The war. The battle. The temptation. The weakness.
The repair. The change of mind. Determination:
It takes a while. Reside in prayerful attitude.
It takes a while to journey,
For we reside so far from
HE.
Tag Archives: weakness
Preferred Trophies
Our list of God given strengths cannot be a list of the things that were. It is a living list. Our strengths are no more frozen in time than are we. Every moment brings a choice; do we wrestle with weakness, or take hold of victory.
The strengths of God are not trophies that we can put on display. Rather, they are servants waiting to be deployed.
It is our weaknesses that are dead. But I see so many put these on display.
Will it be said that we coveted what is not? Or will it be said that we desired what is?
Fear?
What is fear? Isn’t it fear to ponder what can be done to us? Doesn’t fear come because we know we are weak and defenseless.
What is perfect strength? Isn’t it the knowledge that we are perfectly protected? Doesn’t strength come because we know that He who protects us is above all things?
Therefore I am proud of my weakness and am not afraid. For the One who has sworn, by his very blood to protect me, That One cannot lie!
I see the fear that was in me, and gladly spit in its face. “You will not own me! You have been dethroned. You are destroyed before you speak! The One who is above you owns this soul.”
Come! Believe beside me. The shadow of fear has no hold on those who believe!
To the Proud
No man can farm more than the ground he is given. No man can perceive past what the wisdom of God has allowed. Every man then, is subject the ownership of someone else. But oh how lies and pride desire something else.
“I will be a free man! I will choose my own destiny. I will gather to myself by my own hand. I will live a free man!”
Will you now? If you will be free, what restrains you from being God? Immediately go and be the Living God. Abandon your imagination or go and be God.
Lies are all we own, if we think we are free men. If we think we own the power to choose our own destiny, then we are blind fools.
Even if a man calls a piece of fertile ground his own. Even if he knows how to plant and to grow, that he may sustain his body, the ground belongs to God. The Sun, the water, the seasons, and the wheat, all belong to God. How can you possibly be a free man, able to choose your own destiny?
“I think, therefore I am”. Descartes is said to have fallen on the most valuable of truth. But look how he qualifies “I am”. In order to “be”, he must be able to think. Is he then a free man? Was he not also subject to death?
With a proud mouth he spoke what he considered a wonderous truth. Where is he now? Where is his farm? Where is his able body and “sharp” mind? Produce him before me and I will give him aplause.
How many men balance their worth on his “brilliant” saying? How many men live their entire life encased in a lie? “I am able to choose my own destiny. I think, therefore I am! I will spit on the things of God! I will willingly despise the word holy.”
Will you now? Then produce from your great intellect, eternal life. Prove to us how great you are. Fashion your own planet on which you can live. Spin a star to grow your plants. Increase your self before us that we may perceive your great strength. And do not promise me that men will accomplish this! Do it now, if truly you are able!
You only imagine yourself as capable. You dress yourself in lies from the time you wake up until the time you sleep. The only thing you have is pride. And pride is easily shaken by a single word, “Death”.
May God be merciful to you, that you may remember my words. “You are not accountable to me. But you will certainly be held accountable to the one who has made you.”
May those words chase you down, while you wake or while you sleep. May your fortress of Lies be utterly destroyed. May sweat be your shower of cleansing day and night. May anxiety accompany your sense of great worth. May your filthy imagination become to you as a brood of Asps; that every time you reach out your hand to glorify yourself, your pride might bite you with fatal fangs. May understanding become your best and dearest friend. May humility become your daily bread. May God force you to perceive yourself as restricted under his Holy hand. And may he have mercy, that before you die, you will glorify and honor His Holy and Righteous Son.
And may the day come quickly, when I can refer to you as my brother in Christ Jesus.
By His Grace
“Keeping” our Brother
Have Christians coddled one another to the point of eternal death? Have many gone to the grave destined to suffer eternal loss? And has the reason been, that no one confronted them in regard to the seriousness of rebellion?
let every man do what he knows the Gospel demands. If our brother displays a weakness that is inherent from his former life, then let us encourage him towards strength. Let us fill his mind with the promises of God for those who are faithful. Let us continually remind him of those who have gone before us through great sufferings. Let us strive to point out how trivial our sufferings of this day are, compared to that which is to come. By all means let us encourage such a one.
But let us make a distinction between weakness and rebellion! Is Christ in us not wise enough to make the distinction?
Coddle weakness in the hopes of overcoming. But confront rebellion for what it is! Even our unwillingness to distinguish between the two, is rebellion in itself. For God has promised us the gift of wisdom, given freely and without judgement.
We do well to point out rebellion as an abomination before the Living God. We do well to encourage such ones with Holy Terror. Let us bring a simlatude of the Judgement Day before their eyes. Let us help them perceive their destiny as eternal death.
We will most assuredly regret our fear of confrontation. Gather together the boldness of Christ that lays dormant within you. Strike out with confidence, and Christ will bless your way.
Jude said these things best. 22 “Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
But I must also add this. Do these things with the utmost of godly care. If the beam in your eye remains, you will not weild the wisdom of God with reliability. But if you are submissive to the will of God in Christ. If you have endured the purification offered by the Holy Spirit. If your own life begins to depict the righteousness of Christ. You have an obligation to apply these things.
The putrid reply of Cain is unacceptable. Yes we are our brothers keeper! Yes we will be held accountable the death of many. If you are not willing, then prepare yourself for the rebuke of God.
Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
By His Grace
The Exceptionally Few
Always considering the eyes of men. That’s how most people live out their days. It takes an exceptionally confident man to do his work in a crowd without notice of the eyes that watch. And oh how few they are!
The fear of man pervades our every thought. “What will they think? What will they say? What will they do to me for my failings? Have I been successful at hiding my nakedness? Do they still see my weakness?” And so, fear is given a place to live.
Do you want freedom? Do you want to live with a confidence that rises above the fear of men? Do you want to become a member of the exceptionally few?
Then seek out the Christ of God with every fiber of your life! No man can possibly rid himself of this kind of fear. He has to develop an unshakable belief in the love of God for himself. That’s when confidence arrives.
It’s not enough to say that God is love. That’s not enough to dispel the fear. You have to let your soul live in heaven, even while your body lives among men. Then there is no fear.
Christ Jesus can do that for you. He can set you free of every fear, even death.
You can trust this message. It is faultless, and will find full acceptance before the Living God. It is in fact the message he has been preaching since the day of Adam and Eve.
By His Grace
Words From There 