It matters what you think is real.  Just because I see it differently doesn’t make you wrong.  However, when two have conflict and they go to the Word and one person’s view is confirmed to be consistent with God’s perspective, that should resolve the issue.  Quibbles, angers, frustrations and lingering differences of opinion are footholds for the enemy upon which to construct walls between the best of friends and family.  These surfaces should be kept clean of conflict between saints.  Our lives have been washed clean of sin through grace, we should not then think it okay to hold the sins of others hostage against them for posterity.  Where there is festering anger or resentment their will be no fresh growth until that old stuff is cleared away.

I cannot tell you that I will never again offend, anger or frustrate you.  In fact the truth would require me to tell you the opposite.  I am a sinner saved only by the planned grace of God which forgave me of my original sin and continues to sanctify as I subject myself to the Potter’s masterful hand.  I truly wish that I could convincingly proclaim to all those that I love that I will never again dishearten, upset or anger them, but that is not the truth, because I know that I will.  Not by choice, but by mistake, clumsiness or just plain imperfect humanness.  I will however tell you that I will always apologize and try to make amends and the necessary changes to not hurting you in that way again.  That is all that I am capable of promising, except that I will not give up on you even though you hurt me.

Lord, I wish that I could be made whole now and never hurt those I truly care about.  If it is your will, could you please grant my wish to be as kind, honest and careful with their feelings as is humanly possible.  And if it is not humanly possible can Your Holy Spirit grant me the measure beyond my own capacity to make sure that I make no offense, especially to those whom I love.  I am sorry for my displeasing behavior, I know that You have been at work inside me to rid me of these defects and for that patient and kind work I am so thankful.  Please ask them to be patient with me Lord.  I mean well but the little wisdom You gave me makes it painfully evident that even the well intentioned can harm those around them in the process or attempt of doing good.  Forgive me Lord and let me forgive them when they trespass my boundaries.  Let me forget the betrayals and remember the well wishes.  Grant us peace Lord.  We love You will all our hearts.

One thing is constant in this world.  There is only one person who doesn’t change, doesn’t lie, doesn’t renege on promises, won’t leave, won’t run, won’t turn away even when you have violated His conscience.  If you chose the right building spot for the only house that you would ever build, the only place that your family would ever call “home” you would choose to build upon the bedrock.  You would choose the surface that would not be moved, swayed, liquified, flooded or shattered, you would build upon granite.  When all else fails you, your money, your friends, your health, job, time, self-esteem, character and skill, you would want one thing that remains when all else fades.  There is no one or no thing in this world that you can put “all” confidence, faith and trust upon besides the Lord God Almighty, found when you call upon Jesus Christ.

Go ahead, ask people what they think about absolute truth or one foundational constant in this world and you will hear a broad spectrum of response.  Answers like, money, education, religion, family, wind and yes even dogs, but each answer will be coupled with an insecure laugh.  As if the comedy somehow makes their tentative position amenable.  People don’t like being insecure, they want to have something that will not waver upon which to erect their spiritual home and to which they may attach their spiritual confidence.  The unfortunate thing is that they have been spiritually malnourished, having been fed an unfulfilled diet of empty promises or they were never told the truth about God.  It is absolute irony that the solemnity and safety they so desperately crave stands waiting for their acceptance, yet they have been convinced that He either doesn’t exist or that to acquiesce to His sovereignty will somehow take the fun out of life.  Neither of these options holds any resemblance to truth.  They are both perpetrated or orchestrated lies to deny people satisfaction of the greatest craving in their hearts, a relationship with their creator.

The Lord God always comes through.  He never promises anything He doesn’t give, including when He tells us we will have troubles in this world, especially because we serve Him.  His truth is consistent, verifiable, measurable and reliable and what is better it can be taken on faith because of His credibility.  He will never mislead you, never deceive you and never betray you, nor will He ever make a fool out of you for your allegiance to His name.  He will never leave you alone in your sin, festering, rotting, secluding, hiding and harming yourself if you are His child, for He is the Good Shepherd, who will leave the ninety-nine to go and find that lost lamb.  There is nothing in this world worth entrusting my life, but God.  When all else fails and fades He will still be there with arms open wide to receive us.  In Christ I entrust my spirit to be hidden where only God can see.  Amen.

How do you know that He is Lord?  Was it a feeling, a sign, a willingness to accept the explanations handed down through history, telling of a Glorious God?  Did He show you mercy, maybe rescue from bondage or bad life experiences, showing you another way to live, a righteous path, an abundant life, filled with real people, smiles and if you were lucky, wisdom?  Did you see His face reflected by the muddy waters as they tortured a family for refusing to forsake Him?  Or have you yet to really know Him, hoping that the things you’ve heard and seen are true, that He really is the One True God?

What brings you to the Lord’s table, what makes you wait on His whisper at the foot of His Throne?  Is it knowledge of His Promises and reassurance through His Word and Hope firmly set in belief that He will do whatever He said that He would?  Do you go to a group of worshipers to find song, good feeling and food, rejoicing in a brief respite from the World’s weightiness?  Was there a cute guy there, you hoped to know, and maybe just maybe have one of those relationships where it is not all about money, cars and your job?  How were you introduced to Jesus, that polarizing authority, who separates man in to two groups, just by the mention of His name?  Did you meet Him in desperation or quiet reflection asking Him for forgiveness, redemption and acceptance?  Was it one of those humbling episodes where you realized that you couldn’t do it yourself and needed someone’s help to make it through this life on your way to the next?  Were there tears, first of passionate shame, agony and then quiet rejoicing, as the damn of your self-resolve gave way?  Or are you hopeful of that grand moment where you too can know surrender?

Has He created in you someone brand new?  A creature that you barely recognize, sharing very little resemblance to the man or woman you once were.  Has the Spirit of God indwelt you, transforming you internally, and those changes eventually so noticeable that they are visible on the surface of your character and life?  Do you feel drawn to His Word, not just searching for some unknown wisdom, but to spend time with the one who loves you more than any other?  Just to know Him, to see Him and perchance hear the brief quiet whispers sung to your heart?  Or are you seeking some vision, some emotional moment where the hair on your arms stands up?  Do the thoughts of miracles plague you?  Are you waiting to believe, held back by the doubt, praying desperately for the supernatural evidence that so many ponder and lack?  What if the only sign He ever shows is the moment He returns and looks in to each of our eyes, knowing who belongs to Him?

What do you cling to?  What in this life, whether material or relation provides the surety of fulfillment, purpose and absolute love?  Does anyone know everything about you and still claim you as their own?  Do the fruits of your labor sustain you, without decay, to refresh you when all your time, energy and food has gone?  What is it that upon which you depend?  What are you holding out for, maybe there is something greater than the God who upholds creation?  It all just seems a bit fragile to me, as if you are praying for second best, absolutely certain that you can never be at the head of the pack.  As for me I want God.  I know that I don’t deserve what He offers but I will accept with open arms, mind and heart, begging Him to show me that which I still lack.  There is nothing else on which to place my faith but the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, through Jesus Christ.  In Him I will place my trust, because He trusted me enough to offer me a way out of my self prescribed damnation and marriage to my sin.  That is good enough for me.  Jesus be praised for All His Glory.

Except that the Lord will cut these days short all of us, did you get that, even “the elect” would fall.  We cannot begin to comprehend the tumult facing humanity when the damn of God’s mercy breaks.  I viewed the sudden ferocity of a mud slide yesterday, tossing cars down the mountain side as if they were driftwood.  That picture struck me as what would happen to each of us if God chose not intervene in our coming tribulation.  People think He’s kidding, or even worse they have convinced themselves that a loving God would never subject humankind to judgment over something so trivial as sin.  Yet they spend all their time, assets and thinking trying to free themselves from the commensurate guilt accompanying that triviality.  They will choose any other option, however nonsensical, other than the unavoidable reality that God told us we would all be judged for our actions in this life, just to avoid a judgment that they claim not to believe in.

I for one am looking forward to the end of this sham, where we have the freedom to mock the God who gave us the breath with which to mock Him.  It all seems devoid of any character or class.  Because of rebellion at the center of my being, I will carry others to judgment with me all for the sake of saying, “I may be in Hades, but at least I didn’t follow a loving God into eternal life like the other suckers willing to believe in His Sacrificial Redemption”.  It is such a sad and selfish tale that I find it hard to even recount.  We all have the free will to choose, but I truly doubt that so many would chance rebellion if they reflected on the third chapter of the Book of John even for one hour amazes the sensitive conscience.  In a few short lines man is forced to reflect upon the overwhelming love of God for humanity.  There is not one of us who would be willing to sacrifice our son to buy back the life of one of our colleagues.  And even if there were those that would be willing to bear some type of grand sacrifice, they would only do it because they understand how much God loves us.

What is coming to this world should not be accepted without careful contemplation, it should not be taken lightly.  This world and all that remain upon it, will subjected to the greatest series of pressures and tests that will shatter resolve, dissolve foundation and uproot solemnity.  Nothing will stand in the path of the wake of God’s triumphant Glory.  He has warned of all that will quickly come to pass.  He has lain out the path to safety and bid all come aboard the ark of His Covenant with believers.  He has demonstrated His firmness with regard to unrepentant sin.  There will be no excuses.  There will be no bystanders.  There will only be the acquitted and the damned.  We can ask for forgiveness now or receive none later.  It is the tension of two opposites and the force of the attraction that has held us together through the ages will be released repelling us to separate destinies.  One with God and one without.  Praise be to the God who values us enough to provide us a way to escape that coming judgment.  His name is Jesus Christ, the “risen” Lord, seated at the right hand of the Father, destined to rule and reign all of creation for eternity without end.  Amen.

The elusive Spirit of God.  We don’t see Him, hear Him, feel Him and many times we don’t even think about Him.  Yet He is the most important part of this life or the next.  He knows us, conveys our unspoken prayers, counsels, guides, befriends, empowers, teaches and seals us for eternity.  He indwells us, acts through us, changes us, speaks to us and walks with us throughout our entire born again lives.  He was there before the beginning of the world, hovering over the waters of the deep and will be there when the world is remade.  He takes no credit, takes no prisoners, dispenses no judgment, suffers our folly and knows all there is to know about everything that has ever happened and will ever be.  He models for us that it is not enough to have a law based on letters but we must write the Spirit of that law upon our hearts in order to be true to the Word.

He knows our intentions, molds us to the Father’s Good Will and watches over us as we stumble toward eternity.  He is with me this moment and sees all of me, good, bad or indifferent.  Apart from Him I can do nothing, but through Him there is no impossibility.  I am filled with His knowledge, faith, trust, wisdom, righteousness and truth.  Not of my own measure but as a gift from the Father who loves us.  I am never alone.  I cannot be alone.  My feelings, thoughts, reasoning and fears all pale and pay homage to His realness.  He is the only substantial thing in my life of vapor.  Without His shield I would be prey for the roaming lion seeking my destruction.  With Him I am invincible, something greater than perishable flesh, a man of Spirit.

Holy Spirit of God, thank you for coming and residing in my life.  I do not deserve You, care for You, Praise You, recognize You or follow You, in fact the times I most consider You are those repentant moments when I realize I have grieved You.  Forgive me Father for taking so lightly the treasure of Your indwelling Spirit.  Make me ever conscious of the Living God inside of me.  Allow me to do the things for which You have designed me.  Bless You for all Your Righteousness, Faith and Truth.  Speak to those around me of Your Gospel, lead them to abundant life now and eternity with You in the next.  Teach us those things which are beyond our own revelation.  Bring us the knowledge of the Truth.  Inscribe Your name upon our hearts, so that we may be seen as God’s no matter where we go.  Praise You Father for Your Glorious and Powerful Spirit.  Amen.

Maintaining a level of, dare I say zealousy, over time is the most difficult part of faith.  It has been easy to manufacturer fervor in the short term when threatened by momentary stresses, but continuance in dedicated worship, prayer, praise and practice is arduous.  I somehow feel as if this is something which falls in to the realm of the unachievable for man, that maybe it is the Spirit of God which gives us the ability to sustain.  Lord, am I meant to stumble so often?  I appear to be walking on level ground with solid footing and good light yet I trip on every speck of dust, is that even possible?  Must my faith be so paltry that it cowers at every unknown turn, each moment of darkness or thunder?  My inability to get this walk right astounds and confounds me.

You cannot be impressed with what you’ve seen Lord.  Lack of humility, apparent lethargy to learning, insufficient discipline and a general desire to depart from Wisdom’s Call at every opportunity must grieve you continuously.  That is probably the only thing I have an endurance for is messing up, it is clear I can do that in perpetuity.  Thanks be to God that I cannot save myself for I was damned from the outset if that was all that was available to me.  I see now that each time I thought myself up to the task I was in fact deluded by my own prideful urgings.  Lord, I am so grateful that you have never left me, I know that you love me, thank you for not doing so based upon my own self worth, for mine is in short supply.  Sometimes I believe myself to be the Christian who demonstrates lessens to the world around me not by being salt and light but through sloppy instruction in the world of what “not” to do.

Help me to once again right my ship Lord, before I am again cast overboard.  Teach me to control this viper of a tongue.  Let me bail the water from my bilge and learn to keep my vessel warm, safe and dry under the shelter of your grace through dependence and adherence to Your Word.  I cannot imagine how You have been able to use me in such a state of continual disrepair.  I do know that I am Yours for the trials, tests and opportunities to minister arrive regularly and I am so grateful for the chance to make a difference for Your Glory.  Shape me Father into a worthy container, appropriate for the Water of Life.  Let me feed Your sheep with food that You have provided.  Give me words of encouragement and hugs of endearment with which to comfort them.  Let me be a good example for Christ, so that some are drawn to the cross instead of repelled by my poor witness and character poverty.  Forgive me for falling short time and again.  Praise Your Name Father, let me be like Your Son, Jesus who is Worthy to Open up the Seals on the fate of mankind.  Amen.

Beguiled, tricked in by flattery, deluded by the lies.  Left holding emptiness and all that falsehood buys.  Wondering which road to take based solely on my wiles.  Standing in delirium while the accuser sits and smiles.  Praise Almighty God for this that I’ve never been alone.  I may have made a mess of things but He is still upon the throne.  Backsliding into misery I’ve left safety, love and truth.  Seeking some fulfillment in my wisdom absent youth.  But true to all His Promises, He never let me go.  Though I’ve missed out on many blessings, His answer isn’t no.  So I called upon His name on my face in dust and mud.  And He washed away my filthy sin with His all redeeming Blood.  My life belongs to Jesus, all to Him I owe.  His Spirit lives within me allowing me to grow.  Some day I’ll sit and chat with Him about the things I have and haven’t done.  Then He’ll wipe my tears away and remind me that we’ve won.

Apart from Christ there is no fulfillment in this life only sensory stimulation.  Do not believe any voice, even those of angels seeking to lead you to any authority other than Almighty God.  Ridicule and suffering may come but they will be forgotten by the blessings of righteousness, truth and justification seen in the Face of Jesus Christ the King.  Amen.

Lord, how is it that I pick things up so quickly but rarely if ever seem to learn them?  How can a man be faced with unavoidable evidence that a system does not work yet remain dependent upon the hope that this scientifically disproved experiment will somehow rectify?  I am sorry for the frustration I cause Your Spirit, in grief, as I continue to cling to those things in my life that I emphatically know are desperate attempts in failure to either do the wrong thing or disobey the correct way You have provided.  It is that simple, yet so many claim the excuses of ambiguity, negligence, complication or obscurity.  Your Word is clear, simple, accurate, undeniable and frankly it works when applied to the human experiment.  I cannot claim any of these excuses because I have sufficient knowledge of Your Word to see my rebellious behavior and the areas where I wish to excuse away my actions.

Is that why men will not learn Your Word?

I am not struggling so much anymore, with measuring a mens rea of each man.  It is not my job to guess, predict, control or attempt to intuit any persons motivations, judgment is Yours and Yours alone.  It is so simple to match up everything that my senses define with the Truth in Your Word to see if they are consistent with what You want for us.  The difficulty for us has always been not then using that information to construct ritual to imprison those around us based upon there inability to adhere to Biblical construct.  Your Word shows me the error of “our” ways and the law provides a mirror by which to reflect upon my life choices.  I see so many that loathe themselves Lord.  It breaks my heart that they cannot leave that judgment up to the Just and Loving God.  The enemy ridicules them initially, then just sits back and laughs as they torture, brow bead and chastise themselves, in effect doing his work for him.  I beg you to open their eyes to their affiliation to You Father.  So that they can see that small piece inside themselves of the Majesty that created them.  Free them from the burden of self-judgment.

Father, I don’t know how to pray for things that seem impossible.  Give me Your boundless understanding.  Your Word declares that things are not impossible to those who believe.  I see this world breaking down, like trabecular bone, cell digenesis or machinery approaching obsolescence, let me not suffer from the apathy and helplessness that vision offers.  Let me reach more people than I am personally capable, surpassing my own capacity to declare Your Gospel in hopeful reliance upon Your Promises.  Give me Spirit’s ability to reach those who would flee Your coming judgment.  Make me a useful tool for Your Glory, free me from the dependence upon my own understanding.  For I was meant for Your Good and Achievable Glory in this life and the next.  Thank God I have been set free.  Praise You Father, we await Your Awesome, Expected and Imminent Appearing in Glory.  Amen.

In the beginning the light was in the heart of the Father and He sought to share it with those He loved.  Patience, in perpetuity knowing that all moments are the same and that choice and action are the only catalysts.  Grieved, by what would be done against His name the Spirit granted mercy.  Living in us to instruct the teachable, temper the wise, discipline the  wayward and direct the dedicated.  All from the love, the wish to share the light and the understanding that we would want to know our Father.  He paved the roads with solid stone, allowing those against Him to seed this solid way with obstacle, knowing that test produces character, relationship and hope.  Hope in our limited understanding of the light, knowing that even those things not yet seen are better than that which we have created.

Then the enemy cried foul, when we got to see and know the Light, through His Word and dedication to an invitation He had been telling us about for centuries.  Knowing that some would see His Glory and Love for us by the foreknowledge He shared.  Luck a strong predictor but not chance when each declaration was followed with precision.  Prophecy is God’s whisper of His coming, His existence and hope eternal.  Never alone, he nurtured, protected and shaped us even when deists believed Him removed from His creation, He still intervened.  Do you know this God who has waited for eternity to spend another eternity with us?

Let me tell them of Your Glory Father, let me not take the Gospel in vain to waiting ears only to have it trodden because of my faulty commitment.  Let this heart be true, filled with the brightest light shared with us to guide us back to Your presence.  I am tired of each failure, but know this to be irrelevant and useful at the same time.  Teaching me through conscience, yet somehow not my judgment as the Heart of Your Spirit shapes me to Your Good Pleasure.  This world a dichotomy of glory and upset, unfulfilling yet beautiful in its promise and reminder of Your Invite.  Grant me stay on the path, never turning away from the Light that has always been sufficient.  Let my own eye be clear and my own heart be true, leading me back to You, my destination.  Shared eternity.  Bless Your Holy Name King Jesus.

I am a child, stepping away from my Father briefly testing my legs, a bit wobbly but able to stand.  He gives me that confidence to overcome fear, looking back I see that He is there with arms extended waiting to catch me when I’ve fallen.  Just let me lose sight of Him for a moment and that panic ensues, where I either run to find Him or learn to depend upon my own abilities to walk through this life.  Where is that sweet spot of dependence upon God while maintaining a fair level of confidence in self?  Wow that is a difficult question.

We know that God wants us to mature, grow in faith and learn adult methods for dealing with problems, conflict, relationships and finances.  I do not believe that He ever wanted us to stop depending upon Him.  His Word is clear on relying upon Him instead of our own understanding, seeking shelter, peace and sustenance under His mighty outstretched wings.  How do you find that balance where each step may be taken upon your own volition but maintaining a clear line of sight upon Jesus to guide, correct and discipline each of your actions?  I think this is each Man’s struggle in this world, and that God purposely constructed it for that reasoning.  For each day I am tempted to follow my own or some other voice’s direction, thinking haphazardly that I have mastered this life, but with self-reliance comes accountability for misstep.  Can I blame God one iota if in fact I have walked foolishly onto the mezzanine of Hades?

The enemy has been terribly effective in convincing humans that they only need the things of this world to fulfill their yearnings.  Our understanding of Biblical Doctrine is minimal, no wonder take such egregious reactive footfalls when confronted with conflict, we possess not the wisdom and authority to reason appropriately.  The closer that I get to God the closer I want to be to God.  It is falsehood that a man who depends on God is weak, this is travesty.  For mankind has been sold a bundle of lies vended by the father of lies.  Every man that I know who has surrendered to Jesus and is fully dependent on the Holy Spirit’s direction to bring Glory to God possesses a strength incomprehensible to misguided man.  They are children looking into nuclear physics not understanding the complexity of its architecture.  Things are not always what they appear or as the vendor of worldly fulfillment depicts them.  There are greater things than what may be achieved in this life, but the belief and actions of this life dictate the access to that greater universe.

Father let me be fully dependent upon You for and in all things.  Although I find confidence in my ability to stand against the wiles of the enemy let me never forget what would happen if You took Your hand of blessing from my head for even one moment.  Let me draw ever closer to You, Your Word, Wisdom and Truth.  Let folly fall away and foolish pride lose its claim upon my heart.  I am Yours.  Teach me, lead me and discipline me to Your Glory.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.