Change of mind, change of heart — the possibility of such must never forsake us. The eternal aspect of our nature allows it; there we fear not dying, for death is a thing past. The freshness of new possibilities invigorates our new and resurrected day. Can we discern the progression of being set-apart unto God, closer and closer we go, the depths of life shake us, but outcomes never disappoint us. James Whitcomb Riley writes “The Shower.” The landscape, like the awed face of a Child, Grew curiously blurred, a hush of death. Fell on the fields, and in the darkened wild, The zephyr held it’s breath. No wavering glamour-work of light and shade, Dappled the shimmering surface of the Brook: The frightened ripples in their ambuscade of willows thrilled and shook. The sullen day grew darker, and anon dim flashes of pent anger lit the sky: with rumbling wheels…
Healing at the Cross Posts
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 1 Corinthians 15:55-56 Have you ever begged God for His true heart concerning death and dying? I have, along with many who have lost beloved family and friends to death. I discovered something profound. ” 1 Corinthians 15:25 speaks loudly. “Then comes the end, when He (Jesus), shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under his feet.” “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death!” Death is an enemy to God. to be destroyed. Indeed it has been destroyed. 2 Timothy 1:10 gives us “… our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Wait a minute.…
When life is not fair: then I must leave the “fair/unfair” plane of existence. I must heighten my meager “fairness” concept to find God’s Spirit of life. I must accept my day’s wage of a penny, and realize that all get the same, “grace.” Kristen Butler said this “Sometimes you just need to talk to a four year old and an 84 year old to understand life again. powerofpositivity “If life is unfair with everyone, doesn’t that make life fair?” — Magaola Friends, accepting the unfairness of life — does that help us? I think rather that it breeds pessimism. No, our Father instead has asked us to climb into His wisdom and insight — to share with Him the deep meaning of the universe He created, and also later redeemed. The point of unfairness lies in our tainted, finite, partially blinded perspective — not in some seeming oversight of God. God…
“And my soul is removed far off from peace, I forgot prosperity And I said: ‘My strength is perished, and mine expectation from the Lord. Remember mine affliction and mine anguish, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.” Lamentations 3:17-21 JPS I have given much attention to my capacity to respond to truth. This capacity, can we call it hunger? — is not self perpetuated, or self taught. It requires action on the part of God. So, in the writer’s hopeless state, he reflects on God’s coming initiations, they are sure to restore hope. In Psalm 42 the writer exclaims “hope thou in God,” as he instructs his own soul. Micah the Prophet wrote these words, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; though I am fallen, I shall…
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. “ Romans 5:6 Expressly declares! “…while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ” Romans 5:8 “…when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” Romans 5:10 “Due time,” signifies the precise moment which eternity met time. John Gill tells us why: “…to illustrate the love of God to them, notwithstanding this their character and condition; and to show that the love of God to them was very early; it anteceded their conversion; it was before the death of Christ for them; yea, it was from everlasting: “… to express the freeness of it, and to make it appear, that it did not arise from any loveliness in them; or from any love in them to him; nor from any works of righteousness done by them, but from…
Let’s move from grace to graciousness. 1Peter 1:13 teaches, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Lets look closer: Wherefore . “Because of ‘the glorious free grace opened for Gentiles and Jews in Christ.’” Girding up. “…vivid metaphor for habit of the Orientals, who quickly gathered up their loose robes with a girdle when in a hurry or starting on a journey.” The loins, “Old word for the part of the body where the girdle was worn. A metaphor. “The believer is to have his mind (mental powers) collected and always ready for Christ’s coming. “Gather in the strength of your spirit.” A.T Robertson Mind, “Old word for the faculty of understanding, of seeing through a thing.” A.T. Robertson Be sober. “spiritual self-restraint, lest one be…
Let’s move from grace to graciousness. 1Peter 1:13 teaches, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Lets look closer: Wherefore . “Because of ‘the glorious free grace opened for Gentiles and Jews in Christ.’” Girding up. “…vivid metaphor for habit of the Orientals, who quickly gathered up their loose robes with a girdle when in a hurry or starting on a journey.” The loins, “Old word for the part of the body where the girdle was worn. A metaphor. “The believer is to have his mind (mental powers) collected and always ready for Christ’s coming. “Gather in the strength of your spirit.” A.T Robertson Mind, “Old word for the faculty of understanding, of seeing through a thing.” A.T. Robertson Be sober. “spiritual self-restraint, lest one be…
Science, traditions, myths, stories and of course, movies, and television create in a man fabrications of what exists truly — in many becoming their functional belief. Through these and more, Christians must navigate, forever exalting God’s Word to be their Word of truth, and then disseminating, discerning, ignoring, and approving — sometimes all day long! Frankly, we will do well to read, speak, meditate on, fellowship around, counsel, hear, teach and forsake not our yardstick for life, lest lies, partial truths, spins, twists and opinions deceive us. In his book, “Toward the Final Solution,” George L. Mosse writes about “A History of European Racism.” He relates to the birth of stereotypes — “In social psychology, a stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular category of people.” “It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. …for example, an expectation about the group’s…
2 Thessalonians 2:3 teaches: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…” “On May 17, 1863, Paris saw the opening of the Salon des Refusés, an exhibition of artworks that were rejected by the jury of the prestigious Paris Salon. It was the very first time the term avant garde, or avant-garde, was used in relations to the arts, and it marked the beginning of a cultural revolution. Renowned painters like Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet and Camille Pissaro, cast aside by the critics and the public for not being conservative to their taste, organized their own shows throughout the French capital, featuring now legendary paintings. Attracting thousands of visitors, these artists announced a certain kind of rebellion that would come to influence an entire century and a half of art movements and like-minded artists, despite the ongoing ridicule they received from…
Just went to my high school class reunion, my first, ever, after many years. Talk about scary? I didn’t know any classmates and they didn’t know me. As the night went on, I started remembering a few and then many, with the help of “name tags.”I was amused at how many red-haired kids were now white as snow. Fat people were thin, and thin were fat, and non-lookers became quite nice-looking in the twilight years. You get the drift. We laughed and reminisced. On the sad side I discovered that 15 or so classmates had died, some of them were my friends of bygone days. I was moved as their names were read and a candle was lit for each.. I was then constrained to tell a large group of the survivors how that God had rescued my life several years past High School and gave me a purposeful life.…