May 2012
20 posts
Dear followers,
Due to recent hand surgery I am unable to post at present. I hope to return sometime next week,
Blessings to all,
Daily Potpourri
3 tags
Perfect Will
If God’s will is perfect, as we say it is, then we should submit ourselves to that will. We should acknowledge our own ignorance and never presume to know the will of God. We should ask God to teach us what lessons He says are appropriate for us to know. We should live our life in accordance with His desires and His commands.
This is the only way that the Christian will find true...
5 tags
We Want Proof
We have seen him in the past. We have witnessed the might and the wisdom of his guiding hand all along the history of life. He has confirmed to use the grace of his presence through the quiet recesses of our hearts. Yet we want more. We want him to come down in an indisputable way. We want confirmation, on our terms, that he does indeed hold in his hands the nations of the world, and that all...
3 tags
Doing God's Will
“Thy will be done,” is a philosophy which we are quite often too anxious to profess. Once having said the words, we sit back in a resigned manner and wait for God to take over. While it is true that there may be many situations in life which call for full surrender, it should not come until we have sought out the will of God. We are charged to do God’s will; and that means to...
3 tags
God's Word
God says that we must lay up his word in our heart. His word alone must take possession of us and fill us. Therefore, the heart becomes a temple which contains the word of God. It is not a temple for the world — the mores, the beliefs, and the ideologies of societies — rather of God’s thoughts and his holy ways.
Everyday the Christian is to faithfully open his or her heart...
5 tags
Action And Affect
We are not to be concerned with how our good deeds are used by God. Often in life, when we intend for one action to touch a certain individual, it in fact affects someone else. Even when we have appeared to fail and wasted our time and effort, we may well have affected our self.
We do not always know who is affected by what we do, but we can believe this — things which we do are not...
8 tags
Grieve The Spirit
Though we are chosen by God, it is still possible to “grieve the Spirit” as the old time preachers would say. What was meant is understood this way: It is God’s Spirit that abides in us and with us, and by which we are strengthened and led in our daily witness of Him. It is this same Spirit that fills us with holy life. Why then would we choose to do that which the Spirit does...
4 tags
Becoming Pearls
The wound of an oyster — a grain of sand inside — is where a pearl comes from. A single grain of sand, unable to be washed out, is the cause of a pearl growing in order to protect the oyster. So it is with our life as well. The Christian will know be wronged and know injury. How are we to respond so that pearls growing in us?
God will not allow our lives to be injured beyond...
7 tags
Handling Life
If a person becomes fatigued by the ordinary, daily living of life that is filled with the common strains and struggles, then what is going to happen when the difficult trials come? Things far worse than we imagine happen to us. From relationships, sickness, wrong choices, and death, comes great pain, confusion, and sorrow into life. The Christian has Christ, and thereby knows God, thereby...
4 tags
God Will Bless
No one knows what the future will bring. In ways unsuspected people will oppose, hurt, deceive, and ambush. Their strength will seem great and their cunning sharp. Fear, indecision, and despair will result. But never lose sight of God’s promises. He will stand between us and our adversaries. He has given his angels charge over us, and has said that he will always be with us.
But what...
7 tags
Our Quest
We humans know what we are after, but we have a hard time putting it into words. Are there any words good enough or grand enough to say what is in our soul? Many have tried — The Great Society, The New Republic, A Thousand Points of light — just to name a few of those who have sought to declare to the world what was known in the soul to be true.
There is a perpetual upward...
7 tags
Silence Hurts
Is anythings so selfish as holding to oneself words of love and forgiveness, gentleness and kindness, when the sharing of those words could feed, nurture, and even save another? Speech is a gift from God, and we are to use our gifts for the glory of God. Does not encouraging the disheartened, supporting the weary, bringing joy and hope to the downcast glorify God? To state high and holy motives,...
4 tags
What Would Jesus Do
“What Would Jesus Do” is not a correct motivation saying. Who of us knows what Jesus would do? By contrast, all of our actions should be performed, “in his name.” Therefore, the correct cause for ministry should be: “what would Jesus have me do” that I may perform “in his name.”
All that we engage in must be done for the sake of Christ. No...
6 tags
Jesus Saves
Many people are taught, and believe, that they are able to save themselves. In “Pilgrim’s Progress,” these are the people who Bunyan calls, “citizens of the Town of Morality.” These people rely on their own life - its goodness, its truthfulness, its intent — rather than relying upon Christ and his Cross. Such people never claim to be perfect, only decent; and...
4 tags
On Having Fun
We all need light-hearted fun in life, times which take our minds and our emotions away from the stress of the world. But what influence upon us does the distraction have? It may be fun, and it may be rewarding, but does it bring you closer to God or push you away? Is it something which is contrary to Christ’s teachings? If God should ask, is this fun a means of grace?
We ought to at...
7 tags
Forgiveness V. Justice
It may be that the supreme trials of life come after sin. After a person has yielded to temptation, or following a transgression when the person is wounded, cut, and torn is when the true character is known.
Sincere repentance brings with it great forgiveness. God’s love and mercy wait for all who truly repent — holding nothing back. But also know this: God is just, and his...
5 tags
Know The Right Fight
Many persons spend their lives struggling against God, and in so doing they believe that this is the supreme conflict which a Christian must wage. But this is not a conflict which God wants. God’s desire is that we overcome adversaries which prevent us from entering into a relationship with Him.
Only through faith can this be accomplished. God has already come to us, and His power is...
5 tags
The Limit Of Law
The laws of God limit the Christian, and it is exactly at this point where people of faith have their biggest problems. We do not like following rules which are not of our own making. We are kingdom builders, and the rules which we follow are the ones which we make to structure our own kingdoms. We want rules which are specific so that they effect those causes and people which we think are...
5 tags
Life Is A Mystery
People have forgotten the mysterious character of life. We have come to expect and answer or an explanation for everything — including God. But the Bible does not shine a spotlight on the world and make everything clear and bright. Rather, it is a mystery, wonderful and bewildering, but still a mystery where a small light shines and a still voice is heard from the shadows and the dark.
...
5 tags
Our Years
Humanity does not possess the power to either shorten or lengthen the span of life. The time, the length of our life, lies solely in the hands of God. Modern medicine may use skills and medication in the name of health and longevity. Evil and accidents may shorten our days. But all of these are nothing more than servants of God’s purpose and affect us only as God permits.
It is not in...
