Monthly Archives: October 2014

The Light of Christ

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This is a faithful saying:  For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.  If we endure, We shall also reign with Him.  If we deny Him, He also will deny us.  If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.  NKJV 2 Timothy 2:11-14

Isn’t it great that no matter how well rested, prepared or talented I am I always eventually reach the limits of my own capacity to provide or execute?  If I were limitless in my own abilities I would never tap into the infinite authority, provision and endless strength of the Lord God.  Additionally, each time I do become empty, weary, negative or deflated, I am reminded not to reside in my own authority and resources.  I am also brought into immediately reflection regarding my motivations, whether self or God’s glory.  Again, God has designed his beloved in such a manner that we will naturally become dependent upon Him.  This brings me faith and peace, for even as I tire, I know that if I am pursuing His ends then He will “ALWAYS” provide the path and the means toward completion.  For thanks be the God, the world does not depend upon my righteousness, faith or endurance, but on that of the Rock of Ages.

So many people are tough on Peter for his failings and speaking blunders.  A lot of this was justified, but we owe to Peter’s failure the pain and reminder to never make that horrible mistake ourselves.  Peter’s thrice denial of Christ solidified the horror in our own hearts when confronted with our own disaffiliation.  Peter was passionate, and he may have been foolish, but he also went to his death, martyred for the name of God in Christ Jesus.  When next someone makes fun of Peter remind them of the faith he eventually demonstrated for the Lord.  The Lord warns us to be diligent and mindful less each of us fall when we think that we cannot.  Caution is fear tempered by wisdom.

I will endure because I want that more than anything, and I pray that God sustains me in the hour of my trial so that I remain a good steward of my blessings and challenges.  I will reign with Christ because that is what He promised, blessed to be an emissary of God.  I will endeavor to not be ashamed before God by reading, meditating, practicing and spreading the Righteous Word of Almighty God as He has commanded.  After all it is His authority, His life, His patience, His faithfulness, His truth and His sacrifice that governs my thinking and my actions.  Praise God at the top of my lungs to all in hearing’s distance.  Jesus is King of Kings.

Trust, hope and joy

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Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.  You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.  I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.  Psalm 4:6.5-8 NKJV

Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation.  Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray.  My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.  Psalm 5:1-3

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy because You defend them, Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.  For You, O Lord, will will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround as with a shield.  Psalm 5:11-12

Where did we discover the great things in life?  When did we know, each of us the satisfaction of being safe, knowing favor or safety in the eyes of worthy protectors or for that matter did we understand hope?  What happened to the man which experienced none of these motivating, foundational principles?  How do young women mature without hope, never knowing security or faith?  How are relationships possible without trust?  We all know the answers and dread the truth of it, for life without hope, trust and safety is war.

Did your parents watch over you, keeping you safe and assuring you that nothing would get passed their loving arms of protection?  What made them wish to show you this thing, what gave them the overwhelming desire to place your welfare above their own, even in the midst of true danger?  Why have they worked so hard to earn your trust?  Why does it hurt you so that they have not?  Where is hope born?  How do you know that the sun will rise tomorrow?  How is certainty founded in a body that only believes in evolving man?  My questions all point to God, their is no escaping the logic, the reality, the knowledge of his existence.  Not because I want to convince you of something that I believe, rather I wish for you to challenge everything I proclaim, because I know, just as God’s Word states, that every man knows the truth of God.  The problem is that so many have forgotten, having been provoked by absent love and trust or holding their hands over their ears in denial hoping to forget the pain of guilt accompanying sin.  The price is heavy, having given up hope, or trust and life lived without safety is ill conceived.

Why then should I have hope in God?  What makes me believe, No, better Know that He will be there to fulfill each of His promises?  Why would I spend a lifetime in prayer and worship of a God that I am merely guessing will demonstrate His love for me when the opportunity presents itself?  The answer for those of narrow faith or maybe even if you are reading and you don’t know Jesus, is that, He has proven it to me time and again.  He has taught me to trust, He has given me hope, He has shown me the contentment of feeling completely safe in His protecting arms.  God is not the God of dreams and wishes, like some djinn, wooden shrine or dancing nymph.  He shows up, not only when you are in dire need, but also in the everyday, in the success, in the quiet or in the devastation of loss.  The difference between any “religious” or “spiritual” person and a Christian is that we have a relationship with Almighty God, not just a chant, a golden lantern or an oracle, we connect with God.  We don’t just repeat some mantra to the waiting air, in hope that someone is there or put our foreheads on the ground facing east to suit the mandates of a capricious and uninvolved sovereign, who has never shown himself.  We serve a God who stepped into humanity and humbled himself, sacrificed himself for our salvation and lives on in each believer’s heart as His sanctuary.  Name me any other god in man’s history who gave his own life for creation?

I have hope because God showed me that I had cause to hope in Him.  I have trust because God showed me I could trust Him and taught me how to trust others.  I am safe because He stood over me in my nightmare and watched over my sleep until once again I could stand.  Without these things life will never be complete.  That alone is reason enough to cry out to God at this very moment.  Try it, you will be surprised when He answers, that is the greatest of joys.  Praise God in Jesus’ Name.

Without end

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Lord, I looked around and realized that things are just as in the time of Noah.  Those filled with the Spirit are looking skyward waiting for the restraining Hand to be removed.  People are frantic, but not enough to delay the party or dinner bell, let the merriment continue.  Why do I mourn for a people who are so frantic in fear that they must escape reality at all cost, even if it means loss of freedom, hope, dreams, wealth or health?  I thought to explain the seriousness of their circumstance but then I realized that everyone, but me, was laughing.  Laughing at the rising tide of God’s swelling wrath, set against restraints that only time can see.  I trembled for a moment, working out my salvation in my brain and heart, reassuring myself once again of faith, trust and dependence upon God through Jesus.  All at once I wept, knowing that they could not see, for the time of allowance had dwindled and the white horse approacheth, God’s restraining Hand had been withdrawn for a time of deception then judgment.  Wrath was upon them all.  God protect those who will come to knowledge of the truth.

Signs are signs, regardless if you’ll heed them.  People are hungry so go ahead and feed them.  On fishes and bread or a pocket full of wisdom.  When daylight is done you’ll realize how you’ve missed them.  Pray sleep and to rest my bosom be committed.  My room in this mansion has already been outfitted.  So Father, take my worry, my pity and concern.  Save them from the fire that will never cease to burn.  Forgive my allegiance to all that soon must pass, my folly and false worship each blatant or inane trespass.  And lead me not to evil, let me hide in Your great wake, give me a heart for reason, for the truth and nothing fake.  Protect my fellow humans if they will humbly seek Your face.  Kindly whisk them away from chaos which must occupy this space.  Eternity and in worship our time shall never end, spending daytime to infinity with my God, my Dad, and Friend.

The oil of gladness

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Let your heart be filled with overflowing joy, let fear dissolve, your countenance chastened and restored.  Have you had the grand opportunity to sit down and read the Word of God.  Not just studying it or using it as an attempt to secure some understanding, but honestly sitting down and relaxing into its grandeur.  For example, the book of Hebrews, such a short book it simply astounds.  I can read it over and over and be edified each time, delving into God’s love for Jesus and how that love became the greatest gift from a loving Father to all the Earth.  It is a Holy Spirit inspired road map of how God’s grace frees believers from the prisons of law, sin and death.  Hebrews is a reassuring manual on what to expect as a believer, resolving misunderstanding, building appropriate expectation and securing hope.  This book is the quintessential guide to Divine and Christian relationship, explaining the need and benefits of enduring relationship, even explaining the positive effects of chastisement and testing.

There is great joy of maintenance in the Word of God.  Just as in Hebrews, the other epistles provide sufficient detailed explanation on church life, family, kingdom works, reputation, gifts, healing, protection, preparedness and warnings against enemies, complacency and backsliding.  Reading them builds confidence, courage, faith, strength and thorough understanding and logical reliance upon the Truth of Christian Hope.  We are of the same family, sharing in the riches of righteousness and glory, not due to worldly qualifiers of fitness, survival or class but because we believed.  That is something which cannot be taken from us, even by death.  Did you hear that, even through death we cannot be stripped of our heritage, or lineage or kinship to Christ Jesus?  What a gift, but lest we fall prey to worldly weakness, remember to heed this word not just read it.  Obedience is love for God, verified in faith.

Be glad, be of good courage and know that the Lord is our God for now and forever, Amen.  Jesus, may I make full use of the gifts I have been given to Your greatest Glory.

Contentment

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Peace from God and all His blessings, may they keep you warm through the cold and dark of night.  He loves us you know.  He sees each of us in our own circumstances, taking the time, in His omniscience, to walk through this life individually with every single person that has ever been born.  All of us have been offered a relationship with the maker of time and space.  Each of us, so incredibly important to Him that He made specific plans, attempts and dispatched uniquely-employed messengers to provide us ample opportunity to choose wisely.  Resisting such kindness, care and dedication is almost unimaginable, but He also said that He loves us enough to allow us to choose something other than His will for our lives.  I am content in His love and the knowledge that this Earth is my training ground, an opportunity to learn to love and be loved with the ominous specter of impermanence spurring me to make good use of my time.

You see it is no small thing to know that the King of all universes knows me by name and cares for me each moment of my life.  I have a cornucopia of hope, residing in my bosom, assuring me that no circumstance is outside His Will.  This world and death have lost their control over my internal topography.  Certainly, I am affected by pain, by joy, by love, by wind and rain and sea, but they are additions, improvements, enhancements given me on my journey to see the King.  This world shall not take my life, I give it freely at the time of His choosing, so that I may enjoy that rapturous moment in recognizing His Glorious face.

I too have loved this world, with its crimson, its thinkers and its skies, its dreamers, its children and its silver haired know-it-alls.  I have been shown the good and the bad and I cried, tears of joy and of agony.  I have known evil, seeking its own fulfillment, searching for all that it may consume, but I have known that even that served the purpose of God.  Young men have told me their visions and old women their hopeful dreams.  This life has been lived with purpose, hope and a knowledge and discernment of joy, song and worship for a King who is truly worthy of everything that I can possibly give.  In that loss may not exist.

The Lord is my strength, my hope and my strong tower, I shall not be moved for my feet are rooted firmly in the Rock of Ages the foundations of time and space.  I serve the Lord God Almighty, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.  Forever and ever amen.  Jesus be praised.