Failure and success

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Is it okay to have failed in this world, recovered no gold, directed no wars, founded no schools having led no one to societal breakthrough?  What if each of my victories were meant to serve a King who most only recognized in moments of personal anguish?  How could I reconcile the difference between what the prom queen thought of my successes against how I knew I would be greeted in heaven?  What if no body knows the people I’ve coaxed back from the edge of disaster, having led them to the master so that they were eventually freed of life’s cruelest tricks of incarceration?  What if no one ever knew any good that I’ve done?  Even if I were the man who charged into every burning building to save those trapped by the flames, or the man who gave every dime to terminal children, having only enough time to protect the elderly or prevent mistreatment of innocent kids.  They would esteem me not, for according to the world my life would be viewed with no victory.  You see this is Christianity done right, done for His glory with no thought of self or story.  The price is failure by the world’s requirements.  Accepting what God gives, being content with His Will, exalting His Name and forgetting my own because He is the one on the throne.  This is a wonderful choice, that is why the blessings of overcoming are so grand.

I do not know how I may help you in your travails, quest or sufferings as you pass through this world, but I feel that I must.  I do not want anything of you but that moment of peaceful sigh or unfettered smile I receive when you’ve found rest in His shadow.  To them I have failed and I wish that I could say that there is no associative pain with their opinion.  That makes the choice worth making because there is a price, separation, loss of relationship, recognition and yes, pride.  For humility is the password to dominion.  They are missed, I wish that they could see the wisdom and fulfillment that the Lord offers each of us.  I am here to help, with no fee, thankful to be of any assistance in encouragement, planning, thought, recovery or hope.  That is my reward, knowing that I have faithfully served God and lovingly served you.

The world’s moving faster so many just want to stop and get off the ride, but there is no side line, no break and place of respite, but God.  I would love to explain the Gospel to you and have you choose the Lord, but, for me, it has never happened that way.  My chore has been the fighters, arguers, academics, haters and hopeless who pursue me in their arguments as if convincing me will somehow free them of their innate knowledge of God’s righteous judgment.  Many do find their way to the cross, and they sometimes thank me years later, but most just forget what I’ve told them and go on to live worldly pursuits.  Did I fail God by trying to reach them in love?  On the contrary, these are my greatest successes.  Perhaps, I will meet some of them on the other side of eternity, having made a decision for Christ, knowing at that moment that I had prevailed.  I will rejoice for Him, for them and delight in the approval of my King for a job well done.  My success is assured through His victory on the Cross.  How about yours?

Praise God for His Amazing Patience and Grace in Jesus Name.

 

 

 

 

 

Songs and dreams

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Thank you for turning to Him.  Thank you for believing when you’ve got no proof to show them when all they can do is mock His Holy Name. 

Thank you for staying the same, standing your ground, being loathe to run at each movement or sound.  Thank you for repeating all that you’ve heard, especially when they say you’re absurd.  Your faith came by hearing and hearing by the sound of His Word. 

Thank you for responding to the dream.  Staying calm when they forced you to scream, seeing hope in the Leader of this team, esteeming His name in a song or a prayer.  Knowing He’s there and willing to share, your song with those with ears to listen and hear, dispelling your fear, painting pictures so clear. 

He’s there at the end of this walk, waiting to welcome you home, to a place He prepared, where all truth lays bared and no one is scared.  Because the God of Creation declared, you would be spared for the Faith in His Word that you’ve shared. 

So quiet your heart through this night, though tomorrow may require a fight, walk it by faith not by sight, knowing you stand for what’s right.  And may that righteousness be applied to your account by our Savior who died, for the sake of all men, and the sin we decried, separated so wide, when we abide in Jesus Christ now living inside. 

What an amazing song each of us has to play, in our lives He rejoices each day, loving us that way, hoping we’ll stay on the path to which He showed us the Way.  May I pray in my song for you this glorious day?  It’s okay that I don’t have the right words to say for the Spirit knows the groans of my heart from end to the start and will convey them to God on my part.  

Thank you my God and my King for the songs and the dreams that you give.  Jesus You Live, Jesus You Live.

The Night Will Come

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Do you wish for me to whisper polite words of encouragement at all times, even those when fire is lapping at the hem of your garment or enemy forces are scouring the courtyard, searching for whom they might devour?  There will be times when my love for you requires, demands that I grab you by the scruff of your night shirt and bid you run to the woods for concealment.  Am I to restrict the appropriate demeanor or necessary force to awaken you from slumber to save your skin, just to respect some foolhardy, overly correct worldly brand of tolerance?  Look, the time of danger has either arrived or is marching, momentously toward us at breakneck speed.  There is no single thread of my spirit that would allow me to lie in complacence and watch you be overrun without warning.  I love you and just as in the military, compatriots, soldiers, brothers watch each others back.  Simply said, the time of preparation has not only come it is rapidly ebbing toward showtime.  If you must be angry with me for telling you the truth and shaking you from certain destruction, then I must accept your angst, with the knowledge that some day you will thank me in reflection.  So for now I say, either Run as you’ve never run before or stand in good courage knowing that the Lord your God shall prevail in the coming battle.

This is not a popular thing that I take upon myself as my duty prescribed by scripture.  I do not wish my name slandered, my family disturbed/threatened or the loss of friendship.  But when one smells fire it arouses internal mechanisms, when he sees the fire it calls for action, but when the crippling heat is felt upon ones skin there is no more time for standing in thought or indecision.  The time for action has arrived.

Act according to your belief.  What is that belief you say?  Well I must ask from whom do you gather wisdom.  Is it perhaps from a brief cable preacher bidding you send more money to buy you favor, providing twenty minutes of encouraging prattle that resembles Christianity.  Is it from a romance or fictional novel, maybe nightly news or worse yet council of the ungodly that bids you be scared but to do nothing with that fear?  Or have you sat in prayer, meditation and study with other believers, seeking the indwelling of God to fill you with Spirit and provide wisdom to calm the gathering storm?  Do you know what you believe and what you are meant to do with that belief?  If so, then do not expect me to stand idly, politely offering a cold drink on a hot summers day as the fire approaches our dwelling.  For I shall be the one who yanks you to attention and bids you man your position on the wall waiting for the dawn to arrive.  I am your friend and my love is real.  Do not ask me to be someone that you heard about in a movie.  I am real and I serve God and you, even when you wish it were not so.

Praise God, be patient, but be ready for whatever comes over that hill.  If I am wrong I will stand your derision, but if I am right then perhaps you will know how much I loved you when your lamp fires and we are ready for the Master’s Night Arrival.  Lord Jesus help us to be clear as the darkness approaches.

Take Care

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For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.  Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.  Moreover I will be careful to unsure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. 

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.  And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who brought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.  By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. 

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them in to chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but save Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)– then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.  They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. 

But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime.  They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls.  They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 

The Second Epistle of Peter 1-12 through 2-14 NKJV

  • Do not be negligent in your reminder of those things which God has made known for this life is short.
  • We do not follow fiction or fable, of these things remind yourself until the Holy Spirit fills your heart, for the Word of God is Holy Spirit delivered, not simply the interpreted soundings of men.
  • Beware of existing and coming false teachers who will blaspheme the Holy Spirit’s Word for their voluntary destruction is assured.
  • God has not changed and if He punished angels, cities of historical men by flood and fire then He will judge “all” of humanity especially those who foolishly speak ill of things they do not understand, corrupted by their own internal lusts.
  • Pity those who will be caught by their own unrighteous, but be aware they are among you and will corrupt those souls who are unstable in the faith.
  • Be aware of yourself and your surroundings.

Praise the Lord God for the Holy Spirit inspired direction leading us to and beyond the Cross where Jesus paid the price for all humanity.  Be free in forgiveness and faith.

He Alone

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I do not wish to comment on issues for which I have very little knowledge, understanding or wisdom.  However, the entire thing surrounding the enemy’s uprising confounds and confuses me for one simple reason, I do not wish to be God and I find it hard to imagine that anyone else would really want the job.  Having to constantly maintain gravity and the glue that binds all matter in systems, continually rectifying the mistakes, attitudes and calamities brought about by the created, without inevitably tiring of the entire thing and starting over, listening to every moan, whine, wish, shout or scream for help.  I just cannot imagine possessing the necessary ambition, ego or quest for authority to the point where it would be logical to challenge God.   Perhaps, the powers and principalities do not want God’s job at all, but would rather control everything that God has already created, without the burden and talent necessary for creation.  That presents another deception, for it is not that the enemy wishes to be God, but rather wishes to transmogrify everything into a lesser image.  Would they then in fact be like God if they never did the necessary, loving things intrinsic to the nature of a Creator.

The entire thing seems quite the waste of time to me, for, I would rather work with Him than against Him.  Where would the world be, I ask, if everyone were aligned with God, pulling in tandem to assist in realization of His glory in our lives?  Ah, I guess this is where many would call me foolish.  I do not wish to question the way of things, perhaps someone challenging the Lord has always been a sham, a non-starter, played out for humanities benefit so that we will forever be convinced of the ridiculousness of the idea.

It is written that all things serve the Lord our God.  Have we taken that as fact, even to point of disputing any enemy statement, declaration or argument that anyone other than God Himself, in fact, possesses any authority with regard to believers.  It is not that I must fear anyone else, rather it is that no one else has any authority to do anything against me but God, for not only did He create me but He also purchased my life with a price.  If in fact I do suffer any challenge, breakdown, loss, illness or damage, it is by His command or permission.  Therefore, I should fear only God and no other, though they be messengers of His judgment or will, they are only passing on His decision.  Is the hammer in fact responsible for my throbbing thumb.  Greed, avarice, hate, anger, lust and slander may not be used against a believer without the approval or allowance of God.  He has promised to never leave me or forsake me and though He may use things in this world to chasten, challenge, instruct and change me, it is all done because He knows better than me.  Thank God that He alone is God.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name I pray for peace in Jerusalem for all time.

Fear, the sign of imminent Hope

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Father the time of fear has arrived.  I see the bulk of humanity embracing negativity tortured by the burden of predictive circumstance.  Lord, this must be calm before the storm, a perfect time for people to cry out to God and receive forgiveness, hope and peace.  Pestilence is frightening, but we who take stock in the inerrant Word of the Gospel find peace in the foreknowledge of what must come.  War is devastating, even the rumor of clashes possibly involving nuclear armed nations rocks the stability of every global member.  We who hold to the Truth that is Jesus Christ take faith and peace in that we know these to be signs of God’s imminent return.  Financial loss raises the specter of homelessness or scrounging.  The four horsemen are being announced, the signs posted for all who have eyes and ears to hear to prepare, the time of choice is nearing completion.

Soon only those who walk by faith will have cause for hope and security, the rest will look to a charlatan for their sustenance.  Do not be caught by the greatest deception to be perpetrated in the history of mankind.  Place your hope, trust and faith in the Lord God Almighty, by accepting Jesus Christ, the savior of mankind.

Lord let us walk in joy, mindful of those who mourn, fight hysteria and worry.  Give us a Power in Spirit not just Word, such that Your Light is visible to all.  Let us walk into the hysteria, bringing peace and calm to the roiling seas.  Let us be of good courage, Knowing emphatically that Your Word is the only Truth.  Let us separate soul from Spirit with Your Powerful Word, forcing principalities to flee before Your Sovereign Command.  Give us a special understanding of hope, kindness and love so that we point them to Your Word as source of all abundance, blessing, hope and protection.  May they find peace in Your Shadow.  Praise Jesus Christ, King of Kings, every tongue confess and every knee shall bow in realization of His Name.

Because I said so

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Does my saying, “it’s okay” or “it’s not that bad” make my sin less burdensome, reducing its weight or gravity to something tolerable?  How many times have I run helter skelter over someone’s feelings, because it suited my mood or purpose at the time only to expect them to “be the better of us both” and forgive me right out, with rapid offer of apology?  Do I really get to have it that way, just because those Brothers and Sisters I reside with will assuredly give me pardon?  I am so sorry Father, for I know this is not how you’ve directed me to behave.  Please do not allow me to take forgiveness for granted or underestimate the power of true humility.  Please teach me to be gentle in advance so that I may not have offer apology, for right treatment of others, with love and kindness, requires no apology.  Lord forgive me as I forgive others and let me understand the blessing associated with forgiveness.

I so desire to look at life in the same, joyful yet conscious fashion.  There is so much for which my guilt has brought me into right thinking that I would have much preferred to have never undertaken.  Committing sin and then being sorry for it is so tiresome.  Lord I pray for sanctification and resemblance to Christ so that I no longer have to feel this agony of a guilty heart.  Do not let me condone behavior in myself or others which I know offends You or grieves Your Spirit.  Let me straightforward in loving kindness without departing from Your Will or commands.  Teach me the right boundaries between love, tolerance and repudiation.  Let me maintain the joy of being a child but lose those qualities of dishonesty, greed and self-concentration that lead to a demanding nature.  Let no tantrum, negative speech, malignancy, contempt or anger escape the restraining bridle of my lips.  Teach me to love without need for apology, to treasure forgiveness as a rarity.

Am I aiming too high, Father.  Must I stumble through this entire life as if with two left feet, tripping over, stepping upon and smashing the toes of so many unsuspecting brethren?  May I see some finesse in my twilight that has heretofore escaped my mastery.  I can see that it is something You are going to have to do, because it just seems to remain beyond my current understanding.   Forgive me for being so difficult to teach.  In Jesus Name.

Waiting

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The difference between positive and negative attitude is most often determined by our capacity to remain patient.  It is often a gradable measure of maturity.  As we grow older, grow in our faith and become less self interested it is notable that believers become increasingly more tolerant to the idea of “Waiting Upon God”.  Should we then expect that if we are not progressively becoming more patient in our faith that there is, indeed, something wrong or absent in our Christian walk?  I will not make a definitive pronouncement, but I would point you toward a review of all the heroes of the Bible to see that the common theme of their sustaining faith was a willingness to wait on the unfolding of God’s Will in their lives.  Waiting upon God is in effect a testimonial of our dependence upon His timing, His Will and a mature understanding that just because things don’t necessarily go our way, they may in fact be being used for the Good of the Father’s Plan.  Patience is one of the qualities of the Holy Spirit, and it is very difficult to master, that is why we need His help, encouragement and filling to achieve.

We are not children.  We must make an active choice in attitude in our determination on facing the daily challenges of this world.  I have yet to hear one person say that this world is going in a good direction, though some of my faithful Christian friends do agree that it is progressing perfectly on the road to God’s unfolding plan for humanity.  If things are not going as we wish them to go and one of our greatest challenges is that of establishing/developing commensurate patience necessary to waiting on God’s unfolding plan, then the challenge is quite clear.  We must collectively, as a body of believers work with each other to assist in the development of patient, positive waiting attitudes, “knowing” that God remains on the throne.  Remember this world looks upon us as a reflection of God upon this planet.  I am willing to bet that He would want us demonstrating a willingness to wait and depend upon His Will.

I love people.  I do however struggle with liking them when I see how poorly they behave or treat others.  Lord teach me to be more patient with people, understanding their human struggle.  Show me the way to demonstrate your love for them so that they begin to understand our great need for dependence upon the Holy Spirit.  Praise You Father for allowing me to go through this crucible of life.  I love You for shaping me and remaking me in Your image so that someday I might be free of my feet of clay.  I so look forward to tending the garden or taking care of those entrusted to my care.  Whatever job I am given I know that it has been specifically designed, prepared and is waiting for me.  Jesus Christ the redeemer, the savior, a name to praised in all the world.

The Light of Christ

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This is a faithful saying:  For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.  If we endure, We shall also reign with Him.  If we deny Him, He also will deny us.  If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.  NKJV 2 Timothy 2:11-14

Isn’t it great that no matter how well rested, prepared or talented I am I always eventually reach the limits of my own capacity to provide or execute?  If I were limitless in my own abilities I would never tap into the infinite authority, provision and endless strength of the Lord God.  Additionally, each time I do become empty, weary, negative or deflated, I am reminded not to reside in my own authority and resources.  I am also brought into immediately reflection regarding my motivations, whether self or God’s glory.  Again, God has designed his beloved in such a manner that we will naturally become dependent upon Him.  This brings me faith and peace, for even as I tire, I know that if I am pursuing His ends then He will “ALWAYS” provide the path and the means toward completion.  For thanks be the God, the world does not depend upon my righteousness, faith or endurance, but on that of the Rock of Ages.

So many people are tough on Peter for his failings and speaking blunders.  A lot of this was justified, but we owe to Peter’s failure the pain and reminder to never make that horrible mistake ourselves.  Peter’s thrice denial of Christ solidified the horror in our own hearts when confronted with our own disaffiliation.  Peter was passionate, and he may have been foolish, but he also went to his death, martyred for the name of God in Christ Jesus.  When next someone makes fun of Peter remind them of the faith he eventually demonstrated for the Lord.  The Lord warns us to be diligent and mindful less each of us fall when we think that we cannot.  Caution is fear tempered by wisdom.

I will endure because I want that more than anything, and I pray that God sustains me in the hour of my trial so that I remain a good steward of my blessings and challenges.  I will reign with Christ because that is what He promised, blessed to be an emissary of God.  I will endeavor to not be ashamed before God by reading, meditating, practicing and spreading the Righteous Word of Almighty God as He has commanded.  After all it is His authority, His life, His patience, His faithfulness, His truth and His sacrifice that governs my thinking and my actions.  Praise God at the top of my lungs to all in hearing’s distance.  Jesus is King of Kings.

Trust, hope and joy

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Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.  You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.  I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.  Psalm 4:6.5-8 NKJV

Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation.  Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray.  My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.  Psalm 5:1-3

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy because You defend them, Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.  For You, O Lord, will will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround as with a shield.  Psalm 5:11-12

Where did we discover the great things in life?  When did we know, each of us the satisfaction of being safe, knowing favor or safety in the eyes of worthy protectors or for that matter did we understand hope?  What happened to the man which experienced none of these motivating, foundational principles?  How do young women mature without hope, never knowing security or faith?  How are relationships possible without trust?  We all know the answers and dread the truth of it, for life without hope, trust and safety is war.

Did your parents watch over you, keeping you safe and assuring you that nothing would get passed their loving arms of protection?  What made them wish to show you this thing, what gave them the overwhelming desire to place your welfare above their own, even in the midst of true danger?  Why have they worked so hard to earn your trust?  Why does it hurt you so that they have not?  Where is hope born?  How do you know that the sun will rise tomorrow?  How is certainty founded in a body that only believes in evolving man?  My questions all point to God, their is no escaping the logic, the reality, the knowledge of his existence.  Not because I want to convince you of something that I believe, rather I wish for you to challenge everything I proclaim, because I know, just as God’s Word states, that every man knows the truth of God.  The problem is that so many have forgotten, having been provoked by absent love and trust or holding their hands over their ears in denial hoping to forget the pain of guilt accompanying sin.  The price is heavy, having given up hope, or trust and life lived without safety is ill conceived.

Why then should I have hope in God?  What makes me believe, No, better Know that He will be there to fulfill each of His promises?  Why would I spend a lifetime in prayer and worship of a God that I am merely guessing will demonstrate His love for me when the opportunity presents itself?  The answer for those of narrow faith or maybe even if you are reading and you don’t know Jesus, is that, He has proven it to me time and again.  He has taught me to trust, He has given me hope, He has shown me the contentment of feeling completely safe in His protecting arms.  God is not the God of dreams and wishes, like some djinn, wooden shrine or dancing nymph.  He shows up, not only when you are in dire need, but also in the everyday, in the success, in the quiet or in the devastation of loss.  The difference between any “religious” or “spiritual” person and a Christian is that we have a relationship with Almighty God, not just a chant, a golden lantern or an oracle, we connect with God.  We don’t just repeat some mantra to the waiting air, in hope that someone is there or put our foreheads on the ground facing east to suit the mandates of a capricious and uninvolved sovereign, who has never shown himself.  We serve a God who stepped into humanity and humbled himself, sacrificed himself for our salvation and lives on in each believer’s heart as His sanctuary.  Name me any other god in man’s history who gave his own life for creation?

I have hope because God showed me that I had cause to hope in Him.  I have trust because God showed me I could trust Him and taught me how to trust others.  I am safe because He stood over me in my nightmare and watched over my sleep until once again I could stand.  Without these things life will never be complete.  That alone is reason enough to cry out to God at this very moment.  Try it, you will be surprised when He answers, that is the greatest of joys.  Praise God in Jesus’ Name.