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The House of Lies - 2014-06-12 22:35



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The House of Lies - 2014-06-12 22:35

There are millions of lies we are taught to believe in this world.  All of them have their basis in deserving. 

We deserve freedom.    We deserve to be wealthy.  We deserve healthy children.  We deserve to retire and enjoy our old age.  We deserve to be accepted by God when we die, after all he make us.  And among the most damaging is this:  We deserve to die peacefully, in our own bed and in our old age.

So when death comes unexpectedly the people are outraged.  Why are they upset?  Bereavement is expected.  But pointing blame on someone else, particularly at God, finds its roots at a lack of understanding and believing in lies.

Instead of wasting precious time and energy trying to stave off death, men would do far better to prepare.  Accidents happen.  Hearts stop beating.  Illness takes anyone it pleases.  And the murderous nature of man does not ask permission.

You would think men would give this serious consideration.  You would think they would turn to God in their youth and in their health.  But this is rarely the case.

More often people use their youth and their health to prepare for great wealth and longevity of life.  If they think of death it is because it happens to someone else.  Isn't this ironic?

God takes souls when it pleases him.  I have never heard of a case where he appeared to someone and asked permission.  When our turn comes it is often swift and utterly devastating.

I'm not highlighting anything new here.  Contrary to popular belief, death has been around for a long long time.  It is really good at what it does.  And it never says, "I'm sorry".

Those who died unreconciled to God, remain that way for eternity.  Now you may think that's rather pompous of me, to exclude so many worldly ideals.  What does it matter what you think?

God has sent His Son.  That very message has been around for a long long time.  You've likely heard of it.  And you've likely covered your ears. 

Do you really think your ignorance of the will of God in Christ will nullify your condemnation for eternity?  "I didn't know!"  Yes you did.  You simply chose not to acknowledge.  Pleasure seemed to be far more fun.





"Places Everyone!" - 2014-06-13 00:11

For some odd reason people do not consider their place in heaven.  I don't know what people believe concerning this.  For I cannot recall anyone ever speaking of it.

The Lord speaks of the rewards of heaven as being somewhat equal.  But there are places to be given.  There are honors to be handed out.

Some will be given great things.  Others will receive the barest of necessities.  There is a greatest and a least.

When the unsaved are judged we are told there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  They will perceive what is to be gained yet see nothing for themselves.  And the Lord speaks of surprises even among his people.

When many see what is received by those who have been diligent in the gospel, they will be their breast with regret.  Though they are given eternal life and the joy that accompanies such a gift,  their loss will be appreciable.  And they will know the fault is theirs.

Let this message Sink in.  Many will poo fa this as opinion.  Still many others will give this no consideration at all.  The sad thing is none of them will debate with me.

As a man sows, so shall he reap.  Those who join in the Battle of the cross are bound to receive a proper reward for their service.  Judge for yourself, what reward might there be for simply sitting on the sidelines and watching the blood flow?





The word - 2014-06-13 11:28

The Word is life.  The Word is joy.  The Word is hope and help.  How should those who have received any portion of all that keep it to themselves?

We moan and groan at the display of wickedness among men.  Have we discharge our duty to share what we know?



The world hates God because it is blind.  A simple fearless word to them can begin the opening of the eyes.  But if we keep our mouths shut, can we truly say we see?  If we live in fear have we appropriated grace?





The Indellible Message - 2014-06-14 05:15

No matter, if we sleep or wake, we are without excuse.  Every day and every night, God has left his faithful mark among us.

 

The trees remain. Even the dead of winter does not remove their witness.  The grass obeys our feet; bowing low at our passing.  The stars recede at the breaking of dawn; obeying the greater light's command to depart.  And the moon reflects the glory of the blazing Sun, regardless our perception.



 

We know wickedness first.  But all creation knows obedience first.  This is the witness God has created as a guide.  This is the witness God has left among us as a testimony to the work of man's hands.  Obedience to God remains.  Wickedness is fleeting.

 

The witness of God among us is firm and entrenched.  Though we tear it up to replace its beauty with the work of our own hands, we must continually fight to restrain its appearance.  Grass grows up in the cracks of our "beautiful" construction.  We must continually attack it to force it back.  Tiny trees grow against our will.  All the while, who perceives this battle as futile?



 

We ignore.  Perhaps we delight in perception.  We alienate God's powerful will among us.  Or we respect it.  Regardless, God IS.  His Holy command has left us the loudest possible message.  "I AM.  I will not be stopped or stifled.  Listen to Me and gain eternity.  Refuse and remain in death."







En Route! - 2014-06-14 06:39

The Holy Judgment of God in en route.  Even now, the days mark their path; destined to end standing before the Most High God.  All men are carried, regardless their knowledge, by the progress of every day.  The flesh does not perceive it.  But the soul knows.

 

Men dress the flesh in pleasure and flash to the eye.  Music is made to glorify what is rotting.  Politics adorn the work of man's hands.  Men clamor to build; they plot through the night to accomplish come the morning.   All the while, the judgment of God is approaching with deft and timely feet.



 

What needs to be done to wake the sleeping?  I cannot ask what you would have from us that you might consider this.  Loving sleep, men go about their days in oblivious fashion.  They crave what they can have today.  They give no consideration to what God demands of all.

 

So I ask the Lord, "What can I do that will wake the dead who, even now, walk in blindness".



 

What, indeed, can be done?  Shall the Lord appear again to testify in flesh?  Shall he be crucified again?  Was it not enough that such has been done among us?

 

Is the Gospel hidden?  Is the testimony of God's people shut up in a vault?  Is the message of all creation silent?  Is not desire among them, though they now use it to pervert themselves?



 

Though they do not perceive, God remains.  Truth remains in Him from everlasting to everlasting.  Both promises of condemnation and salvation remain prominent before Him, and will not relent.  Let them seek.  Let them ask.  Let them consider these things.

 

He has testified to the things of eternity.  He has left Holy blood to mingle with the dust under our feet.  Over the centuries the wind has blown the dust about.  Who's feet are blameless?  Who has not stepped on the blood of Christ?



 

The Holy Wind of God is spread abroad.  The strength of God among us searches hearts and minds, and does not sleep.  Who will render to God what is God's?  Who will bow now; lest they are forced to their knees on that Day?

 

The Judgement is coming quickly, steadily, and promised by He who can not lie.  Who will take heed and respond with speed?  Who will willingly enter the Holy Fire that is God, that his sins may find the mercy He offers?  Who will die today unreconciled?







Pleasing God - 2014-06-15 07:31

Let no brother or sister in Christ believe that it is impossible to please God.  In the sum of our salvation, there is no sacrifice we can make to save our souls, for all belongs to God.  Yes, this is true.  And Jesus, the Word of God, has made the sacrifice for all men; fulfilling the entire Law of God.  Yes, this is true.

 

But God pleases God.  Isn't that the gist of the Gospel?  And where God is, there is pleasure to God.  Isn't that true?  And when God moves, there is pleasure in the Holy Throne Room.  Isn't that true?  So when we learn to do the things of God willingly, doesn't that bring pleasure to God?  So how can one intelligently say, "It is impossible to please God?"



 

I understand the confusion.  Salvational pleasure cannot be brought about by any man; fulfilling the Holy Law of God is impossible for anyone who has sinned even once.  Salvation belongs to the One who is unblemished.  But the living in the Holy Spirit gives great pleasure to the One who bought us by His Holy Blood.

 

Let us not take the words of others without giving them lengthy consideration.  They may have understood before they spoke.  And what they spoke may be faultless.  But has our perception come in line with understanding?



 

A man may think that to say it is possible to please God leads to pompous and errant thoughts of self.  Thus many deny the possibility.  But do they do God a favor by beating any possible joy from their soul?  Aren't they trying to please God by denying that pleasing God is possible?

 

Why isn't it better to live in the freedom of fellowship with Jesus?  Why isn't it better to receive that Holy smile of pleasure?  Again, let us be careful what we include and disclude.







When? - 2014-06-16 14:12

When does the grace of God appear to a man in the form of forgiveness for his sins?

The very moment that man decides in his heart to humble himself before the Most High God, confess his sins and ask for mercy.

The question is not whether God delays.  The question is does the man believe.

God asks, "Do you want to be well".  Be ready to take up your mat and go home.







Missing the Marriage - 2014-06-17 12:27

I drove last night, thinking about the things that happened in my life.  Working over time lines and seeing stability or disrepair.  I saw far more of the latter then I did the former.

So I looked for the things that are good, that I might bring peace to my mind.  I found very few of them, but they did show the sovereign God working in my life.  So I took what peace I could, from what is true, and moved forward with an amazing thought.

My daughter was married in Oregon during my first year as a truck driver.  All I knew was to steer the truck; a complete and utter rookie.

I knew virtually nothing about logistics; how long will it take to get from point A to point B, when to take breaks, and when to drive like a madman.  So I relied very heavily on the dispatcher.

I let her know months ahead of time that my daughter would be married on a certain day.  The company was very friendly and assured me that I could be there.  Regardless that we drive the entire United  States, no matter where I was, I was sure she would direct me to Oregon in time.

As it worked out, that did not come to pass.  I found myself in Tennessee one week before the wedding.  Still, a week is a long time, so I did not panic.  I got the load to New Mexico.  There was no hope.  There was no fear.  I knew I was headed home.

Then I got a load to the east!  I don't remember where.  All I remember is that I did not take the load.  Instead I made my own load and headed into panic and rage.

I remember sending many messages, of rather crude intent, when I realized I could not make the wedding.  I needed to vent my rage.  To their credit, they got the message quickly.  They eventually got me to Oregon, two days after the wedding. 

The understanding of a few was that I did not want to attend.  Some uninformed minds decided I had stayed away on purpose.  My daughter, graciously, did not utter such things.  It was a strained time of visit.  And after three days, I went back out on the road.

In the reflection of this experience last night, I remembered how I felt.  I remembered the rage.  I remembered the lies that some embraced in regard to my integrity.  Then I perceived what is truer than I.

Aghast as I was at the loss of my daughter's wedding, I thought of a wedding that is far more precious.  The living God will give his one and only Son to a bride.  And there is nothing that can keep the sovereign God from attending.

She is my only daughter.  He is His only Son.  By the grace of God she will have married only once.  Is not grace that God will marry his Son once.  Divorce is an option among men for the sake of the hardness of their heart.  It is not so with the righteous God and his Holy Son.  The vow he makes will be literally eternal.

There were many who attended my daughter's wedding.  And they graciously related the experience to me as they could.  With pictures and words and a piece of cake, I swallowed hard to let my imagination be there.

Two questions come to mind in regard to this astounding revelation.  Who are those who are of the Bride of Christ?  They will marry him once for eternity.  And to be married to the Husband of joy and peace is unspeakable.  It is impossible that the threat of being a widow should ever enter their heart!

And the other thought is akin to the first.  Who are those who will not be married to the sovereign God's Son?  What rage they will feel!  For they were kept from that place by themselves.  They have decided that the pleasures of this world are far greater than to be married to the Holy Son of God. 

There will be no place of reminiscence.  They will never share in the glory that belongs to those who become the Bride of Christ.  There will be no pictures.  There will be no relating the experience.  And there will be no piece of cake for them to swallow hard. To whom should their anger be directed?  But how can any anger be righteous?

With these things in mind what is the comparison we might draw, between the suffering of this place and the joy of being Christ's bride?

Have we given all we have to gain what will never be taken away?  Do we truly count the sufferings of this place incomparable to that which is promised.  Or do we willingly make compromise and excuses that we will surely come to regret?



May God's will be done!  May He bless understanding to all his people.  May the sleeping eye come awake.  For many who now believe they will be of the Bride of Christ have fooled themselves to great loss.





Good Works Thief - 2014-06-17 16:18

There are those who steal the good works of others.  They simply put their name in the place of the originator.  They look for reward from those who are able to give.  And they are determined to excel at any cost.  By this they prove they are weak and useless.

There are of course victims to this crime.  The hard work they have done is wasted on those who do not work. 

There is a word for both the perpetrator and the victim.

To the perpetrator it is said, "Those who do not work will not eat."  You may eat well enough now, but there is a coming banquet from which you are not worthy to partake.  Either get busy and provide your own wealth, or humble yourself and accept your proper lowly position.

To the victim it is said, "Do good to those who hate you and spitefuly use you.  Bless them that they may receive.  If they are weak then bolster them with your strength.  Bless and do not curse.  Add to the Lord's great bounty so many good works that their theft is unnoticed."

May the name of the Lord God Almighty prosper in his Holy Son.  And may all the Lord's people reach out to receive the strength of Eternity.







Pontification - 2014-06-17 17:36

Pontificating is the art of telling other people what to do as if God has told you personally.  Unless someone is speaking to the Pope himself, it is generally used as a derogatory label.  And it is often used in conjunction with "self righteous".

Ok!


Perhaps Christians should get past the fear of this label.  Perhaps they ought to pontificate more often.  Why should we leave the glory of God within us to a man who wears a white robe and rides around in a bulletproof limousine?

I am not Afraid of such a label.  I can't help but take seriously the Lord's charge to spread the gospel and to teach.  Refer to such men as you will, such derogatory labels only incite them to more activity for the Lord.







Willing Darkness - 2014-06-18 09:05

I sad song for a happy throng

The world is no refuge.  Because the blazing glory of God is not evident, men put their trust in the darkness of this place.  But this darkness is no refuge.

They say,  "We will face Him when we leave, when we are compelled to appear."  And so they embrace the darkness which is embracing them even now.  A mutual love is exchanged from dark to dark. But this dark world is no refuge.

The Lord God Almighty shields his blazing glory from those who live on earth.  He has built this place of testing to test the hearts of men.  "Who will love Me; who will desire my ways?   Though they thrive in darkness, who will understand? 

They drink from what is wicked and their tongue does not alarm.  They stumble in the darkness but they do not ask for light.  All their days are toil against an enemy they cannot see.  So they make up fables and lies to cover their ignorance."  But the glory of God is not quenched.

He is from forever and will never cease to be.  Man is of 60 short years perhaps 100.  Thus the darkness consumes them and they think their life is royal.  They allow for truth that is no truth at all.

Then they leave this place of testing and are compelled to appear before the Most High God.  No preparation is made.  No time is found to honor he who lives forever.  No words of praise will come from their lips.  They will be silent and afraid in their shame.

They say they trust in Jesus to save them on that day.  But they do not honor the Holy One while they live in this place of testing.  They give no honor to the One of God's choosing.   How will they be received with honor?  They have lived as if his enemy.  How then shall they be received?

God is honored by the Holy, glorious throng.  It is man who detests to give praise to the God who has made them.  But honor will surely flow, despite their rebellious souls.

You wait in this place of darkness and cover the eyes of your soul.  "I will praise him when he calls for me.  Until then I will do whatever my heart desires.  I will adhere to the laws of this land.  I will be blameless among my brothers.  We will work together and create a peaceful place.  And the Lord will count us good men when He calls us to appear."

But you do not perceive that such testimony condemns you.  You do not know nor ask.  The Lord sees from his glorious throne.  He sees that you postpone your honor to him.  He sees that you desire the love of men more than the love of God.  What will he say when you are called to appear?  What testimony will you bear before him that you have loved him?





Is Jesus Trustworthy? - 2014-06-19 09:33

It is impossible for God to sin.  To sin is to deviate from perfection.  Such an action can only be done by anyone who is not God.  God himself is the standard of perfection forever (a redundant phrase for perfection and forever are synonymous).

There is one who decided perfection was too high to hold.  Both in word and deed, an accusation was made against God: "You demand too much of us.  You do not provide what is necessary for us to obey.  Therefore sin is our only alternative.  If not now, it is only a question of when."   (Isn't this what man is saying even today?   And by saying this aren't we questioning the trustworthiness of Christ?)

By this he shattered the love of God.  By this pride he spit in the face of the one who made him and granted him his place.  (You can read of his demise in Ezekiel chapter 28)

The result of that choice is chaos and death.  This "other" fell from glory and took one third of the angels with him. Anywhere you find the creatures who willingly fell from perfection, (or man who has never known perfection) you will find chaos and death.  They were banished from heaven and now make their place among us.

This is the reason for the decay of the world.  Wickedness was born long before the birth of the first man at the hands of God.  And it finds its display among our words in the temptation of Eve.

But the gospel tells us of One who cannot sin.  This One has been with the Holy Father from the very beginning, and will never deviate.

How do we know we can trust Jesus?  Because he has been tested and found faultless.  He has been with the Holy Father from the beginning.  Perfection has been the mark of his character.  Unlike "the other", the Lord Jesus has never questioned his Father's will, nor had pride in his glorious position.

This One who is from eternity, has lived among us in this place of testing; the place where the hearts of men are tested to see if they will love God or self. 

In obedience to his Father's desire, Jesus took on a body of flesh.  If you read the account of the gospel you will find him tested viciously in every possible way, yet it was found to be without fault.

Pride in his glory is the instrument of condemnation for the "other" who fell.  But no one will find pride in the Holy Lord Jesus, the Christ of God.  Instead we find him full of humility and obedience.  Even though he has been with the Father from the beginning.

Unlike the adversary of God, you will never find fault in the Son of God.  The test for "the other" was his life.  The pride of his own glory destroyed him.  But the test of the Son of God was in his death.  In this he arrived at a place "the other" could never hope to attain.

We can trust the Lord Jesus because he was beaten viciously by he who cannot be trusted, yet was found faultless.  Even man was incited to add his own blows to the Holy Son of God. 

He was sent to his creation to speak of the love and righteousness of God, and to endure the ultimate testing.  But instead of being received, he was horribly abused.  Still no pride rose up in him.  He submitted to their accusations, hatred, violence and rejection.  And by this his faithfulness to the father was proven.

By His love and righteousness God has granted him all power and strength and glory and honor.  "The other" will die but Christ lives on forever.

Yes you can trust the Lord Jesus! 





Love - 2014-06-20 07:59

How many books are written trying to describe that simple word?  The number is well into the billions.  If a man took time to read them all he would forfeit his time to love.  And no man will do that.  Even if all he loves is his self, he will make time for the one he loves. 

No one needs the opinions of others when it comes to love.  Every man is aware of the urgently viable power of love.  Even though there are those, we say, who are void of love.  We assess in error.  They love themselves or death.  Life, even though horribly deviant, is born of love.

Love is not open to opinion.  In this world we see shades of love because of the wickedness of man.  But love itself is pure.  Love is not diluted or diminished because we don't understand it.  And love is not tarnished because we abuse the word.

Love is beyond common sense.  Love is beyond every other yearning we have.  It is a word that has its origin at the Holy Throne of God.  Love is from eternity and will never cease. And no man lives long enough to describe it in full.  It requires eternity to fully describe love.  It takes eternity because love is faultlessly eternal.

Love is something we believe.  For not one man is capable of a full description (Proven by the billions of books written).   If a man could write the full description he would no longer be a man.

What we do for love is part of our description.  And we keep on doing to describe what we know of love.  To turn a man away from a love for sin requires the infinite power of God.  This is why psychology is absolutely futile.  Psychology only diverts a perverse love to something less than perfect.

People love their babies.  A strong mother and father will give their life to protect the child they love.  Those who are void of love for others will give their life to protect their pleasures.  Love relentlessly demands attention! 

Love is not desire.  Perfect desire is born of perfect love and tempered with holy wisdom.  Men may refer to lust as love.  But this is desire born of love, yet void of wisdom.  Their debasement is summed up by saying, "Sex sells".  Love is not for sale.

God is fully love, he is the origin of love.  And not the love of man, as man describes it, but the perfect and irrevocable love of the Living God.  God's description of love is his Son, whom he gave into the hands of his enemy for the sake of love.

Jesus is purely love.  And he will never cease.  Therefore death has no hold on him.    Temptation could not bend him, even as it cannot bend love.  He is the very Living Word God uses to describe love.  By this the unity between the Father and the Son is forever.

Reject the Lord Jesus and you reject love.  Reject the Lord Jesus and you reject the Father. Reject the Lord Jesus and you keep your own tiny version of love to yourself. 

The love of man is not pure.  Therefore it cannot continue.  It is not eternal, therefore it will cease.  And the grave has every right to hold it forever.

May God have mercy on my attempt to speak of things far greater than the mind of man can grasp.   And may God have mercy on he who reads, that understanding may provoke love.





Eyes of the Soul - 2014-06-22 06:21

I wake this morning to remember that God IS.  Eternity is the "now".  A pastor once said to me, "This life is not a dress rehearsal."

Men think there will be a place where eternity begins for all men.  Some to own disgrace and punishment for the life they have willingly led.  Others to receive the completion of the promise of God to transform into perfection.  Truly, there is such a  place.

But is this place different; this place of testing and "Work"?  Is not the Glory of God among us?  Isn't that the meaning of Immanuel?  We wake to serve as servants of the Most High God through Jesus His Holy Son.  We have slept to hear in dreams the things of Heaven.  We have slept through the night to "see".

The soul is tied, till death, with the weakness of the flesh.  Which man can find the seam between his flesh and soul?  Blindness covers us in this place of flesh.  But faith has eyes for the soul to see.

Those who love wickedness, love wickedness.  They are relegated to the eyes of flesh.  But those whose eyes of faith are opened are relegated to eyes of faith.  I am not speaking of the faith of men; the faith that hopes without knowledge and does not know "The Way".   I am speaking of The Faith which is from the Glorious Throne of God through Jesus, His Christ.

Allow yourself to use the eyes given by Holy Grace.  How shall a man walk The Way without stumbling?  It is far to narrow for the flesh to continue in.  The wakened soul alone can walk The Way of God.

My eyes do not work very well.  One eye is far more powerful than the other.  One eye looks slightly up and outward from the other.  When I need to see clearly (not perceiving as vagaries; a meld between the two directions of vision), I close one eye and perceive without deviance.

So it is with the meld between soul and flesh.  Let us close our fleshly eyes by selecting the eyes of the soul.  Let us focus our intent on what is Holy and brings Glory to our Father in Heaven.

Bring Glory to The Son of God.  Bring joy to our brothers and sisters, who belong to the promised redemption.  Let us witness to the world by walking through this place with the eyes of the soul.  God has opened what was before sealed.  Let us use those eyes with deftness.  Let us walk in The Way.





Weariness - 2014-06-23 07:15

Why are you tired?  You are not tired from lack of sleep.  Your soul is weary and longing to belong.

You have spent all you have on enticements.   Yet you hope to find meaning for the next breath you take.

Sleep is what wears you out; that never ending sleep of ignorance.  You do not know the things that give men strength.  So you wear yourself out searching through things that cannot give peace.

What sleep you gain is for the body.  But the soul is near delirium for sleepless days and nights.

Worry consumes you, even though you smile and laugh.  When you cry there is no release; your tears become only futile vapor.  And when you ponder the greatest of things, you find no understanding.

You purpose in your heart: "I will embrace the highest of laws; righteousness shall become my habit.  I will do the things of eternity, then I will find peace." 

But the work is too great, habits too fleeting.   Soon what was gained is tarnished by weakness.  And no sleep has come to your soul.  You have only added more work to a weary soul.

Where then is rest?  Can any man tell you where it is found?  You search and ask and listen, but you hear no faithful sound.

Hear, my friend, I'll tell you.  The strength to live each day lives beyond impenetrable Mountains.  A craggy mount no man can climb, bars peaceful rest for your soul.  But he who lives enthroned above, will come to help you stand your ground.

Read the words of centuries past.  Let sobriety fill your ears.  Humility sees what pride cannot.  And gains that  comfort through the years.


__________________
"Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
    not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint."  (Isaiah 40)





Get Rich or Die Trying - 2014-06-24 10:23

Dear man:

The cute girl has become a nun.  With your mouth you say it is a good choice for her.  But with your heart you ridicule her ways.  She has removed herself from the pageantry of lust.  And now you must strike out her name from those you desire.  A great burden for the lust of young men.

A man has started going to church.  You call him to come attend your party.  But he says he has more important things to do.  With your lips you say he has become a good man.  But your heart looks forward to the joy of drunkenness.  And you are at a loss to explain this change in your friend.  You think you have lost him.

The world does not know, understand nor ask.  They are like a child whose friend has moved away.  All they know is that they will have to rearrange their days to maintain the pleasure they once had.

Young men go on adventures together.  To the water or to the mountains they seek out the joys of curiosity.  They speak together in peaceful places about the things of life.  Then one gets married leaving the others to themselves.

Such things are expected in the world.  Though his young friends don't appreciate their loss, they do understand.  They too are expected to marry someday.  So with that loss there is some knowledge and understanding and asking.

But when a man or woman retreats from this world to marry the sovereign God in Jesus, men consider it an anomaly.  I have heard many refer to the Lord's people as Jesus freaks. 

If the man had gone to Islam or become a Hindu or some other worldly religion, men seem to understand willingly.  Such religions base themselves in the teaching of men.  But Christianity bases itself in the teaching of God.  And men fail to be able to answer.

The world thinks it odd that they do not run into the flood of dissipation they once enjoyed.  Christians chace after the unseen with apparant abandon.   The world cannot possibly understand.  So it counts Christians as vile people.

But what the world misses is more important than what it has.  They live by the rule of this world which will be destroyed; a life built on perception of tangible things.  The people of the Lord live by the rule of heaven which is of eternity; the beautiful and incorruptible things of God.

I write this to the people of the world, to show them that Christians understand.  I find it curious that we understand you, for we are from you.  But you do not understand us, for you have never been from us.

We have moved to the place of life.  You continue to walk blindly in the place of death.  It would be a pleasure if you would even ask.  But you seal the door between us, giving yourself no edge toward life.  We care.

You fear losing the things you have been told are most important.  We testify that we too received the lie in regard to the world.  We testify that life in the Lord Jesus is the fullness of truth.  But you consider Christians misguided.   How curious that the lie becomes more important than the truth.  Ask yourself, which was here first, God or the world.

This is all I can do for you.  I continue to live as the Lord prescribes; by the life he gives me I testify to you.  I continue to listen to him and do what he says.  I write these things as often as I can find ways to tell you.  But in the end, the choice is yours to ask.

Those who live in the land you love will die.  They will not see eternal life.  Those who live with the Lord of love will live forever, though they must pass from this place in a death of the body.

The life you lead now is under your own rule.  You do not consider the rule of God to be important.  Yet you think you will be received for your honorable ways among men.  Or worse, you do not think about these things at all.

Any man may appeal to God, with earnest heart, and become a Christian.  I am not speaking of the "acceptable Christianity" of this world.  There is a distinct and vibrant difference my friend.

The Christian is taught, by the Lord Himself, to give up the things of this world and follow after the ways of Christ.  The world accepts going to church as the fullness of Christianity.  Therefore they are amazed at those who follow after what is true.

You do not ask but you are being told.  You do not seek but it comes to you everyday.  What will you do?





Are We Finished? - 2014-06-24 17:00

All of this place will disappear.   Nothing we have known will remain.  All of this creation will be blown away like a puff of smoke in a hurricane.

All the vain glories of this place, gone forever.  The names of the wicked, forgoten.  The places they have held by violence, removed.  The strength of men and the enticing beauty of women, wiped away forever.

Greed and malice, vanity and pomp, the glories of victory and the tears of defeat, financial gain and poverty, the difference between health and sickness, and all other things men now know, will never appear again.

The wailing of a perfect loss will take their place.  Unventable seething anger will rise up from some.  Blame will find no finger to point.  Fists of violence will find nothing on which to pound.

Loss is near.  Starless night is coming.  No moon to rise.  No dawn to break.  No friendly pets.  Not even the hope of death will remain.  Hell will open its mouth and receive all who have despised the Lord's love. 

For now they go about life as if these things were not true.  Ignorance is closer than a brother.  The lure of pleasure consumes them.  All for the sake of joy that never comes.

I consider my testimony in word and in deed.  Have I truly done all I can?  With tireless mind, I search with vigor.  The Lord has often heard the despair of my heart for the sake of the Lost.

So such things as this are written.  The laws of men obeyed.  The righteousness of Christ requested and given.  The wisdom of God hungered for in longing.

Have we done enough, my brothers and sisters in Christ?  Have we truly believed the extreme loss to come?  Have we crained our necks to listen for the promised wailing?  Truly, have we done all we can?


Eliza
(2014-07-01 14:23:40)


Good exhortation! I was reading Isaiah this morning and this verse struck me concerning the lost:
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, Burning with His anger, And His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, And His tongue like a devouring fire. 28 His breath is like an overflowing stream, Which reaches up to the neck, To sift the nations with the sieve of futility; And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people Causing them to err. Isaiah 30:27-28



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