I do not know, nor do any of the day or the hour, but we all see the storm.  Its massive black clouds linger, edging in from the horizon of humanity.  Will we embrace the signs as we were told to prepare in service for His second coming, for His retrieval of His bride the Church?  Will I be found doing the work He set before me, fostering preparation for the harvest, watering, weeding, fertilizing and praying for the harvest?  When dark is coming we look for the light.  Will we each ask to find our lamps full of the fuel necessary to find our path through the blackest night if that be the point of His return?  Are we each of us sealed for eternity by the Earnest of our Salvation the Holy Spirit of God, marking us for His calling?  Do we find ourselves clear that His return must be soon because of the rapid state of advancing decay, corruption and penchant for war, pestilence and wickedness, found through God’s Creation?

Are we all that self-concerned that we will not do any preparation for eternity?  There is not a single one of us, having a work deadline, who would neglect preparation so that we might keep our jobs or foster our personal advancement.  There is not one of us, having a pregnant spouse who would ignore the necessary preparation of Fatherhood, responsibility and financial requirement.  There is not one of us who would forget to chop wood for winter, knowing that without it we would fail to survive the impending cold.  How then may we continue to excuse the greatest preparation in each of our lives, the return of God for the Church and His Coming Reign?  Perhaps we have given into the pressures of acceptance by this world, not wanting to be excluded, labeled or considered strange by them from whom we crave love?  Maybe we have failed to deliver a message of which we have been made courier, handler, herald and ambassador because the prices of exclusion and retribution?  Or perhaps we have simply delayed in our disobedience or disbelief, hoping that somehow someone from humanity would produce resolution for our impossible problems?  Whatever the cause none may ignore the coming storm for to do so is making the choice from which there is no recovery, denying the voice of the Holy Spirit upon each of our hearts.

Face the storm, whatever its fury, knowing that Christ said we are going to the other side together.  Do the work that He has placed upon each of us individually, remaining free from bitterness, corruption or remorse.  Rejoice for the Kingdom of God is here. Right here in each of our hearts willing to sacrifice for Him as He did for each of us.  Know the storm, face the storm and love the storm for its power and significance in announcing the imminent return of Christ.  Do not be found unaware, unprepared, unwilling or asleep, being left out in darkness of weeping and gnashing teeth.  I pray we awake as a combined a committed church to face the storm we all see soon coming.  In Jesus’ Name.

What do you see over that fence?  The other side broad, green and wide?  What is it that captures your eye?  Health, wealth, pliable dreams or are your esteems piqued by curiosity?  Do you petition God for their sort of happiness?  Is being like them freedom from being me?  Is there some place I would rather be, than in this moment, this struggle, this episode of a life I find unpleasant?  If not what is the allure of another man’s life?  Why must I look upon his wife, his car, home, position or fame, wanting the same?  Who then can I blame for this longing built into the scope of my wanton eye?  Am I dry, unfilled with joy and thankfulness for what I have been given?  Or is there purpose served in this comparison?  A purpose meant to bring positive change, to my language, my perspective, my heart?

May I truly, fully enjoy the taste so sweet of my own sustenance when wishing more, or other or none?  What have I done to the honor designed into my own existence?  Can I give glory to He who deserves every ounce, watt or ampere without acceptance, wonder and thanks.  Do I commit my own yearning to an expectant, constant pursuit of that which I do not have?  Or may I have it at all without delighting in its value?  What is the measure of a man except that which he constructs from the materials available?  The song he writes with melodies and harmonies in his head.  The world he feeds with part of his treasure.  The communities he invites with the grace within his heart.  The wrong he rights with sense of justice and sword hand.  Does it matter what I think of myself or what others believed me to be or am I a story to be reviewed, contemplated and remembered?

Is not love a delight in my circumstance, my things, gifts, talents treasure and friends?  May I truly love my wife without looking upon her in grace and wonder?  Will my children ever please me if they have not first been viewed as gifts for which I may never make remuneration?  Is this true of my salvation?  May its value never be realized without this manner of gratefulness and love?  May my Saviour never be truly served without an awe of His doing?  Why then my luring eye, scanning the horizon with relentless hunger for something other than what stands before me?  The wealth in my poverty is my poverty, for within it is the delight of my eternal purpose toward God.  Lord let my eye no longer wander.  Give me your Grace and Understanding and let me love them to the extent a man may love with a view of heaven within my heart and feet planted firmly upon the Solid Rock of Ages.  In Jesus’ Name.

Should we remain silent?  What are the repercussions of staying our defense of righteousness?  What if no one spoke up for the orphaned, raped, abused or starving?  Could we feasibly allow them to suffer, perhaps die and simply look the other way?  Why doesn’t that sit well with you?  You are all right in your circumstance, you need pay them no homage.  What is this thing internally that requires, demands, begs us protect the weak?  It is not a thing of evolution, for its mandate requires that only the strong survive that the weak are sacrificed on the altar of moving ahead.  Why then do even those who follow its unproven precepts still come to the aid of those incapable of self-defense?  Why then would we ever protect our children, knowing that to do so makes them potentially weaker?  These arguments confound reason yet reason is the only evidence atheists demand we use.

Why do those who will not consider God as an option for our origin cling to the principles of a homogeneous “force” or connecting universal energy?  Although they came to a belief in this binding force through reasoned power of the mind they cannot for a moment entertain that a mind greater than our own, could have reasoned our creation.  The concept of a Universal God does not present barrier or difficulty for reason.  What they cannot and must not discuss is the possibility that this Universal God would have the unmitigated gall to set guidelines for the creatures within that creation.  People do not have a problem with the concept of God, what they have heartburn over is that He has the sovereign authority to determine parameters for our behavior in this reality and set standards governing our destination in what follows this life.

Thus the homogeneous acceptance theory of a disinterested force presents little challenge to the mindset of them who seek to fulfill all whim or fantasy.  For accepting that an all encompassing energy exists does not challenge the principles of self-determinism.  However, the moment we perceive God as having the ability to make choices and directly participate in the outcome and direction of the human paradigm we somehow offend.  That is not reason but denial and self-service at the cost of reason.  I cannot prove to you that God exists nor can you prove to me that man was formed via primordial ooze.  Therefore, it is faith, belief and reason that dictate our adherence to moral guidelines.  What makes a man good if there is no good or bad only energetic exchange?  What causes you to come to the aid of injury, weakness or suffering, if it were merely energetic binding then there would be no internal prompting, no responsibility?  I know that God exists because I feel connected to you and I feel responsibility and respect for the life next to me.  For if we were simply products of chemical possibility I would let you die if you did not have the assets to overcome that death, for only the strong would be significant.

Would you think it evil for us to stand bye as a child died when we had the means to defend, protect or nurture it to health?  Then you too acknowledge the existence of an “interested God”.  I challenge you, not to debate my reason, but to simply acknowledge the possibility that He exists.  For if you find yourself denying that possibility, you are limiting your own capacity to argue from a reasoned position.  God exists, He cares and He wants us to love and watch out for each other, and coincidentally that is my natural state.  I love you and pray for your growth, strength, prosperity and understanding and that some day you are there to help that child desperately in need of your assistance.  Thank you Lord for the opportunity to love those you’ve created, in Jesus’ Name.

Can any human save me?  Am I going through life, the victim, decrying my predicament in hope that someone will come and set me free?  Do I hold aspirations to rectify my childhood shortfalls, depending upon the dream of a fatherly or motherly figure coming to my aid, showing me the love absent from my upbringing?  This yearning is not folly, but our childlike imagination of its resolution may be.

I cannot save you from your dilemma.  I may love you enough to provide relief or do my best to stave off your oppressors in hope that you find peace and rescue, but I cannot save you.  I couldn’t even save myself, when my situation seemed permanent, desperate and hopeless.  What I can do is be there for you with encouragement, counsel and intercessory prayer.  Prayer, my greatest asset, as my voice is heard and answered by the Creator of every universe.  Yes, I am incapable of providing you freedom, but I am not entirely impotent, for I know where you may find eternal peace, power and rest.  You my friend, need Jesus.

God, knew our worldly predicament would be inescapable through human means.  We cannot escape a prison of our own making.  Our plight required divine sacrifice for the price of our conviction was eternal separation from relationship with God.  Only He can set us free, only He has provided the path, albeit skinny leading to reconciliation with our Maker.  No I cannot save you, but I can show you where to meet the One who can, the Lord Jesus Christ who takes away the sins of the world.  Are you living in desperation, fear, inescapable pain of prison, loss or guilt?  There is only one door, one path, one way to finding peace and purpose.  His name is Jesus Christ.  He is waiting for your humility, repentance and belief.  He holds the keys to sin and death and gives them freely upon recognition of your trust.

I am here if you need someone to listen, but I will not lead you into misplaced belief and faith in man’s non-existent capacity to set you free.  Please consider me at your service for encouragement, love and prayer, but remember anything that I can offer is trumped by my desire to point you to the Wellspring of Eternal Life, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the World.  In His name I pray.

Irony that the situation provides perfect impetus for transformation, yet we crave escape from circumstance.  We want desperately for God to produce miracle and we are unwilling to stand in the fire long enough for His Timing to arrive.  When was the last time I appreciated the dynamism of my implausible scenario?  Have I ever understood the possibility built into my painful, desperate, unhappy circumstance?  Wouldn’t that be the miracle, loving and trusting God enough to simply stand, no matter the cost, within the scene into which I’ve been injected, loving, trusting, representing that trust?

We were meant to overcome this world, just as our Lord has already.  Isn’t overcoming viewing each other from eternal perspective and seeing God’s Grace in our testimony?  What has He done for you, not the prizes, the treasures, the rewards, but the wonderful pregnant circumstance into which He has placed you?  I am in awe of His Creative genius, endless love and perfect timing, in that each of us have been perfectly placed into the exact scenarios through which we will be precisely prepared to complete His Will for our lives.

How does this view flip perspective?  You mean that oppressive job, the trickle of love I receive and this poverty are intended?  Precisely.  it is through the struggle within my relationships, predicaments and surroundings that I am shaped in this training ground of life.  How better might that be achieved if I were to welcome each arduous moment, transforming my opinion to one of acceptance and appreciation?  My scarcity would then become opportunity to learn stewardship and gratefulness for plenty.  My marriage a wonderful platform for learning love, unselfish behavior and appreciation for the mechanisms of personal change.  The pressures of life and work a grand environment for building patience, creativity and reliance upon God’s faithfulness.

How then would I find my life unfulfilling when even the difficulties are viewed divinely?  How often would my courage be bolstered when I heard saints’ testimony describing these wondrous opportunities, provided before the beginning of time through the Grace of God?  This world may only thrash them who have personal expectations.  Would it change our lives at all if we were to forget the loud voice of human desire, the “I wants” and “I wishes” instead fully embracing what we have been given by God?  How would we differ as men and women if we finally surrendered to God’s wishes, living out the Word which lay beside our beds in the top drawer?  What if I embraced my circumstance as a gift, a present given me by God, intentionally and specifically designed to prepare me for the miracle of service for Him?  Don’t we want to see the miracle?  It only happens if we have the courage to stand, gratefully, patiently, dependently upon God’s timing.  If you look that is what the Word teaches.  My advice stop trying to escape, instead embrace, accept and appreciate your wonderful circumstance, trusting in God’ Wisdom, not your own desirous, misguided understanding.

Father give us the faith to wait for the miracle crafted within each of us.  Give us the strength of character necessary to love those who don’t deserve it and accept the shaping provided by our perfect circumstance.  Gird our loins with expectation, the expectation of your Miracles and Promises.  Make us not bitter in the pursuits but thankful for the opportunity to be shaped according to Your Intended Will for each of our lives.  In Jesus’ Name I pray.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.  Revelation 12:7-12

Victory causes uncontrollable Joy.  A joy, a wellspring of true emotional response in realization of freedom from our greatest oppressor.  Does your heart sing, with every ounce of internal abundance, exhibiting powerful harmonies, testimony to your salvation?  Have you set the enemy to flight, by God’s Word and overcome by the power of His Blood and the tranformative word of your testimony before all that hold witness?

Let me tell you about transformation.  We all know that there is something wrong in the churches.  We don’t see the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, the Power, the Authority of God in the pulpit, leading people to Christ and to their purpose.  Diverse critics have long theorized and come up with campaigns, programs, prayers and men centered logic to overcome this difficulty.  This very week I saw the method by which we may truly succeed in inviting God’s Holy Spirit back into the congregation.  We have a monthly men’s prayer breakfast, as simple thing where we eat, pray and the pastor preaches.  Yet, recently this normal event has been transformed by what we thought a simple revision.

Now, each month, a new man from the congregation gets up in the pulpit and preaches.  This has produced so many unintended and quite lovely consequences.  First the pastor has been changed, by the sight and knowledge that each man has the Holy Spirit living within him.  Each man has delivered a powerful message, each man in succession, becoming sharper at giving testimony, prayer and counsel.  This has also transformed the capacity of every man present to deliver their testimony.  It has returned the Holy Spirit’s leadership to an event that was traditionally another rote procedure.  We have reinvited the Holy Spirit into our church and His presence is transforming us from within.  No one knows where this will lead but we are effected by it, even to the point where those who are not right with God have stopped coming to the event.

This is the power of Christ, to overcome the enemy through His Blood having cleansed each of us from unrighteousness and prepared us to disciple.  Now it is our testimony of salvation that keeps him at bay.  Perhaps now we will learn what it means to not love our lives, even unto the death.  We are the victors, shouldn’t there be some evidence of that conquest?  Rejoice o Earth, for the Lord our God is still the only one in charge.  In Jesus’ Name.

How do you show concern for the people around you?  Does it cost you in any manner to remain conscious regarding the mental, physical, spiritual and situational circumstance of those within your acquaintance sphere?  Do you have to convince yourself to demonstrate authentic care for others?  Is it a struggle to find internal empathy for their poverty, hunger, illness or pride? Since I am connected to a living God, who lives inside of me, should I ever expect to experience this ominous disconnect from sympathy for brethren or those yet to accept His Grace?

We know the implications, yet we sit within our intentions never considering that God has left the building.  Jesus wept over Jerusalem, wanting so much to gather them together in safety and hope.  Have we forgotten His passion, empathy and zeal for salvation?  Shouldn’t this world break each and every heart given to Christ Jesus?  There will be a time when we will never shed tear for the decisions in this lifetime, but that day has not yet come.  For now, my tears should be shed with those in mourning, the dying, imprisoned, lost or sorrowed, for I belong to a merciful and mighty God.

Our God is the Living Lord.  He told Moses to call Him, “I AM”.  This erases any concept of Him being simply a unconcerned deity.  He does not simply try, attempt or perform works, He IS.  Therefore, though we ought to follow His footsteps in service, prayer and holiness we would be better served to Be, kind, gentle, long suffering, righteous, just, true, honest, patient, merciful, caring, encouraging, etc…..  These should not be acts perpetrated to alleviate, transform and nullify guilt or misbehavior in attempt to call ourselves Christians.  Christianity is an eternal state of being.  I do not somehow hope to become a Christian, I AM Christian, one with God through Jesus.  As such my actions will naturally reflect the internal state of being.  Though I will mature as I am transformed by God’s Holy Spirit, I will always be the same in relationship to God.  I AM His Son, something that requires no effort in realization.

Stop trying so darn hard to be something you can never become.  Just Be as God IS, leaving any remaining work to the one who is faithful and true to complete that which He first began in each of us.  I will never reach heaven for it is not a destination but a gift for believing on Jesus.  Being with God is part of my eternity, just as this life is obvious training for what comes hereafter.  What effects God’s emotion then should also ail me.  This world desperately needs Him and we ARE His designated messengers.  Being does not take work it just takes living in truth without concealment or denial.  So let us Be Christian instead of pleading indifference, inadequacy or excuse.  I pray for your strength, character and reason this and ever day from here throughout eternity.  In Jesus’ Name.

Long have I sought to consider myself in the group of people with no strife.  But why?  For it seems that this is just as the idle hope that nothing ever changes, rain doesn’t fall on parades and time stands still for them in bad health.  This is the life that the Lord has given me.  This is the family into which I have been born and raised.  These are the circumstances with which I must find my way to contentment.  If I truly trust God, having continually petitioned Him through prayer to change my situation and He in His Sovereign Authority has not, then I must assume that this is the crucible of my remaking.  If He isn’t changing it then I am the object of His intended transformation.

It provides me no benefit other than frustration and bad relation to fight against the determined winds of God’s erosive works.  Wanting my wife, my children, family, job, friends or finances to transform is a natural tendency within my self-determination.  However, I serve God’s Purpose and accepting this fact is the pivot point to my own transfiguration.  What if, I suddenly appreciated my Wife’s constructive comments as God ordained, intended for my polishing, improvement or rewire?  How would my life change if I saw ever opportunity from the perspective of its potential to bring me closer to God or reshape me toward His likeness?  How would my happiness quotient trend if I were to truly believe that this moment, this day, this situation is exactly what I need to get to where God wants me?

Just because I am challenged by my situation or seek the ease of comfortable living does not diminish the perfectible qualities of my predicament.  I must assume that God knows better than I ever will.  He gave me these people for my edification, this poverty or plenty for my betterment and this health so that I might glorify His Will through faith and testimony.  He also gave us this abominable status of a world that was intended for peace and perfection as a response to our inability to humble ourselves, believe and be set free from the sin of man’s historical disobedience.  We must assume, though His Word clearly corroborates that there is a time line by which time we must come to grips with this reality.  I recommend that we all accept those circumstances against which we have traditionally wasted our time, thought and energy in fruitless struggle.  This is the day that God has made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it.

I must then assume that my life will change significantly if I welcome the criticism of those whom love me, spend my wealth in a way that honors Him and steward my health, imagination and time to serve something other than my own self-honoring wishes.  Thank you Lord God for my circumstance, let me use it wisely through wisdom and new found perspective.  In Jesus’ Name.

Being afraid inhibits trusting God.  Shall I allow my doubt in God’s Sovereign authority and the grace He has given that I might petition Him in prayer, be replaced by anxiety, fear and apprehension?  The Lord did not give us the spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind.  If I am experiencing fear, unless it is an awe inspired reverence for God, then it is certainly not coming from God.

I either believe that God will answer my prayers or I don’t.  Fear of men, events and circumstance are all notable opportunities to either trust God or give into worldly worry.  Caveat requires acceptance that my prayers may not match God’s Plan, but that does not alleviate my responsibility to have faith in His promises, righteousness, truth, justice and mercy.  Especially, in those circumstances where God has an answer that differs from my requests in prayer.  Either I trust in God or I trust in something else.

When I am fearful, do you think God steps away from my situation?  Does He pull back His blessings of mercy and grace because I have given into instinct or impulse?  Did my Father leave me when I learned to ride a bike, went on my first date, took my first exam, spoke publicly for the first time or found the open water for my very first swim?  No, my worldly Father stood there with me, but stepped back so that I might know the effects of experience upon confidence leading to growth.

Fears are real to the man experiencing them, but they fall into the category of self-denial into which God directs us.  Certainly I will be afraid at times, but I must also recognize that these impulses do not come from God and subsequently deny their sovereignty in my walk.  As Paul said, I must capture the thought, for there was never a sin committed that was not first contemplated.  Fear may remain a thought and not cause harm, it is when we allow it to sponsor action that the danger begins.  Being aware of danger and running from them are both sponsored by the same stimuli, it is the action that differentiates their definition.

This is the greatest battle for most of us because the prize of victory is massive, a surrender to God’s Will and an equal increase in our measure of faith.  Will you experience fear, yes?  What you do with that stimuli will determine your character and change the topography of the land before you.  Facing fears does not get any easier, what increases is our trust in God’s Sovereign authority and promises to provide for us and protect us despite the fears, obstacles, demons or battles we will inevitably face.

Recognize your fears, observe and contemplate them but act only in faith upon an unchangeable God.  Rejoice in His ability to overcome all that we might fear or face.  Stand and know that God is fighting for you and will never sleep, leave or abandon your trials.  Be transformed by a renewing of your mind as the Bible directs.  Be strong, be aware and be ready.  In God We Trust, by the Mighty Name of Jesus.

Each of us effectively conceals, ignores, compartmentalizes or works through the pain of the lives into which we’ve been placed.  How would we view it differently if that pain, that specific revelation were the secret to our mortal efficacy?  Would we then embrace the challenges as direct conduits to and beyond victory?  Would we choose to remain in the lion’s den, the crucible or upon the field of battle, knowing it the path to overcoming this life?  Accepting this as truth is an epiphany for the man or woman looking for reason to trust God.  For if the pain is instrumental in our Kingdom accomplishment then all of it was designed for Divine purpose.

My instinct screams, run!  It is with every ounce of my faith that I stand against the insurmountable.  I cannot fight what I can neither see nor understand.  These enemies aligned against me are more than my equal, my only hope found in His covering confidence.  They tell me to feel sorry for myself and develop a cogent pity-gram to share at meetings, parties and convince all listeners of the unfair shuffle leading to a truly intolerable hand.  They must at all cost send me scurrying for empathy, instead of embracing my circumstances as Divine opportunity to demonstrate God’s Glory.  These things are my devices, my leverage, my challenges and opportunities uniquely developed to reveal His Face within me.  Why then would I seek pity for such grand gift?

Perspective can create or ruin heroes.  Each of us prefers victory, but can we never truly achieve it without enemy identification.  My enemies are not mortal, they are armed with despair, hate, illusion and untruth.  Without these enemies I am left with love, clarity and abundance.  These things considered I must now accept, enjoy and look forward to my person dilemma.  Its struggles, unique to my past, my talents and my specifically, peculiar, Kingdom purpose are the answer to my fulfillment.  That I was never loved or received no familial encouragement, was poor, naked, tired and alone clarifies my need for relationship with God.  My pain is a breadcrumb trail that ends at the foot of the cross.

It is all a wonderful experience, especially that pain which first led me to God.  None of us likes suffering, persecution and correction, but what if they are the best friends a man could ever possess?  Do not cry over your lives my friends.  Instead, measure your life’s difficulty as an exponential opportunity to truly do something wonderful through Christ.  Your hard childhood becomes journey full of stimuli to reach higher, changing your envy for the man with an easy life into pity for his loss.  Now the job is to humble yourself and pray, repenting of your self-pity and rejoicing in God’s Plan for your life well lived.

Thank you Lord Jesus for the gift of your perfect life to set us free for eternity.