Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. These days are full of peril, but peril has run before. To what degree, of course, we know not yet what our day will bring. Evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse; Matthew 24. Men will be lovers of themselves more than lovers of God. It trickles throughout history and it scurries today. It rushed in Europe in the 40’s, in Asia later. It gushed 13th century and streamed during Christ’s time. This threat personified itself in the early centuries A.D. It was even sport. It seems that man could always count…
Healing at the Cross Posts
on the Danube at night In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. Psalm 77:2 “Regret describes a slight disappointment over loss.” “Sadness is a taste of the truth that the world is not all right, creation is not what it was meant to be.” “Depression is a continual state of mind; effort appears futile because it seems that nothing can really help or provide meaning.” “Despair is the utter absence of any sense of hope, accompanied by a sense of powerlessness.” Quotes are from “The Cry of the Soul,” Allender and Longman. When a soul refuses to be comforted what is happening? The place of “dis-ease” appears to be safer? “Powerlessness” has displaced “power” as the more “real” value priority, through testing over time? Despair is insulating a person from the disappointment…
It’s about the people. It’s about those faces; humble, hungry, hoping, honest. To be happiness for them, make them smile, somehow fulfill; this is all. We listen, we see their hearts. Having touched the Christ, they crave more. Clearer, greater, a basket without bottom is God new-found. You and me and them; we are all conduits of joy, gardens of flower, trees of apple and pear, apricot and lemon. It flashes through us, we bathe necks, waves come belly-basket, a bale of wheat. We dine at sacred table, the foe watches; he cannot mess. Love shields, we are whole, and in finger-less embrace the souls hug. They broaden love, they widen freedom, they coat the multitude; they mask all defamation. The broken heart finds bond, mended souls synchronize, blazing passions quell, devil-fright vanquishes; I am now Him; He is now us. His is in heaven and so to me; sorrow,…
1 Corinthians 6:7 Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Living Bible Luke 6:29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Why not let yourself be cheated? When slammed up-side the head, offer also the other cheek; chase down the cloak thief and give him your coat also. What religion is this? Ours. Friends, “be gentle with all men, apt to teach; in meekness instruct those who oppose themselves.” Perhaps God will grant them repentance. Really? Those who oppose you, actually, oppose themselves. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. And Proverbs 25:15 says; By long forbearing is a prince persuaded,…
There is a river where mercy flows, I’m going to follow where it goes, where it goes, where it goes, I’ll follow wherever it goes. There is a fountain that will cleanse, all those who wash there from all sin, from all sin, from all sin, all those who are washed from all sin. There is a refuge for wounded souls, their broken hearts will be made whole, be made whole, be made whole; their broken hearts will be made whole There was a death that empties tombs, there is a scar that heals all wounds, heals all wounds, heals all wounds, a scar that heals all wounds. There is one name that leads us home, it is no other than Christ alone, Christ alone, Christ alone, no other than Christ alone. Have you ever expected punishment but instead found clemency? Expected rebuke but found compassion, expected a repulse only…
There is a river where mercy flows, I’m going to follow where it goes, where it goes, where it goes, I’ll follow wherever it goes. There is a fountain that will cleanse, all those who wash there from all sin, from all sin, from all sin, all those who are washed from all sin. There is a refuge for wounded souls, their broken hearts will be made whole, be made whole, be made whole; their broken hearts will be made whole There was a death that empties tombs, there is a scar that heals all wounds, heals all wounds, heals all wounds, a scar that heals all wounds. There is one name that leads us home, it is no other than Christ alone, Christ alone, Christ alone, no other than Christ alone. Have you ever expected punishment but instead found clemency? Expected rebuke but found compassion, expected a repulse only…
For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged. Proverbs 28:2. When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting. By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 11:10-11. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Proverbs 29:2. Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34 Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on Proverbs 28:2 writes; The transgressor “breaks through the limits fixed by God.” “The land that apostasies from revealed religion becomes at once the victim of party spirit, and a subject of contention to many would-be rulers…” Lets review some terms used in old psychological circles.…
Dust accumulates, so does our soul’s cleaving to it. A soul catches by pursuit the powdered clay, and melts, cheapened, and dissolves for lack of lift. A soul can faint as a body lacking bread, hugging gravity’s drag. Love defies all, flies away. I noticed something; I wanna go down, I’m one with the tow — “O just a little slumber in myself.” A beckoning, a sirens call, a lure, a lust, a hell-bent, “come down, come on, it will feel so nice.” Now, self-respect cannot accompany; it too walks away. The tax-collector wants his, also; as the wind of waste, so the debt of treachery. Give hell a place, incur a debt, let your hair down; it will yank you lower. Caught; we cry, “O who will deliver me from myself?” “Love, please return to enlarge this tent, set my steps as springs, inspire my well-being, O Word of grace!” “Why…
God seems a mere fancy to me — spooky, hiding in the shadows, not really concerned. If love and anger are two feelings which are in people, I guess God don’t have these. In one story about Him He is a big Hand in the sky — of His Son, Jesus; a tough “figure out” for me. “What does He want?” I wonder! – the answer could fill a big void with the other “what you have to do’s.” At church and grade-school we think about God. Statues of Jesus help at some picture making. In our church’s statues He seems a shepherd type, but I have never seen a real shepherd. These stir up notions more than real bytes. None of my senses make God out to be really real. He is not laughing nor crying; has no facial air. He speaks another language; Latin. I don’t know what…
“So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, none at all exalts Him. How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned over within Me, All My compassions are kindled. I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, And I will not come in wrath.” Hosea 11:7-9 Here in Hosea, bent to backsliding, God’s people still refuse to exalt Him, though often exhorted. God reveals His heart. “How can I give you up?” How can I treat you like the dirt or like a herd of gazelles? My heart is turning within, and My desire to console is…