I do not set aside, disesteem, neutralize, violate, cast off, despise, disannul, frustrate, bring to nought, or reject the Grace of God. I do not, and I must not. ” frustration must be properly understood. A word from JA Pike helps us here. “What we do within the given limitations, brought about by our own fault, the fault of others, or otherwise, does have to do very definitely with the will of God. And the reason we have gotten the impression that God wills the evil is that the Saints have generally made such a good show of turning sow’s ears into silk purses, have produced such amazing goodness out of evil situations , that we have turned around and credited God with the evil that made possible so much good. But this is to bring God in at the wrong point. He is to be credited with the grace…
Tag: <span>God’s love</span>
Grace ain’t a leg to stand on — but comes running when all legs to stand on break. When all legs flounder, cannot hold up, fizzle and flop.. then comes grace. Grace exists the magic which changes hell to heaven, guilt to confidence, hurt to help, shame to innocence. Grace — “loves’ perfect transporter” — never fails. No not once! Yes, grace-upholden people fly without merit as a leg. If merit defined equals “the substance of a legal case apart from matters of jurisdiction, procedure, or form,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ then the rational thinker feels this should be enough. For example, “Johnny kicked his brother, but because he is mostly a good boy, we will excuse him this time.” He was having a bad day, he was defending himself, etc. etc. That’s not grace. But, we must think in terms of “core:” That which determines composition, the conducting wire in an electric…
We scarcely know all that we have been delivered from, fellow believers. James Masterson lists ten “capacities” of the self life, in his book,”The Personality Disorders.” Among these we find the capacity for: spontaneity, one for entitlement: to appropriate experiences of mastery and pleasure and the entitlement to environmental support for these. the power for maintaining self-image, the power for commitment, the power for intimacy, the power for creativity. Masterson sees these as inherent in every man and also there are more listed. The problem that we have with these “capacities” lies in the truth which places them in that part of man which was crucified with Christ. The self. Dr. Stevens teaches in his booklet called, “A Living Faith,” “we may very well have an orthodox faith but not a correct faith. We may have the words of faith but a faith without the tune of grace. We may…
Peter fished: “Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. Matthew 4:18 He walked on the water: “Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. Matthew14:28-29 He spoke well: “Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16 He rebuked the Lord: “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” Matthew 16:22 He queried Jesus: “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” Matthew 18:21 “Behold, we have forsaken all,…
Love, with heat and moisture, irons out a wrinkle, mends a broken heart. It even unifies a division, straightens a crooked or double mind. An animal may respond to love, so might a tree; these have some form of life in them. But, a man or woman cannot survive without love! The sophisticated psyche of a man checks his barbaric side. He remains cool. He would like to run amok all over the planet, but stifles his urges. Then he is told of “liberation” and feels cheated and hypocritical. He begins to explore his dark barbarism, but has no understanding of its depth. He senses that the cost for “liberation” will be rejection from the sophisticates, but the feeling of “free” empowers him forward. He affirms his rights of individuality; becomes more and more barbaric. He wonders where love has gone, but he has forsaken its initiation; he has chosen…
In every person there lies hidden, a cry for love. Why hidden? Love’s lacking has built a fortress of defense — a defense which protects the cry. It can be destroyed. It is not eternal, but a human cry — a cry which burros deeper at every resistance, at every abuse — at every un-loving. We don’t deserve love, nevertheless we cry for it; we have squandered it, still, we seek it more. We have accepted lesser forms of love: physical touch, social acceptance, a paycheck. True love beckons from somewhere beyond, somewhere below, the vague within. It’s unexplainable, imponderable, mystical, baffling. The goal of God re-invigorates our souls crying. His aim re-awakens the stifled need. He seeks to un-bury the raw beckoning because He can’t fill an already filled box. But how accomplish this? God withdraws the manifestation of His presence. And the Psalmist bellows out: “Do not hide your face…
“God just doesn’t throw a life preserver to a drowning person. He goes to the bottom of the sea and he pulls a corpse from the bottom of the sea, takes him up on the bank and breathes into him the breath of life and makes him alive.” R.C. Sproul “Men will never worship God with a sincere heart, or be roused to fear and obey him with sufficient zeal, until they properly understand how indebted they are to his mercy.” John Calvin “We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, except we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own.” John Calvin “You contribute nothing to your Salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” Jonathan Edwards “The ultimate test of our spirituality, Is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God.” Martin Lloyd Jones “Faith, repentance and holiness are no less…
I’m sad, let me count the ways;: Lets forget that I’m a Christian man and let’s talk about the fellowship of mankind. A human being from birth, ha ha, I knew nothing of anything but the fellowship of mankind for 25 years (pre-Christian). I learned people youngly, from my own observations. Gaining a relationship with a person depended totally on the other person; I was not a “people” person. I had no self-image. What did I learn? — Superficial, superficial, superficial stuff. Hopeless, I became one drunk drugger. So what? — Self destructive. Conditions seem worse than ever today. Seems, folks think defaming a person’s character wins friends. Slander has become “in vogue” per today’s world. Newscasters do it all the time, news media has developed a clever deceit. Lack of people-skills abounds on social media, Twitter, and high-powered bitter anger fuels the charge. It seems that this mojo flies without…