Tag Archives: the Christ

Beyond Perception

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Do you ever feel alone in Christ, as if there is no one who sees, no one who hears, and no one who understands?  As if every man is running headlong to hell, screaming at the top of his lungs lest he hear a righteous word.  When the moment of blackened clouds obscures the hope of evangelism, strive to remember the following:

It is impossible that the Son of the Living God should not gather a vast crowd to himself.  What is set on fire with Life cannot possibly die.  And his great abundant joy will surely find a great sharing!

Rejoice in obscurity.  A precious garden of joyful souls is growing, as if in secret, beyond the eyes of men.

By His Grace

God Provides the Way Out

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We are not well-intentioned beings.  Even a lot of Christians believe that Man is simply misguided.  “If you explain his misbehavior to him, the wayward soul will rectify his life.”  That’s what the leaders of humanism will tell you.  That’s what the atheist would love to believe, if he had any proof.  Isn’t that the reason for the popular saying, “LIVE UNITED“?

The teaching that we are simply misguided by lack of knowledge, is simply and thoroughly untrue.  If it were true that man was simply a misguided and under educated being, there would have been many communes filled with really nice people  that still exist today.  But that’s not the case is it?

Even Christianity, that religion which is supposed to have the guidance of the Most High God’s Holy Son, is filled with turmoil and unholy behavior.  If man could be successful at establishing a beautiful populous, it would have happened within the first century after the birth of Christianity, and you would be able to find it today.

The problem is, God’s Word is true: even the best of our well-intentioned righteousness is no better than filthy rags.  We not only obey as if under duress for the threat of death or punishment, we invent wicked pleasures from our imagination.  And we do it all the time.

That is why the majority of the things I have written, by His grace, are pointed at the wickedness of Man.  God did not send his Holy Son to pat the righteous people on the back.  The Holy Father sent His only Son to mankind to deliver three messages.
1. Every man is already condemned to destruction before the Lord God Almighty.  All that’s left is to arrive on the Judgment Day to receive the condemnation.

2. The Holy Father has sent his Son as The Teacher of holiness.  He taught as many as would listen when he was here in bodily form.  And he teaches those who believe in Him through the Holy Spirit even today.

3. God caused his beautiful Son to become a Living Sacrifice for any who will claim his strength instead of their own.  For those who are willing to believe this message, God has loved us beyond words.  He has loved us to the very death of his only Holy Son.  And that at the very hands of those the Lord Jesus was sent to help.

If you can’t believe this message, your status before the Most High God does not change.  God the Father has offered up his only Son for your benefit, what more do you expect him to do?

Do you expect him to recieve you just like you are?  Well isn’t that the message I just wrote above?  Do you expect him to receive you because you are a righteous and good hearted person?  How does that stack up to what I just told you?

God has sent His Son to redeem the wicked depravity that is every single man’s filthy soul.  All you have to do is humble yourself and pray.  If you are willing to listen to him, he will transform your life from depravity to holiness.  Jesus is able and willing to offer eternal life to any who will trust him.

A man once said to me, “l don’t need Jesus.  I’ll take my chances at the judgment”.  The problem is, Sir, there is no such thing as “chances” on the Judgment Day.

By His Grace

The Message Lives

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11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3)

We do not speak of our glory; as if we are excellent examples of humanity, or heavenly beings sent to earth.  No, we witness to He who alone is Good.  We speak of the Righteousness of God; the Holy Son of God, Jesus.

We testify that Jesus, the Christ, is the singular way to eternal life.  Not only that, but we testify that Jesus will endow His people with power to overcome sins and master temptation.  In the process of this release, His people find companionship with the Holy Father of Life.  As the Sovereign God is eternal, Christ’s people are given eternal life; though they die in the flesh, they shall never die again.  This is the work of Christ in the souls of man.

If, in your looking around, you do not witness those who call themselves Christians overcoming, the message of the Gospel is not lessened.  For the Word of the Gospel does not have its root in the mannerisms of those who call themselves Christians.

The message is an eternal message.  It was before anything was made.  It will be long after all the things of this world, and even creation itself, is utterly destroyed.

Look to the message, do not keep your eyes on Christians.  For each Christian is but a witness to the truth, regardless the fullness of his witness.  The truth lives regardless the measure each Christian applies it.

Deal with it.  It’s your personal responsibility to look into these things.  God will not entertain blame on the Great, Holy, and Terrible day of judgment.  You have a mind.  You have eyes.  You have ears and a tongue.  You have hands.  And the Holy Word of the Bible is not too far beyond your reach to grasp.  Either you desire eternal life, thus looking into these things, or you desire the way things are with you now.

I have witnessed to the truth here.  It will not be taken out-of-the-way of man until the Lord returns to take His people, and seal this place for destruction.  What day that is, no man knows.  But it will surely come, even as your own death will usher you into the Judgment Day of God.

The witness about Jesus is quite abundant in this world.  But the day will come when the message of witness will draw silent.  The pleasure of Man will hold a short-lived triumph.  Grasp it while it is still offered; before the Holy Door is slammed closed on the souls of men.  Believe in the Holy Son of God, or perish in the sinful disrepair that is the flesh and soul of man without the power of God in Christ.

No one can understand these things unless the Holy Father opens their soul to receive it.  Pray, then, that God will open your soul to understanding.  Humble yourself before the Living God, that in due time He will lift you up.

Amen.

 

It Shouldn’t Be that Hard

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Wishes are empty and useless.  Imagination is only imagination.  Desire is only desire; if retained as if “Life” desire is useless.

The dishes don’t clean themselves.  The bed does not remake itself.  The broken down car will not repair itself.

Things that are broken, things that are in deterioration, things that are not complete, will not fix or complete themselves.

We may stand still for a moment, wishing things would become useful again.  But they only deteriorate all the more.  It takes action.  It takes determination.  It takes a moment of diligence to repair what is lacking.

If we clean three dishes, the remainder is still dirty.  If we straighten one side of the bed, the other side remains unkempt.  If we wipe a tire clean, the rest of the car remains broken down.  Don’t we all know these things?

How is it then that we don’t apply this to the things of the Living God?  How is it then, that the desire of Jesus, God’s Holy Christ, lacks bounty among His people?

We wish God would intervene.  We wish and imagine that God has caused us to perceive holiness.  And don’t the masses fool themselves because they think that wishing and imagination has done the trick?  Isn’t this why religion is so very empty of the power of God?  Isn’t this why Christians, and the entire world, lacks the vibrant witness of holiness?

We apply diligent behavior to the things we need.  It is because we need them, that is why we work so hard.  Do we think we don’t need the full power of God?

I have witnessed the power of God in the holy Apostles.  I read what they wrote concerning all this.  I have even witnessed the sin that is working so constantly within me.  And I am compelled to believe their testimony.  But what if I leave “becoming” to the whims of wishes and imagination?  I will never “become” the desire of my God.

A man says a quick prayer at the start and end of his day.  Is that enough?  Where is the diligence we witness in those who have overcome?  Do we really think our garden grows so healthily because we offered it a single cup of water?  Can we rightfully expect an abundant harvest?

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?

Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

my cause is disregarded by my God”?

28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.”  (Isaiah 40)

Diligence!  Continuance!  Determined and purposeful application.  Continual prayer.  Continual remembering of the Holy Word, as we have heard it.  These things will produce what is holy within us.

But wishing, imagination, slothfulness and spiritual sleep, these produce the weeds of sin that lay waiting for a chance to sprout.  Sin is diligent, isn’t it?  Look how it patiently waits just outside our door, desiring to have us.  What good will we own when we appear before Him if that is all we allow ourselves to desire here?

Let the sleepy one (the one who allows his soul to sleep) turn on the TV.  Let the lazy desire pleasure.  Let the desire of Christ burn within, and the things of Christ begin to appear.  Let prayer take the place of pleasure.  Let the reading of His Holy Word replace television.  Let the thoughts of remembrance fill us; let us remember His Holy teachings.  The diligent prosper in the things of God.  The others struggle about.  So it is.  So, it can’t be any different.

He who does what is righteous, this one becomes righteous.  Death leads to death.  Why would we believe anything other?  Life from God’s Holy Christ leads to Life.  Either remain in death, or get with the program.

“Away With God!”

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(I wrote the following piece, but found no pleasure in publishing it.  How I would much rather speak joyous things.  But the day does not warrant it.  So be it!)

They say “World Peace” is the objective.  But while they speak such a lofty phrase, there is no love for the Peace of God.  The only reason they want world peace is so that they can pursue their own pleasure.  “Level the field, and we can run uninhibited!”

We are told to manage our bodies.  Foolishly, people think the government cares.  The only reason they want you to manage your body, is so that you will not be a drain on the economy.  Otherwise they don’t care if you live or die.

We are commanded by law to respect every man’s mind.  The vernacular calls it “politically correct”.  But there is no politically correct stance of inclusion for the Christian.  There never has been.  For the Living God has never been acceptable among men.  Man believes the lie of satan: “You ask too much of us and do not give us what we need to accomplish your will!”

With a weak struggling soul, I will chase after the things of Christ.  I know I am not alone.  But you couldn’t prove that if you watched my life.  There is no brotherly embrace.  They have scattered us to the wind.  They have infiltrated our ranks with a bevy of politically correct minds.  And they are about to make the proclamation that they are free of Christ!

I have no time to embrace that folly.  My days are markedly short.  I have no time left to pine for Love; that sweet embrace of a brother in Christ, as we ascend the mountain of God.

I would betray the Holy Christ if I turned to join the world in their great celebration of the power of Man.  “United we stand, yes we can, world peace, economic stability, subjection of rebellion, control of all resources, and the horrible thought which they cap with the word Tolerance.”

The wicked scurry about like ants on a cube of sugar.  They perceive sweetness of freedom to be within their grasp.  There’s a smile on their face now.  The men of power are pleased.  “We are so very near achieving our goal, I can almost taste it.”

God has spoken, but no one hears.  The tumult of abhorrent chants drowns out the truth.  Captured by video and audio entertainment, the masses have become oblivious.  No longer is God spoken of in the streets.  The Holy Word of greeting has been replaced by “Hi”.  If one believes in God he keeps it a deep dark secret.  It has become a blight and shame to obey the living God’s Christ.

Religious cults abound.  The Gospel has been so watered down, the followers rarely know the fullness it used to be.  And they are not interested to learn.  For there is pleasure in dispensing the Gospel with fleshly tools.  “We will have what pleases us!”

“More beautiful music about Christianity! 

More peaceful words of love. 

More lofty poetry!

More smiling brothers and sisters. 

Away with condemnation from above!”

Have what you desire.  Who am I that you should listen to me?  I am a useless truck driver.  Like the night janitor, I am an obscure human being. When I do my work, I am only in the way.  For the sake of earning a wage, I am forced to deliver useless trinkets to a useless people.  I take heart in this however, for in this I am treated like God’s Christ; tossed away without a care.

But you will continue in your unholy way, all you people who love the things of Man.  God has promised that you will not abandon the work of your hands.  And true to his promise, I see no hope of repentance in the fabric called humanity.

But if you have read this far, how much does it take to cause you to finish this reading? 

You have heard that God loves all men.  Is that true? See what God has said in Psalm 139.

19 “O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
            Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

      20 For they speak against You wickedly,
            And Your enemies take Your name in vain.

      21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
            And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

      22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
            They have become my enemies.”

May your will be done Holy Father!  Who can let his shadow darken your Holy Throne, that he may give you counsel of men?

By His Grace

Spiritual Dynamics

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A politician sat down with his advisors, that they might conspire how to get him reelected next year.  His record was not stellar.  By a considerable margin, he might well lose the next election.

They discussed six or seven alternatives, but none of them were rated very high in probability.  But the last option rang like a new brass church bell.

“If you are reelected”, one of them said.  “You could easily pocket 7 million over the next four years.”   The politicians eyes smiled, but in his soul the word “if” stood out largely.  He turned to look at Fred.  “What’s your point Fred?”

Fred began.  “It takes money to make money Stan.  How would you like to get 7 million for a 10 percent investment?”   He captured Stan’s imagination like a magnet to iron filings.  “Why don’t you make a conspicuous donation to father Briers little Church?   He’s got a tiny little place and a lot of land to build on.  We will make sure it’s leaked to the press that you are a godly man, and can be trusted.  I guarantee it’ll pop your numbers over the top.”

Stan fell in love with the idea.  The next day Stan and six of his Advisors showed up at the little Catholic Church.  After a bit of small talk, Stan handed father Brier a check for $725,000.

Father Brier accepted the check with great joy.  And Stan’s advisors made promises to help advertise the new building.  Soon father Briers Church would be full of people! 

The priest was overjoyed.  The building was completed long before election time.  The people floated in, as promised.  Needless to say, the income of the Church rose dramatically, and Stan got reelected.

The politician had done what politicians do; they often use whatever means is necessary to secure their position.  But the priest had done something he should never have done.  I’m not referring to accepting the money.

The priest considered his building as the Church.  And from that misconception everything else fell flat. 

A man can own a building.  A man can gain a title.  A man can play politics with the things that are in his hand.  But no one can own the Church.  The Church belongs to Jesus, the Christ of God.

No building, no title, and no politics, are able to wrench it out of the Lord’s hands.  Forgetting that the word church refers to “the called out ones”, can be a grave mistake.

The priest may be happy today.  But he has missed the fluid dynamic of the Holy Spirit’s power.  Stop up the flow of a river, and it will eventually turn putrid.

By His Grace