Dad was first to go in our family. A shocking heart attack and he was gone. Just 60, Dad was pressured with life, and working hard to provide for all of us, could not find enough relief. He suffered only a few days of abject pain, then went. Dad was a religious man, but perhaps not a saved man. He made a confession of belief in those final moments before death at the leading of Mom and daughter. I was not present. I firmly trust to see Dad again in heaven; God is a merciful Savior. I am anxious to see both Dad and Savior. Twenty two years later, Josh followed Dad. At twenty five, it surprised us all. In fact it redefined the thought of “surprise,” it was beyond belief. Out of place and out of time, our oldest son left us behind for heavenly dwelling. It destroyed hope,…
Healing at the Cross Posts
As the sun goes down on the world, a Christian looks upward. We must refocus — since we actually and easily belong also to this world — tainted by a sin propensity inherited from our parents. (They got theirs from their parents who got theirs from their parents and so on.) We gaze skyward to where our precious Father and Savior has prepared a sinless residence, which awaits us at the time of our death or even before — at the snatching away of the Church at 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15. The shout of the Lord, as a commander inciting his troops, will pierce the sky. A trumpet will reverberate, or bombastically blast out. Bright angelic tones sound out like the sun bursting through clouds — and all of it happening in a moment, (indivisible time), in the twinkling of an eye. (the flapping of a wing,…
Job_5:9 begins: “… (God) does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:”Job_36:26 adds: “Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.”Then, Psalm_145:3 “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” Isaiah_40:28 Paul repeats it: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Romans_11:33 Finally,In Ephesians_3:8 Paul exclaims, “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,” Is it realistic to say that we men fail at discerning the unsearchable God? We may…
In Revelation 2:1-7, God commended the church at Ephesus very highly. Yet, they lacked one thing. God said, “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Revelation 2:4). “First love” means God loving me as a depraved sinner, God loving me while I was ungodly (Romans 5:6), while I was yet a sinner. (Romans 5:8). Quote is from “3 dimensional Christianity” by Dr. Carl H. Stevens Friends, too much of me-merit, or me-demerit hurts first love. Words such as “unconditional” must hold place, and others such as “unworthy” must keep their descriptive input. “Grace ” must always be the transferrer of this love to the believer, “Mercy” can never let “judgement” rejoice over it. In closing, “to believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.” Newell love ya
And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the south, and upon Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire; and had taken the women captives that were in it; both great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried them off, and went on their way. 1 Samuel 30:1-2 An adverse day, “So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.” 1Samuel 30:3 David lifted his voice and wept, And so too, all the people with him. Then, “…the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters.” Out of the bitter gash created in every man’s…
“I will arise, I will go to Jesus; He will embrace me in His arms. In the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten thousand charms.” Glen Campbell sang the words. These words are written for the sake of broken folks; the author (William Walker) wrote it in his own brokenness, no doubt. “Come Ye weary, Heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all. “ Remarkable is the plight of the faint in heart. Desperate yet declining, Extremely needy yet losing hope, Emotional and Spiritual brokenness can mean a lot of things. It may imply a messy life full of imperfection. It may mean being heartbroken from a past relationship. It may mean emotional scarring from the deep wounds of the past. Sometimes, brokenness makes us a victim; for others, it motivates us to be strong. With…
God uses kings for His purposes. Cyrus was one of these, Jehu was another. Isaiah 45:1-3 speaks of God’s sovereign plan. Here, God uses Cyrus to rescue the Jewish captives following their 70 year exile in Babylon. “Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. “ At a time preceding the same 70…
We all know the awesome experience of seeing something that is pristine, new. It evokes the senses, draws out the appreciation in us, fires the feelings. However, the phenomena of this “new” experience dwindles quickly as “new” becomes “old” in a short amount of time. We know the pattern instinctively. We expect it. Newness in our spiritual life bows a knee to the falling mental mechanism, as butter surely melts. Yes, cars will rust, food will spoil. Even our chewing gum loses it’s kick as digestive juices absorb the first-flavor. The time monster devours new stuff as quickly and systematically as a garbage disposal. As the song says, “It’s just the way it is.” So, how do we grasp the concept of “new” as in “all things are made new” from the Bible? “Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” Right now, so says 2Corinthians 5:17.…
Galatians 5:13 instructs us, ” …brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” In this profound verse, Paul addresses the Christian who has discovered the Precious Holy Spirit, the death of separation, the life of resurrection, the victory of ascension, the repose of being seated with Christ in glory. In a sense, Paul admonishes us as Spiritual men and women: Don’t use your liberty as a bondage maker by willfully reverting to the sphere of “non-liberty..’ The implication here carries a power house of truth. The Spiritual man has become a discerning person. also a will-deciding individual he or she choose their identity. They carefully must be wary of past identities. They must discern false identities. They must adhere to the parameters of their new identity in Christ. Paul summarizes the accepted identity, “in love…
Rom 14:1-4 teaches, ” Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eats herbs. Let not him that eats despise him that eats not; and let not him which eats not judge him that eats: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judges another man’s servant? to his own master he stands or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. “ Rom 14:17 for the reign of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; Paul addresses the strong in faith by saying to them in jist, “Their “strength” in Christ was never to be ungentle; never to be “used like a giant’s.” It was to be shown, first and most, by patience. It…