Tag Archives: strength

Receive!

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“The Faith”:

Its fullness stands starkly before all the enemies of God.

Speaking by its presence, “You will never touch me”.

Though the storm may rage around he who abides with in this Faith,

He will sleep in peace.

Though the waves threaten the weakened ones,

The Faith abides in fullness of trust.

Boldness is its radiant marking.

He who has, timidity has become vanquished.

What is the threat that will subdue it?

What threat cast a shadow on the one who owns The Faith?

What is The Faith?

It is that God cannot lie.

He has spoken His Holy promise in flesh and blood.

He has raised Him from the dead by The Faith.

Though they sought to lay hands on him, he walked through their midst.

Yet, when their time of strength was given them, The Faith allowed capture.

Still, The Faith endured; as a lamb is led to the slaughter he did not open his mouth to complain.

The Faith!

What portion do we find ourselves willing to embrace?

Portion, because He is First!

Boldness of The Faith, my brothers!

Receive, do, glorify, accomplish, and become!

It is The Living God’s joy to give.

Receive!

Willing Refinement

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The fire is brought to the field to cleanse it of stubble and blight.  The winds of a hurricane are a pleasure to the man who knows he has built his house well.

For everything a man may make, receives a testing.  To the craftsmen who knows he has done his work well, there is no fear.  For even if his work may suffer loss, he is anxious to apply his learning.  Such a man’s hands quiver with delight at the approach of destruction.

As the racehorse strains against the bit, ready and willing to run, so the man of God looks forward to the testings.  Always looking for refinement, he does not despise destruction of weakness.

It is of man to desire rest in peace from the labor of his hands.  He seeks respite for the weakness of his body and the sparseness of resource.

But the Spirit of of the Holy Lord God Almighty urges toward completion.  Let every one of God’s people be joyful to submit themselves to the fire of God’s Holy expectations.

His love is destruction for all that is unholy.  But this destruction is sent in eternally lovely intent.  The rewards will always outweigh the tears.  Yet is it righteous for us to have tears at all?

Allowing ourselves to be driven, accomplishment draws nearer.  But rest, as the flesh desires, and you will suffer loss.

Every man will appear before the Holy Lord to give account of himself.  The day of judgement will come as the final restraint.  But now is the day of testing.  Now is the day for becoming.

It is the forceful soul who presents himself to the day of judgement now.  “The Faith” in Christ Jesus is the beauty of holy strength.

May God receive the bounty that belongs rightfully to him; the refinement, the willing refinement of his holy people.  His reward is in his hand as he stands to judge all men. 

Let us therefore not despise the destruction of those things the flesh desires.  Rather let us side with God in His Holy judgment against sin.

The servant who whimpers at the commands of his master, is no joy at the dinner table.  Such a one is deservedly given a lower place.

By His Grace

Two Lions

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The forgiveness of Christ is the ultimate power for life.  If a man’s sins are forgiven, his conscience is cleaned.  Where then is regret?
Where then is fear? 
Where then is strength to live? 
What kind of joy should this one own? 
What kind of man should he be able to become?

Are you willing to dissect this truth with me?  Are you willing to be free of regret?
Are you willing to become fearless?
Are you willing to become endlessly strong?
Are you willing to be full of joy?
Are you willing to become a child of the Living God?

It may be that you have said yes to all these.  But if these are not a part of your life, have you asked why?  And if you asked, were you able to endure the answer?

These things are true for the one who is forgiven.  Why then are they not true for you?

I don’t mean to attack you or to judge.  I simply asked the question that everyone in Christ is asking.  “If the forgiveness of Christ is real, then why do I struggle so?”

You believe the things of the gospel.  But the problem is application to you.  At your best moment, and full of generosity, you perceive that forgiveness is available to every man.  But in your personal practice, that application comes and goes.  It gives you strength and leaves.  Why does it leave?  If it leaves, have you pondered why it even comes at all?

If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, why not you?  Why can’t you have that familiar strength all the time?

The answer, whether we like it or not, is diligence.  When we are strong in Christ, by His forgiveness, it is because we have taken time to assess our situation.  It is because we fail to sit quietly and make assessment, that we falter and lose our strength.  Isn’t this so?

Then it takes a strong man to receive the things of Christ.  It takes one who is dedicated purely to living the truth.  As a man is lazy in the things of Christ, so his faith will lack.  We could call such a soul, a sluggard.  Couldn’t we?

Proverbs 26 addresses this very clearly.
13. A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road,
a fierce lion roaming the streets!”

Yes there’s a lion roaming the streets.  And for this the sluggard keeps his door shut.

But hear this truth!  There is also a lion in your own house.

The Lion of Judah roams the streets seeking earnest hearts.  While the lion who devours, lives among your things.  The One is fearsome and free.  The other is domesticated and emaciated.

As you can understand, let me say this:  Get off your couch, open the door, and walk in the streets.  If you have faith, prove it to yourself.  Become diligent.

The domesticated one will not go with you, he will remain emaciated and sleeping on the couch. 

But you!  Go out into the street and call for Him.  The Lion of Judah is free and full of fire.  Yet you know you do not fear him.  You fear your own weakness.

You know he can take away your weakness and give you strength.  You know he can decimate your regret.  You know he can make you fearless.  You know he can give you the fullness of life.

Then the choice is yours.  Remain with your pet domesticated and emaciated lion,  or go out in the street and live.

If I say to you, “I live in the street”, I would be a liar.  For I wake in my house just like you.  But he teaches me to walk past the couch and go outside.  As honestly as I can, I tell you, this takes great strength.

But my brothers and sisters, it is so sincerely worth it!  In my past, laziness has destroyed me.  But as I listen to him, I retain diligence.  This truth he teaches me, is the same for all men.

By His Grace

What’s in a Name

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Do you realize there are millions of people who do not know who Isaiah is?  When they see the name Job, they think of employment.  Abel is only what they can do.  Methuselah only hangs around in the English language as an expression of impatience.

Yet these men are with God for eternity.  And every eye will see the one who saved them.  And the willingly ignorant won’t know why.

If you are afraid of men, and keep the gospel to yourself, at least mention such wonderful people.  For without the work of God in them, you would not have the Gospel as you do.

If you find yourself so full of fear that you are too ashamed to speak of Jesus, at least educate.

Men talk about Gandhi, Hitler, Socrates, Plato and other such names.  And there is no offense taken. 

How small is man and how great is Jesus.  Why are we so ashamed of his holy name?

By His Grace

Confidence of an Incompetent Buffoon

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I want to testify about something that I think might be helpful to many.  If something can go wrong for me, it already has.  It just hasn’t appeared before my face yet.  To add to that, I seem to be prone to make a number of really foolish choices along the way.  In short, I expect to fail. All told, I’d call myself stupid but I don’t think its proper to elevate one’s self.

Evidently this is the nature of Who I am.  And there are many who are like me.

There are a million and a half accomplished human beings. I fall into the majority of humanity.

With that said, I want to address the topic of confidence.

Confidence is a very fickle human quality.  By in large, most people have a false confidence.  I mean, they think they are something because someone has told them so, or they have fooled themselves into believing they are something.  All the while, their very soul knows the truth.

A person’s confidence has to do with comparison to others.  If someone strokes your ego, you think you are something because they compare you to someone else.  But in fact, others are being compared to you.  Sounds like a formula for complete devastation.

That’s all fine and dandy.  It won’t stop just because I pointed it out.  But why do people pay so much attention to their confidence level?

The answer has to do with fear. People are horrified to think that others would realize they are only incompetent buffoons.  So they keep testing the water and fishing for compliments.

But what if no compliment ever comes?  Is the person destined to be devastated for their entire life here in this place of testing?  The answer is no.

There are butterflies, Birds, cats, dogs, horses, grass, trees and stars that do not compare us to others.  Often people who have a lack of compliments toward them will turn to such things.  Curiously, as a result people praise them for loving nature.  Ya hoo!  They got confidence!

But the fear doesn’t leave, does it?  Instead of having a bold spirit you simply turned your attention to something that can’t attack you.  You put a little finger bandaid over an amputated arm.

I have found that as I have to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, I am accepted.  By faith in the words he spoke, I am someone!  And he promises not to ever turn away from me!

Yes I’m an incompetent buffoon.  But in my lord Jesus, I am precious enough for him to die on a cross to save me.

With this brand of confidence I can agree with the writer who said, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

That doesn’t mean I become an accomplished human being.  It means that the incompetent buffoon has found someone to love him.

This confidence despises human comparison.  It learns to make fun of my failures.  It generates an unquenchable hope.  And I no longer fear humanity.

The only thing I fear now is that I might displease him in some way.  But this is residual trash from the things I have been taught as a man.

Believing his words, I have confidence to approach the Most High God!  What is it to me if men compare themselves?  What is it to me if they think I really am an incompetent buffoon?

All it took was to believe in the Son of God.  Not at all an impossible task, when I realized I was a fool. 

If men have despised me, it has worked out for my salvation.  If they purposefully diminished me and cast me aside,  it was for my benefit.  Who needs the confidence of men when we have the confidence of Christ?

On a side note I will say I feel sorry for the beautiful people of this world; those people who are beautiful in the eyes of everyone, and have all the ego stroking they can get.  Since they have acceptance they are not likely to look for anything else.  But I would caution them to remember: you will get old, sick, frail, and eventually die. 

Where will your confidence be as you stand before the Most High God, naked and ashamed?  You’ll be standing there with all the people who thought you were something.  They won’t think so highly of you then.

Holy Squalor

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It is no shame for a man to live in the squalor of this world.  Let bugs and dust cover what he owns, it does not decrease his value.  Poverty is, and it takes its toll upon the prosperity of men.

But if a man is ashamed of the Living God and His holy Christ, what squalor surrounds him?  Though he lives in the greatest of splendor here, he is eternally impoverished, and filled to overflowing with shame.  Though he is forced to live as less, while he is here, the one who is ashamed of God while he lives in the shame of this world is impoverished for eternity.

Every man has the possessions he has.  And he has according to the place he has been assigned.  Yet how few reach to the things of promise.  How many accept their position of shame and think highly of themselves?

To this very day shame is harvested in abundance!   Where, among our things, is the prosperity of God?  Where is the strength that gives life?

There are holy kings who live among the bugs and dirt.  There are holy kings who live in rich abundance here.  These will not be ashamed as they stand before the Most High, for they have not been ashamed of him while they lived among their things.