My heart should operate through love.  Yet, I continue to discourage, to complain, criticize and challenge those whom God has commanded me to love.  May I follow personal or alternate life agendas and maintain my position on the skinny path to glory?  Without love I’ve got just humanistic reason, analysis and good intentions.  Without love I am powerless to convince anyone of anything.  I love them that is why I do what I do.  Without it there are only self-serving reasons left for my subsequent action.

I am sorry for what I have said, done, how I have said it or have done it that did not resemble love.  Love is so precious that if I don’t receive it myself it may turn me bitter and through contempt cause me to react in kind.  That is the enemy’s intent to deny us loving kindness replaced by cruelty and self focus so that it becomes difficult if not improbable that we will meet others in love.  I am not controlled by enemy suggestion but I can “choose” to participate in the feelings and emotionally controlled responses purposeful to the enemy’s argument.  I only follow the good shepherd so those things which I have not done through love must be inspected, revised, apologized for and discarded.

This is the man I was intended to become.  A man who loves even when not receiving that in kind.  For if I give love only in response to extended love then I am merely reacting as a dog for a cookie.  Love should be given freely as from God gives it freely to me.  This is not one of the choices I can take lightly for it directs all my ministry, my friendships, relationships and fortune.  Living in love is a life not a convenience.  I love you and you need to receive clear reflection of that love through my initiated and responsive actions, not just as reward for service.

Father, keep me close so that I may never be deceived, be disobedient or led astray.  It is your path upon which each of us walks.  Keep my feet firmly upon that surface, direction accurate and focus undeterred.  This is your life, I am thankfully along for the ride.  Let me never inject my command over your helmsman-ship.  You are the leader I follow and that is how it should and how I want it to be.  Let me live in love, through love and with love, throughout.  In your name I live, Jesus Christ the King.

Learning to dance, sing, design obscure mental images and describe in detail the greatest moments of life.  Laughter, my key to unlock the defenses of those who have been wounded by the crucible.  Healing available they may be made whole simply by relationship with the hand of their Creator, God, Almighty God.  To refer otherwise indicates misunderstanding of impossibility and grasp of the infinite.  Were we to serve lesser gods, minor influences, concerned with their own stature and dominion, deliverance would be absent in every discussion.  Ah, but the Father, the Loving God we serve wants for us the best in this life and the next.  We have but to align, commit and surrender ourselves to that authority to achieve the inconceivable.

Bring it to him, this pain, this tragedy the impossible influences of a torturous existence.  For within His love lay the capacity for redesign, transformation and renewal.  To become a new creature, perfectly designed for specific works of precision and demand.  The born again you must be remade into humanity fashioned for such purpose.  Putting behind the wounds of our past we move on to those new obstacles, plateaus and treasure intended for our days remaining.  We become inclined and focused upon those things previously unattainable.  We are separated from our past pain, except in memory, pressing forward toward ideas and missions previously misunderstood or ignored. For this man has been made for God’s Glory, not my own.  And through that glory I am blessed to bring his powerful healing hand to them in suffering or locked in the prison of their own volition.  I am privileged to direct them to the place where they engage Jesus and find their re-creation, cleansing and destination.

The world begs you hold on to your misery while God whispers “let go, give it to me”.  Having trained ourselves linguistically to worry and fuss about worldly voices we cling to past processes reluctant, fearful and untrusting of God’s Promised delivery.  Praise a Holy, Loving God that we remain pliable and are sanctified by time and pressure to the understanding our own freedom and salvation to live as men, denied no more by the limits of previous existence.  Transformed for higher calling, the work of priests and princes in protection of the people, guarding the innocent and prayerful intervention.  The Purposeful existence only found through Grace.  The thing which all men seek whether through prayer, perseverance or sorcery, to live forever without regret in the powerful knowledge that made an impact, a difference.  To reach this august summit you must meet and surrender to God, for their is one door to eternal inclusion, through the shepherd, Jesus Christ the King.

Read, listen, pray and act.  “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of the Lord.” If you don’t know what the Lord says how can you emphatically state that you believe.  For the obvious retort is, “what do you believe?”  If you don’t know the voice of God, how may you discern between that of the shepherd and the other numerous directions in this world?  If you don’t pray to the Lord, how then have you formed an active relationship with a living God?  If you take no steps based upon his direction how may your faith become real and resolute without referring measure?

We must live our Christian walks intentionally.  Without the conscious commitment, the requisite contemplation/meditation, discussion with God and responsive action we are simply leaving our edification to chance.  Granted the Lord will change us, sanctifying us through this world, but I cannot ignore the difference between volunteered, surrendered participation and following our own paths waiting for God to redirect our actions.  Without knowing what you believe, you cannot be assured of that belief.  Without determining to whom we will respond we are left to listening to the loudest or most compelling directives.  Note; often the loudest are those of the enemy, the world and the flesh.  Without prayer we are wasting our greatest assets in having the privilege, the power and the gift of going into the throne room for praise, worship and petition.  Without action we are impotent and unfulfilled.

Do you truly know what it means to be a Christian, not just the joyful, abundant life segments upon which the feel-good churches prosper, but the work, the suffering and the sacrifice of willing slaves to righteousness preparing for their coming King?  Have the characteristics of God’s Holy Spirit become notably evident in your lives?  The realization of God’s glory and the salvation of the masses is our purpose how then may we be Christian with no evidence of fruit in those areas?  How may we say that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit with no glaring observation of that presence by the surrounding population?  If they cannot see God in your actions and attitudes, how then is it assured you are sealed by his power or that others will know him through your example?  For what purpose are you called?  If you don’t know what God did for the world, cannot hear God’s voice, don’t go to him in prayer or take actions based on commitment to that relationship then what possible argument can you ever use that you have ever been a Christian?

If this sponsors contemplation praise God.  If this causes you to listen to the Word frequently, Amen.  If this builds your desire to spend more time with the Lord in prayer, Hallelujah.  If this prompts you to all three of those and gets you off the couch out on the road for Christ, then my purpose has been realized.  Go plants some seeds, heal some wounds, raise the dead and prepare this world to receive their returning Saviour, God and King.  In Jesus’ Name I pray.

What will you do when God commands you to go?  Will you hem and haw?  Perhaps, you will avoid, saying to yourself, “that wasn’t His voice.  He would never want me to experience the pain or frustration associated with being displaced or losing my stuff, would he?” Of course he would.  Because that is what defines a test of faith.  It is your willingness to step out in trust or obedience when it cost you something, perhaps all, to take that action that demonstrates your belief.

Should you worry when things aren’t going right or stuff is whirling about you throughout the storm?  That is the obvious, natural worldly conclusion.  Seems plausible that it would make sense to panic, worry or become paralyzed by the crashing seas, the rocks in the distance or the wind and rain.  But in the Christian “faith view” these things are designed as stage equipment to measure faith in your walk with the Lord.  So are you saying that I shouldn’t concern myself with the storm?  Yes, if the Lord is in the boat with you why would you have cause to fear anything that comes your way.  I mean you do believe that he created all things and is sovereign over all things, don’t you?

What then of the journey.  Should you rush to get to a safe destination?  Absolutely not, especially if the Lord is allowing obstacles to be placed in path to slow you down or stop you.  Don’t push it if the Lord says, “WAIT”.  Perhaps he is clearing the road ahead, or slowing your travel so that you meet up with the provision or prayer opportunity forthcoming.  Would you want to pass up an opportunity for blessing, just because you got ahead of the Lord’s timing?

What I am counseling makes no sense except to them who put there faith, hope and trust in the Lord.  If he is in charge, holding the keys, the steering wheel and the brakes of our lives, then he ought to also be in control of the comings and goings along the path, right?  Who knows what the Lord has in store for each of us, tomorrow, around the bend?  Shouldn’t we be walking according to the speed, direction and rest set forth by the Lord?  If you aren’t hearing his voice of you aren’t receiving the blessings of divine opportunities, then perhaps you are getting out in front of him.  Slow your walk, talk with him and maybe even stand still until you hear clear indication you were meant to leave.  You will be blessed by what you find.

May the Lord bless you with life in abundance.  In Jesus’ Name.

The Torn and tattered Red,

The dirtied white and blue

If she lives or dies Is up to me and you

Her white is pure and true

Red for blood that we have shed

The blue our vigilance

Fifty stars to light our view

So, don’t stop believing

Just withstand the wind and rain

Remember God’s love for us

Flies high in Red, White and Blue

Sometimes we’ve lost our way

Forgotten who we are

With the light to guide our way

Reflected in those stars

We are all God’s chosen People

United is how we stand

We were all created equal

We don’t expect you would understand

It’s not the cloth that matters

Nor the pole for which we fight

But the foundation of our values

Of the Lord’s bright shining light

So stand when she is honored

No knee shall bend in flight

She bows to no man or nation

Only humbly within God’s Sight

What am I?  Am I the things I say?  To some extent, I am held by the words that indicate my beliefs.  I am accountable to the damage, praise or influence of my tongue, so in words you may find part of “me”.  Am I what I do?   Yes, I must agree that my actions provide a frame of reference for who I was and who I am working to be.  Therefore, you will find “me” in the steps I take as they define me over time.  Can you find me in the things from which I abstain?  Of course, to a minimal extent the ideas, pursuits and philosophies from which I diverge indicate relative barriers of faith, morals and regulations that further profile each of us.  Am I what others say of me?  It cannot be denied that the power of ones reputation, the positive or negative reflections described by those who know us often shapes our character and public position.  Am I measured by my thoughts?  Absolutely, action is preceded by cogitation, however personal, thoughts still to some private measure provides a fragmentary construct or a part of what’s makes me, “me”.  So, since what I do, say, believe, think and how the world perceives me all make up the “who” of me, how then does what God thinks of me matter even in the slightest?

If what makes up “me” is all within or without of me in a grand interaction with reality, am I not simply defined by the environmental parameters of existence?  Is the universe defined by my senses, by “me” and my interactions with the states of matter within that universe?  If the world and all within it is defined by my relationship with it, where in does the fact that God created that universe lay claim upon my participation in that relationship.  Am I then free to define myself as I have previous surmised or does that honor, that sovereignty, in fact lay solely in God’s purview?  Or for that matter if the power to define all that makes “me” reside in God’s sovereign authority then how does what the enemy says about me, or for that matter what I say about myself indicate the “who” of me even in the smallest atomic segment?

It matters because of the power of choice, given us by God so that we might be to some extent sovereign in our resemblance to God.  Without the authority to define ourselves or be defined by the sensory measures of a physical, spiritual and mental world we are simply predetermined in our passage through God’s Universe.  Therefore, it is a gift of God, that I am allowed to think, believe, act, speak, feel or reflect upon my own perceptions or those of the world around me.  Am I those aforementioned components or defining mechanisms or Am I simply what God has made me?  Are they mutually exclusive or in antithetical association? How you deal with the described condition will determine the answer.  The choice has always been the gateway to defining the man, until the choice is made the man remains a mere part of a predetermined creation.  The choice defines, the choice is the power, the gift, the sovereign indication of our affinity to God.  Choose and give yourself the authority of definition instilled within you by your Creator.

Must I participate in argument, strife, struggle or fight.  If the purpose were to bring Glory to God’s Name then the answer would most emphatically be, of course.  However, most arguments, struggles or fights are the product of bruised ego and therefore should be avoided.  My flesh wants me to prove that I’m right, begs me to best the next man and demand that they see the light of my august wisdom.   That has nothing to do with the spiritual man, in fact it inhibits my relationship with the Lord.  How can I be communing with the Father in love and humility when I am stubbornly and self-absorbingly focused upon prevailing in a squabble or discussion?

I have decided through consistent prodding by the Holy Spirit that I would rather be accused of being aloof then go down the road of allowing my flesh to gain the control in my walk.  Yes, does this leave some things undone at that moment?  Perhaps, but isn’t it much better philosophy to avoid and wait until there is another less emotionally charged moment to address and issue then it is to remain and potentially damage a relationship or potentially push someone further from a relationship with God.   Yes, rebuke works, God’s Word never returns null and void, it always has purchase.  However, when I am bent upon winning an argument, even one regarding Biblical context, I have found that my delivery is always far from gentle.  Is God directing me to call out a hypocrite or serpent in the flock?  If he is then I should stand my ground because the Holy Spirit will provide the appropriate words for that specific moment.  If not then I ought to avoid giving into my flesh even to the point of flight.

Flight is a mechanism that may save us from disaster.  Look we don’t always have to give into the fight mode of fight or flight.  Sometimes retreat is the best solution, to wait for another day to make your approach or point.  I don’t flee every battle because some are so important spiritually that we must stand our ground armoured in God’s Word to withstand the enemy.  Discernment is the differentiating component in determining which is which.  If you want discernment or wisdom, study Proverbs 2 and follow God’s recipe as he gives wisdom freely to those who seek it.  I am tired of my own flesh, I wish it would finally determine that it died upon that cross two thousand years ago with Christ, but until that time at which point I am freed of its prompting I must struggle to gain self control.  As of this point I choose to “Opt out” of the battles fought for purposes other than to elevate the Name of God or to win back souls for the Kingdom.  Thank you Lord Jesus.

Son, does the Lord God have to place you into the impossible task in order to get to acquiesce to his Sovereignty?  Does being placed in a situation that is beyond your control totally freak you out, leave you bitter, whining or frustrated?  Is there a set of things you avoid because they are outside your understanding, command and control or leverage?  Is the Lord calling you to the impossible task that He alone may accomplish?

Take a breath, wait, let that pulse settle a moment.  Contemplate the reason and reality of my argument before you pronounce me with ad-hominem assault.  If you can do it with your skills and abilities, why then do you need the Lord?  If you can do it with your gifts, talents and treasure, couldn’t it be your plan substituted for something that would truly bring him glory?  How would people see God in your achievements if they are just the great achievements of a talented person?  Oh, the fact that I am not those names you’ve used for me is beginning to dawn upon you.  However, I would wear the monikers if in fact it would allow you to get closer to God or to see the basis for his positioning you against the impossible.  Isn’t your purpose to be used as a tool to demonstrate the Glory of God through you and in you?  Isn’t the greatest evidence of that indwelling a person accomplishing something beyond their standing, talent, station or capacity?

I can’t do it, but I know who can.  I don’t want to do it but I will to demonstrate my obedient love for my Father who has commanded it of me.  I cannot even imagine having the courage to stand where he asks me, carrying with me what he bids me bring and speaking the Words He has given me, never mind actually step out and accomplish it.  I fear, I falter, I am not sufficient, but none of that matters except in the formulation of my next excuse or reason for not acting on the Holy Spirit’s prompting.  Of course I am not sufficient to God’s tasks, but I will stand in good courage in the knowledge that he still will use me to accomplish the impossible.  I will Glorify his name even unto death so that others might be set free from the prison of sin and hades.  In the impossible you will see him, not me, which is something I have prayed and prayed and prayed for.

Lord here I am fully aware that I am inadequate in every way but the ways that matter to you.  Give me something so incredibly hard that those around me can never again deny your participation in my life when I achieve great blessings in your name.  Give me the Giants, for I want to take back the high ground, fortified, stolen principalities that may only truly belong to your beloved.  Give me the weaponry of Spirit proper to the taking down of strongholds and setting captives free.  I will go in love, not in fear, knowing how much you care for me and have prepared a place for me at your feet.  I believe and will walk accordingly in Your Name, with your praises dancing from my lips.  Jesus My King.

My heart searches but scrapes bare metal, dust and shavings, having tested sidewalls and bottom I am left parched.  What then is everlasting if my thirst slakes unmercifully?  Once having been filled, reservoir overflowing, thoughts of drought must be abandoned.  However now I pray for humidity, saturation, even flood would be welcomed.  What I have uncorked my own dry satchel?  Let me taste of the ripened grapes of God’s abundant mercies and see that it is not of myself that my thirst has beckoned, but of the everlasting waters of God’s Eternity.

Never again, shall a dependence upon self leave me wondering, hungering, praying for an end to the scarcity and fear.  This Lord fills me with his rich Glory and I am sustained, no overwhelmed, though my hunger is dispatched daily.  I have need for nothing except to do that work, that wonderful work that requires me to be me and ride the wave of promises and power.  Father, I cannot stand of my own, for seeing them, hearing their mockery robs me of my quickening.  How then may I reside in your love for humanity, knowing that if they hear you not then all is frail attempt at reason?  I am but a leather strop, made to wick the burs from a two edged sword.  The Sword is your merciful, pleasant, resounding and powerful Word, separating faith from reason and truth from prevarication.

I love them so much it hurts to know that they may not choose righteousness.  Chasing folly and knowledge they have convinced themselves or had assistance in determining that Trusting You is fantastic abnormality and trust in flesh is hopeful.  How twisted their mettle.  Father, give me hope as my fulcrum, take my pride that I might implore them with ardent authenticity.  Make my Words shine with the brightness of your Glorious Appearing that they too might patiently await that precious moment.  Let them know you Lord, answer that request made quietly in the dark of doubt.  Forgive them as you’ve forgiven me.  Lead them away from their iniquity and false abandon.  And if they must go Lord, forgive me my failure of presentation and reckon.  Your Word does not fail, let me be adequate to the tasks you’ve set before me, filled with your indwelling brightness.

What are we without a struggle?  Inadequately tested, uninspired, weak or is it the nature of the highest man to live the “uneventful” or “easy” life?  Shall I preach uncontested, believing myself beyond contest or does my faith increase with suitable and active resistance or questioning?  In life, are things some how improved, sharpened, increased or strengthened by overcoming circumstances?  Of course, but it must also be mentioned that challenge may also reveal inadequate preparation, character or resolve and bring about or catalyze failure.  Is then the polarity of challenge determined by the perspective of the participant?   Perhaps immediately, but there may also be an agreed public interpretation which differs from the participant.

What is the purpose of this challenge, Father?  Is it a test of my love?  Perhaps my endurance and capacity to remain devoted under unfavorable circumstance.  Do I resist any challenges or am I best suited to volunteer myself to the difficulty armed by the knowledge that improvement is in effect, inevitable?  How may I win by confronting those I view are in direct conflict with your word?  Am I required to combat them or to “challenge” them on the merits of their doctrine or am I free to look to the Holy Spirit for direction and absent that prompting to avoid a potentially combustible conversation?  Seeing the Apostles directly confronted these faux teachers and preachers is this the cited example for all disciples?  Doesn’t that require that I appear directly intolerant and remove any camouflage or position behind which I was in relative safety?  Should I care, truly care when men and women entertain the ideals of charlatans?  Ought I care enough to intervene, or is it strictly my responsibility to love and allow them to make their free will choice as I have made?  Perhaps I am merely to adequately state the truth of Your Word and let the chips fall as they may?  Is it my nature to confront the challenge or is it within your will that I do so as directive?

Father, I tire so of their mockery, their lust for easy living and their quick desire to follow after every new age ideal.  Is this truly my heart or is this really happening as result of the times in which we reside?  It appears that they have closed their hearts to sound doctrine.  I do not wish to make that observation prematurely, as the implications are monstrous.  I seek your guidance Holy Spirit.  Do we in fact live in that age when men’s hearts have grown so cold, so desirous of their personal satisfaction that their ears tickle to hear the desires of their lasciviousness? I must assume that even if the answer to that question is true that there remains the possibility to reach them with the Gospel or you would have already called us home.  But I need to know if it is my lot in life to confront these false teachers or to beckon the people away from their siren marketing of prostituted Christianity.  I cry when I see them embrace the lies perpetrated by fancy men having rewritten the faith to their own entreat.  Are we in the times of prophets and men of God who challenge the wicked and so doing allow public observance of your Glory?  If I am to challenge then I pray that I clearly understand that directive and stand resolute in strength and courage even to the penalty of life lost, but if it be somehow a measure of my own ego then please counsel me to refrain, sit and listen with love and gentility.

I love and praise you Father in the mighty name of Jesus Christ my King.