Tag Archives: Righteousness

Holy Violence

by

0


The Gospel of Christ Jesus cannot be sweet, unless it has been allowed to be violent.  The pride of man must be shattered.  Humiliation of our wickedness must be endured.  Our wickedness must be exposed.  And Truth must be exalted.

The Righteousness of God is firm and will cut through the things of men with eternal violence.  Those who can say, with great asuredness, that the Gospel is sweet, have stood up before the Most High God that He may cut them to shreds.

Those who live forever in the Kingdom of the Most High God’s Christ must be purified.  The wickedness and pride of man is pleasurable to him.  But God demands purity righteousness and holiness.  Nothing wicked will never enter God’s presence.

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11: 12)

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” (Revelation 7)

We are all forced to answer a question.  Has the Gospel of Christ Jesus become sweet to us?  And another, as God’s righteousness become peace to us?

By His Grace

The Holy Friend or Foe: Time

by

0


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.

Stick IT!

by

0


I can’t tell people what to do to gain eternal life.  I can point them to the Lord Jesus.  I can mention the expectations of the Most High God regarding His Holy and Righteous Son.  But I can’t tell them how to put all that stuff into practice.

I can tell them to read the Bible.  But it’s up to them to do it.  I can tell them to pray.  But I’m not suppose to be privy to such a holy event, no matter how short.  I can tell them that they will do well to DO what they learn.  But I can’t make em.

So I don’t try much any more.  I tried to stick with em.  But I didn’t have the stick-to-itive-ness necessary to stick-to-em long enough to see em stick-with-it.  I’ll just stick-to-da-road and write about stick-to-itive-ness.

Growth in Christ (recovery from chaos)

by

0


No one sins all the time.  That’s just not physically possible.  Every man has a lucid moment from time to time, at least.  And because of the weakness of the body, sleep must come.

When you have those lucid moments, make the best of it.  Search out the message of the Gospel, and do it quickly.  Just as the chaos of sin cannot last forever, our lucid moments pass even quicker. 

Just as a man who wakes after a night of heavy drinking finds himself pondering what happened and why, such thoughts are signs of a lucid moment.  Treat them as a welcome friend.

Raise whatever faith you have to the surface of your conscience, and believe.  You may not have the answers.  But then is the time to approach the One who does.  And if growth is to become a part of our experience, the answer must be found in the Christ of the Living God, Jesus.

Every man is like a disturbance at the bottom of the sea.  At birth the seafloor rises in a certain place.  Then as the man grows and does the good things of God, his disturbance becomes a mound.

If the man will train his soul to listen to the words of God, eventually the nature of what he, is breaks the surface of the waters.  This “breaking forth”, lends itself to all manner of Life.

Dust in the air settles between the cracks of rock.  Storms whittle down the sharp edges, causing the filings to fill in the gaps.  The birds of the air come and deposit a few seeds.  In time, the man becomes more then a disturbance in the sea; by his nature he lends himself to the utility of the heavens.

The growth at the bottom begins when the lucid moments of a man are captured for “Good” intent.  I will admit that there are far more mounds that never break the surface of the sea, than are those who become useful to God.

And don’t we see this played out in creation, in the fact that there is more space of water on the earth than land exposed to the air.  More places for slime and few places of dazzling beauty.

But now in the emergence of the man above the surface of the waters, there comes many a travail.  Parts of the exposed land occasionally break off and fall back into the sea.  Part of the work is wasted.  But that should not stop the land from taking its rightful place.  And what broke off was not firmly committed to what must become.  Good riddance, c’est la vie.

If the use of your lucid moments has allowed you to rise above the nature of man, use them all the more as you aspire to become a place of Life.  Why remain a desolate island?

Do not let your failings cause you to plummet down under the waves.  The target here is to work diligently to produce more lucid moments than moments of chaos and decay.

If you will apply the forgiveness of Christ, as it is found in the Bible, you will find your self overcoming guilt, and far more quickly.  This does not erase what was lost.  But certainly provides more vertical growth.  And every square inch of attainment offers more potential for Life.

If you believed at the outset, if that belief has caused you to break into the air, why can’t that belief cause you to reach for the heavens?

Those who shrink back because of the storms of life, will not find themselves pleasing the soul of Jesus.  But those who believe that he cannot lie, will prosper according to the wisdom of God.  Lucid moments of righteousness will begin to grow in the place where before was nothing but chaos.

Think diligently on these things.  Apply this with diligence.  And you will find yourself growing in Christ exponentially.

When you find yourself having sinned before the Lord, in the ways you had learned and the habits you had developed, grab a hold of your belief which you had at first.  And do not delay!  When the next lucid moment comes to your mind and heart take hold and grow!

I could have held the following for another post.  But it fits so seamlessly here.

Many think that they should punish themselves after a moment of insane chaos, called sin.  Such self abuse may or may not be useful.  And I have come to understand that sometimes self abuse is only a continuance of the sin we have just committed.

It is necessary to let Jesus be God.  Who could possibly know better what is necessary and useful after restoration of lucid thought?  Should it be the one who is prone to moments of insanity, or the One who knows the very elements of righteous eternity?

I cannot speak about this to those who have not developed a relationship of communication with the Holy Lord.  A man cannot rely on his own heart to determine what should be done next.   It was, after all, your wicked heart that caused the sin and decay to abound.  Is it reasonable to trust your judgement now?

And what has been the outcome for others may not apply to you.  Prayer is necessary.  With a calm heart full of belief, wait and listen.  In reverant prayer, confess your situation to God.  Ask Him to show you what you must now do.  He will certainly respond.

Be careful not to let anxiety overwhelm you.  Anxiety is a form of self abuse.  And the best of lucid moments teach us to be at peace and trust the Living God in Christ.

If you want biblical proof of these things.  Read the story again of what David did following his sin with Bathsheba.  Take special note of how he received the judgment of God against him for his child of sin.  How is it possible that we should be any different?

By His Grace

Got Good?

by

0


Can you be good for a day?  Have you even tried?

Let me define what I mean by good.  I’m not talking about the good of God.  I’m talking about the extreme and exemplary behavior of a good man.

Perhaps you can live close to the target for 24 hours.  Or until something comes to test your value, whichever comes first.

You can likely pull off a 24 hour stint of good behavior, as long as everything goes your way.  But what about a week?  Perhaps you’re rather disciplined.  Can you do an entire month?

Let the time keep stretching out.  At some point you will fall flat on your face.  At some point, you will prove to yourself that you are full of fault.

If you can’t make it past 2 hours, what makes you think you can live for eternity and be pleasing to God?

Better read up on the Gospel my friend.  Everything that is not perfect will be destroyed.

By His Grace

Ungodly, Unholy Homeless

by

0


With my wife and two children, we walked down the sidewalks of Salem Oregon, suitcases in hand.  My irresponsible behavior had driven my family to homelessness.  We were not victims of the economy.  We were victims of my hatred for righteousness.

Even then I did not turn to God for help.  I turned to the system of men that we could find shelter.  We found some shelter for our bones, but we did not find shelter from my behavior.

Regardless how the bleeding hearts want to paint the homeless as helpless and pathetic little people, there are many of them who are unholy, ungodly, and unworthy of anything good.

Just like every other man, they had opportunity, but they squandered it for the sake of selfish gain. 

I will not hide that fact, for I have known many who were just like me.  We take advantage of the bleeding hearts and consume all their energy and money.  We are a thankless brood; for while we say “Thank you”, we do not use their gifts to do what is right.  And why should we?  They are as foolish men, who walk into a band of thieves, knowingly holding out their hands full of money.  What do they think is going to happen?

You may look at the things I write and substantiate your liberal gifts to the poor.  “See how he has finally gotten out.  See what glorious thing we have accomplished!”  My friend you have done nothing but give me a few days more before I died!

It was God who gave me understanding.  It was God who opened my eyes to my own irresponsible behavior.  It was God who counseled me to be responsible in poverty.  And from there the steps up were clear.

I read God’s Holy Word and saw the condemnation that waited for me.  And as he has spoken it was true, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.  Man did nothing but prolong my personal agony of irresponsible and unholy doings.

There are unholy and ungodly homeless men and women, yes.  And there are unholy and ungodly responsible and rich men and women, yes. 

I have been told that pointing out the condemnation of everyone of us, will save no one.  Well how can that be true when that is precisely what turned this wayward soul?

There is a passage that, if you believe it, will shake your soul to the ground.  The more you believe it, the more you will desire the better things of God. 

If you want to make change in others.  If you want to see change in yourself.  Believe the following words.

“. . . and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face” (Deuteronomy 7:10)

Can you imagine the Holy One getting right down into your face, and accusing you rightly of the things you have done?  If a man does this to us, we may fight back.  But when God does this, you will be utterly helpless.  You will know that your destruction is imminent.  And fear like you have never felt, will consume you.

Allow yourself to believe this and you will start to desire Life.  There will be no bleeding hearts to come and save you.  There will be no hand out that you might pick up to offer God.

You are like wayward bums, who settled on the land of the king.  You did as you pleased and trashed his beautiful meadow.  You called the land by your own name.  And there you made a unrighteous home for yourself.

The righteous King will appear with his vast army.  He will see what you have done without asking.  He will see that you disrespect his authority.  He will not consider your personal excuses.  He will order his men to thrust you through.

He will tear down all that you have built, toss it into a pile, and with great discompassion, he will set it on fire to clear his land.

No one will come to your aid.  No one will remember your name.  Your plight belongs to you.  And at the last effort of your silent scream, you will be obliterated for eternity.

These words are written in a place that is conspicuous.  I do not fear you, and I would be glad to say these things to your face.  But would you listen to me there?  Or would you turn your face like you do when you see me at a distance?

These things are true.  Do with them as seems best to you.

By His Grace