Tag Archives: Son of God

Plethora

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abundance, cornucopia, feast, plenitude, plentitude, plenty, superabundance, wealth.

So many voices saying, “This is the way”.  So many claims to truth.  So little time to devote to “shaking out” the differences.  What’s a man to do?

Look what Charles Spurgeon said, I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ.  My hope lies in another quarter.  I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, “You are mine, and you shall be mine.  I claim you for myself.”  My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will. 

No man can save himself.  No man can even be sure that he has ahold of the things of the Living God.  Even as he sets his hand to understanding, others tell him he is wrong.  Not only that, but doubts rise up in the man himself.  To read all the literature of man regarding religion, is too much.  A man will die before he finishes the readings.  Then, if he’s finished reading, will he be any better off?  What’s a man to do?  Then we add all the socially accepted means of pleasing God; and there are billions of those!

I’m not talking about opinions.  I’m talking about absolute, concrete, unmovable, eternal, holy, and vibrant Truth.  How does a man “know” he has the Truth of God?

I said, “Read the Bible”.  But that’s a really large book.  And so many books set themselves up along side the Bible.  I said, “Believe me, when I tell you that Christ Jesus is the Truth of God”.  But why should a man believe me, when there are millions of others who say the same things?  And those millions don’t speak of Christ in the same loving terms.

Here’s the answer:

The truth of God lives in God’s Holy Son.  I know that even that saying is too much for those who doubt.  I know that there are many claims to the truth of God.  But I testify that the power of life from God lives in His Holy Son.  In Jesus’ own words, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day”. (John 6: 44)

What’s it take to get God to show you his Holy Son?  You must humble yourself in prayer.  God will filter out pride.  God will filter out man’s ability.  Requests to God that contain anything more than humility, will not receive His favor.  God protects His Son from the onslaught of man’s violent pride and greed.  It is the hungry, the broken, the humiliated, the lost, the desperate, and the diligent, whose prayers are heard.

Forget about being able to figure it all out.  The mind of man cannot know the things of Heaven except that Heaven is revealed to him.

Ok, you don’t have time to read every written word regarding religion.  But are you willing to pray?  Nothing more I can tell anyone will help them.  The answer to all the confusion lives in humbling ourselves before God and asking for His Help.

 

Marginal Christianity 101

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Have you settled for social Christianity?  Do you go to church like a good little boy, because it’s what we’re supposed to do? 

It is socially acceptable to have a painting of Jesus on a wall in your house.  It’s even okay to have a worn out looking Bible on the coffee table.  And if somebody has an emergency it’s okay to pray some kind of helpless prayer.

All the while such people use the Holy Lord’s name in vain.  They keep what they know about the Gospel to themselves.  You may occasionally find them in a Christian book store.  But you’re not likely to find them living a holy life.

Is this what you’ve become?  Is that what Christianity means to you?

I’m not going to browbeat you.  And I didn’t write this to make you feel bad.  But I want to help you examine that kind of Christianity.

Why would anyone be satisfied with some small settlement for eternity, when he could have been a son of God?  Why would anyone do something at the marginal levels, when they have the promise of the Holy One to help them aspire to greatness in the kingdom of God?

You do realize, don’t you, that we’re talking about eternity here.  At 100 billion billion years, you would still be considered a child.  That’s a long time to live with a regret.  For your sake, I’m speaking like a man, in that there might be what can be called marginal Christianity.

Personally I don’t believe there is such a thing as marginal Christianity.  Because I don’t recall a place in the Bible where God says that’s okay.

Instead, I find list after list of description belonging to those who do not receive eternal life.  So that begs this question, why would any sane person want to play games with eternity?

I know what the problems are my friend.  If you start talking about God you lose friends, and fast.  You’ll be forced to give up a lot of pleasures.  You will likely have difficulty with your spouse.  If you have teenagers, they are likely to think you have gone insane.  You may lose your job.  Even your many friends at church may turn their face when they see you coming, just like you do to God’s people now.

But if you want marginal Christianity, have at it.  What am I going to do, tie you to a chair and beat you with a rubber hose?  It’s entirely your choice, isn’t it?

But have you considered what’s at stake?  You may lose everything on this earth.  But you gain an unspeakable joy forever.  You may be driven to the place where you do not have one single friend.  But for eternity you will have a family who will never desert you or accuse you of any wrong.

You will suffer anguish over the things you have done.  That’s what repentance provokes.  That means you lose a lot of sleep.  But isn’t that why you have seared your conscience with a hot iron?   You have cauterized your shameful history, lest it bleed out into your mind.  For you can’t put up with any guilty thoughts.

You don’t look back at the bad things you’ve done, because you can’t take the shame of it.  But if you don’t join with Jesus, God will show you these things himself.  And when he does that, there will be no opportunity for you to make repairs.  And at that point there is no more offer of forgiveness.

But you’re welcome to keep your marginal Christianity.  You will not do harm to eternity if you are not there.  No one in the kingdom of heaven will talk bad about you.  My friend, they won’t even remember your name.

The people who are disobedient to the Gospel, do not have eternal life.  But you can keep your marginal Christianity, while so many strive with all they have to enter in.  Just where did you expect to fit in?

By His Grace

Kiss the Son Lest He be Angry

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Jesus became angry with the leaders of the Jews when they refused to strive to understand His words.  It’s not like His language was foreign,  or spoken in such a way as to cause confusion.  In fact we often see the Jews understanding quite fine when they perceived He spoke something against them.

He was from them.  They had the Law He had delivered to Moses.  And He made sure understanding was close at hand.  No, it wasn’t due to the Lord Jesus that confusion reigned in their rock hard hearts.

Look over your shoulder as you read this.  Take note that I am not speaking foreign words to those who read my posts.  And when I speak to the world, it’s not a people from some strange land I’m addressing.   Yet who responds by softening their rock hard heart?

I am not Jesus.  And you are not Jews.  We are gentiles together.  And I speak the same language as you.  So how come my words seem to be so hard to understand for so many?

Look to your heart.  He did not hold the Jews guiltless for their unwillingness to listen.  He is not likely to treat any other man any differently.  Why not just cut to the bone and soften that rock?  You don’t have to hear what I say.  But if I point to the Son of God, why not go to Him?

He’s been waiting since before you were born.

By His Grace

The Paths of God

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English: Multiple paths The lower path goes ro...

English: Multiple paths The lower path goes round to the Holy Well while the upper one skirts above it. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a] the Son of God,

 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way”

 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’”  (Mark 1: 1-3)

In my mind’s eye I can see that verse as describing the advent of the body of Christ.  He comes from heaven and grows into a man.  Ready to do the will of His Father among us, His Holy words ride the obedient as if paths through ages and humanity.  What an amazing concept.  The question, however, is:  Shall we offer the Holy Spirit a twisty-turny-bumpy-garbage strewn path on which to glide through time?  How obvious can the answer be?

By His Grace.

Employing Faith

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unemployment

unemployment (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

We tend to think that unless we ask the Lord for help He does nothing.  How can that be true?  He spins the world; did it ask to be spun?  He feeds the birds, did they ask for a worm to be created that day?  He sets your lungs billowing.  Did you ask to breathe last night?  He causes sleep and wake to come upon all.  Do they need to ask for either?

The problem with our understanding of God is that we tend to think of Him as a remote individual who is not immediately in charge of all things.  He saw what you needed before you were born.  He knew what was going to form your mind as you grew.  And, rest assured, He understands the dynamics of sin among men.

We cannot perceive where a certain set of sins will lead.  Sin is chaos.  Yet God knows.  Why else does He proclaim that all sin leads to death?  Jesus holds the keys to life and death.  He knows how to open one and shut the other.  He knows how to bring a man from death to life.  And He knows how to bring a man from life to death also!

So let us be wise and remember that God is not some kind of idle power house.  He is vividly active among men and angels.  Nothing escapes His attention.  And He sees farther down the road than we often give Him credit for.  Trust, do, and trust again.  If you have been blessed to know that Jesus is the Son of God, you are also blessed to be guided in all you do.   Employ your faith (that faith which God gave you to accept His Son as your Lord and Savior).

God does as He pleases.  Just sit and wait.  Do what is right.  Give Him all Glory for everything you encounter.  He will move for such people.  He will protect your faith.  He will move around you and in you to create a kind of person He can be pleased with.

Did Jonah ask for the shade God provided?  Did Nineveh ask for the message of salvation that was brought to them?  Did the Israelites love Jesus when He appeared to bring them the message of repentance and hope?  Yet God moved without having been asked.  Did any of His followers ask God the Father to have His Son crucified?  Yet God’s wisdom was moving among them to accomplish just that.

Did the Israelites ask for slavery?  Yet God brought it upon them so that they could be witnesses to His Majestic power to save.  What has come upon you?  Why do you balk as if you don’t deserve it?  Aren’t you surprised at the things God does for you all day long?  Endure!  Remain a person with a clean heart, mind, soul, and hands.  Just wait.

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I re-read this message and ponder what “is” in my life.  I am struck by how we expect something from the Lord when we are but His servants.  What an amazing sort of place God has set us to abide in.  Cast about with every form of evil, we are expected to understand and obey.

It is not hard to obey.  It is hard to strain at the restraints He has placed on us all.  It is so very easy to let Him be King.  So why do I constantly look to be useful?  He alone is useful.  And as we serve Him by remaining at the ready we become useful.  It’s as simple as that, isn’t it?

The Living Library

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Author Fair 2007

Author Fair 2007 (Photo credit: Homer Township Public Library)

We are tablets of clay in the form of a body and soul.  Apparently endless information is written upon us as we live our life.  We are witness of others.  We are testimonies to ourselves.  And if we are blessed to come to know Jesus, the Son of God Most High, we also contain that testimony of eternal life.

In this way we all write a book.  And though, from time to time, we find some who have something useful to read, we are not primarily written for man’s benefit.

I was considering this truth when a conclusion to this thought dawned within me.  There is nothing more precious about owning a book than to have met the author, conversed, and received his autograph within the binding.  The “dawning” is this:

How I desire to become one of The Author’s books in which He autographs His work with a name only He and I know.  There is a purpose to this life which reaches far beyond sky, ground, water, and blood.  And to that place we are destined to be shipped.  We are living tablets of clay which the Father will deliver to His Son as a beautiful bride.

While many are busy writing “trash rags” with their lives, there are a few who lay themselves down on the Lord’s writing-table.  They wait to be inscribed with marvelous words of living testimony.  How astoundingly beautiful it will be to read what each has brought to the wedding.  And we will have eternity to enjoy each other’s company as we read about the Lord who paid so much to purchase His Library of living books.