Psalm 128 NIV

Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways.  You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.  Your wife will be a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.  Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.  May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem, and may you live to see your children’s children.  Peace be upon Israel.

Fear and courage appear to be fulcrums of the same lever teetering and tottering humanity.  If I am to have courage then I must first investigate or become familiar with fear.  This world, in its current chaotic state offers ample opportunity to confront and know fear, but what it does not provide is that stabilizing, chastening fear that comes from logical reverence of Almighty God.  It does however provide that bone chilling, arousing, sensitization, we know so well which makes us want to flail or bail.  It is okay to know that feeling of complete loss of self control and paralysis which accompanies fright.

For in knowing this fear we are however briefly, humbled and brought into state of understanding that we are after all, mortal.  Are not all these fears the uncontrollable whimsy that accompanies potential harm or loss?  We fear losing our family so we develop separation and abandonment fears.  We fear loss of respect so we develop ticks, speech impediments and people phobias to protect us from embarrassment.  And we develop all manner of avoidance, defense mechanism and tyrannical behavior to protect ourselves from the fear associated with personal harm or death.

The trouble is that all these losses pale in comparison to eternal separation from God, infinity in damnation and darkness and a world without form filled with unquenchable fire.  Fear of the Lord is the only rational fear that covers all the worldly concerns and provides ample protection from the coming effects of God’s Wrath upon the wicked.  It is fear of where I was headed and fear of what I had already suffered which provided the window into understanding the absolute loss associated with being an enemy of God.  When I feared God enough to humble myself at His feet, it is He that provided me the courage to withstand all the irrational/rational fears which haunted my worldly existence.  Through fear of the Lord I found the cross and was set free to understand His sacrifice, protection, love and promises, which armored me against any and all potential or real losses that may confront me in this life.

I fear God and that frightens men.  They do not understand the discipline of a kind Father who would not let His beloved child walk astray of His perfect will.  Would I be scared if faced with harm to my family or person, would I experience great anxiety at the loss of my home, lands or life?  Yes, but my greater fear is that I would dishonor God in my moment of whimsy.  Thank God that I may fear Him and in so doing become enured to the eventualities which may present themselves in my future.  Father it is right and sensible to fear You.  Thank you for keeping me straight in the path that I should go.  Praise God in the great Name of Jesus.

“The Kingdom is of power, not of word.”  How may I express this power through the use of word Lord?  How then may I reach them by writing?  Must I determine to only use Your Words of Biblical chapter and verse or may my voice contain that “power” absent in my words?  I do not know, but then again I do not know what the Holy of Spirit of God says to each of you using my words.  Perhaps there is something there that I cannot recognize, pronounce, codify, translate or reproduce?  What effect may I have if I do not attempt to reach those who will listen?  That answer is simple, none.

Father, imbue me with Your potency, not the regrettable words of insufficient character, to which I find myself capable.  Give me that hope, that grace, that overwhelming spirit that brought five thousand to the foot of your throne each day.  Give me wisdom to encourage, defend and support the weak, disenfranchised, undefended and the children during this unholy age.  Grant me a worthy life lived well for Your Kingdom.  But even if I am meant to bring one man or woman to the cross, let me miss not that wonderful chance to serve you.  I love you Father and await the return of your son, the King Jesus.

Have you wandered, even to the drumbeat of your own common sense, forgetting for extended periods, wisdom which can only be given by God?  Does it feel good to go to church or do you go to church to feel good?  Do you give in the sight of others so that you are justified by recognition?  Do you decide the correct course of action or plan for your life and then ask God for assistance when things don’t proceed as planned?  Does giving to the platforms, programs or plans of televangelists calm that nagging pain in the back of your mind telling you to testify to the lost, your family or friends?  Have you stopped reading God’s Word for any reason, whether it be laziness, excuse, exhaustion or fear of prompting?  These are all signs of the Christian that has either been led astray or has wandered beyond the call of the Good Shepherd.  Don’t you long to hear His voice clearly again or has he prospered you beyond the limits of your need for a savior?  Does “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” begin to make sense at this moment?

If I don’t pray, read, meditate, study, test spirits, testify and encourage other Christians then either something is missing from my walk or the path that I travel is not the way to sanctification.  If you don’t hear, meet, reside with, abide in and follow Jesus then you are on the wrong path doing something you ought not to be doing.  Repent and ask the Lord to give you wisdom.  That is the nature of the powers and principalities of this fallen world to lead each of us away from the clarity of God’s Word, Truth and Spirit.  That is not to say that it is in our natures unless we have yet to be reborn, for the spirit filled Christian is a new creature, set free from the bondage of sin, capable of following the Lord.  However the powers and principalities delight in leading believers away from the righteous path, so beware and ask yourself the questions which clearly indicate there is cause for alarm.  Cry out to God for wisdom and remain on the skinny path  Don’t let your horse wander riderless, because when you are cold, hungry, lost, tired and alone you will accept succor from any source.  None of us would knowingly accept a ride from satan if we were walking along the highway, don’t take a ride with him because you failed to remain alert, vigilant and prepared, because it threatens equal disaster.

I ask the Good Shepherd to guide your feet on the pathway of righteousness and that His angels never let you step away from your prescribed path.  May the Lord grant your request for wisdom keeping you safe from all the travesty that faces humanity, especially in these times which are obviously evil.  Praise Jesus, Lord God keep me straight and clear minded in these cloudy months to come.

I ponder the excuses I offer Jesus for my inaction, frustration or failure to walk in His spirit.  My wife, my job, my finances all come to mind immediately when I recount the enormous opportunities to disciple that I’ve squandered.  Will I continue to go to the throne room and tell God that I am incapable of doing that for which I was uniquely created?  Oh, Lord what miserable man I am, but thanks be to Your Grace that I’ve received new life sans condemnation from which to breathe anew.  Lord, please never let me miss a divine opportunity due to my own misunderstanding, unwillingness, laziness or disobedience.  Conform me to Your Will so that I may never again offer excuse when asked to go.  Let me always answer in the affirmative, “Send me”.

I am crippled, weak, alone, tired, broke, incapable, limited, funny-looking, disliked, the wrong skin color, unpopular, a poor speaker and frankly afraid of what lay before me.  This is my misunderstanding of God’s Will for it is in this weakness, this lack this inability where God may actually use me to further the Kingdom.  If I were capable would man see God’s awesome reflection, no they would see me and applaud my glory, not God’s.  If I were rich enough would I give all to save the one person, my enemy, from walking to eternity separated from God?  I think not.  If I were popular would I be able to set a trend of surrender to Jesus Christ for the work that He has done for humanity or perhaps would I develop a ministry dedicated to the furtherance of my own agenda?  Likely.

Lord remove my excuses, whether they are personal or actual obstacles.  I care not how weak I am because it is Your strength, Your Spirit, Your Hope upon which I will rely to perform the works which must be done.  Remove from me any personal ideas of failure that limit me from taking the steps on the path You have lain before me.  Let me walk in boldness and truth knowing that the abundance of the Lord is at my reserve.  Let me not look upon my own strength and believe that these are my limitations for Your Legions of Angels may equip me to spread the Gospel Truth.  Make me bold like a lion to tell this world of Jesus and take from me the compunction to use anyone or anything as excuse to not do the work I have been crafted and called to perform.  Let me be victorious for Your Glory and not consider for a pico-second my own end.

Use my weakness as vacuum to be filled by Your Spirit of Glory and success.  I surrender to You Father so that I may be used to show them Your name.  Oh, Jesus forgive my transgressions, thank you for loving the unlovable.  Let me lose my life for Your sake.

How is it possible to stay strong or fearless in the face of impending doom or death?  In my view to understand the possibility of a state we must first understand the definition of those things that are achievable or likely.

It is illuminating to see that the site dictionary.com indicates that, impossible indicates something which cannot; exist, happen or be done.  However, the online definition also includes those emotional/feeling characteristics of impossibility by using the words “objectionable, impracticable and the concept of unendurable”.  The thorough definition of possible is a compilation of those things which are physically doable in the material dimension that do not defy the emotive characteristics of practicality and endurance.

For something to be impossible it must violate either or both of the following parameters; I lack the energy, authority or endurance to “do/withstand” something or it violates the physical laws of practicality.  So, if I cannot do it or endure it, it is impossible.  Additionally, if it violates the physical laws of this dimension it is also deemed impossible.  Therefore anything that provides me sufficient energy, hope or ability to overcome physical laws and personal limitations is outside the understanding of humanity.  Therefore, trying to define those things which are outside of humanity’s understanding through human description violates this constructive definition of impossibility.  Herein enters the most frequently misunderstood/misused word in the human language, “supernatural”.

Supernatural is used to define all those things which indemnify the impossible, thus allowing unbelievers to lump the attributes of God in with UFO’s, ghosts, goblins along with all other “magical” violations of human capacity and physical laws.  In this single misunderstanding and generalization they do themselves great disservice.  For although ghosts, goblins and magic unexplainable by human means they do not possess divinity, omniscience, omnipresence, righteousness, purity, sovereignty or the ability to create entire universes with a word.  Vis a vis using one term to describe all things which are personally impossible or practically improbable attempts to cram infinity into a nanosecond.  This mistake is much like saying that all light is white because that is what we can most notably detect.

That good courage God speaks of becomes possible when we have faith in His promises.  The Lord knows that good courage violates the standards of personal ability and practicality that is why He asks us to demonstrate this quality so that all the world may see His presence in Christian Life.  God is beyond my thinking, but I still believe in Him, whether or not it violates any scientific capacity to demonstrate His existence.  That is the nature of something outside our emotional or practical understanding, it does not require my definition in order to exist.

I fully understand that displaying good courage in the face of insurmountable obstacles or impractical violation of physical laws, is by definition impossible.  That is why I need God, because He loves me so much that He is willing to give me the energy, authority or necessary endurance to withstand or overcome the impractical, improbable or unlikely.  To be of good courage is demonstrated faith in God, that alone is why it is among the most highly valued characteristics of man because it declares our relation and relationship to God.  That is why God commands us to be of good courage and know that He is our God so that in us this world may see His momentary or enduring reflection.  After all it is always about God’s love for this world, that we must not forget.

Praise You in Your ability to confound my imagination Almighty Father.  I do love you so.  In the Name of King Jesus.  Amen.

I can feel the voice of God?

Right down in my spirit

His scepter and his rod

declaring that I’m free

Do you feel the voice of God, Right now say he loves me

Do you feel the voice of God, walking where he’s called

Do you feel the voice of God, singing without reason

Because the world’s so dark if you feel the voice of God you got the light, you’ve got the light

I know He has me in His hand

I’m protected and I’m covered

I may not understand

Because it’s yet to be discovered

Do you feel the voice of God, Right now thank Him in forgiveness

Do you feel the voice of God, then tremble in His sight

Do you feel the voice of God, spread the good news of His coming

Because the night is coming if you feel the voice of God your lamp is full, your lamp is full, You’re ready

Sing out, I’m ready because I know He’s coming

I’m ready for the coming of the night

I’m ready, I can hear the drumming of His mighty marching armies

Coming to set things right, coming to set things right.

Will you see the face of God when He pats you on the shoulder

Will you see the face of God when He congratulates your faith

Will you see the face of God and tell your Brothers of His glory

Because as the harvest nears belay all fears for the mighty day of judgment is at hand, it is at hand

Do you feel the voice of God?  Are you straining or not listening?  Do you feel the voice of God?  Has He promised to bring you home?  Do you feel the voice of God?  Something quiet and all consuming.  If you feel the voice of God, be at peace and know that He’s your God.

This dilemma all men face.  What have I done to win this victory, earn this bounty or receive this award, in a word, dance within the grace of Almighty God?  What do I have that was not first given, breath of life, love, a name, a homeland, a strong arm, a quick pen or wit and a brief span in this material existence?  Do I have any cause to brandish, polished pride for anything, when they are but gifts, first given, which may just as quickly be taken?  A sword does not boast of its sharpness when wielded in battle nor would it offer boast if it remained as sharp and sat above the fire’s mantle.

Whether I am a man of measure, duty, honor, wealth or treasure is of null account, for a simple man with no name, gold or talent may be used by God, in a moment to outshine my life’s work.  But there is still hope for this wretch of a man as I love God and know that He loves me.  Time again He has taken men and stripped them of land, family, treasure and station, allowing them to wander through the desert of temptation and discernment only to restore them in greater measure at the end of their sanctification.  Life should be lived for His Glory, using every breath, talent, dollar and thought to please Him through love, compassion and prayer.

I mourn for myself, thinking that I knew better only to find that very few of my works shall withstand the quenching fire of His testing, but I am quickly relieved of self pity knowing that I am still alive to set things right and live for Him.  Pride is the compulsion that requires our complicity as its catalyst.  We may be blinded in pride and never even know the name of our affliction.  Every spirit must be tested, even those that appear righteous for their foundation may be fleshly and untrue, veiled in false nobility and good intention.  Only those purposes which arise from God’s Will are worthy of pursuit.  Forgive me Father for sinning against You in looking for anything that would perhaps make me good enough to earn Your love and the world’s admiration.  For one cannot be won and the other is not worth the price of winning.  Praise Jesus.  I want to know Him more, perhaps He will choose to touch my mind this night, only if, only if.

It is okay to take your time in determining your relationship to God.  Belief never happens in a moment and faith takes time to grow from planted seed.  However, untended crops are left to the mercies of happenstance and those statistics are rarely favorable.  Just as in any relationship it takes intention, effort, action and endurance to cultivate a firm belief, reliance and dependence on God.  We must feed our minds with the Word of God, tasting it, testing it, learning that it is always Right and True.  We must spend time in mutual conversation with the Lord, sharing our hearts with Him and investing the quiet time necessary to be assured of His guidance.  We must walk the roads of this life having our faith tested so that it may grow stronger with each success or failure.  We must constructively build our endurance to trials through remaining consistent in thought, deed and grace opportunity.  The Lord created the universe by turning His thoughts into word and action, this is the example we were meant to follow and repeat.

Taking time to foster a good relationship is the most noble exercise.  Though much must be said about the circumstances, constraints and limitations of time, energy and opportunity.  We are now clearly deep into the end times, where the Lord may return for His Church and Judgment at any time.  Wars rage, pestilence and hunger consume and perceived freedoms dwindle with each passing day.  Time is in short supply and as we all know time cares not whether you are found among the prepared of those in eternal regret.

We are seeing signs, just as Jesus exclaimed would be evident as acknowledgement to the faithful of His return.  The earth has reached a point of disquiet mirroring the circumstances our Lord warned the Apostles of which to be aware.  It is time to prepare our crops for the harvest approaches.  It is time to fertilize, feed and water that which still remains hungry for the gathering approaches.  It is time to spend every possible quiet moment in prayer and consultation with God as He is our shelter, strength and salvation.  This old world ain’t goin much further but with God we shall soon get a glimpse of eternity.  Prepare your hearts, resolve your differences, make haste to your prayer closet and spend those precious moments getting to know our God.  Do the work so that you may see the results of our efforts in retrospect as He and you look back over a life well lived.  In Jesus’ Nighty Name, I stand only by the will of His outstretched hand lifting me upright.  Praise God in all His Glory and Might.  Forgive them Father as you once forgave me.

The catastrophe plays out, daily, for all to see.  An unrepentant world, oblivious to the erosive and corrosive potency of sin that threatens our common existence.  Worried, empowered, delighted or apathetic each human copes with the the chaotic effects of a world, wobbling on its axle, struggling to stay upright.  But right is wrong and left become right as the laws which we thought controlled us begin to unravel, revealing for all to see that too much freedom is the worst type of prison.  Pestilence is loosed, war gathers pitch, pride denies forgiveness and storms feed from God’s gathering wrath.  We have become what God spent millennia bidding us avoid.  Wisdom is only valuable to those who believe in truth, for the prideful, mockers and unrelenting wicked shall not accept its cherished hand of help.

Prayer for the Christians makes us powerful.  Not the self potent will that greedy men desire, but powerful in the Spirit of God through Christ able to call upon the Almighty name of the King and know without doubt response is guaranteed.  That is strength, which made most laugh, thinking us impotent as we clung to our faith when reason pried at our fingers gripping the leather bound wonder of God’s inerrant Word.  You see this world is failing, not because of improper construct, but because we as men cannot solve the problems which confound us for they are of our own construction and thus impervious to our authority.  We have  become party to the misguided passions of fallen angels in their quest to have a moment with Almighty God, thinking themselves equals to His majesty.  Those of us who pursue this course shall face their very same fate and in a moment be sentenced to eternal damnation and separation from God.  The oddest component that we were never meant to share this suffering but to ask and receive God’s offer of forgiveness through grace, given by the cross of Jesus Christ the King.

Soon they will target God’s saints, as satan bids them, thinking foolishly that if they rid the world of Jews and Christians this will somehow hurt or forestall God’s imminent return, judgment and wrath.  This is the greatest foolishness, like stopping time, avoiding death or raging at the wind.  As Christians we must pray for the Nation of Israel and accept our own participation in the suffering with Christ.  For He told us in advance that they will hate us just because we share in His Good Name.  They are doomed, let us not cast our own anger or curse upon them for there is no punishment greater than that which they embrace.  Let us instead love them to our own end, even at their misguided or wicked actions.  For God so loved this world that He would have us love them and forgive them as He did by sending His son to die for the sins of mankind.

I have no authority but I command you to pray continuously in the Mighty Name of Christ the King.  I have no great talent, but I will use all that He has given me through His awesome Spirit to heal the sick, cure the blind and release those imprisoned.  I have no skill at the sword but I will speak His Word in Love and Truth, hewing bone from tendon and spirit from soul.  I have no lands yet as a prince I command the spirits of the air to leave this earth and never return for it belongs to Christ the King of All who holds the title deed to its riches through God.  I have no great skill with Words, yet my speech may not be denied for these are the Words of God Almighty, proclaiming His coming judgment through the lips and hands of a willing servant.  I pray for the innocent and the wicked that God would have mercy on us all through Christ, redeeming us to grace in eternity spent with Him.  I praise You Lord for it is right to do so.  In Jesus that Mighty Name of God.