Paul McCartney wrote of a blackbird singing in the dead of night; Paul, the apostle sang with Silas in jail at night and David played the harp for troubled Saul. “…I sing because I’m free, His eye is on this sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Have you ever sung a song in a dark time? “The whip-poor-will is a nocturnal bird. This means it wakes at night and sleeps during the day. It sings loudly at dusk.” “Thrushes are famous for their singing ability, but many people who appreciate bird song consider the hermit thrush to have the best song of all birds. It often sings in the late evening or at night.” “In cities, birds sometimes sing at night during the breeding season. …This was possibly because the birds confused the high levels of artificial light with sunrise. Other research in the UK on European robins showed a…
Category: <span>Personal God</span>
“Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” “Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” “Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to Him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Jesus questioned Simon Peter about his love for Him using the Greek word for love, “agape.” Simon responded with another Greek word, “phileo.” This happened twice but the third time Jesus led with “phileo.” Peter recoiled at the third inquiry, but assured Jesus of his “phileo” love for…
“Drug addiction is another possible effect of powerlessness.” “The basis of addiction is ‘a lot of weakness’ and ‘a blocked anger.’” “The weakness takes the form of ‘I can’t meet the demands of my family.’ ‘I can’t get a job,’ ‘I am sexually impotent,’ ‘I am a no person.’” “The anger takes the form of the addict’s revenge upon his family and the world for forcing him into this painful position of powerlessness.” “The heroin wipes away all the discomfort of perpetually feeling weak.” “No more inferiority, no more worry about being a failure in the working world, no more fear of being a coward in battle, no more disappointing one’s parents — all of these oppressive feelings evaporate.” Rollo May from his book, “Power and Innocence.” The 70’s were the experiential background for Dr. May’s observations. Feelings of being “no person” and anger toward family were the familiar tune…
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? — shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39 Friends, we all, as sheep have gone astray, all to our own way, but God has laid on Christ the iniquity of us all. As humans we go astray like sheep go astray, we drift, we wander, we fall…
“…what is capable of strength must be made strong. This is the Divine Law throughout all of life…” The Expositors Bible., “The world is ‘a vale of soul making,’ a great sculptors shop, and we are the statues.” “…the statues must endure many blows of the chisel and be hardened in the fire.” “This is not optional.” “…without it we have no face with which to face God.” Kreeft quotes C.S.Lewis from one of his allegorical books, “How can we meet the gods face to face till we have faces?” “That is the meaning of life: getting a face, becoming real…” Peter Kreeft. A person acquires a face? “Aaron, the high priest, went into the Holy of Holies once a year, he had to burn incense on the coals coming out from the outer altar so that he couldn’t see the mercy seat. He had to look up, because he wasn’t…
Are you walkin with God my friend, are you walkin with God? Are you holdin the rope so tight, are you walkin in light? Or awaitin some sign, awaitin so dumb? Avoidin His blessedness, eatin the crumb? Are you walkin with God my friend, are you walkin with God? Are you walkin in love, like God above? Are you walkin The Spirit way, in comfort’s Dove? or walkin the hum, of the devil drum? Are you walkin with God my friend, are you walkin with God? Are you walkin with acuracy, atop that wall? Are you walkin, steps ordered, follow’n the Word? or random sloth with fuzzy thought, and mostly bored? Are you walkin with God my friend, are you walkin with God? Are you walkin the valley, or high-handed fraud? Are you finding His presence, ever so near? or running half-maddened, to far reaching career? Are you walkin with God my…
“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” Job 38:1-2 “How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?” Psalm 13:2 “O my God, my soul is cast down within me:” Psalm 42:6 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” Psalm 42:6 “lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death — hope thou in God.” There are four characteristics of a person who hides in their self counsel. First, they live in self-preservation. Secondly, a person who is hiding in Adam lives in self-defense mechanisms. The third characteristic is self-absorption. Fourth, self-occupation According to Dr. Carl H. Stevens, founder of Greater Grace Church in Baltimore Md. these 4 characteristics progress in the self-counseled soul. The self-absorbed become distracted and blinded to God’s viewpoint and…
“The most likely theory is that Christmas trees started with medieval plays. Dramas depicting biblical themes began as part of the church’s worship, but by the late Middle Ages, they had become rowdy, imaginative performances dominated by laypeople and taking place in the open air. The plays celebrating the Nativity were linked to the story of creation—in part because Christmas Eve was also considered the feast day of Adam and Eve. Thus, as part of the play for that day, the Garden of Eden was symbolized by a “paradise tree” hung with fruit.” “These plays were banned in many places in the 16th century, and people perhaps began to set up “paradise trees” in their homes to compensate for the public celebration they could no longer enjoy. The earliest Christmas trees (or evergreen branches) used in homes were referred to as “paradises.” They were often hung with round…
Common sense can cure some depression but folks who renege at receiving God’s grace may be the source of their own problem. Common sense often requires no spiritual insight, and unchristian men and women may handle their depression by simple coping. They understand things like “no sense crying over spilled milk.” Here are some more common sense sayings: “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.” Edmund Burke blrainyquote.com “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.” brainyquote.com How could these men know these things? Martyn Lloyd Jones said this, “Christianity is common sense and much more, but it includes common sense.” He goes on: “Let us then lay this down as a principle…We must never for a second worry about anything that cannot be affected or changed by us…It is a waste of energy…if you can…
The Book of Job teaches us some interesting phenomena about the ways of men. “The tendency to conflate, (blend), poverty with other social issues such as unemployment, welfare receipt or substance abuse, or to uncritically cite these conditions as explanations of poverty, is tied up with the tendency to portray poverty as a problem created by those experiencing it. .” From jrf.org.uk “… those who deviate are seen as the source of trouble. The obvious question observers ask is, why do these people deviate from norms? Because most people view themselves as law abiding, they feel those who deviate do so because of some kind of unusual circumstances: accidents, illness, personal defect, character flaw, or maladjustment… In other words, the deviant is the cause of his or her own problem.” Borrowed from “the sociological approach to social problems—Russ Long” I guess we must talk of this phenomena. If a person falls to chance or…