Monthly Archives: November 2016

Sleep & Eats… And other Required Desires & Duties that We Easily Fowl Up…

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Do not love sleep, or you will become poor;  Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.” (Proverbs 20:13)

Excess of some sort in its subterfuge is always in pursuit of us; even in the Required Instructions given us to sustain life itself. “Don’t handle! Don’t touch!” Geez…so so many rules! Coloring within the lines can become befuddling but that is not really the problem today… staying on the right page in the right book now seems the issue. But we begin with the compliance of dignified self-control in all things. Regardless.

So what is required for life can be easily become an indulgent practice as it creeps into our heart and soul space with tentacles that snare and choke other activity. Eventually even life itself can be entrapped with the fatal ease and misdirection of excess. (Sleep and eats are part of the package instructions printed in bold type and we do well not to neglect them as we guard our heart against dominance of them.) We all love sleep. We all need sleep. But we can train ourselves to not become as those sleep sluggards who choose to sadly, depressively, and excessively sleep their life away. Some things in life we must avoid regardless of the strength of their pull and the allure of our heart. 

On to the example of food now…

What is required and also desired can be neglected in the obvious provision at hand, as we are consumed in discontent rather than satisfied by our needs meet. It’s “the grass is always greener” principle. Ah yes, though there is always hell to pay for tearing out of one’s own fence (the boundary set by God) and into another man’s property line and sampling his wares…

Perhaps we do well to open our eyes to the abundance of blessings we have known in/by God’s wise and faithful provision so that we may escape the Romans 1 “Domino-Effect” of a progressive Fall to perdition because of ingratitude and lack of giving thanks, that results in a failure of worshiping the known God, and an consequential exchange of incorruptible glory for things tarnished and broken.
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God…”

Romans 1:21-22a


Maybe it’s time to wake up and worship God in the beauty of His holiness and faithfulness of His provision?

I think as always, if we but listen, our friend Jack can help with commentary from Mere Christianity?
“The Christian says, ‘Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.”
C.S. Lewis,

Mere Christianity


Think of the Cross.

Think of the city whose walls are broken down and it’s defenses are now weakened… so we too, if we lack self control, we are as that city and subject to being tossed to and fro.

Lord Jesus. Please send Your Holy Spirit that I might crucify the deeds and works of the flesh in my inner man by new desires recreated in righteousness, holiness and truth. 

In pursuit of gold…To the ends of the Earth! Or is in this rubble at my feet?

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“Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding,But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.”

Proverbs 17:24

One with understanding discovers wisdom, God’s grace gift, and opportunity in present circumstances. Circumstances become indifferent to the eye of faith as the wise man’s God looms large; larger than life, larger than even risk of death as inactivity becomes a non-player. No change is required for peace and joy, even if the sign reads, “Batteries Not Included,” and life remains broken. Sure, as a man he may know tears, fears, heart-aches… and joy inexpressible! But a wise man acts in faith even when there is no apparent way. He understands that life is about trust in God, and God is about orchestrating a life narrative that hones such trust. He is writing a biography of grace. And grace leads us to worship “whether in this mountain or Jerusalem… in spirit and truth.”

He has learned the secret of being content: of being filled with little or nothing yet rejoicing in plenty. He understands and applies “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” His soul is satisfied upon the bosom of his God. God supplies his needs in the glory of the Son, Christ Jesus. As promised, His Lord is near. 

Contrarily, a fool is one who neglects present circumstance and sees only limitations and obstacles. Discontent characterizes his heart. Complaint characterizes his demeanor. (How convicting as I know I easily mirror such an image at the drop of a pin.) He is hindered with his delusions of grandeur that sees not with the eye of faith but with a covetous eye of malcontent that must always move in to new adventures: whether wife or life or job or high or religious experience that soothes the flesh BUT strangely and only for a season. (The law of diminishing returns. The eyes of a man are never satisfied.) He looks upon the ends of the earth to be found just over the next horizon and his god is strangely absent yet deceitfully near. Within. Hidden somewhere in a deceived heart. 

“The silver and gold are but a bit further, according to these instructions left by our ‘friend’ Demas. Let us wander but a bit further in that direction…” The fool has a hope that perishes. His god is absent as the prophets of Baal horribly discovered to their great peril and final destruction. 


#YadaYada again again…

Father, wisdom and understanding… I need these to shore up my Faith. I don’t want to be a fool whose eyes are on the ends of the earth to the neglect of the treasure hidden within the rubble and mess at my feet, that I have made of life thus far. Show me Thy glory today, and where I stand now, without qualification. May I see that it too is Holy Ground, set apart unto Thee, and that You are worthy of worship as my Redeemer God!
Praise to the Lord! Thy consolations delight my soul.

A Political “If-Then” of Jesus that Helps Me Today

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Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting…”

We do well to remember the “if-then” of our Lord before Pilate only moments prior to full implementation of the Father’s eternal plan of Redemption at Calvary. The darkest hour for man was in fact destined to become the most glorious of all. Heaven and earth kissed when righteousness and peace joined hands: His kingdom came in power and in particular at the declaration of Sonship via the Resurrection. If we do not heed the “if-then” Kingdom clause of Jesus, we may well find ourselves in the least case distracted from the King’s true business, and in the worst case… we may find ourselves inadvertently positioned alongside Pilate as judge of the King and His business in a moment of clarity consumed by mob-rule insanity. It happens. I think we have recently lived, (are living?), through it?

Never underestimate the subtlety of the serpent to distract gospel-focus from the Light and souls of men, and make it all about the earthy.

We live in rapid-fire, culturally-charged, ever-changing circumstances that lend themselves to no one’s security and to ever man’s danger. But into this crazy world, amazingly Light entered, and the Father has said, “This is My Son, hear ye Him.” (This is what the Father pronounced in response to Peter’s plan to stay on the Mount of Transfiguration and construct three earthly tabernacles, one for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.) God “Deep-6ed” that plan before the words had scarcely stopped ringing. NO EARTHLY KINGDOMS! And we still are trying to construct both religious and political tabernacles and shrines and legacies…

Now today we have the Trumpers, we see the crestfallen Hillary disciples, we hear the disillusioned Berney followers, and there are multitudes of others who feel neglected or disaffected by earthly rulers and political parties and intrigues. Did we really think a political party or one person could offer a lasting change or a viable solution to an age-old heart problem? Well, unfortunately I suppose most do neglect the King of kings. The gospel of God and the Kingdom of God preached in power, lived in purity, and coming in glory is the hope of the Nations. We would be wise to heed the old song,

“Kings and Kingdoms may all pass away;

But there’s something about that Name.”

O Lord God, You have spoken to us in Your Son in these last days. Grant grace and principled obedience to treasure His words and build our lives upon the Rock of abiding obedience in Him that we may know joy in this dark world which we see to be filled with sorrow, yet with True Light shining… enough to see the King’s Highway. Grant that we recall and practice “Thy word as a lamp and light to our feet and path,” and as that abiding Rock that shall never pass away “though grass withers and flower fades.” Our endurance and preservation as the Sons of Adam can only be saved and reconciled to Thee in the One who said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” O Father! May we seek that King and kingdom!

If His kingdom is not of this world, then where is my heart and where is my heart’s treasure?

Lewis… illustrates the principle.

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

CS Lewis

The Weight of Glory

I suggest you read or listen to this famous sermon or essay of Lewis. The Weight of Glory. 

My! Those nasty “Religious Tennis Shoes” sure stink and they fit so comfortably… On everyone?

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Any doctrine of scripture can have an inherent nuance or trapping that can lead one to deviate from the purity and simplicity of the gospel of grace, and ultimately from the end of supreme devotion to only Christ. When one begins to exalt methodology or form, and even function over Christology, thus the Person of the actual risen Christ, intellectualism has successfully subverted the Faith. We may horribly find ourselves exposed to the legitimate charge of Jesus Himself as He once condemned the Pharisees, “You will not come to Me that you may have life.” This is not without sound and guilty precedent in the long haul of Church history.

The only sufficient cure I know is that we cultivate a lasting, consistent communion with the living Christ, who amazingly not only tolerates us, but goes with us in the way.

 
He is the only One who must actually garner our affections more than the formal trappings of high and mysterious doctrinal commentary that easily causes division, distraction, interest… and not unity. His sword is adequate to divide, and He has not called me to frack preexisting man-imposed fault lines we seem enamored with, especially as IQ seems blessed, and understanding increase in the ordinary, and more dangerously, in the proud ner-do-well know it all.

This is no appeal unto an ignorant bliss by neglect of studious preparation, (the goal of godliness ought be the end of Biblical instruction), so it is an entreaty unto experiential holiness by disciplining ourselves thereunto by means of faith working through love with an eye on the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Perhaps, even more so, it is a call to recognize the danger of formalism and traditions that emphasize the works of man over the glory of Christ by their means of encroachment, (and our encouragement of this insidious danger), so that they subtly deny the complete sufficiency of “His purification from sin” as “He has sat down at the right hand of God.” I see this as a real problem in some sects and really otherwise great groups and… denominations… if you, ugh… will?

We know… “Knowledge puffs up, love edifies.”

“Ouch… what a universal fit that stinky old shoe has on all religious types!” It fits rather comfortably upon my foot too.

Lord, teach me the Christ of the Scriptures, that is the Christ who rules and reigns over my heart this day, expanding dominion and conquering prideful arrogance that disqualifies me from the race. Father, the more I learn the more broken I become, but the more glorious I see my Elder Brother who bids me come to Him for life, not trappings that snare though they fit comfortably as a well-worn, though rather malodorous tennis shoe.