For the Prince of Peace lived among us.  Born to a virgin, out of love for humanity in a plan of sacrifice and grace to save us all.  Showing us the righteous way to live and our rightful place within the Kingdom of God.  We have been given the handbook, the training manual, the sole connection to the Will of God through His Word, the Bible.  We are armed with prayer and relationship to God through our belief in Christ.  Our peace shall not be shaken even by extreme burden or audacious circumstance for we lay down those ills at the foot of the Cross in exchange for world-understanding, surpassing PEACE.

It has been finished, not only for episodic events of history, but for all time.  With surrender and belief comes forgiveness.  Not a momentary, fickle forgiveness customary from one man or woman to another, but the forgiveness with eternal affect.  God now looks at believers through the filter of His Holy and Perfect Son.  We have been given righteousness beyond ourselves, faith that moves mountains  and protection from angelic forces from whom only torment shall come.  We have been set free from man’s collective prison of eternal separation from God as well as the personal prisons each of us create through behaviors, addictions and regret.  All this coupled with the realization of our individual and unique, Divine Purpose edifying our confidence throughout whatever trials and times we might face.  Armored with Truth and Hope we face those challenges which may certainly come.

For those few reading, it is not my perspective I pray you will take with, but the knowledge that you might personally know and depend upon God, for love, forgiveness, protection and righteous judgement.  I pray that you go beyond my incapacity to effectively relay His Grace through mere word, pointed toward a Holy Gospel Word and direct interaction with a Mighty God that you will personally experience the Truth beyond my ambassadorship.  Test Him, forget me if that serves even minute purpose in connecting you with God through acceptance of and belief upon the sacrifice Jesus made for all upon that Cross.  He is waiting there and I will have been entirely fulfilled as even but one of you find out my statements are true.  Bless God and may He protect and guide you through His Word and Love.  In Jesus’ Name.

I can either run, become bitter about what God has given me or I can be satisfied, rejoice and be glad in this day, these trials, these talents or treasuries.  The first two reactions are normal for a worldly person.  These are the promptings of stress that spark the fight or flight mechanisms to which evolutionists hold fast as evidence of our mud based origin.  But these are autonomous, reactive and frankly immature responses to a world that holds some complex relationships.  The saved woman looks beyond the stimuli of her eyes, holding to the knowledge and reliance upon God’s greater purpose in our placement.

It just isn’t what I wanted and frankly I deserve to be happy.  This proclamation, writhe with entitling undertones bemoans the thinking of a self-actualized man.  If this is what He gave me and it frustrates or provokes my sensibilities, then I must assume that in the unwinding of its origins I will find the intended learning requiring my participation.  Yes, my kids make me crazy, but why am I getting such rich provocation from them who should be bringing me peace?  I ought not to seek a way out of it but rather surrender to it, understanding that their insanity probably reflects something missing or present in my own chemistry.  God does not make mistakes, so my chosen environment is exactly what I need to become more like Him.  How then might I embrace it and hasten or assist in His edification of my soul?  If I am meant to have peace then let me find it first right here.

There is great joy in being satisfied.  There is greater communion and relationship with Almighty God when we find peace in our present.  By nature, we all want to become heroes, just as those from the Bible, but to do so we know that it will most likely require severe humbling, a walk in the desert and most likely great hardship.  So, how might logic be served if I wish to be a hero but I don’t want the edification, sanctification or life defining hardship that most or all Prophets and Apostles endured.  Perhaps that is why we don’t step forward for our calling, because we want the ribbon without the trial?  God might use me.  However if I am not readily and voluntarily serving in my present circumstances then how might I consider the likelihood viable that He might transport me to other circumstances in order to employ my utilization?  If He cannot use me where I am, then I am certainly headed for trials to prepare me for the place I will be considered useful.  My logic must be adjusted.

I love my life.  It is frustrating, difficult, beyond my capacity to overcome and often more frightful then the enemy’s assaults.  But that is precisely what defines it as perfect for my edification.  I am stretched beyond ability, beyond patience, beyond my level of self efficacy to teach me that this road may not be walked without the power of God.  These things He bids us do require His authority, His provision, His Love, forgiveness and presence.  Being brought to the end of myself is essential to being used by God.  This life does that for me, therefore I should pray for the ability to rejoice exactly where I am.  In Jesus Holy Name.

It now costs something to call yourself by His Name.  You didn’t suspect that day would come.  But we are seeing the coming darkness, showing its face, knowing time is short.  Hearts turn away from God seeking refuge from the scary faces of night, forgetting who owns the Light.  Don’t be afraid, though fear will show its angry teeth.  It is a fraud perpetrated so that you may never know Peace, the Peace of God through Christ the Prince of ALL Peace.

Do you feel the pressure mounting, peers turning away from Christianity, hoping to find solace from Mother Earth, or Sister Song, or articles of tin, bronze and copper?  These things gave us only heartache for thousands of years, sacrificing our young and taking our own youth on the altar of gratification.  We were intended for greater things, hell was made only for disobedient Angels, pent on disobeying God and forgetting their glorious beginnings.  Why then must we follow them to a fate not meant for our kind.  The answer is simple, it is the same pride, the same disobedience the same failure to humble what we know must be silenced.

The times are approaching where the sheep will be blamed for all manner of man’s trials.  Not having arms to strike at the master they will choose to attack His lambs, hoping that their cruelty will somehow shame Him.  But His anger grows, tempered by the omnipotent patience, waiting for the precise timing to call all His children home.  You think there is no justice because you see how satan rules this world, but if you truly knew God you would also take resolve from the knowledge of His Righteousness, Judgment and Word.  A Word that never lies and has foretold a day when God will have His Wrath upon all unrighteousness forever.

Are you ready, as Jesus bid us be?  Have you prepared your hearts for what surely and swiftly must imminently come to pass, even if it comes in our day?  Do you know God’s Truth.  Have you told Him that you believe?  Do you know humility, the kind that comes from knowing service and gratefulness to a Righteous and Mighty God?  None of us can know what we will do when threatened with all manner of punishment or loss, but we must certainly meditate and dream upon the thought and the joy that we shall certainly receive just to whisper His name in confirmation.  None of us know our limitations, our expiration date, nor what we will do when trials come, unless we know Jesus.  For a man who knows Jesus, has seen the Living God and certainly has become acquainted with Peace, Reason and Wisdom.  That is the joy of this world, that in the fray, in the midst of exploding nightmare, we might take faith in the knowledge of God’s Victory over All that has or will come upon us.

Have you seen the dark?  You do not belong to it or in it, for you my friend are a being of the Light.  Take hope from the day, live in it, breathe for it shall always overcome.  Darkness fears, not the light, for light always scatters the creatures of the dark.  Let go of your own dark places, give them over to the Awesome Hand of the Master Potter to be removed just as dross from refined metal.  They fear His Righteousness, why do you think they hate you so?  For in you they see Him, His Perfection, His Hope, His Strength, His Glory, Majesty and Truth and they fear what they cannot overcome.  So when they threaten, strike, Challenge or hurt you, know who it is that they see and remember that they saw Him in you.  That should bring you peace.  In Jesus Name, please prepare for the night, be vigilant, be awake, be ready for the Lord is coming soon.

Dreams of worry, things yet to be done, far off places and battles yet to be won.  In a flurry I wake and run to write down the glorious scenes before the waiting sun.  It seems so magical this language of sleep, where God may speak while my ego lays deep.  A far off world, two moons no space, then whisked away to an unknown place.

Symbols grand and characters dark, in the milky black I snap a spark.  Then all at once the crowd awakes, to dance, to fight, an earthquake shakes.  Each opportune night the chat begins a puzzle for me to understand my sins.  Not my skill but His command a bridled vision of what’s been planned.  My intuition, a useful tool, something from God and not from school.  But what shall be and what has been are in His Hand just as the fate of all men.

So, share I shall but with frightful respect for the gift I am given each time we connect.  No power I want but appreciate, I pray to God not wish upon fate. For my future decided but not by chance, nor game of skill but by romance.  The Love of a Father for a son He adores, no points to win no keeping scores.  My dreams are not nonsense when I know how God speaks, through summery storms and wintery peaks.  I look to the heavens for insight and peace, knowing until I meet God the dreams shall not cease.

It ain’t about me telling you what is wrong with your life, why you are going to have problems getting into heaven or what you need to change to get right with God.  My job is to love you and if I can be filled by the Spirit at the just the right time find a way to specifically encourage you in the circumstances or challenges you are facing, right now.  It is not my desire to bludgeon you with a solid argument or memorized attack speech, such that you feel you have been effectively cornered by a good politician or attorney.  He loved me enough to make me realize how much I love you.

There are no gimmicks, no tricks, no ideologies outweighing my consciousness of your struggle.  If I come to you without love, I have already failed toward whatever quest I have convinced myself that the Lord commended me.  Because I cannot fail at the true purpose for my life, which is to love you enough to help, listen, pray, intervene and help you up when you stumble, then point you toward the light so that you can find peace.  This is not a chess match to me, you are not a pawn or an enemy knight against whom I must craftily perform.  You are my Brother, My Sister, My Mom, My Wife, My Friend, neighbor or stranger.  How I treat you matters to God and therefore it ought to be of utmost concern to me.  How can I feed a sheep if I am too busy bullying it into acting the way I wish it would act?  I am here to help not to hurt in the process.

It is me who needs to ask God for forgiveness and to turn His face back to me and pardon my disobedience, so that He might have mercy and heal our land.  That is not the job of the unbeliever or worldly man, for they have no relationship or distance from God’s Fellowship, they simply cannot know Him.  But He knows them and He expects us to go to them in love, gentleness and convincing authenticity out of example, out of true care out of Truth so that they might be set free.  That is not a challenge, a sport, a job or a thing to be mastered, but a purpose to be respected, feared, considered and honored by real action without egoistic desire for passion, points or regard.  These are humans hosting the original sin, wearing Abraham’s disobedience, Moses’ anger, Jonah’s flight and Balaam’s disregard for God’s Will.  They have been badgered, fooled, prodded, herded, captured, sold, bought, traded and twisted into believing the great perpetrated lie.  How then will their hearts be changed even one iota by my deliberate disregard for their plight?  They need love not more of the same and until we as Christians can first connect with God to learn about His Endless Regard, we will fail miserably at this simple representative ambassadorship.

Go to God first and if you must sit in the back until you find peace with other men, then please find rest in listening to His preached Word.  They are not our enemies and if you see them that way then please step away from the altar until God has healed your heart.  We are representing the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords who made the Sun, Moon, Wind and Rain.  He moves the mountains we just have the wonderful privileges of being there when they deposit themselves in the ocean and being used as the vehicle for His Perfect Will.  He wants us to Love Him and Love them.  It is really that simple and if you think it is more complicated then perhaps you should examine the voices to which you have been listening, cause it ain’t coming from God.  Be at peace my Brothers and Sisters, In Jesus’ Holy Name.

What is it that you are waiting to see that will bring you into belief?  If Jesus materialized in front of you right now would you be convinced?  Would you have to probe His side for the spear wound or His hands and feet for the spike scars?  What questions would you ask Him to give you sufficient evidence of His identification and personality?  Would you ask Him for a miracle, maybe a magic trick or two, heal your broken hand from college?  And after He went through this list of qualifying steps, would you then listen to what He had to say or would you still listen as skeptic?  Would He have to command you in order to get you to follow Him, and when He did so would you love Him or resent Him for ordering you around?  What if He wanted you to learn the Bible so that you might not be afraid and that you might begin to understand His loving grace and purpose for your life?  Would you obey or still be rebellious?

None of us have a problem believing in God, we have a problem obeying God.  It is all well and good to have a long-bearded, Father figure up there to whom we might pray in time of need.  It is heart warming to imagine Him watching over each and every one of us, sending Angels on demand to protect us from the darkness and ill things that might sicken, impoverish or wound us.  We are entirely okay with imagining that He sacrificed for us, created a world that we might be satisfied and raised up prophets to give us wisdom when we went astray.  The real problem is when He has the audacity, as Sovereign God, over all creation to set standards, rules and predictions for judgment, justice and eternity.  We don’t like that He would set parameters for those who would be allowed into heaven and those who would be disciplined for their behaviors on Earth.  We cannot begin to tolerate that He would die for us and in so doing we owe a debt that we cannot pay and must by His direction, believe or face eternal death and separation.

See man by nature is self concerned, self aware and believes that happiness requires self-determinism.  We don’t want to have to listen to anyone, yet we work at a job where we don’t make the rules, pay taxes to a government who bosses us around and adjust our character to gain the benefits of good relations with the opposite sex.  It is an illusion that we are free to determine anything.  In fact if we determine to drink alot we become slaves to booze, or take drugs we are driven by those viral urges.  We sign 30 year mortgages to which we become long term servants.  None of us if free in this life and if you think you are go around tomorrow exercising every whim and you will be locked up by the cops by days end.

Even if we knew that Jesus is all loving, all knowing and all caring, being entirely dedicated to directing us toward the best things for this life, we would still resent it because we just don’t like being told what to do.  Does anyone have the sovereign authority in your life to tell you what is right and wrong, such that you would listen if they told you stop some negative behavior or start some positive ones?  It is not about How much He wants to save us from sin, death and the assaults of unrighteous enemies.  We simply see His direction as intolerant because it doesn’t allow each of us to follow our own rules.  That is fool hardy immaturity, for there has never been a king in the history of man that has allowed such behavior.  Why, if man would never accept our own personal right to establish relativistic rules by which other must follow, do we expect that the One Spirit with the Established Right to make such rules is not allowed to do so?  Look at Israel, He tried to save them over and over again and get them to live righteous lives as He continually blessed them, and they simply straight up refused, choosing instead to follow their own wicked ways.

You’re right it seems strange for a man or woman to surrender to the Will of God.  But I submit that it only sounds strange because of our stubborn desire to be our own God coupled with an unwillingness to recognize any Sovereign authority.  I don’t want the responsibility of being God.  I have made too many mistakes when left to my druthers that I am assured that I do not know the right thing to do.  This is where you jump in an out of your own arrogance and lack of experience tell me that you can guide me to righteousness.  This only means that you have not yet lived enough to learn that you too don’t know squat.  Either that or you have been blinded to your own ignorance which is truly a worse predicament than I will ever venture.  I know that God is God and I am not.  I know that Jesus saved me from eternal separation from God and slavery to my sin and death.  I know that He gets to make the rules and I have the free will choice to follow or fight His Sovereign Authority.  I know fully where fighting Jesus will get any of us and having a spot of wisdom I don’t choose to fight a battle I would certainly loose to a God I certainly love and respect.  I have chosen my own road and seen where that led, to misery.  Now I let God choose and you know what I am happy being an obedient man.

I am sorry that you feel you need to struggle against a righteous and Holy God.  I pray for you daily and hope that you give up the futility of battling against omnipotence.  In Jesus’ Holy Name I pray.

What do you view when you dream of that perfect day?  How does it begin, with a lovely, calming dream before you wake?  When you open your eyes do you review your loving wife or husband beside you, or do you wish to be alone, facing the dawn in all its divine reflection?  How do you lie there thinking or just remaining in peaceful repose, delaying the process of considering the day ahead?  Are you warm, cold, hot or just right?  Does your stomach rumble reminding you of the great things that await, do you smell them downstairs in the kitchen?  Are people rising to show how much they care for you in preparation of your morning?  Have you taken time to leave kind reminders for them of your love, surprising them?  Do you dream of money, fame or crave political banter to stimulate your musings?  Is your peace fed by music as you lean over the bed reaching for the remote control?  What is your first real thought?

How does that day unfold?  Does it follow a strict regimen, keeping you free from regret in completion of a laundry list of awaiting tasks?  Do you spend time to chat with your kids as they drag their stocking feet across the wooden floors?  Does you wife pepper you with questions about how you feel, and what you must do and what you would like to eat?  Does your morning refuse to open until you’ve read some media or watched a particular show?  Do you hope that something happened during sleep that made the world better or are you fed by the tragic episodes of a world gone wild?  What is the first good comment or encouragement you offer?  Do you go to shower before any speech, knowing that until you’ve had your morning routine you’re of little regard for anyone?

Are you at home or perhaps abroad?  Surrounded by loved ones or strangers?  What is the perfect environment that will breed that perfect day you seek?  How much money do you have, what car do you drive, how respected are you for the important work that you do?  Or are you totally content feeding the livestock, tending to the watering and maintenance of farm equipment and appliances?  Do you like to chat with others or keep thought reserved for self?  Do you write, do you sing, do you do a simple dance that you know anyone would laugh about as you wait for your tea?  What would you eat on this perfect morning?

I have to be honest this is most frequently how my days begin and they certainly never end up perfect.  Perhaps my perfect day will be that one that begins and ends with God, having taken time and care to follow His will for my life in between?

The instant, when your power fades and your heart opens, you may know the Truth.  Read the Word and you will cry, laugh, plead, regret and hope, for this is not the fickle word of man but the Story of Glory’s call to all.  Today, we rejoice for the Lord has risen to be seated at the Right Hand of God, awaiting the time when He shall return for all men who believe.  This is not something that is simply ours but for all humankind, for He died so that all might see freedom from sin and death and in the face of Mercy to be repaired to God.

These things humble me, not out of fragility, but the strength of a man choosing to kneel before His Master.  Authenticity is not a formula, it is passion, it is will to challenge the wrongs against humankind, it is the overwhelming drive to rise to a place beyond human regard.  Do we dream of “Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven”.  Do we plot, conspire and labor at any cost to see God’s Intentions completed?  If not then we serve our legacy.  It is not about me, yet it fulfills me more than the greatest personal achievement, that moment when I see someone aspire to know God’s Face.  I am refreshed beyond my own capacity each time that someone cries out for help and I am able to show them the Light God sparked within my spirit.  I am at peace resting at His Feet.

They hurt so Father, but I know the purpose for their pain.  They are so lonely, but I see how being alone makes them thirst for You.  They hunger Lord, in a way that may never be fulfilled by the food of this world.  Each time Lord I even hear of how they treated You, I am crushed, for it should have been my flesh they rent with that cat of nine tails.  Every time I think of You laboring with that rugged tree upon your back heading up the hill to take my place, I wish for the opportunity to somehow pay you back.  Every time I see them spit upon You and pull at Your Beard, shivers travel my entire soul, as I think that could have been me on the Via De La Rosa, conspiring to kill my God.  Each time I remember the moment when the disciples betrayed You, I remember what a horrible fool I have become.  For Lord I love you, but I love You with the imperfect heart of a man, and as such I am flimsy in my grasp of these Eternal Things.  Give me a clean heart.  Prepare me for that moment when I will walk across the expanse of time and death to fall at Your Feet in jubilation.  The moment when we meet and I am finally acquainted with the Face I have longed to behold.

Thank You Jesus for dying for all mankind.  Thank you for showing me the way to the cross and beyond it where I might be set free.  Thank You for hearing my prayers in the middle of the night asking that You help those I love to find the same.  Give us this day, the Bread of Your Body that was crushed for us.  Give us this day the sin cleansing wash in Your Healing, Redeeming Blood that was shed for all mankind.   Forgive me as I continue to struggle in my humanity to do even one thing righteous, fully knowing that it cannot be done.  Any good deed I will ever do will be done through Your Spirit living in me.  For a moment let me breathe free of my own foolish heart and live Truly For You, With You and By Your Perfect Will.  In Jesus’ Name, there is no other name by which we might be set free.

Fear of the inevitable is worse than the inevitable.  For fear is an addition to the impending impacts of reality.  My life, its worries, strife and predicaments will certainly come for the Lord said in this world that we will have troubles.  If I know that the troubles are coming then I may prepare for them physically, mentally and spiritually.  It stands to reason that since fear requires maintenance and reactive energy then it siphons reserve from the kinetic or potential energy of any system.   Certainly the effect of unexpected troubles may carry a devastating blow but that blow will invariably be a magnitude of impact less than troubles that are approached in fear.  It is the same as approaching old age, for it is appointed to all men once to die, but fearing old age sucks the joy from our existence.

Fear causes us to  put off knowing the facts which we all certainly may never avoid only forestall.  If there is history of chronic illness in your family then you may be assured that the factors leading to that diagnosis exist in your life.  Not knowing out of fear will only prolong the inevitable, in fact ignorance sponsored by fear may prohibit you from taking the actions that might physically delay the inevitable or help avoid the eventual chronic illness.  So in this case fear is not only serving no purpose, while stealing energy but it may also be invalidating any chance at avoiding the object of your original fear.  What a nefarious enemy this fear, what a tool of the dark one.

We have not been given this spirit of fear.  So, to recognize its presence is to recognize either the presence of enemy combatants, immaturity in your walk with Jesus or direct disobedience to the Word of the Lord.  If I possess something which the Lord did not give me then I have acquired it outside the will of God.  So, if I am perpetually fearful then I am least likely to be hearing the voice of Almighty God as He whispers to me, bidding me step away from the circumstance into shelter and peace.  If peace is not available then perhaps you have stepped away from relationship with God through Christ Jesus.  For He is the Prince of Peace and promises that we will have joy, peace, strength and wisdom through Him.  If these positive attributes are not available then perhaps we should ask God why?

Yes, I do not wish to grow old, but that is where I am headed as time ticks on.  I do not wish to have the subsequent effects of getting old that invariably impact each of us.  But I will not make my circumstances more difficult by being so afraid that I prolong the inevitable by tolerating of following the voice of fear.  I will listen to the Spirit of God who says to be filled with joy, peace, faith and hope, knowing that these things I face will only build patience, character and perseverance in my heart.  If fear is present in your life won’t you please examine it.  Is it rational, is it causing you to do something foolish so that you may ignore truth and take subsequent action?  If so please give your fear to God and ask Him for peace, wisdom and faith in exchange.  Don’t let fear make your life more difficult than it already certainly will become.  In Jesus’ Name.