What am I going to do this year? The question runs In my mind In circles. The year is new and I just feel like I must make some resolutions, So let me think… what does a resolution mean? “The act of finding an answer or solution to a conflict, problem, etc.: an answer or solution to something. : the ability of a device to show an image clearly and with a lot of detail. Merriam-Webster I was encouraged by the definition but with dejection I mused, we can only look through a “glass darkly.” One day we will see God face to face, but not now; not this year; not in this lifetime. Nevertheless, I think I have hit on something. “The only thing you know Is that God knows what he’s doing.” “God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you who…
Category: <span>God’s Psychology</span>
Charles Spurgeon speaks of The Holy Spirit from his sermon, “The Comforter.” “I am in distress, And I want consolation. Some passer-by hears of my sorrow, and steps within, sits down and assays to cheer me; he speaks soothing words but he loves me not; he is a stranger; he knows me not at all; he is only come in to try his skill. And what is the consequence? His words run over me like oil on a slab of marble. They are like the pattering rain upon the rock; they do not break my grief; It stands unmoved as adamant, because he has no love for me.” “But let someone who loves me dear as his own life come and plead with me, then truly his words are music, They taste like honey. He knows the password of the doors of my heart, and my ear is attentive…
Through the cross of Christ we die to ourselves. He took us with Him to that death; He died ‘for’ us but also ‘as’ us. Our new life has co-crucifixion stamped all over it. Christ died, yea rather has risen and we with Him. We are risen unto eternal life. Eternal; have you thought of it? A life with no beginning and no ending resides in your being. It supersedes and replaces the mere natural life which has been corrupted by the deceitful lusts. That old life and old man are judged forever, and we know it, believe it and reckon it. Romans 6 teaches us. I am required to make the choice of living in the new, otherwise the old usurps and re-establishes itself. ‘Choices’ themselves reside in the new man; in the old I only have the illusion of free choice. I must take care to establish, feed,…
“In 165, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a devastating epidemic swept through the Roman Empire.” “…it was the first appearance of Smallpox in the west, Zinsser (1934). “But, whatever the actual disease, it was lethal. During the fifteen year duration of the epidemic, from a quarter to a third of the empire’s population died from it, including Marcus Aurelius himself.” ” Then in 251 a new and equally devastating epidemic again swept the empire, hitting the rural areas as hard as the cities.” “This time it may have been measles.” “The Rise of Christianity” Rodney Stark “…the role they, (the plagues), likely played in the decline of Rome was ignored by historians until modern times.” ” again and again, the forward march of Roman power and world organization was interrupted by the only force against which political genius and military valor were utterly helpless — epidemic disease.” Zinsser…
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. James 2:12 What is this perfect Law of Liberty?”…the genuine ability of a living creature to manifest its whole nature, to do and be itself — most unrestrainedly.” Where resides this Perfect Law of Liberty? “…the law of liberty is that which issues from the tendencies of a man’s own nature inwardly filled with God.” “Look at Christ, and see it in perfection. His was the freest life man that ever lived. Nothing could ever bind Him. He walked across old Jewish traditions, and they snapped like cobwebs.” Phillips Brooks, The Candle of the Lord. Likewise, the Spirit-filled believer looks into “the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein — ” (James 1:25). He keeps the free posture, he operates freely. “He has a little mirror in his soul that keeps reflecting the nature of…
“Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated.” wikipedia “The throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.” oxforddictionaries “the production of an image by or as if by a mirror — the action of bending or folding back.”merriam-webster Pastor Carl H. Stevens made an observation, “God’s nature reflects Divine light, but moral light is merely a reflection of the best human nature has to offer—created light, which has its beginning in human integrity.” So, it appears that a man reflects. The reflection bends or folds back from within a man, what consists of that man’s “identity.” Let’s look closer. “For as he (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:6 From Psychology Today, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema contends. “The organization of our brain sets us up for overthinking,” The…
We learn that we must not pre-Judge any man. We must be sensitive to their every neediness. A simple expression could be a cry for help — an affirmation could be a struggle to self-justify; a shout for acceptance, a groping for hope. A “sophisticated” person dares not ask for help, grace, our mercy; we must plead with them to not fear, to know they are safe in asking. Unmerited-acceptance is our sensitivity to them, enabling their humble, uninhibited beseeching to be loved — a free response. Similarly, we cannot run roughshod over God’s initiations to us. Like with men, sensitivity is required. God cannot penetrate through a mini-obstinate attitude. A mere quirk of resistance sends The Spirit awry. Our tiny peevings dismiss His healing, our entitlements quench the Spirit — betimes. God will not over-ride my emotion-driven free volition. But, we ask, do not our wounds cause instantaneous…
“Purge me with hyssop” –speaks the Psalmist in 51:7 “…and I shall be white as snow.” In Exodus 12:22 the hyssop is used at the first Passover to spread the blood around the door frames. In Leviticus 14:4-7 the hyssop and the blood are used in the ceremonial cleansing of the leper. In Numbers 19:1 hyssop is used for cleansing someone who has touched a dead body. Basically the hyssop branch is a means by which the blood of the sacrifice was transferred to the sinner.” applygodsword “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. …renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness …and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” Psalm 51 David asked for true applications in…
I’m learning “speed reading” by a self-taught course. Requirements include expanding peripheral vision since time wastes when eyes have to dart back and forth on the page. So, we focus, like a magnifying glass focuses light, on the exact center of the column, then we move down the page without losing our fire-point. I’m reading several books now, (5), and getting through them quickly; but do I know what I’m chewing on? Not yet. But, because we can theoretically read 3 times as fast, we can go over the same book 3 times in the same time frame which it took us to read it once — theoretically. After reading it two or three times we ought to get some understanding. What reads have my fire point found? “The Vanishing American Adult,” Ben Sasse; “Crisis of Responsibility,” David Bahnsen; “Jeremiah and Lamentations,”J. Vernon McGee; “The Book of Jeremiah,”Jerusalem Bible;…
Through many failures, unconditional love grows — Through much weakness this love slowly emerges — In our personal sins the nature of His love finds a manifestation — In our frequent besettings He showers us with love — In our embarrassments, His glory shines –in humiliations His strength empowers — In utter weakness, His enablement finds perfection in us — In disgrace we find His grace. Unconditional Love? We have heard of it. It’s absolute, unqualified, clean, complete, consummate, etc. etc His love is all-out — flat out — straight-out –love. His love is pure — perfect — profound — Love. His love is stark — clean — sheer — love. His Love is total — plumb — complete — love. Ezekiel 16:6-8 speaks of this love: “I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood…” “Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time…