Monthly Archives: January 2015

Offered and accepted

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Searching for an emotional prompting, a sign, an image that will somehow erase doubt about the existence of God.  This is the inherent difficulty and ironic dilemma associated with charisma and religion.  Faith is simply that component which does not require proof.  My faith rests upon something greater than the proofs, equations and calculations of this universe because it has been erected upon the rock which supports all creation.  However, the calculations, science, temporal physics and atomic structure will never “disprove” God for these things were all His creation from the outset.  As with man how can any formulaic deconstruction of a created being result in any other evidence but a path leading to its creator?

I believe that God has provided more than adequate clarity regarding His existence, His plan and His sovereignty, a fact that frees me from the charlatans and emotional masseurs endemic to false and charismatic teachers.  I am not looking to “feel” a certain way when I worship, with the exception of being authentically thankful for all that God is, has done and will continue to do for us.  I am not seeking miracle to reassure me that God is still there, I simply know it, just as any man knows God exists looking upon a child or a butterfly.  I am not seeking Divine revelation for He has already given such in His dynamic, infallible and inerrant Word.  I will not find “enlightenment” through some mantra-laden, drug induced or meditative trance for this is simply me seeking to join the enemy in becoming a false god.  God has told us what was, what is and what shall be, we have only one decision, to accept and believe or deny and resist.

We have been told that the pursuit of happiness is a most noble goal, I beg to differ.  Happiness is self defined, self maintained, fleeting and steals from us the energy/focus requisite to serving others to the best of our abilities.  My happiness having no other source of fulfillment other than “my” own immediate or lasting gratification is simply based solely upon “my” defined universe, meant for nothing other than serving me to the exhausting of my sensual desire.  On the contrary we are offered lasting peace with God through acceptance and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are offered a new heart, a refreshed understanding and a “circumstantial or sensory” freedom allowing us to be joyful, thankful and consistent even in the midst of happiness-denying chaos, pain, sickness or temporary loss.  What would it benefit me to be entirely sensory fulfilled and “happy” if that pursuit even minutely resisted the larger Truth of God, subsequently turning me over to the imaginary and contrived science of a false, self defined, self maintained illusion?  I neither require or demand that God continue to prove Himself nor do I desire to create a universe in which I am the master and commander.  For me it is simply fulfilling to serve God, in His definition and direction of that service, accepting the features, benefits and rewards of that service for His Glory.

Do not be led astray, this continual global pursuit of immediate gratification is the enemy’s doctrinal mantra.  I cannot serve myself or this world and continue to serve God.  I love people and wish them harmony, peace and abundance, but I will not forsake God to achieve that end.  We need to be okay with God being in charge in order to see that Him being in charge is the best thing that ever happened to humanity.  Trying to adjust, jury rig or rewrite the realities of a created universe simply results in the nullification and acceptance of abundant joy and possibility of that which Has already been perfectly created by God.

Thank you Lord for offering ample proof of Your existence, love and sovereignty through the Truth of Your Word and the world You created.  I pray that everyone give up the battle which has been ended by the redemption of Your Perfect Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.  I pray that people lay down their arms, embrace that peace and formulate an eternal, prosperous, fulfilling relationship with You.  Send us no miracles Lord for we have already received the greatest miracle of all, a Savior, who redeemed us to You for eternal relationship.  I ask for millions of faithful workers for the harvest, that You open the eyes of those who would be set free and have mercy upon those who would not.  In Jesus Mighty and Precious Name.  Amen.

A measure

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They would have me look to my failures as a measure of this life lived.  That is not how God looks upon each of us.  If He looks upon me, with perfect knowledge of every thought, every dance, every excess and victory and still loves me, then why should my failures matter one iota?  There are none that may proclaim themselves a more harsh critic of my performance than me.  Just as Paul lamented his continued sinning even when he knew the right thing to do, I cannot believe some times the thoughts and actions I still find myself undertaking.  Glory be to God that it is His prerogative to allow me into heaven, because if it were up to me I certainly would never be found worthy.  I am so sad for the failures that have caused harm to others or brought dishonor to God’s Holy Name.  For them I am truly sorry and ask God’s forgiveness.

I do not belong to this world, to the enemy or to false idols, I have been set apart for God by my belief in Jesus Christ the Son of God.  That does not allow me special exception to sin as I please, precisely the opposite, it means that I should know better having been freed by sacrifice.  It does however allow me some measure of confidence in the knowledge that God knows I am going to continue to sin and has provisioned Grace sufficient to cover my future sins.  I hope they are not as immeasurable as I’ve imagined them.  Can you imagine what it would be like to be saved by Grace and then be committed to living a life of perfection when all you’ve known in continual mess up?  Thank God He knows us better than we know ourselves and has provided His Holy Spirit as Counselor, Guide and Teacher to show us the way to sanctification and holiness.

The Lord has shown me that the price of my sensitivity is an open, tender and vulnerable heart.  Today I learned how cruel others may be when they feel the pressures to change and I am the obvious target of their rage as I seek to help them traverse the divide.  My tears are medals showing the price of my humanity, and the wounds I suffer now only bring me closer to the Almighty.  They do not know what they are doing, often they are defense mechanisms brought to bare from childhood to protect themselves from the brutal hazards of youth.  If I may navigate my way passed these defenses by help of the Holy Spirit then I may be granted the opportunity to plant a seed of God’s Loving and reviving Word.  Some times the battle is not simply fought for protection of the city it is undertaken for the sake of doing something right.  In my case I do not seek to drive back enemies but to win the right to plant crops for God’s Harvest.  Thank you for the work Father.  There is so much to be done, I pray for more workers for the harvest, dear, dear Lord.  In Jesus Name.

His Glorious Name

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http://www.afweather.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123042444  A tornado chased the British out of Washington, ending their military move to sack and burn the city in the War of 1812.  God’s protection of a fledgling and believing nation.

Convenant, an agreement with promises relating to specific conditions.  Who would like to show me one instance where God has not come through on His covenant promises?  This is the common and comedic failure of atheist, preterist and false teacher, for none may show how God even once diverted from His declared prophecy, when covenant conditions were satisfied.  This produces the second fallacy that “all roads lead to God” for God says emphatically, repeatedly and definitively that they do not.

He wants a Holy, set apart and genuine people born of faith in His righteousness, even to the point where He has already once reduced their numbers to eight protected flood survivors.  There are none who can show sufficient evidence that what He says shall come to pass is unlikely or improbable.  Even the scientist must concede that the best indicator of future action is past performance.  With respect to God, He has always done what He said He would do and everything that He said would happen, has.  That should fill us with hope, determination and desire to follow through on our part of the covenant conditions.  The war with God is over for them who will repent, believe and follow Him.

What then of Israel?  Every single prophetic prediction with regard to His Covenant People has transpired exactly as He said that it would.  Even now He is gathering from every nation to return to the land He granted them, where He will bless them, cleanse them and once again turn their hearts back to Him.  This is so difficult for others to comprehend because they continue to focus upon Israel forgetting the promises were made them by God.  Just as with every Christian who has been saved for eternity by the blood of Christ, the Jewish Nation will not be delivered through their own works or righteousness but by the Promises of God to His Good Glory.  They, like us, will continue to fail until that moment they finally see His righteousness and once again remember their birthright as the olive tree.  Read Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Romans and Matthew and you will see that in God’s perfect timing He will again turn His primary focus on saving the Nation of Israel for eternity.  Even now the forces against them are mounting in preparation for their destruction, this will be stopped suddenly by God Himself to declare once and for all to the Nations the Glory of God’s Promises, Righteousness and Sovereignty.  All those who curse Israel do so at their own peril for it is with God Himself they will be pitted into hopeless battle.

Who then believes in a future of roses and continued blessings for the United States as we continue to fall short of the covenant conditions.  Especially in our continued ebb of support for Israel.  In our glib and flippant treatment of a God, who has never once failed to follow through on promised judgment, we are challenging the Almighty to “do something”, when it is us who should immediately and unconditionally repent.  There is no consensus here, no common ground, no bargaining or negotiation.  The terms of God’s covenant were set by Him, monitored by Him and enforced by Him as He is the only dependable Sovereign Truth available in this or any universe.  If we continue to pursue our own means against the covenant of a Holy God, who has never once failed to follow through on what He predicted, then we will certainly deserve every consequence in Righteous Judgment.  We then alone can be blamed for our failure to anticipate the coming storm and seek shelter under the wings of Almighty God through Jesus.

God is Holy, Righteous and True and with Him we should never trifle.  Hallelujah He has prescribed the path to salvation for each of us to clearly follow, so that we might be protected from His overwhelming Wrath in all its Righteous, Glory and Justice.  We the faithful depend on the promises of God, not upon our sight.  My eyes, ears and heart might be deceived but never my faith for it is firmly rooted in the steadfast promises of Almighty God.  He is faithful to complete the work He first began in each of us.  Glory to God in the Highest.  Jesus is Lord.

The Power

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I wish to do my best to get along in peace and harmony with my Brothers and Sisters, but how is this possible when the bulk of them refuse to follow Christ?  Father show me the way to be a good leader in sponsoring, encouraging and motivating Christians to “Walk” their walk with You.  Give me a heart for patience, especially at these Bible studies where so many simply wish to present themselves in arrogant regurgitation of Your Word with no substance, or function, obedience or execution.  The Church has lost the power to convert by power of the Spirit as happened after Pentecost, because we have lost focus on the Holy Spirit, the being of Eternal Power.  Let us remember the Word in our quest to become “authentic”.  1 Corinthian 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.   Authentic Christianity is born of the Spirit, having the gratitude, humility and responsive faith in God to model the gifts of “the Spirit” to a world by healing, loving, helping, liberating and dispelling powers of the armies of darkness.

Maybe they are insecure about the things that must be done, thinking themselves inadequate to the tasks set before them?  To that I say, I love you Brothers and Sisters and you have allowed the enemy to trick you into thinking that you were capable of doing what God wanted you to do from the outset.  Power of the Holy Spirit is just that, an indwelling of the Spirit of God that allows us to do the impossible.  As scripture states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.  It is the power of God that satan fears, having known defeat by the work of the Lord Jesus and the restraining Hand of the Holy Spirit indwelling each Christian.  We were never meant to be adequate to the task, that is why it is so important to be entirely dependent upon God for deliverance, power and courage to do what must be done.

Do we wish to stand and watch as God’s Holy Name is mocked in perpetuity, on the news, in our streets, even in our homes?  This is not something that we were meant to stop, but I know who has promised to judge them for their mockery, The Lord God Almighty.  I know the power He meant for the church, to heal the sick, the blind, the lost, the lepers and the incarcerated.  We have forgotten our legacy, as the ambassadors of Christ and indwelt of the Holy Spirit of God.  We have allowed ourselves to become corrupted by this ungodly world, in things we see, experiences we taste and the quests we pursue.  We have willingly put aside the Will of God for our lives as secondary at best.  The only way to victory is through the Holy Spirit of God.  Shall we plead with Him to come back into our churches or leave Him outside the very church He empowers?  What have you personally done to invite the Holy Spirit inside your life, your home, your church and your job?  Our only option is prayer, for in our clear dependence upon God He will show up in Power, and Great Glory.  Isn’t that what we have been craving, waiting and wishing for throughout these millennia?

I am sorry for my words Lord.  The only Words that matter are Yours.  I am sorry that I have been so weak in wielding the awesome power of the Holy Spirit.  Lord show me the way and I will stand there as conduit for Your Might and Glory.  Father, hear our prayer and allow Your Spirit to once again inflame the hearts of all Christians, giving them power to show Your Might to this unbelieving world.  Lord let them mock You no longer.  Let us understand the gravity of Your standing patience and the comprehend the reason for Your long suffering of/for mankind.  All the Glory to You, in Jesus Holy Name, Amen

Thirst

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11321651/Meet-the-Arab-Christians-who-want-to-fight-for-Israel.html Aramean Christians voluntarily fighting for Israel, Amazing God that we serve, isn’t He?

Am I grateful?  Is it even cool anymore to be thankful or truly aware of my blessings?  Do I walk around each day oblivious to the true value of the precious moments and people?  Do I thirst for God’s Word as if it were the only thing to quench my parched heart and wearied mind?  Will I be one like those who will lament their thirst for God’s absent word as told of in Amos.  Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land– not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.  Have I written God’s Word upon my heart so that I may never thirst?  Am I filled with the Living Waters that invalidate drought and thirst?

What do I have that I cannot do without?  Probably almost everything.  Do I work to demonstrate my thankfulness for those essential blessings?  Or have I become complacent in my lack of hunger and thirst to the point where I “expect” those graces to which I have become accustomed?  Do I even know or remember what it means to be thankful?  Thankful for the ear of God, that He might hear my prayer in silence?  Thankful for each day I have been given, nothing guaranteed, all valued as the vapor each man’s life entails.  Am I practiced in the unforgiving thankfulness and entitlement that is used to describe those foolish few?  Have I valued the moments that I have been allocated by God by making the most of every opportunity or do I simply speak of gratefulness in the abstract?  Must I taste the shivering night, growling stomach and despair of poverty or homelessness to remind me of the fruit in God’s daily blessing?  Or do I follow the “Great I AM” whose name reflects a permanence and preciousness of each defining moment?

Lord Jesus, You mentioned that You had the Food of God’s Word and the Living Waters to eternally quench a man’s pangs.  Lord imbue me with such fulfilling Word so that I might fill the empty hearts of despair languishing in the world’s sensibility.  Thank you for being who You are, just to know You has been enough for me.  Take from me any mumbling, dissatisfaction, whining, grumbling and ungratefulness, replacing it with Hope, Joy and Wisdom.  Thank you for letting me follow Your Footsteps upon this Earth.

Prepared

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Delighting in a child’s smile is not the same as making them smile.  Observing, wishing well is not the same thing as lending a hand.  The sidelines is not the place for an heir to the kingdom of heaven, we were meant to be in the game.  Where is the game, you ask?  This is where local churches and I quickly depart, as they are unwilling to answer the following questions; How many orphans live within a half mile radius of your church?, How many widows live within a half mile radius of your church?, How many missionaries/volunteers from your church are actively serving at the local hospitals, old folks homes, orphanages, prisons and homeless shelters?  The Christian ministry is associated with “Walking” in each and every image or discussion of the new testament.  It requires “action” to be an obedient ambassador for Christ.  Don’t you want to be delighted before Christ in accounting for your life as you review the pictures, memories and emotions associated with “walking” with the Holy Spirit through this life?  This is the time preparing for the harvest.  As with any farm there is much work to be done and we are the workers, whether preparing the ground, planting seeds, weeding, fertilizing, watering or cultivating, this is the work of any Christian.

Do I know my neighbors?  If I don’t how do I expect to demonstrate Christ in my own life?  How do I expect them to know who is available when this world gets too tough for them to bare?  How do I expect to have the opportunity to share Christ in those brief moments of relationship, if there in fact has never been any attempt on my part to form a relationship?  How do I expect the Holy Spirit to speak to them through this vessel unless I am willing to provide an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to use me in the lives of those that live nearby?  What manner of a success plan is this that I am following?  It certainly makes no sense and most likely does not follow the orderly, sensible and logical reflections of God.

What are my goals with regard to sharing the Gospel message with people that I know or meet?  Do I believe that without any preparation for sharing the message that I will “out of the blue” effectively share the message of salvation in the moments when they arrive?  What intentions do I have with regard to helping the church to reach those in my neighborhood?  Have I seen the Mormon Elders in my neighborhood and dodged them, effectively missing an opportunity to share Christ with them on my doorstep, because I am too bothered to be an ambassador?  Do I use that old excuse that I do not know the Bible well enough to share my testimony, so I will leave it to those who have the skill to share the Gospel?  Do I truly believe that “being a slave to righteousness” is meaningless and that I owe nothing for the price of my salvation?  Can I disobey the command of God to share the message of salvation, judgment and the coming Kingdom of God without some manner of repercussion in this life or the next?

Have I once discussed with my pastor how I might best be used with or outside the church to further God’s plan for my life?  Do I quickly leave the church to avoid any opportunity to get involved or be known for my walk?  What do I wish to be remembered for when I leave this planet?  I struggle with being accepted, even in the church I am ridiculed for my willingness to share the Gospel message with all people.  This is my tiny piece of sharing in the suffering of Christ.  If I must be a gadfly within the church body raising concerns about our complacent hearts then let it be so for I am not here to serve the church but Christ whom saved me.  I know this that I have never felt so good as when I got in the game and gave it my all, even in temporary loss.  The only regret is to never have attempted sharing the Gospel.  I am inadequate to the task but that does not free me from the obligation to do my best to learn the Gospel, discipleship and counseling so that when God calls upon me to play that part.  If God has not yet called upon me to fulfill His plan for my life then I must be in the period of preparation for said calling.  Don’t be scared, be prepared.  Praise God for Jesus Christ the King of everything.