rises with me as I speak the message of God.  Foolish, because it has no part in the Heavenly Kingdom.  There is no shame in speaking the name of the One who is forever.  This shame would have me consider that others do not speak of God this much nor this confidently.  How is this shame something to be trusted?  It comes from the world.  It comes from the sin which rages in my body; that sin which the Lord told Cain it was his to master, even while it crouches at his door step.

Back!  Get back, you shameful thought of shame!  I will serve the Lord to the best I am Able.  And will not resort to Cain.  And next you rise up, as if an ear is due you, you will receive ridicule from the Holy Spirit of God within me.  The Lord’s name is held in highest esteem among the inhabitants of Heaven.  And it should be the same thing here on earth.  What ploy you would use is to convince me that His Holy Name is not appropriate among men.  Then, I declare with authority, “You do not belong to the Most High God!  Away with you!”

Study to Show Yourself Approved . . .

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Holy Spirit Cathedral (Minsk), Belarus

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It is not God’s will that we study Him so as to dissect His Holy nature.  It is, rather, His will that we study Him so that we might learn to do His Holy will.  Many fall into the trap of learning about God.  Just as a student may enter college and learn to enjoy learning so much that they forget that they are learning so that they can become productive in their society.

As we study the Lord so intently, let us continually consider that what we learn is only valuable if we apply it to the world around us.  Let us learn to listen to the activity of the Holy Spirit within us.  He will lead us from one glory to another as we listen and do.

May God bless this message to all HIs people, and to those who are becoming aware of a calling within their soul.  By the Holy name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

The Great White Dove

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English: White Dove Bird

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There is a Great White Dove.  He floats with ease through the world.  Many think they can capture Him, tame Him, keep Him as their own, and teach Him their ways.  His eyes squint in a smile as their hands fashion tools of captivity.  A snare is built with the sturdiest of materials and the hunters stalk with all stealth.  They hear a noise from their hiding place in the reeds.  “Ah hah”, they think!  “He’s going home with me.  I will make Him a treasure in a cage for my children to enjoy.  And I will prosper by His captivity.”  They spring up and rush to their snare.  But as they peer into their contrivance, they find it empty and useless.  He has come and gone as He pleases.

The Lord has sent Him on a mission of captivity for captives.   And He will never be touched by man.  It is man who is touched by Him.  And once touched, all desires to capture Him fade into a vague memory.  Slowly they understand the ways of the Great White Dove.  Eyes opened, hearts set free, materials of captivity forgotten, those He touches yearn to fly with Him.  And captivity becomes a desire of he who is set free.  “Capture me!” They whisper with throats opened wide.  “Capture me into Your beautiful and perfect will.”

He has been called the “Hound of Heaven.”  But He is no dog.  He is free, fast, powerful, and sure, in all His Holy ways.  He is born directly from the fire which surrounds the Holy Throne of God.  The air is His highway.  The ground is His to rest upon.  All creation is a playground in His Holy adventure.  The men of this world cannot touch Him with their filthy little hands.  But once He touches a man, those hands become cleaner than any flesh can become washed.  He is FREEDOM for those who would capture Him.  They become captive to the Loving Dove!  By a kiss from a Dove, men become infected with Holy Love!  And at the slightest desire for love, a man may stretch out his hand to feel the warm and tiny feet of the Great White Dove clasp around his finger.

Freedom, true freedom is found in the worship of God through Jesus.  And freedom is the mission of the Great White Dove.

AMEN!  AMEN!  AMEN!

“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows wherever it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”  (John 3:6-8)

Genesis 11: 1-9

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History (Australian television channel)

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I have some time this morning to sit and relax a bit.  What, I wonder, should I do with this time?  I could watch TV.  Perhaps there’s a channel of learning.  Yea!  History channel…… That would be interesting.  Then I reflect on who makes the History Channel.  Well, perhaps I could find something better to do with my time.

This outcome of reflection has brought something to the surface in me.  I spent years, more like decades, learning about the world around me.  And I find something very curious, I’m not interested anymore in the things of this world.  A special lack of interest flares up at learning from those who do not openly announce the Son of God in their work.  I’m sick of allowing myself to become interested as a program unveils it’s information, only to find them preaching that I came from a monkey.

Perhaps I could watch that show, “How it’s made”.  But that becomes rather common place in a very short while.  Not that I don’t enjoy looking and learning about innovation.  Man’s ability to turn rock into some shiny and useful tool has always captivated me.  But what part of me is captivated.  That’s the question.  And I know the answer.  I could watch “Myth Busters”.  But everything of man is, in the end, a myth.  So what can they tell me that I don’t already know.

I think I’d rather sit in silence a while and consider the Lord and His ways with man and myself.  At least in this I accomplish something eternal.  Any other contemplation only leads to corruption of the eternal.

I was thinking of how the Tower of Babel went unfinished.  God looked down on the work of man and decided that He would rather they remain as they were until Jesus had appeared among us.  And I consider that since the Lord appeared in flesh, man has became rather adept at turning his world into a more sensual place.  Now that thought would be incomplete if I didn’t allow myself to consider the current explosion of sensuality.  By sensuality I mean the fulfilment of every possible lust man owns; from building houses which have become far more than a shelter from the elements to every possible convience.

It was not God’s desire that man should fend for himself like this.  If he had obeyed the Lord from the beginning, I’m convinced that the elements of this world would have become far more man friendly.  God desires to care for His creation.  But it is man’s continual rebellious ways that have resulted in a quite complex war with the world around him.

In the end of this thought comes something worth thinking about.  If it was God’s desire to provide for man from the beginning, why would His desire be any different now?  Even though I am part of this carnival of the works of man’s hands, I can still make a choice to trust the Lord to provide for me.  And why does He provide like this for a people who will certainly die in a couple years?  What benefit is there in this providing?

FAITH!

By His Grace.

Tower of Babel by Lucas van Valckenborch in 1594

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Conquering Sin.

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The morgue in a abandoned hospital in Deventer...

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“I can’t take it anymore!  I don’t care if I ever see your face again.”  These words were spoken by a husband to his wife, one gentle Spring evening.  He walked out the door vowing to himself to never speak to her again.  Three days later, he spoke to her.  But she didn’t answer.  The last conversation he had with her was as she lay on a slab in the coroner’s prep room.  He had to go identify what remained of her after a violent car accident.  His vow broken, along with his heart, was a vow that should never have been made.

Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends, and enemies make vows of silence toward others every day.  And it is a rare thing when those vows can’t be broken.  But these situations are avoidable.   I could go into great detail about what to do to avoid using words you will surely regret.  But how useless would this post be?  Who would read a 10,000 word post?  Instead, I will go our relationship with God to make the point necessary.

The ultimate relationship anyone can have is that of himself and the Lord who made him.  How often this relationship is broken by the human alone.  We decide we will chase after a sinful path we knew well would not end in the pleasure of our God.  But we did it anyway.  And isn’t this what causes all human discord?  We want something the other doesn’t.  So we willingly break the bond of love and trust between us.

We can avoid every possible break in our relationship with God if we love Him more than those things which tear us apart.  It sounds simple when I type it here.  But in practise we find ourselves pulled into sin by a lack of love for His ways.  “. . . Do you love Me more than these?”

When was the last time you found yourself loving God more than the pleasures of sin?  Perhaps you’re stuck in a cycle of sin, confession, and restoration.  Retrospect tells us plainly how we define the word sin.  Hind sight is very clear when we find the relationship between God and ourselves broken.  We all have a weakness which we allow to trip us up and rip us from the loving and powerful prayer life.  This can be avoided if we train ourselves to love God.

We can’t conquer the sinful nature without a distinct and vibrant love for God.  What Jesus has done is to open the door for us into this relationship.  But He leaves it up to us to decide that this relationship with His Father is worth forsaking everything sinful.  My only hope is that those who read this will consider their love for God in a very deep manner.  There is a place where most will end up like that husband.  They will speak to God with a deep and overwhelming grief.  But it will be too late.

By His Grace.