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Archive for June, 2017

Bright Shadows

Posted in General, Glory, God Thoughts, Random thoughts, tagged , , , , on June 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Being observant makes life interesting. Being intentionally observant is more interesting, and being in a group of people who enjoy discussing intentional observation is much more interesting. One evening I was walking out of the tower door of the church, which faces west, with two brothers. The sun was low and directly in our faces, making it hard to see. We were discussing what we intended to do when I pulled up short and said, “What in the world?” They both seemed surprised and said, “What’s wrong?” “How can this be?” I replied more to myself than to them, “The sun is shining in our faces but there are shadows in front of us.” I turned around to see if there were shadows behind us where they should be and discovered the truth of the bright shadows in front. The sun was equally blinding reflecting off of the glass door we had just exited. “I thought the laws of Physics were overthrown for a moment.” One of those two men still gives me a hard time about my observation and utter amazement.

I only hope that I may one day be such a good reflection of my Savior’s glory as to caste bright shadows over the lives of those who are blinded in His presence. And will there even be shadows in heaven where the light of His glory penetrates and purifies all its surroundings, where sin cannot abide, and praise arises uninterrupted before His throne? Even in the shadows of my continued sin nature, the world’s wicked system, and the devil’s devious temptations, I look forward to brighter days of knowing and serving Him through the grace He daily provides. Though shadows fall all around us, His presence brightens even these.

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Keeping out of the Ditch

Posted in Faith, General, Grace, Strength, Work of the Holy Spirit, tagged , , , , on June 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Following after Jesus has its many rewards and challenges. The challenges all originate from our sin nature, and “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence,” (2 Peter 1:3) we really have no excuse. This enabling power given to us through the agency of the Holy Spirit helps us to “enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

God is at work in us for our sanctification, but He also commands us to be diligently about increasing our sanctification: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13) Because of the lie of Satan that induced the original sin of Adam, “you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5), we now have a sin nature. As a result “death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam” (Romans 5:14), and there is still “nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (Romans 7:18-19) To put it plainly, the lie of Satan was that you can do it on your own, that is, be good enough, be like God. Every religion is a way to work your way to heaven or attempt to please God. True Christianity is not this way, that is, works oriented, but grace oriented, because God has and is accomplishing all that is needed to please Him and secure for us a place in heaven. But we sinners by nature and by practice are hooked on the Lie and must throughout this lifetime be diligent to believe what God has said and done in and for us.

I love analogies and metaphors and thought of this situation today as I was describing a friend’s need to find a church where grace is preached. We should seek a church where truth is preached, the Gospel is preached, and the whole counsel of God is preached, right? Most definitely we should, but we are like an old pick-up truck that has a badly mis-aligned front end that constantly wants to steer us into the left ditch which we must persistently fight by holding the steering wheel to the right so that we may track straight. The mis-alignment is our works oriented sin nature; steering to the right is a constant placing of God’s grace before our eyes and in our thinking; the straight track is the narrow way that God is guiding us along toward Himself.

Or we are setting a course of the narrow way by turning the tiller of grace that has us tacking into the wind of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are always empowered by God, but He frequently accomplishes that through the effort of faith we put forth. This “steering” or “tack” is not a new level of works, but a clinging to God, the only source of life and godliness, joy and heaven.

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Spring’s Grace

Posted in Beauty, General, God Thoughts, Grace, Outdoors, Poem, tagged , , , , on June 16, 2017| Leave a Comment » 

Bright new day
Mockingbird has his say
Lush and green
Rain brings Spring's early sheen

Season's start
Foliage and plumage art
All dainty
Nests and blooms aplenty

All things grow
Matter, energy flow
Life's cycle
Replenish, recycle

Young ones sup
Foal, calf, kitten, and pup
Insects buzz
Peach, leaf, and mildew fuzz

Remember 
God's mercies are tender 
He provides 
Creates, sustains, abides

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Faithful in the Little Trials

Posted in Faith, General, God Thoughts, Grace, Poem, Strength, tagged , , , , , on June 10, 2017| Leave a Comment » 

Mundane and tedious blights the soul
Clips the wings and dulls life's sheen
Off to the digs, the life of a mole
Outwardly lulled, inwardly lean

Nothing big but challenges galore
Wanting to rise to the top
But daily life pins you to the floor
While pleading that troubles would stop

Why do difficulties continue?
Why do my troubles persist?
Where's a fresh start and a new venue?
Does purpose in problems exist?

If you would be faithful in little
Later entrusted with much
The trials will test your faith and mettle
Spirit's power revealed as such

Hold on and trust in the daily tasks
Find His help in every trial
Cling to Him, doing all that He asks
Don't doubt, turning to denial

Embracing your God ordained story
Bear up under every test
Then to God will go all the glory
And your soul will find joy and rest

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Another year of school

Posted in General, Random thoughts, Remembering, Sustaining, Witness, tagged , , , , , , on June 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Many the comment that comes from students the last few days for school. Many are gracious, wanting to end on a friendly note. It shows a measure of decency on the part of the majority of students. Others are harshly truthful and others contrived, far from truthful, out of some need to right a never done wrong. “I can’t wait until this class is over. Friends told me that I wouldn’t be able to wait to get out of here, but that I would miss you afterward. I don’t see that happening.” It seemed like a complement to me, if not from the student in front of me, then certainly from the ‘friends’. Dealing constantly with people is not easy business. It wears on the emotions, particularly if you care even a little bit. It doesn’t help that you always know that you have failed in some small way with every person you interact with, even though you know you did your best overall and intended the best for your students. It is for all of this difficulty in the midst of trying that the occasional word of genuine encouragement lifts the weary soul. At the end of the last assignment to be graded for one class there was the following statement: “Mr. __, I’m so glad you were my teacher! I learned alot from you! Science and life choices.” That is the way that I want to be remembered as a teacher- passionate about teaching Science and life. Many of my years of teaching have been stressful for reasons inside the class and out. This past year was not the worst for stress, but it did rank. At the same time it was a year of spiritual benefit in my own life and in opportunity to talk to students about eternal things. It sometimes amazes me how often students will bring up the subject of where we came from, or do I believe in God, or how do you solve life’s difficult problems, or what is the meaning of life. Some of the questions relate directly to the subject at hand and others seem random, though I am sure that the underlying thought process that brought them forward was not. I hope that I taught many students science and life this past year and that God will take what I offered for His glory and their good.

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Overflows from the Heart

"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart…" Matthew 15:18

CreatorWorship

Pointing to the One who made, saved, and sustains