Some folks are sane, others insane. Lined up on one side of the field are health, healthy mind and heart, single-eyed, balanced, and whole. On the other team; divided, double-minded, sick, unbalanced and ignorant are the terms. “Holiness” for man speaks of set-apart-to-God; the other guys can be referred to as “profane.” This second term meant originally, “outside the temple.” The Hebrew brings out these definitions also: “exposed, common, wounded, break a word, dissolve.” Ephesians 2:14-15 teaches: “For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” “He” is Jesus and His Peace creates a buffer of protection for the soul against internal division. What was the middle wall? Enmity, the law of…
Category: <span>Personal God</span>
“The Lord cannot fully bless a man until He has first conquered him.” —The call to nearness enables the resistance of worldly temptation.” A.W. Tozer We surrender when conquered, we yield when broken, we capitulate when exhausted; we “cease from our own works.” Ironically, a faith begins here, and also a hope, and also love. As the project stalemates we find contentment with the Project Manager. His presence defines our new beginning; He-in-us becomes hope-of-glory. His nature in us describes love. Oddly enough, finding Him and losing me arrive simultaneously. My dreams dash, my visions smash, my passivity or enterprise collapses and burns. Will breaks now and resolve , conscience bears hampering , and emotions lose care. Rational explanations wanting, we concede. As children we wrestled with my Dad for fun. He would pin us down and cry out, “give up?” We would squirm only to be pinned again. “Give up?” Finally, we got tired, pinned us…
Abraham muffed the next one, big time —fooling around with Sarah’s handmaid, Hagar. He belittles God’s promise and miscalculates God’s ability to accomplish His promise with the true son, Isaac. One explanation would be; the works of God still seem vague to Abe, and not always so easy for him to discern. Not to defend Abe, but maybe when Sarah made the suggestion to reproduce a child with her handmaid, Abram could have thought, “God must work this way in a practical-sense.” Lets be real, Abraham was being schooled in an intricate-walk-with-God “faith” classroom. To state the obvious, God shows Himself not to the human eye. Abraham, not quite getting it yet, opens the story’s other side to view. I will concede, however, Abe’s sexual-manhood most likely encouraged the compromising. His motives were wrong. Because this was sin, God’s forgiveness remains the only remedy. So, for us a problem also…
We walk together with a person, Jesus. We get to, actually. He moves from place to place and from glory to glory. We go too, both ways. Together we go from strength to strength, faith to faith. Strength does not move to greater strength, but new strength. Faith also becomes new faith, not increased faith. We do not progress by resisting the resistance but by following on to know the Lord. We are not associates with Him, we are One. We go from Tom to Jesus, from diminishing glory to the new inward Hope of Glory We go together to the Father, by Him. The lighted path brightens more light, new illuminations all. First pales and dies, second resurrects renewed. First withholds, next gives; First decays, next sprouts. Originally we fail, new makes it work; First ends, next starts again. In the beginning it breaks, following reveals treasure; First wounds, then healing comes.…
We don’t often think of participating in our own existence, because a life easily perpetuates itself. Yes, this concept called “being,” started and continues while we remain passive; we learned this in Biology 101. Later we were told, IQ-wise, how deeply or sharply we could think, but not how to get better at it. Thinking aptitude presupposes a done deal, a gift, a genetic bent, so we were taught. Yea, DNA, genetics, and the will of our parents really get the full brunt of responsibility here. Would you agree? With the risk of being labeled “existential,” we must then consider why a human becomes anxious. A quote goes this way: “anxiety comes from not being able to know the world you are in, not being able to orient yourself in your existence —the reaction to the threat to values one identifies with his existence as a self.” Wow, can this…
In thoughtful reflection, I set aside some time, and contemplated how a friend may have been feeling. I suddenly wondered, does God ever do what I am now doing? Do our thoughts and feelings matter to God? Growing up as a child and then a young man, I don’t remember many times anybody asking me, “Tom, what do you think about this?” “What are your feelings? I remember only a few occasions of someone sincerely saying to me, “how are you doing?” In the Bible, when Jesus met a rich young ruler, it says that He loved him. Yes, though the man did not grasp Jesus’ message, Jesus loved him. When Peter didn’t understand Jesus’ feet washing ministry, Jesus, nevertheless, took time to identify with Peter’s bafflement. Then The Lord explained things. Jesus took the side of and defended an adulterer one day, causing quite a stir. I mused about…
Have you ever counseled the strong willed man? Not a chance of turning him. Bent, deeply bent, its like trying to lasso a rhino. Regardless, everything in a man’s heart will be on the table one day. For this cause man would be better off, by exposure to God’s Word, to keep a not so naive, but rather a “what’s in there” inventory. However, not on purpose he might have repressed the stuff right out of his “aware” ability. It might be a blind spot. No problem for God. Circumstances designed specifically for this cause will unearth it all, O unwelcome thought! To our advantage, when God performs this “suppressed frame uncovering” we can ascertain the force of the barbaric inner man; especially one lacking restraints —powerful. Like a dam let loose, it smashes walls and trees and banks. Raucously causing ruckus behind and before, no jars can contain it.…
He remains not aloof, but comes close – – – He waits not passively, but initiates – – –He continues not far, but next to me – – – not tomorrow, but now! His Love unrelenting, His presence shadowing – – –His face imposes, His heart exposes, pride non-existing, His transparency shines. His lowliness is obvious, meekness assuring, tenderness alluring, my confidence returning. His authority undaunted, His mercy defends me; His wisdom incalculable, His faith immeasurable. His actions miraculous, His penetration deepens; His power beyond scrutiny, His works accomplished, yes completely! His pardon all erasing, His salvation eternal, His compassion now cleanses, His graciousness never ending. “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give his only Son, to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing loss, the father turns his face away, as wounds which mar the chosen…
Love – that capacity which enables him to grasp the other human being in his very uniqueness Conscience – that capacity which empowers him to grasp the meaning of a situation in its very uniqueness. Both are intuitive capacities. The uniqueness envisaged by love refers to the unique possibilities the loved person may have – – – the uniqueness envisaged by conscience refers to a unique necessity, to a unique need one may have to meet. Vicktor Frankl Frankl has discovered something very interesting about love. He calls it a capacity or an ability to absorb, finding its fulfillment by tenderly embracing another human being in their very one-of-a-kindness. Frankl goes on to say that this one-of-a-kindness, envisioned by love, refers to the special potentials the loved person may have. We could say then that love always “identifies” with another. Frankel also mentions the conscience. It, too, owns capacity…
He that dwells in the secret place of the most high God, shall abide, under the shadow of the Almighty. And I Will Say of the Lord, he is my refuge, my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. Surely he will deliver me from the snare of the Fowler…” “I will abide in his tabernacle forever.” “Abide in Me, and I in you, and you shall bring forth much fruit, for without Me ye can do nothing. If you abide in Me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it will be done unto you. If you continue in My word, then you are a learner indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” The above are verses from the Bible that we may know well, and maybe have memorized. But what makes up the thing…