The Truth be Known

Water into wine
Fruit of the vine

Healing is better
than stealing and
truth better than ignorance

There is no regret
when when we know that
the things we have done
no longer remain

Washed in crimson and
born anew with minds
reclaimed and forward aimed

Walking on water is
a feat to admire
he pulls us out of all quagmire

He looks for the one
who's heart is undone
restoring to hope
once and for all

Our Saviour come
blessed is the Lord who is One

He Said what he said and he meant what he said!

     Ever take a moment and wonder at the words of Jesus?  He had many things to say some hard and some down right confusing. But he said what he said and he meant what he said. All of  his teachings simple to the point and all of his sterness towards those who resisted and those who tried to pervert his words were rebuked quickly! Why? Let's look at what he said about sin itself.  He said, Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”  
     There is then an eternal sin! Why is this not a forgivable sin?  It is because the Spirit itself is God, invisible, all powerful,omnipresent and now given and living in those who believe in this present day that our body is now the temple of the living God.  Cleansed and rooted out of our sins by the blood of Christ now housing the very presence of God himself, up close and working to perform  his will in a "new wineskin."  Did you wonder at the change in Peter, so dramatic so different from the man he was before,a denier and afraid for his life.  Now bold and preaching the same message of his teacher.  What about Paul? The murderous man now blinded and changed given a new heart and one that was remarkable.  Infused with understanding by the Holy Spirit he was responslbe for 2/3 'rds of the written New Testament.  How is this so? Because Jesus told each of those he picked to "wait for the comforter."  The very Spirit poured out on Pentecost and poured like wine into a vessel that was ready to receive it.  You see we have to be open to the words of Jesus first and foremost. We have to believe that he is (God) before we can receive what he has for each and every man woman and child on the earth.  Change....New, heart, new eyes, new ears and willing to do and say what the teacher wants.
     Along the way remember there will temptation to forget the words of Jesus, temptation to stop doing what it is we are supposed to  do because of peer pressure or giving in to unbelief itself.  
     We are in the dispensation and time of the working of the Holy Spirit if you are looking for something more there is no more this is it and it is now.  All of the other imposters vying for attention will burn up and come to nothing. Only the words of God spoke will be lasting and his words never return without accomplishing what he wants it too.  So the ones who deny or make fun of that which they do not understand are in a fearful place.  Remember Jesus also said that those who mislead (children or prevent those from entering in the kingdom, " it would be better that a millstone be tied around their necks."  Scary!  So all of those who preach "a different Jesus", as Paul warned, be forewarned.  Their can be no different Jesus or Holy Spirit than the one we read about in the Word.   

Eternity In The "Heart of Man"

 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time..He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 
     
     King Solomon penned these words in the  book entitled Ecclesiates. He sought to understand the way of life and moreover the way of his own life.  Son of David, he inherited the Kingdom David fought for and estblished.  Richer than those around him and embued with wisom far greater than those before him or even those after him he was nevertheless empty of a sort!  Reading these words of his it does not seem that he actually believed with  his whole heart that there was a place for him after his life ended.  Resurrection seemed distant in this thoughts.  Perhaps they were.  Maybe even alien to him altogether. Everything he said that was going to be done was done before and nothing was new. Toil was wearisone, wealth gained  was left to those who did not toil for it and true happiness was to enjoy the day at hand and eating to be done with the joy of the moment.  So why did he say eternity was in the heart?  Did he have a longing or a great chasm that was unfulfilled even with all his wealth and wisdom?  I think he knew he did and it troubled him greatly. 
The "end of the matter he said, was this:  

                  Now all has been heard;
                 here is the conclusion of the matter:
           Fear God and keep his commandments,
                    for this is the duty of all mankind.
14       For God will bring every deed into judgment,
                        including every hidden thing,
                       whether it is good or evil.

     I think he found that even with all he had the best that he could do, was to fear God...to be right with him and make sure that his deeds would be of a worthy nature. For we all will be dust and there is no escape so it is much  better to be before the God of heaven with a clean slate and that only happens with the Son of God (Jesus), entering in and making us righteous by his  blood.

     

"Until There Is NO Remedy"

     How much are you willing to tolerate?  Can you tolerate the liar? Can you tolerate the thief? Or how about One who murders?  These are pretty common examples of things that people do that a healthy society normally would not tolerate and we reject them.  These are pretty clear cut and there are laws to deal with these types of things.  But what about all the other things that are rapidly increasing?  Where once the norms of society would shun things and not even openly talk of them suddenly there is no more shame.  Our entertainment industry goes a long way in moving the morals of this country to the far left and then openly embracing things that 70 years ago would be thought of as shameful.  What am I talking about?  Many behaviors of a rudderless society, free to roam the waters of democracy where if I proclaim my conservatism in morals then I can be attacked for them and be made a mockery of.  Yet if  I proclain the same right of liberalism then many would embrace me as open minded and tolerant.
     But what of this tolerance, just whose is it anyway? OURs! Not God's.........Yet in all things in Christianity we are taught not to judge....others because of what judgement we judge...we will be judged. In other words of Jesus..be careful and let God's judgement reign so that you are off the hook!  It would be a better proposition for God to mete out his justice rather than ours which can be at best rise and fall with the emotions we feel at any given moment.

     If we are to be a moral society, then whose morals do we follow?  And where do morals come from?  Certainly not from within the human heart.".for the heart is desperately wicked who can know it?" It had to originate from someone ( some being not human) so as corruption would not even be near to the one who dispenses it?  When the rich young ruler came to Jesus he called him "good" and saw Jesus's ministry of good works, healing, teaching, feeding the poor, visiting the sick etc, etc. Yet Jesus replied as he had too and as a( Son of God and a man)... should. He said, "Why do you call me good? Only God is Good." Knowing that only his father in heaven was truly good he replied honestly even though he being without sin and also the Son Of God.
     Repentance was the message by John the Baptist and it opened up the ministry of Jesus.  So it was important to know what to repent of? Our own works and our obvliousness to our sin. Far away from what God intended for us.  Reconciliation was his ministry and returning us to be in the good graces of God his mission.
     In the book of Ezekiel he a prophet, is granted extraordinary visions and sees the sins of the Priests and the people that have opened up themselves to things just like we do when without guidance.  Many Gods, immorality, many beliefs, in any respect (liberalism) and open to believe anything. Leaving behind what God commanded in the first place. So Ezekiel sees the Glory of God depart from the sanctuary and Israel itself and hover a mountain in the East.  The people did not even flinch, that is until judgement fell on them.  A short while later another nation overtook Israel and Judah  took all the people and scattered them throughout their kingdom.  A nation that was to adhere to principles and codes of morality threw them away and as a result received a jealous God's judgement.  So where are we in this 21 century with our enlightened ways of thought?
     Will we also as a nation receive in us a judgement from a God who is jealous for right living and or worshiping him and him alone?  Is our climate change, polluted rivers, decaying cities (Detroit) financial corruption and deadlocked government all resulting from being too far away from God?  And are the decisions we make erroneous when so? Do we invite the curses instead of the blessings?
 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?    Ezekiel knew first hand.   Do we?  
   

Mind Games:

    Let's not play mind games with our God:  We all know what it is our God wants, it is already written of and pased down to us in the form of the Word:  Letters and stories of men and women who long before us asked the same questions we do: What is it that we are here for?  Why are the things the way they are?  Those who are saved and have taken on the mantle of Christ need no longer have questions in their mind: what is God saying and it is really God?  These are mind games that interfere with our sense of God.  Wasn't it crystal clear when you first received the Spirit?  Did you not feel the intense love of God's forgiveness when you received the Spirit?  Then as the scipture says" Quit yourselves like men.....and fight" (The Philistines won the battle over the Israelites that day>) Samuel 8. Why muddy the waters trying trying to find the mind of God?  It is already within you.  Why ask Does God really love me? Does he want this or that?  How do I know if this is what God really wants? Sitting in meeting after meeting I hear these questions raised and it is disturbing.  These are the doubts, and they are not of the Spirit of God. They are of the Devil, They are the thoughts and questions that are as old as the Garden of Eden story itself. Did God really say.....  so ignore these doubts they go nowhere and are a pointless direction leading to not to a destination but leading to confusion. Weren't the disciples full of confusion at the death of their Lord?  Yes they were and acted upon that state of mind. But later were filled with the spirit and changed forever.  Thanks be to God....we have their testimony and the testimony of the Lord himself.
      Therefore have this mind in you......The mind of Christ.

A Reason For Living:

     Do you have a reason to live that goes deeper than the nine to five daily grind?  Or is the job, kids, money, or leisure time  really all that motivates you?  Is there a yearning that is indescribable that pulls and tugs at the internal strings of your heart?  Making sense of that is key to our understanding and of the why's of our life.  If we can see that there can be no good if there is no evil then we can have an outlook in our life that there must be a just balance and that this balance must have a just judge who implements this justice.  If when we read and see all of the injustice that is around us and there is no one to administer a right and true judgement then we can admit to ourselves that truly there is a free for all mentality and that it truly is a "dog eat dog world." That is what the majority of us are molded in day to day....look out for yourself, number one...look the other way...be first to win at what? sports, education, money, first in your class what ever that maybe.  We in this country are molded and taught to excell above all and that that is the goal we should reach.
     But these things are all necessary if we are to survive in the world as it is presented to us throughout our life.  We are taught by parents, teachers, role models and so forth that this is the way it is done.  So we do it.  But what if it then after all is said and done it is only temporary and what is seen is only the very limited version of what there really is?  These are the problems the disciples of Jesus had too.  Divorce and marriage, riches, kingdoms, taxes and death.  (The last two being the only sure thing!?) Apparently.
      So if you are left scratching your head over these same issues and where to place your best efforts at getting by, how are we to live.
     I suggest taking a chance, a leap, and test the words of Jesus and see if they ring true for you.  So many others did, and history is written about these men and women.  Faith Paul said is the" substance of what is not seen." paraphrasing him, "and things hoped for". Abraham did not see his city made without hands nor did he see his blessing come to fruition thousands of years later.  God's covenants are sure his promises without fail. I am a recipient of this promise.
     I am moved by the world's events, torn at what I see and read about when terror and death is all around.  Dictators and rulers taking unfair advantage of it's citizens and throwing the innocents as if they are trash into prisons.
    What of Peter's imprisonment? For his preaching a gospel of good news?  The angels released him!  What of Daniel, thrown to the lions, for his refusal to worship the King as God?  The lions mouths were shut.  Joseph was humiliated and humbled, but exalted later by Pharoah (ultimately God) and made ruler of all Egypt and saved his kin. God's balance is a balance of justice.  Why you say does a God allow for evil?  and why do innocents perish?  It is because we must see the beginning and the root of our problems. "God does not wish that any perish" it is the Devil that is doing the evil and has had sway over humanity since the beginning. Cannot you see it?
     There is evil and we have to admit there is a God to counter it, it takes faith, and having the blinders removed as did Paul when he was healed from his blindness and changed from his murderous intents against a new and fledgeling faith, Christianity.  Three quarters of the New Testament was written by a man who swore out warrants and arrest documents to have followers of Jesus thrown into jail.  It was God's intention to change a man's heart and use him for the changing of history....and a message was then preached to the Gentile world.  Prophetic and covenental promise from God to Abraham and to the whole world if we hear it.
       So, the word's of Jesus, so counter culture, so against the grain.  Love your enemies?  Bless those that what, persecute you?  Apologise to your adversary before he throws you in jail?  Feed the poor, visit those in jail.  Get rid of riches?  Expect that if you follow his words you will be persecuted in some way, he said it.  We are counter culture and will be a target of the Devil but, we have this in us, "The Same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is in us."  Now we are overcomers.......so we must take the longview in the events of this world that are disheartening,  God is just and will meet out his justice his way and in his time....so are we arrogant because of the truth?,  in no way....we simply believe God........
     

Absurditites Along The "Way"

     Every so often life throws out what I like to call "absurdities" that make me ponder....the question....really? is that true? Is that really what our God is like?  I of course am refering to stories and experiences of some that in the course of life experienced that fail to find the right words to express some trancendental experience they have had.  Mystical, colorful, un-realistic decrtiptions of "something" that happened to them but... not necessarily ....G     o      d     !  If it were so we surely would be labeled lunatics.!  Why is this so?  I don't find these stories of craziness in the scriptures I have read for the last say thirty years!( Yes there are allegories.) Paul was so grounded and so was Peter.  Men of unquestionable faith and believability.  If anyone started to worship them as Angels (and some tried) they were mortified and stopped them immediately.  The glory always goes to God.  First and foremost.  They simply were carrying our Christ's words of teaching and showing to those who would believe just what faith was composed of.  This included miracles and healings that led others to believe they were somehow Angelic or God's themselves.
    Now back to the absurdities of some in the "Way".  In an effort I suppose to understand how God conveys to us his truths and( imparts to us; his truths), as flesh and blood we can become "spiritually minded and become no earthly good".  What I mean, is if we cannot accurately convey to those who are in a state of unbelief, the nature of the God we serve, how are they to know?  Certainly it is not so mystical as to cause a furrowed brow upon one's face in describing some truth God has imparted as to cause total disbelief on the one who may be hearing for the first time what the Christian God is like!
     Well  I have seen and heard somethings attributed to our God that are just ridiculous and need not to be mentioned for sheer either ignorance or total misunderstanding of the way our God really is.  Or could it be that those who attribute these silly things are just at a mighty distance to a God who longs to be near?  The words...."I never knew you" spoken by Christ...are not only scary for those who claimed to cast out demons and did things in Jesus name but are words of banishment from his very presence.  So I guess I would want to represent our God in a generous light that speaks of what he did for not only me personally but for all of mankind once and for all.  His sincerity, love, grace, teaching, longsuffering as a servant unto death... these are weighty and carry a dignity that I want the world to know.  So when I hear and see the Gospel spoken in the name of Jesus and it does not do what it is intended to do I begin to feel a little sick inside knowing the terrible price of the cross Jesus paid and knowing the marvelous Glory on the other side...resurrection!  God is not purple mists and a token granter of wishes we pray to  in hopes of some materialistic fulfillment here and now.
     If anything, Jesus was grounded in the totality of the human condition, weakness, hunger, suffering, longing and yet overcame all in triumph and experienced joy, friendships, feasts and festivals, and marriages of brides and grooms.  And he welcomes all who would believe to enter into his rest, and be invited to the banquet held in his honor at the end of time.