I do not have to wrestle with the world to spread the Love of Christ.  Our Lord did not repel but drew even the curious to Him, even His enemies were drawn as rats to fresh corn.  He offered something absent in the storehouses of the wicked, Love.  Everyone wants it, many cannot ask for it nor admit how much they crave and most try and manufacture it from audience attention.  The Bible states that God’s Law and the words of the prophets hang on this one principle.  The enemy cannot overcome it because he does not possess it, only poor substitutes like jealousy, envy and prideful lust.  Love overcomes all.

I loved him enough to tell him the truth without substitute, camouflage or pageantry.  What I did not do however was hit him upside his head with his shortcomings and cover his brow with a plate full of acidic guilt.  I cared for him, not in the way the world does telling him that everything is going to be fine, because it isn’t.  Not filling his head full of a barrel of false expectations, self-reliance and pride, but with truth.  I told him that a man can go pretty far on his own time, treasure, talent and will, but there is no limit to where a man can travel through the Will of God.  I appealed to his desire to do something incredible and reminded him that God’s Sovereignty trumped luck and skill.  I left him alone with his imagination and the truth, two terrible things to waste.

I Love You God and because I understand how much You Love me, I am able to Love others.  All my understanding is based on the things You have taught me, given me and taken from me.  I praise Your Glorious Name above all else in this world or the next.  Jesus come soon.  Amen

It only takes one.  I do not disciple to millions, but to the one man or woman standing in front of me.  I cannot know how their experiences have effected their openness to the Gospel if I come prepared with some pre-constructed argument for the existence of God and the need for repentance and belief.  We have all been uniquely designed to serve some specific God initiated purpose.  To approach a uniquely designed person with a standardized monologue, aimed at soliciting some specific response ignores their preciousness while also dismissing the Holy Spirit from entering the conversation.  The Holy Spirit knows each of God’s children and is significantly more qualified in providing the right words, smile or Bible phrase perfectly targeting the unique requirements of each heart.  I would frankly rather trust the Holy Spirit than I would my own self.  I am a sinner, He has none.  I am worldly, He is Divine Spirit.  I have a reasonable grasp of scripture and a frail understanding of love.  He is the Spirit of Love and wrote scripture to prepare man for eternity with God.

People are such a blessing.  Their troubles astound me, in their pain they are precious.  They struggle so to be good or worthy or just plain important.  This world will give them fleeting glimpses of significance, but God provides them with purpose, place and reason.  The Lord keeps echoing John 3:16 in my head.  Reminding me that it is all about His great Love for “this world”.  We must remember that even those people that we find intolerable are loved by God.  May I be forgiven for ever pronouncing my own judgment, or hating, disparaging, ignoring or maligning one that God says is worthy of His love.  Let us be ever vigilante and mindful to remember the Lord’s admonishment of Peter about calling anything unholy that God has proclaimed Holy.

I am not the most brilliant man, but I am reasonably smart.  That simple fact does not make it easier for me to disciple but actually presents difficulties and barriers.  My intelligence provides obstacles to my surrender and reliance upon the Holy Spirit as guide.  Thanks be to God that He has sanctified me to the point where I now truly appreciate the assistance that the Holy Spirit provides in my ministry.  Many times He says things to people in a way that to which I am incapable, using me as the delivery system for His Holy Waters of Prayer and Words of encouragement.  Watching His Grace in motion and seeing the delight, joy and wonder on the faces and hearts of men and women provides me ample impetus to get out of His way.  I love hearing what He has to say to the beloved.  Thank you Lord for considering me useful in any fashion.  Praise You in Your Infinite Glory and Grace. Christ Jesus soon comes as the Lion of Judah to do battle and pronounce righteous judgment upon mankind.  Amen.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”  John 14

The road ahead is going to be harder than any this world has traveled.  That is difficult to imagine both for those who have suffered greatly in this life and equally unimaginable for those who have had an easy passage.  We all, believers and skeptic will face the same tragedy brought on by God’s dwindling patience, as the waters of His wrath begin to spill over the confines of His dam of mercy.  What then will be an unbeliever’s comfort?  Will they be left with nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth as the Bible foretells?  What peace soothes the heart of each believer, indwelt by Spirit, armed with the knowledge of destination and eternity?

God fulfills “every” promise.  Jesus is God.  Therefore the promise of His preparation and return to gather His children is the solid foundation upon which each believer’s Spiritual edifice resides.  He has gone, in order to construct a place for us, where we shall “live” together.  Does that strike you as strange or does that give you the hope it was intended to sponsor?  And finally, do you know the “way” to which the Lord refers?  Can you clearly see the path to where He has gone?  If these things are not clear please reach out to the Holy Spirit as guide and to pastors, teachers, elders and fellow believers for clarification.  It is essential that you see the path and if you don’t you will not be prepared for the Lord’s return.  I so desperately pray that you are prepared and that the Lord finds you and me “ready” when He arrives to gather us.  Let me know how I may help bring some sense to your questions.

Father we welcome your return and know that we may face extreme difficulty before that great and glorious day.  Give us the hope to keep our eyes heavenward and let us not falter in our faith because of the pressures about to face this world.  Armor us against the weapons of this world so that we may stand in the face of storm and tragedy knowing that you will pave the way forward.  Bless Your Holy Name King Jesus.  The Christ of God.

Do you see the battle lines taking shape as men and machines are moved into position?  Do you hear stories of the ideological positioning along supposed political lines that have nothing to do with opinion but have everything to do with either serving God or resisting Him?  When right became fuzzy we waited, now right has become wrong and we stand frustrated, what will we do when wrong becomes right?

I fail you Father in prayer through consistent return to the same old vomitous sins and by taking my eyes off of You and placing them on anything in this world.  You bid me show peace and Your strength in the midst of chaos to a world that knows not of peace.  The fact that I mimic citizens of this world by freaking out or losing my character under pressure clearly indicates a lack of residing in Your Spirit, hidden in the Christ of God protected from the worlds transmogrification.  Why do I still lend any part of my life to the enemy’s benefit when I have been purchased by Jesus upon that rugged tree we call “the cross”?  What perceived benefit other than self service or disobedience can I use to rationalize or explain away this abhorrent behavior.  I belong to You God and to none other.  Please teach me to resist any temptations that may pull me away from that natural allegiance.

Where is my devotion?  Where is my faith in action through prayer, knowing that this is my only control of the universe?  Why do I aid and abed the enemy by not using my greatest weaponry against Him, standing palsied in fear or capitulation instead of on my knees in victory?  What breeds this disobedience?  What manner of self-reliance or false confidence stops me from taking the necessary steps to furtherance of your will?  I know that You warn us against making pledges because You remember all that we have said.  Father that urge to make a commitment to You wells in my heart.  Show me how to dedicate my life fully to Your purposes.  Teach me to keep my eyes and heart upon You.

Father I pray for my Brothers and Sisters that they first have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the unfurling of Your Prophecy.  So that they may make readiness for what must quickly and surely come to pass.  Father teach them to fill their lamps with the oil and anointing of Your Holy Spirit so that they may be collected or passed over by the spirits and messengers of Your Judgment who will shortly show themselves to this world.  Give them a heart for discipleship so that all may have the opportunity to personally know Your Love and Grace.

In Jesus’ precious name I pray to You Father.  Amen.

We live in the land of “by of and for the people”.  Is this consistent with God’s perspective and law?  Partially, certainly, mostly or none at all?  You see although we try and establish that there is no wiggle room in theology, there is always a slant or perspective delivered by the well of human experiences that potentially colors the dissemination of truth.  I will deliver God’s law in a way that hopefully exactly adheres to the Truth His intention.  I will represent the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that hopefully closely coincides with His Self revelation in the Gospel.  However, we have all experienced and know that we cannot but help interject our own perspective and experience in our delivery and passion.

Suffice it to say, although I may ideologically disagree with how this ruler or that government is performing, the reality is that nothing happens outside of God’s Will and Prophecy.  The current political, environmental and sociological circumstances are exactly how He predicted that they would be and although we are to blame He will eventually Right all these wrongs.  And what is amazing to me is that He somehow considered me when He spoke this into being, to comprehend even momentarily that He had a part for me to play in the unfurling of His Plan just takes my breath away.  But let us be at peace in that all this is coming to pass must occur in order for God’s Plan to unfold.  This should be fertilizer for our faith in that what He said would happen “is” happening.

Now is the time for Christians to answer Spirit’s call upon their hearts.  Whatever He is leading you to do now is the time to take action.  There will be no time for decision shortly. The curtain has risen and all actors are upon the stage regardless of preparedness level.  If you are walking in the Spirit, when the time to deliver your line or act your part arrives, you will be provided the assets, words and strength to act on His behalf.  If not then you will either freeze, remain idle or run.  This is the moment for which we were spoken into being for His Good Will.  His righteousness has already prevailed, victory may be elusive and unclear but it is “assured”.  Take peace in the faith that God remains on His throne and in control of all that is and will shortly come to pass.

Praise You Father for Your Sovereign Grace and Authority.  Lord Jesus we work while we wait.  We love You.

I love you Lord.  How does one show You gratefulness?  Duty, obedience, loving, supporting and caring for others or is it a commitment?  How does one act when given something for which repayment in like kind may never be proffered?  What kind of humility and allegiance does such gift create?  How does one accept overwhelming grace?  Does the sacrifice of this lifetime even begin to recognize the benevolence of eternity?

We cannot repay, nor are we expected to, but we are meant to understand the enormity of this blessing.  The contemplation and realization of our inability to balance such generosity prepares and transforms each recipient’s heart.  Rendering us likely of doing God’s bidding.  Paving the way toward sacrificial existence.  Leaving us full of life and thanks and hope for all mankind.  Having been plucked from the fires on the steps of inferno we are seared by the memory of that rescue.  Forever knowing that our savior did not just risk everything but gave everything, suffered everything, making himself a ransom for our release.

My life is easy, not just comparatively but realistically.  There is no grand price I have paid for the abundance I now observe.  This country’s freedom has been a shield for which I offered little and any return on investment has far outweighed any small sacrifice.  My emotional pains small, my life relatively consistent, my belly full and my pocket never totally empty for long.  I have taken my blessings for granted too many times to measure.  Believing myself entitled or worse yet not thinking at all about my gifting.  How does this happen, that some may live in relative ease, not comprehending their wealth while others seemingly by chance struggle each day for clean water, air or shelter?  This is God’s choosing and will some day be put in right balance according to His righteousness.  Those who have suffered will wear many crowns in the hereafter, eternally displaying the benefits of their shortage in this life.  While many like me will be content to simply sit at the feet of Jesus a position for which I have done nothing but believe.

Father, give me a willing heart.  Never let me forget my position of blessing even for a nano second.  Give me the opportunity to do the right thing for Your Kingdom.  This gift has been freely given and all I ask is the opportunity to tell “You thank” you in a way that brings Glory to the magnitude of what You did and continue to do for me.  Praise You God, Father in Heaven, Spirit indwelling, Christ the King.  Amen.