Our Closest Love

Our closest love we always hurt the worst. It breaks my heart that I do this. A passing stranger gets kinder words than thee. Even pesky tell-a-marketers sees better sides of me. For no mask holds in my loves presence. She sees through my pretense and her eyes pierce like Christ himself. Being my better half, she always forgives. But, Lord, I wish it wasn't needed (forgiveness). I wish that I was never the offender, but I am. Acknowledgement of fault is our confession of sin. Repentance moves beyond confession to make a deed non-repeatable. But, only through Christ's forgiving love is a deed passed over and not used against the offender. We love to store up offenses. They are our weapons of choice when we fight with no boundaries. Through Christ we are called beyond our mere mortal realm of spousal bickering. We are called to love one another, even and especially our spouse. Perhaps the forgiveness and grace needed to survive and thrive in marriage simply reflects Your heart back to us: an intimate heart of love.  Jesus, we sin but You have none. Your love is perfection itself. Help me to love my bride as You do yours.

Determined by Jesus

Is the war for our soul a spiritual game? Is it the divine showdown? In one corner Jesus the slain lamb who rose in His own body. In the other corner the enemy of old, the serpent, the devil, Lucifer himself still posing as an angel of light. The war of old fights for the souls of men. Jesus is the determining fact. Accept Him and your destine for heaven, but the war heats up any way.  To be of any use, our armor needs to be on and our sword sharp

 10 Finally, let the Lord make you strong. Depend on his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God's armor. Then you can stand firm against the devil's evil plans. 12Our fight is not against human beings. It is against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world. It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world.
 13 So put on all of God's armor. Evil days will come. But you will be able to stand up to anything. And after you have done everything you can, you will still be standing.
 14 So stand firm. Put the belt of truth around your waist. Put the armor of godliness on your chest. 15Wear on your feet what will prepare you to tell the good news of peace. 16 Also, pick up the shield of faith. With it you can put out all of the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Put on the helmet of salvation. And take the sword of the Holy Spirit. The sword is God's word.
 18 At all times, pray by the power of the Spirit. Pray all kinds of prayers. Be watchful, so that you can pray. Always keep on praying for all of God's people.
 19 Pray also for me. Pray that when I open my mouth, the right words will be given to me. Then I can be bold as I tell the mystery of the good news. 20Because of the good news, I am being held by chains as the Lord's messenger. So pray that I will be bold as I preach the good news. That's what I should do. Ephesians 6:10-20 NIRV

Thinking of the Lords Prayer

Holy Father of goodness, grace, and mercy You are holy above Your creation.

You hold it in Your palm and give new mercies day by day.

Nothing compares to Your sacrifice Jesus.

Thanks for being my provision and my provider.

You give us food and shelter everyday; I’ve never been in want.

Forgive my daily trespasses, You know they are many.

Help me forgive those trespassing against me, though they are few.

May Your will and kingdom be here today and forever more.

For You are glorious, powerful beyond limit, and Your mercy endures forever.

In Jesus holy name, amen. 

Wisdom's Case

“Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?
You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” (Job 40:2 NLT)

We often complain; I often complain.

The desert is littered with the people of God who complain.

Our lot (place) in life is determined not by us, but by God.

Where we live, and the time in which we live, are all in the mind of God. (Acts 17:26-27) How we live is for us to choose.

We can bow down and accept God's calls on our lives, or ignore it.

These verses above are fact; the statements are my condensed thoughts about other verses. Like Job, I get frustrated at, maybe God? Well, I wouldn't go that far, because I've read the handbook of life, the bible. So, I know not to blame God, but sometimes I still play a game that's close to it. We humans think we know something and that our knowledge is complete. But myself being an experiential learner, some things just take longer to sink in. Inside and out, I've heard just about everything taught in Christianity. Being a know-it-all and remembering it all are two different things, and doing it is a whole separate matter.

I've forgotten most of what I know; it's lost in my mind somewhere. Like a hard drive on a computer, it's never really gone, just hidden. My software is messed up, confused by the enemy (self, the world, and the deceiver). It's malware; taken down by a virus or something of that sort. Mental confusion rules, or perhaps it's the side effect of the latest and greatest drug peddled by physicians. What it is I don't know, I can't even remember the name of it, as my mind stresses to find it. (Much later) Lyrica, oh that's it. It's made to calm nervous symptom pain, but it's messing with my head so, I flushed them.

Perhaps, I shouldn't try to find my way out of problems bigger than I. I do know that Proverbs says a man ruins his own life, then rages at the Lord. I don't feel like giving the reference, so look it up. I guess the point of all this is that we should know there are factors in life most never consider (why and how). We just take them for granted. We busy our lives with just about everything, and forget one event can bring it all to a screeching halt. Increasing back injury stopped mine (degenerative disc disease and failed back surgery syndrome), but personal sin made it worse.

Driving from a nearby town recently, my daughter passed by a head on collision. She could be the dead one, but she's not. It's not chance, it's the grace of God to move on and live another day. It's the grace of God to see death and not experience it until the right time. With wake-up calls every day, wisdom is calling out.

Proverbs 8 & 9 pleads wisdom's case. Simple people like me need simple answers. Simple in our day and age means slow and stupid, or at least implies it. We have whatever intelligence God gives us. But right now, mine's mixed up. To ease suffering doctor's apply their knowledge of pharmaceutical medications based on generalizations found in studies of particular medications. We (humanity) seek out the best road we think will lead us or our families to its best end (There is a way that seems right to man, but it leads to death—spiritual death—Proverbs, again). Yet, along that road are bumps. The bumps are to get our attention back on the living God.

My focus suffers greatly due to the fact that I just want relief. I want relief from everyday pain; I want to go home to heaven. I'll tell just about anyone I meet about Jesus' love and grace and forgiveness. I will tell them of even my failings, because they are that: they are mine. Most of all though, I'll tell of His power in changing everyday life, every day.

For, it's not just enough to go to heaven. We need to take someone along.

I met a guy camping, who just wanted to talk—I know the feeling. He lost his job, lost his girl, even won a million nickles gambling and hit the road trying to clear his head. With four other empty pick-nick tables around, any would do, but the grace of God brought him to mine. His grandpa gave his alcoholism to Jesus. So, I told him once again how Jesus is still in the life-changing business.

Our personal lives are what Jesus uses to reach people. If we hide who we are, we hide Jesus from people. If we hide who we are, we do it to our own detriment and we never have a chance to be corrected when we err. We all err, it's human, but imputed perfection came through Jesus.

15

Reading John 15 tonight His words reminded me I’ve been pruned.

Though I have been a Christian for over 40 years, I am a babe in Christ. Sometimes, more often than I like, I find that I am a carnal Christian. This is something no Christian ever wants to hear or ever admit, yet though I’ve known my Jesus as long as I can remember, I still find myself floundering in sin and wondering how I got there.

We want to be Bereans and mature Christians. But, though I may be a Berean, I still find I’m the fool and quite immature. It’s simple, we get our eyes off Jesus, and before we know it, we are like Samson not knowing that the Spirit of the Lord has departed. I’m not talking salvation issues or things like that, I’m talking fellowship issues.

Our God created us for fellowship. He wants to just hang out. Perhaps that is too simply put, but that’s what we get to do with Jesus. But, just like in everyday life, our sin—our infractions, our mess-ups, our lack of love—divides us. But, as His words stir in my heart and His Spirit in my soul, I am corrected (yah spanked). It is how I know I am one of His children; otherwise, I would wander in darkness till death.

What I love about Jesus is that He loves just being with us. Everybody else goes home, everybody else gets tired of me, but He doesn’t. Even when I deny Him by my actions, He loves me. I can’t get past that. 

Weed Pulling

At age 15 our family made its final move back into California. It was my mom's home state and my favorite state, or at least a close second. None of this probably matters to anybody, save a couple family members. Yet before I bore you... uh...I wanted to make a point? Sorry...uh, I just nearly forgot what it was! Sadly, it's really true. So just wrote it in as a writing effect (of course!). Well, seriously though, all of this had to do with my first job back in our great sunny state.

Way back then, our family lived in a neighborhood full of brand new duplexes. Areas like those have a high turnover rate. Meaning families are always coming and going. Being too young to get a real job, I took whatever I could get. Yep, I finally got one and that job was tough.

It was weed pulling! The backyards of all the duplexes were just small plots of river rocks, with no weed cloth. So, by hand I would work hours pulling weeds in the summer sun. After moving from Maine, it was hard getting re-acquainted with hot weather. But, what does any of this have to do with anything?

Well, it has to do with our spiritual life? You see, small weeds are easy to pull and their roots are shallow, yet the big ones on baked ground put up a fight! Stamping out small sins are easy,  with and by the blood of Jesus. Pulling out besetting sins are hard, yet still possible by the blood of Jesus!

Sometimes we pull and fight and bear all we can. We forget Jesus has bigger hands. Remember even Jesus own disciples, who had authority over demons (because Jesus gave it to them) could not rid demons out of some.

"A man in the crowd answered. "Teacher," he said, "I brought you my son. He is controlled by a spirit. Because of this, my son can't speak anymore. When the spirit takes hold of him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth. He grinds his teeth. And his body becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit. But they couldn't do it."

Mark 9:17-18 NIRV

None of this is to say Christians can be demon possessed—for they cannot! The Holy Spirit of God is not going to share space with a demon in the temple of God--
YOU ARE THAT TEMPLE! Sorry for yelling. Look at this:

"Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person, because God’s temple is holy and you are that temple." 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NCV

 This is to let us know that disciples need Jesus' help! We need Jesus help in removing a big fat Goliath sized sin. We need Jesus help also with what we think are the smallest of sins. For that which we consider small is just as large in the eyes of the LORD. They all killed His Son! Perhaps because are hearts are so hard we miss the small stuff; all the while the weeds grow like they are on Miracle Grow, and we find ourselves back on our knees praying and pulling weeds again.

The Failed Perfectionist

To all the failed perfectionist, I give my call. To all the rejects, that won't pick up the ball. To all the church kids who should know better To those who would stand tall,  yet always seem to fall. Know wisdom is calling and His grace is the midst of it all.

We all fail, but worse yet: some never try.

Christs' call is a high call indeed:

It is the call of justice and duty in the Law of Moses.

It is the cry of worship in the Psalmist heart.

It is the call to wisdom in Solomon's words.

It is the call to repentance of every prophet of old.

It is the call of John the Baptist: make straight the way of the Lord.

It is Christs' call to come, everyone that would believe.

It is the Spirit beyond the letter.

It is perfection's last call.

Perfection met grace at the cross of our Lord. Any attempt at reaching above, must come through this cross. For salvation only comes through Jesus. It's funny Christ finished His work, but our work is now. Often in explaining the Word--some to try and re-fulfill the Law, by trusting that we have to do something else. Our work is not trying to re-accomplish His completed work, but to be busy with the work of spreading the good news about His work. And, then to disciple those that believe to follow Christs ways of grace.

The perfection of Christs' imputed righteousness covers our imperfection. Jesus is also pressing us toward actual perfection too. Often this is where the real struggle begins. Salvation changed our direction, yet, sanctification moves us toward being more Christ like. Yet, he hung out with undisciplined, obnoxious people like us. Think about it. The Sons of Thunder, hot-head loudmouth Peter, wine bibbers, gluttons, tax collectors, and even prostitutes where all among His friends. Yet, these people had one thing in common—they changed.

Once we begin to change. We often forget who made that change in us: Jesus! We also, most often forget to reach back out to people who need that same change. Yes of course there is danger in appealing to people in the name of Jesus. Yet, it is the only name by which any are saved. Who are the watchmen on the walls of today s society—G+, Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, etc.,? Who will take Jesus to the next generation? WHO will make hard life choices that will matter in their own lives?

Beyond that, remember Jesus words:

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:48 NIV

"It's not like I'm perfect or something!" someone  once said, and we here repeated often. Then often. some don't even try. I've done that. Have you?

Does Jesus actually have the power to do this in us? We know He does.

Our God of Opportunity

Faithful men are a rare commodity in indeed. They are saints. Yet, they would be the first to say they’re not so special. They usually give up much if not all of their lives or dreams, for that of their families.  Maybe they even do something they are not entirely comfortable with, just because no one else would.  Of course in the end what makes any of US special is being known by Yahweh our Father through His Son Jesus the Christ.

But, what makes one man have more resolve and determination? What presses any man to push past a seemingly insurmountable odds or limits? Is their faith unlimited? Or, is it simply mustard seed faith in a limitless God?

Surely you know?

God of innumerable opportunities open our eyes!

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for.
Hebrews 11:1-2  NIV

Falling Prey To Our Own Will

Those that seek God’s will above all else, oft’ fall prey to their own instead. This is easy to do and we end up trying to move ahead of God, like Abraham. Abraham knew he was going to have a child of promise, yet jumped ahead and had Ishmael. We still see the after effects today in the struggle between Israel and the Muslim nations. Several other examples exists in the bible, Jacob is one of many. He stole his brother Esau’s birthright. Over and over again, men of God stumbled around with finding the will of God, and even when they do (find it); they end up sinning in the process. It cost them dearly. In ways I won’t go into. Fortunately, we have all the word written down now and it has all things pertaining to life and godliness. Yet, we still have to work it out practically with fear and trembling.

Both my mother and my wife told me it was a mistake to stop writing on the blog. My wife told me simply not to be prideful. Well, I don’t know if that is ever easy. Perhaps it’s like asking a Zebra to have spots instead of stripes. I don’t know.?., but with God all things are possible! And, in our short time on this planet, we should use every means possible to glorify the Father. So, I will continue writing, because is burns within me when I don’t.

Remember all creation gives glory to God naturally. Man has the chance to do it in word and deed. And of course we fall short—that’s why we need Jesus, Gods only Son.