For this reason, before the first Passover, God told Moses, “When I see the blood I will pass over you” (Exodus 12:13). The children of Israel were told to apply the blood of the passover lamb to top of the door and on the twodoorposts—a picture of the mind, emotions and will being cleansed.Now, that subjective part has a new opportunity because God doesn’t remember sins. More than that, God’s mercy takes care of theeffects of what other people have done. He removes the effects of all sin. His vicarious death, burial, and resurrection, with the Holy Spirit’spower of cleansing, all work together to purge me and take away the sin, plunging it forever into the sea of God’s forgetfulness. Dr Carl Stevens Ever notice how we have the ability to make words mean something shallow, deep, hollow, trite or weighty etc.? We can use our…
Category: <span>Liberty – Redemption</span>
I love the fields and streams and hills and valleys. On top, down below, in the water and in the grass. We revisit our childhood, perfumed memories, and the glory of it —a sense of awe and discovery, a sense of the mysterious, the secretive, the fantastic. What a gift God gave to us to take pleasure in! A small animal, a bird, a fish and a mushroom are enormous wonders, and so the more exotic frog, toad, bumble bee and spider. There is a time for it, a while, a season. I rode a horse in fear, (a pony really), a roller coaster in frantic. I drove a car, (stick shift notwithstanding), I manned a train, an airplane, and a floating boat. I saw the Grand Canyon and oceans too, I visited the granite dells, and Sedona, that new-age paradise. My curiosity stirred me to look and look further.…
God has begun a Project in us, are we available? Yes, God will perform the thing concerning us, no problem. Will we let Him? He’ll work the plan in faithfulness, will we faithfully cooperate? Explain? It’s easier to understand this relationship when we consider God’s ends for us. When we do, our part simply responds, responds, responds. God has marked out boundaries for a believer’s life, did you know that? What kind of boundaries? —boundaries set from God’s foreknowledge. For instance, He already knows beforehand the number of people we will meet in our whole life. He knows how much money we will make. He knows every decision we will encounter and the ultimate outcome of our choices. He knows how many times we will ignore our choices. He knows our thoughts afar off, and yes, He knows our name, and our wife and children too. So, with the advantage…
I wanna talk about forgiveness for our sins. I am driven to understand again remission of sins. I must apply again the removal of sin, and be clean once more. O blood, O blood of God, be here, my conscience purge; my mind and heart. Free me, blood of Christ, scour the depths, clear me O exempt my soul. Just as if I had never sinned, O justify me anew. Just as if I had never left, O draw me closer than before. I must be intimate, next to, in and around You; surround Ye me, O precious Savior. Advocate for me, O Jesus Christ the Righteous. I need to lawyer-up now, for despicable is my potential, and my will; an ugly enemy. The carnal mind hates God, I shame when mine appears. Deliver me from bloodguiltyness, if, only a minute peeve, it buds. It struggles for identity, it’s desperation…
“The man who refuses to judge, who neither agrees nor disagrees, who declares that there are no absolutes and believes that he escapes responsibility, is the man responsible for all the blood that is now spilled in the world. Reality is an absolute, existence is an absolute, a speck of dust is an absolute and so is a human life. Whether you live or die is an absolute. Whether you have a piece of bread or not , is an absolute. Whether you eat your bread or see it vanish into a looter’s stomach, is an absolute. There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other side is wrong, but the middle is always evil. The man who is wrong still retains some respect for truth, if only by accepting the responsibility of choice. But the man in the middle is the knave who blanks…
Melancholic people wander everywhere. Have you ever noticed? They’re bummed out, depressed, annoyed, and negatively paralyzed. Heartsick, heart-sore, low-spirited little people, emanate with sorrow, sadness, gloom and dole. Why and how is it this way? Well, the economy generally reeks these days, the physical body shows signs of freshly-created pain impositions, and the barometer can’t get above “extreme crap-ful,” to start. Daily life itself can discourage but also the culture runs ahead of us, hell bent with deceitful hopes aimed directly at these lost souls. Some “mysterious” force seems to want to perpetuate the misery into eternity. Man, how can folks continue to eat this diet, and have a smile still? Cosmos Diabolicus, you are an ugly, hateful, false god-system. The spreading of your filthy host-born emanations manifests itself plainly. The fooling days are over, now we have blatant hate-mongering, truth-twisting, God-abhorring in all phases of society. Frankly, we live…
Men epitomize peculiarity and exemplify complexity and have diverse shades, both dark and light and in between too. Who can know a man but God, and who can know the spirit in a man but God the Spirit? Man has tons more aptitude for creating than our “predecessors,” the fish and the ape. (Ha, ha, just kidding about our ancestry), of course; what can an animal really do? Animals can operate instinctually, which connects to their self-preserving nature. They sense danger, flee or attack, evoke camouflage. They procreate, feed their young. Some animals can learn conditioning-response to commands, but mostly when bribed ala food treats, or pleasures. I was watching the amazing dolphins swim, jump and more. I noticed they never refused the little fish prizes given after every feat of wonder. To their favor, dogs and pet grizzly bears will defend their human masters. After all, they know when…
Life has jagged edges, abrasive surfaces, serrated openings, and corrugated backs. These help us to grip something, but how hard? They dull a sharp knife and make it a saw, they wipe out a pattern, and make things hard to follow. These crinkled grooves wear away at a habit and move us toward change. O happy day, we might say, but not to dismay. If we are annoyed about the rough and tumble, could it be that we matriculate toward the smooth side? Whatta you mean? I mean; are you partial, comfort-bent toward the safe living zone ? We all admit this, because we all grossly underestimate how drastic a metamorphosis beckons its operation within us. We find ourselves thinking in tiny adjustments’ terms, while God determines shifting paradigms, and entire value-systems’ revamps. See, we must be born again, then our “born again” must emerge from its safe cocoon. We…
God may do a new thing and can we follow it? Maybe the lesson of the last 20 years ended and now we move on. Maybe, like Moses it has been 40 years. Can we flex? Let me tell you why we don’t really want to but nevertheless are able. I came to some conclusions while watching a video of a quadriplegic who loved God so much that every day just brought more desire for His presence. I sadly realized, watching, that what little suffering my life consisted of did the same, however, it didn’t really give me a desire for more of the suffering. I really don’t want to suffer anymore even though it did lead me closer to my Savior —this, a rude awakening. So, in suffering, two things may eventuate; one, we grow tired of the adversity; two, we accumulate great discipline for a life-style of pain,…
The mind is the most active part of the soul. It used to be like a wild horse, but now it is being restrained by the will. And the will is in cooperation with the spirit. The way to a spirit controlled soul comes about as follows: At the moment when the mind begins to think of questionable things and to wander, the first step of control is to discern, that is, to see the condition of the mind in the light of God. The second step is to drive out or cast aside such unhealthy thoughts. And the third step is to return to quietness in God’s presence. Watchman Nee If any man think that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought. A teachable and quiet spirit is of much value in the sight of God. Indeed, the meek will he teach, the humble will hear…