Sunday, December 20, 2009

Where is my God?

“Where is my God?—does he retire beyond the reach of humble sighs? Are these weak breathings of desire too languid to ascend the skies?” “Teach my weak heart, O gracious Lord, with stronger faith to call thee mine; bid me pronounce the blissful word, my Father—God, with joy divine.” (Anne Steele, 1716-1778)


The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, (Lk 4:18)

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (Jn 3:17, 19, 20)

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. (PS 51:6)

"I have no husband," she replied. (Jn 4:17) Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (Jn 4:28-29) So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. (Jn 4:40)

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:19-20)

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (Jn 14:21, 23)

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!" Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay. (PS 40:16-17)



Dear Reader, the heart of God is to reconcile and relate. God wants you to know Him. The heart of man is to cry out, yet to often remain hidden and shut up in a false sense of security and life; thus crying due to real need, but not understanding, and thereby rejecting, the only real answer. Christ came not to condemn. Do not fear Him. When He approaches you and speaks to you, receive Him. Be honest.

Truth in the inward parts. Keeping the heart’s door shut. Evil hates light because it will be exposed. “I have no husband.” “Come, see.” “They urged him to stay…he stayed.” Friend, have you met Christ in the inward parts of your heart—ever, or recently anew? If not, what do you fear? Loss of yourself? Exposure of what you know yourself to actually be? Christ may initially approach you from the outside, like he did the Samaritan woman, but He desires entrance to the most intimate parts of your life, as when He knocks. Do you sense something within that isn’t set quite right? If you do, don’t let fear (or sin) hold you hostage. Has Christ spoken there? Receive Him there. Agree with Him regarding His view of your life. This will lead to your increased desire to be with Him.

“He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.” What if the light you believe you have is actually darkness? Christ came to free. We need to be freed, freed from self, sin, the world and Satan. Trust not in yourself. Let Christ deliver you. Can you for a moment envision what such freedom would mean to you? If you desire delivery from yourself, behold Christ.

If you have recently met Christ in the inward part of your heart, what have you experienced? Liberty? Petitioning God to spend more time with you? Do you say with the psalmist "The LORD be exalted!" and “You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay!” This is true freedom with and in Christ: Praising and Desiring God. If you have recently met Christ in the inward part of your heart, then you do know the blessed joy of His presence at that place and you do acknowledge the ever growing desire for further union with God. Christ will eat with you, and you with Him. Do you now enjoy this meal? Would you like to? Do not withhold Christ’s access to your heart.

“He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him… My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." Friend, here is the best of the Christian experience—living in the presence of God. As you know, the reality revealed to us by these words is not automatic or a guarantee this side of Heaven. Consider Jesus’ emphasis on God’s word and your emphasis on God’s word. Do you believe Christ’s words regarding His words? Your emphasis on God’s word reveals the degree to which you love Him. How great is your love for Him? Pursue Him freely. He has given His word to you. Both Father and Son will love you, manifest Themselves to you, and establish Their home with you now. What more could you and I ever desire?

“Where is my God?” Know and guard your heart, friend. Jesus came to deliver you, to free you, to establish you, and to enable you to know Him and His Father to the greatest degree possible this side of Heaven. You yourself can prevent this deepest and fullest God intimacy from ever being apart of your life. Don’t let a Christ-less condition be your earthly testimony. Jesus reveals the greatest offer ever. Receive Him in the inward parts always.



“He lives,--the great Redeemer lives:
What joy the blest assurance gives!
And now, before his Father, God,
Pleads the full merit of his blood.

Repeated crimes awake our fears,
And justice armed with frowns appears;
But in the Saviour’s lovely face,
Sweet mercy smiles, and all is peace.

Hence, then, ye black, despairing thoughts;
Above our fears, above our faults,
His powerful intercessions rise,
And guild recedes, and terror dies.

In every dark, distressful hour,
When sin and Satan join their power,
Let this dear hope repel the dart,
That Jesus bears us on his heart.

Great Advocate! Almighty Friend!
On thee our humble hopes depend:
Our cause can never, never fail,
For thou dost plead, and must prevail.”

(Anne Steele, 1716-1778)

Monday, November 30, 2009

The World Crushes. The Lord Lifts.

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;” (2 Cor 4:8) “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died [with Christ], and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 1:1-3)


Dear Reader,

“The World Crushes. The Lord Lifts.” This title says volumes to us, does it not? You understand what I mean. There seems no escape for the godly from all that is against God in the world. We see it and hear it without pause. We are simply overwhelmed by it. (Praise God if you see and hear the difference!) And we tell ourselves “We’ve no sufficient remedy to stem its advance! Ungodliness and evil through men spreads without strain! This condition crushes us!”

Yet, for us who profess to know Christ, who have died with Him and now live with Him, there is remedy for our minds and hearts. Our remedy, yours as an individual and ours collectively, is Christ Himself. We must never forget this. We must never lose sight of Him during our days else the world will certainly achieve its goal and crush us. The reality is that many of us have already lost sight of Christ, and we are now crushed in mind, heart, and perhaps even body. You know who you are, if you are crushed. You feel the world’s weight too much. But the “worldly crush” need not be the end. You can be, and should be, “Lifted.”

Jesus himself, on His cross, was suspended (lifted) between the earth and Heaven. He came from Heaven to earth, was rejected by those He came to, and was cast up away from the earth as a plague, an evil doer, and undesirable. Many tried to “crush” Him with stones, threats and death. Those of the world wanted nothing of Him, yet He was the world’s Saviour. He would bear the world’s weight. Evil hearts cast Him from “their” earth. Always remember that Jesus, more than we ever will, understands the evil and weighty pressures of the world. We can, and should, take great comfort that Jesus knows our daily plight and that He is for us. The world does not know this, but God is in charge and all is His. He is King. This fact alone can lift us.

Jesus returned to His Father (and our Father). His Father lifted Him to a place the world would never imagine and in a way the world could never do. And we, as Christians, are now “in Him” in the presence of His Father; though we do not fully apprehend this reality. Yet, as those professing Christ, we should realize the truth regarding our Divine position throughout our days (have experience of the earthly-Heavenly difference and be linked more to the Heavenly), knowing that one day our experiential “suspension” between earth and Heaven will change. We will be fully free from all that is earthly and worldly (all it’s crushing weight), and we will be fully lifted by the Father into the fullness of God’s presence. But, for now, as Christians, we feel torn between two worlds. Sometimes we are simply crushed.

Friend, do not let the world win over you! The Lord Lifts! He is your true(er) identity and He is your true(er) reality. Jesus is the Head of His body. Where the Head is the body will also be. The world is passing away. Let it pass! You and God, and everything you have through Christ in God, are forever fixed and will never pass away. You can and will be Lifted!

Below, I have provided three hymns from the Rev. Ottiwell Heginbotham (1744-1768) to assist you in godly reflections and meditations on being Crushed or Lifted. Distinctions that we experience as Christians, with heart-felt sensitivities and Christ centered confessions, abound in these hymns. Very little is known of this man. I do not even know the titles to these works. What I find truly amazing about them, though, is not just that they so wonderfully capture and express Christian truths and heart confessions, but that their author died at age 24! How young! Yet, what depth and maturity of heart with God! How many years, friend, have you and I professed Christ? See if your heart sings in agreement with the words below that originate from such a young author. If not, perhaps too much of the world’s weight has crushed you for too long. Recognize your relation to your Lord and let the Lord Lift you today. Let Him be your life, and let Him Lift you every day. God’s best to you.

Carl


HYMN 1

“Yes, I will bless thee, O my God!
Through all my earthly days;
And to eternity prolong
Thy vast, thy boundless praise.

In every smiling, happy hour,
Be this my sweet employ:
Thy praise refines my earthly bliss,
And doubles all my joy.

When gloomy care, and keen distress
Afflict my throbbing breast,
Thy praise shall mingle with my tears,
And lull each pain to rest.

Nor shall my tongue alone proclaim
The honors of my God:
My life, with all its active powers,
Shall spread thy praise abroad.

Nor death itself shall stop my song,
Though it will close my eyes;
My thoughts shall then to nobler heights,
And sweeter raptures rise.

There shall my lips in endless praise
Their grateful tribute pay;
The theme demands an angel’s tongue,
And an eternal day.”


HYMN 2

“Sweet the moments, rich in blessing,
Which before the cross I spend;
Life, and health, and peace possessing,
From the sinner’s dying Friend.

Truly blessed is this station,
Low before his cross to lie;
While I see divine compassion
Beaming in his gracious eye.

Here it is I find my heaven,
While upon the cross I gaze;
Love I much? I’ve much forgiven;
I’m a miracle of grace.

Love and grief my heart dividing,
With my tears his feet I’ll bathe;
Constant still, in faith abiding,
Life deriving from his death.

Here in tender, grateful sorrow
With my Saviour will I stay;
Here new hope and strength will borrow;
Here will love my fears away.”


HYMN 3

“Sweet peace of conscience, heavenly guest,
Come, fix thy mansion in my breast;
Dispel my doubts, my fears control,
And heal the anguish of my soul.

Come, smiling hope, and joy sincere,
Come, make your constant dwelling here;
Still let your presence cheer my heart,
Nor sin compel you to depart.

O God of hope and peace divine,
Make thou these secret pleasures mine;
Forgive my sins, my fears remove,
And fill my heart with joy and love.”

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Whole of My Day is Heavenward

Friend, is The Whole of Your Day Heavenward?

Is it?

Just what type of question is this? It is a question intended to produce reflection.

Let us reflect.

Even if you profess to be a Christian, most likely, as with me, your days would be described as anything but Heavenward in thoughts, in desires, in words, or in actions. Pressing and urgent matters and concerns seem to demand our all, do they not? Distractions abound. We live on the surface level of the Worldly, and we usually only engage what is temporary and passing. This all seems normal to us. These are our days.

Yet, beyond our notice, we are truly moving Heavenward. We will one day stand fully in God’s presence and we will know ourselves as He knows us. (Are you comfortable with that?) Our memory will present each of us with inescapable reminders of our days and of times when we were Heavenward, when we were Worldly, and when we were Heavenward though in the World; when we consciously discerned the difference and chose the Heavenward. In the end, in an ultimate sense, one can say that even without our conscious participation or direct notice “The Whole of Our Days is Heavenward.”

I can probably assume that we more often than not pass the moments of our days so caught up with every temporal care that we close most days without any sincere acknowledgement of our relation with God and even more without any sincere communion or fellowship with Him. Most of you reading this may even have a history of closing your days without a review of those days, without expressing gratitude to God, without confessing sin to God, without experiencing forgiveness from God, or even without having spent minimal time pursuing God through His Word. Is this you?

If this description is remotely true of us, what does it reveal about how we value God and about whether or not we truly know Him? Whether we even relate to God as our Father? Is God truly my God and your God, or do our lives reveal that something else is? What could ever be god to us if it is not God? If, in the end, after our earthly lives, we believe we will spend eternity with God—if this our hope—why is He not more part of our lives now? Is eternal life with God some existence to begin after I leave this earthly journey, or am I immersed in eternal life now? If we are not experiencing what we believe should be a level of fellowship with God during our days “now,” why not? Do you ask yourself such questions, or do I alone consider such matters?

“The Whole of My Day is Heavenward.”

“The Whole of Your Day is Heavenward.”

These are descriptive statements. But why “Whole”? What is meant by this word? Do we imply the “entirety of” or the “tone of”? Perhaps we can find some room for self-comfort, some ground of safety for our conscience, if we decrease the strength of the phrase “The Whole of My Day is Heavenward” to “The Tone of My Day is Heavenward.” For we tell ourselves such complaints, don’t we? “It is simply impossible that every breathing second I’d be Heavenward in all my faculties and all my function! What weight of expectation as this is demanded of me!” All right. Let us then, for preservation sake, define “The Whole of” as “The Tone of.” Very good. Here we are. Now we feel safer before ourselves (and God). Let us continue.

Reader, if you would confess that most of your days are not Heavenward, can you honestly say that some are? Do you see parts that are? Further, and perhaps more important, do you recognize any trace of desire within you that more of your day would be so?

Are you aware of God’s personal work in your life, His drawing? Is God’s drawing you to Himself noticeable? That is, is He revealing or disclosing more spiritual understanding to you? Do you see? Do you hear? Does something remain, something direct, does something grow? Can you answer “yes”?

Is your desire for more consistency through your day for times of pursuing God and the things of God, for more communion and fellowship with God, for times of ongoing reflection and prayer, and if so, do you understand what would need to occur so that those times of Divine communion would then be experienced? Regarding your desires, do they remain, do they direct, do they grow? Can you answer “yes”?

Or, is this entire line of questioning and the idea of self-reflection foreign to you? What, then, if you lost some or all of what to this point God has granted you? Would you be aware of such loss? What if God’s drawing and your desires for God began to diminish, withdraw and not remain? No longer direct? Die? Would it even matter? It happens to some.

Friend, the above line of questioning and the items for self-reflection and self-awareness in regard to your and my individual relations with God are of the upmost importance. Consider Jesus’ own words to us from Matthew 13:12:

“Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

The thirteenth chapter of Matthew is both remarkable and essential for Christian life. What Jesus says here and how the Spirit of God has divinely ordained the chapter’s structure are fascinating and beyond the scope of this writing. But two points are immediately relevant: what verse 13:12 describes, and what those who have been given can learn from those who seemed to have but didn’t.

First, what verse 13:12 describes. Dear reader, it describes you. It describes me. If we have ever read or heard God’s Word it describes us. This is not a verse calling us to action. It is a verse telling us something about ourselves. It is disclosure. It is revelation. It makes something known that without God’s action would otherwise never be apprehended much less naturally figured out. The nature of this verse, initially spoke from our Savior’s lips, is descriptive. Meaning, you and I are somewhere in this verse. We are either (1) of the group “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance” or (2) of the group “Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Now, I have two questions for you, questions I have both asked and answered for myself. Question one: Which group do you want to be in, group (1) or group (2)? Question two: Which group are you in, group (1) or group (2)? Your answers to both questions matter. Jesus is here, as the Living Word of God, recorded (now to us in the Written Word of God) telling us as hearers and readers of God’s Word something essential. Jesus is saying, “I am disclosing something to you about your relation to God’s Word [the “seed” in the Matthew 13, Parable of the Soils], thus I am disclosing something to you about your relation to God.”

“Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Again, Jesus here describes you. Where are you? What does the “Tone” the “Whole” of your life say? How does your life place you? What do you see?

Second, what can those who have been given, who will be given more, whose lives will see the fruit from what they’ve been given (the seed), what can these learn from the others who truly do not have, those that lose what they seemed to have? Answer: discernment and self-awareness. Jesus describes for us enemies of God’s Word, and we are given the divine understanding of these enemies to both discern them, be self-aware of their presence, influence and affects on our lives with and before God.

Jesus states in Matthew 13:20, 22 and 23 that “the seed” is “the Word.” In verse 13:19 Jesus calls it “the Message about the Kingdom.” This Message and these Words are the seed which are sown by God (the Son of Man? Matthew 13:37) in your life and mine. From this seed, according to the seed’s nature, growth should follow, and fruit should be the natural outcome, the natural end. And while it is of interest to discuss the presence of fruit from the Word in our lives, this is not the current task at hand. What we want to learn is something that those who do not have or those who seem to have actually don’t have. These are truly "Have-Nots." By examining them, we want understanding of what causes God’s Word to die in our lives so that we can prevent that end.

Visit with me Jesus’ description of this group from Matthew 13:18-22:

"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”

Reader, the three descriptions above apply to individuals who at some time or times, perhaps regularly, engage God’s Word or are engaged by God’s Word. But in no way does God’s Word (the seed) take root in the person’s heart (the person’s life), grow, and bear fruit. But it may, and likely does, according to 13:12, seem that certain individuals appear to themselves and others as godly. Jesus says they truly are not. They have a false and unfruitful relationship to God and His Word, but for us their undoing is educational. If you have placed yourself in Group 1 of Matthew 13:12, and you truly are a member of that group, here is the instruction that will increase your discernment and increase your self-awareness.

God’s Word, His Message about His Kingdom, and me, through observing those who seemed to have had but truly did not:

“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”

Here, God’s Word is sown quickly and dies quickly. How does it die? It is discarded and removed. The attention and effort you and I give to God’s Word is critical. How we value God’s Word is central. The evil one, the Devil, has a vested interest in damaging and destroying my relation to God’s Word, both my view of it and my desire for it. He wants that relationship to die. He wants the Word of God in my heart to die. He wants no root to take, no growth to occur, and no fruit to show. He devours the Word.

Remember the Devil’s temptation to Eve and Adam? “Did God truly say?” The Devil wants you to doubt and disbelieve God’s Word (to doubt and disbelieve God), be disinterested in God’s Word, to deny and dismiss God’s Word, to devalue doctrine. The Devil wants to be our god by default, by helping us believe we are like God (determining wrong and right), disassociating ourselves from God through a quick yet significant dismissal of His Word. The Devil is a liar, a deceiver and a destroyer. Friend, discern and be self-aware of your relation to God and His Word continually. Ask yourself about your relation to God and His Word. Do you note elements of this paragraph in your life? What can you learn about yourself from this first group of those who truly never had and lost what they seemed to have?

“The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.“

This description is difficult for us all. God’s Word is here contrasted with the reality of external Worldly pressures as expressed through the lives of others (certainly the ungodly). They produce fear and lead to quick decisions and actions. Two realities locked in battle: God’s Kingdom and the World. Let us not think too highly of ourselves, though. Perhaps we, like many others, would cave to the threats of death or torture because of the Word. I pray to God not, and we must ever live with the impression of our Savior in our minds and on our hearts to strengthen us if we ever face such threats. If you have read Foxes Book of Martyrs, you know the degree of evil the ungodly are capable of and many a saint has submitted to.

But let us understand the phrase “at once receives it with joy.” Here perhaps is the key. God’s message is in some degree appealing to the lost. But not every lost heart undergoes the necessary brokenness whereby the seed can be properly planted. This example reveals shallowness towards God. God’s Word was not truly nor completely understood in the example of this life. Something of God’s message was valued, but the value of temporal life was actually above that of God and what God revealed about Himself and life with Him. If your relation to God and His Word is shallow, then you will likely deny Him more easily when fearful of Worldly threats. His Word in you will die.

The World and those of the World are natural enemies to God and His Word. These are continual external pressures on the life of one who has a relation to God and His Word. This example reveals a misplaced worth. The seed in this life died. Friend, discern and be self-aware of your relation to God and His Word continually. Ask yourself about your relation to God and His Word and how external pressures of the World affect you. Do you note elements of this paragraph in your life? What can you learn about yourself from this second group of those who truly never had and lost what they seemed to have?

“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”

Fist it was the Devil. Then external Worldly pressures. Here we face ourselves and our fallen, natural, fleshly and ungodly natures. Here we face internal Worldly pressures. Does the term “thorns” describe your heart? Does the phrase “the worries of this life” express your inner world? Do you have a false view of true wealth? Friend, the Devil and the external World can both have their affect on you and influence you to deny God and abandon His Word. But we can do that to ourselves without their assistance. Your fallen-ness (that self-centered independence) does not want God. Desiring God is unnatural. Your fallen-ness would rather exist as god and judge, condemn, fear, and be focused so much on the here-and-now that you forget God and His foreverness. If you are thus focused on yourself, you’ll never see, hear, or know God. His Word, which is everlasting, will never be valued when you are so set on knowing only that which passes.

You, dear Reader, have the capability to cause any seed of God’s Word to not take root, to not grow, to not bear fruit, to essentially die. Congratulations. When you finally stand in God’s presence unable to escape your memory will you blame the Devil, the apple (the external World), or yourself? Ask yourself regarding your relation to God and His Word and how the internal pressures of your sinfulness affect you. Converse with God about it. Confess and repent. Do you note elements of this paragraph in your life? What can you learn about yourself from this third group of those who truly never had and lost what they seemed to have?

“The Whole (tone) of My Day is Heavenward.”

“The Whole (tone) of Your Day is Heavenward.”

“Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Reader, if you have made it this far, I trust something has become apparent to you regarding your life with God and your relation to God’s Word. Jesus gave us Matthew 13:12 to reveal something to us about both. There are valuable lessons for us to learn from the lives of those who seemed to have but truly didn’t that they themselves are unable to know and understand. What can you learn from those who cannot learn? God gives you such understanding.

If I were to continue with this discourse, I would examine the remainder of Matthew 13 to see what we can understand about God’s Kingdom and our relation to those items, as well as each reference in Matthew regarding God’s Kingdom. For, remember, this seed, God’s Word, which is planted in our lives to grow (mature and open up—disclose), and bear fruit, is the message about the Kingdom. Perhaps as you read Matthew again, you’ll associate these truths to Jesus’ Matthew 13 statements.

God’s best to you. May you sense God’s drawing and respond. May you desire more of Him, pursue Him and be on guard to what will cause His Word in your life to either grow or die. May you not fear your memory on that day you stand before Him. He is all knowing and ever present. In actuality, you live before Him now. There is no hiding.

Carl

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Manifest In You Hereafter

Greetings Friend.

Much time has passed since I last wrote. My days have been filled with trials from without and struggles within. Perhaps your days have been the same. It will be this way till our pilgrimage on earth is done and we fully enter eternity and God’s presence. Yet, during our brief earthly pilgrimage eternity, having entered us, wants its perfect and complete work, wants to manifest itself over our temporal and fleshly nature. The occurrences of this work are most often found in the recesses of our hearts.

I’m rereading John Arndt’s book True Christianity and found the following section healthy for thoughtful reflection on my heart’s condition as related to things that pass away and things which remain. Perhaps God will use it in some similar fashion in your life. Enjoy.

God’s mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.

Carl



The apostle Paul “calls the Christian, ‘a man of God,’ because he is born of God, and lives in God, and therefore is the son and heir of God; as, on the other hand, a man of the world, is one who lives in conformity to the world, who ‘has his portion in this life, and whose belly is filled with the hid treasure’ of the earth.”

Honestly, which do you see as more descriptive of your life?

Dear reader, even though one professes to be a Christian, we must at times be honest and confess that we are perhaps “more careful of a weak and perishing body, than we are of an imperishable, immortal soul.”

Given this, let us at this present time, wanting to be truly careful of our imperishable and immortal souls more than our weak and perishing bodies, let us consider: (1) the source of our affections, (2) the object(s) of our affections, and (3) the implications of our affections.

“The love and joy, the wealth and honors of the true Christian, are circumscribed only by eternity itself; for, ‘where his treasure is, there will his heart be also’ (Luke 12:34). From the lust and love of the world, on the contrary, nothing can result but eternal damnation. ‘The world passeth away and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever’ (I John 2:17): and hence, St. John calls upon the faithful entirely to withdraw their affections from the world; saying, ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world’ (I John 2:15). These and similar considerations powerfully convince us, that God will not permit us to fix our affections on any creature whatsoever.

But this will more fully appear from the following reflections:

Love is the very heart of a man, and the noblest of all his affections; hence, it is due to God only as the supreme object and sovereign Good.

It is absolute folly to love temporal things, which cannot love us; whereas the infinitely blessed God deserves to be loved alone, since from a pure principle of love, he created us unto eternal life, and has, to the same purpose, redeemed and sanctified us.

Like things are naturally loved by their like. Hence, God made us after his own image, in order that we might love Him; and that, next to himself, we might love our neighbor, created after the same image.

The human soul resembles a mirror, representing every object indifferently that is placed before it, whether it be of heaven or of earth. Therefore turn your soul wholly and only to God, that this image may be fully expressed in it.

The patriarch Jacob, when dwelling in Mesopotamia, far removed from his native soil, never abandoned his purpose to return and, at length, after twenty years’ service, demanded his wives and wages; and, cheered by the recollection of the place of his nativity, returned thither. So should your soul, amidst the various engagements of this life, and the hurry of outward employments, long without ceasing after your heavenly fatherland.

Man is made either better or worse by that which he loves. He that loves God partakes freely of the divine virtue and goodness that resides in Him; but he that loves the world is defiled with all those sins and evils which attend it.

When King Nebuchadnezzar was too much controlled by the love of the world, he lost the very form of a man, and degenerated into that of a beast (Dan. 4:33). So all men, blotting from their hearts the image and love of God, are transformed as it respects their inward man into the nature of brutes. For surely those who wholly surrender themselves to the love of this world are no better.

Lastly, that which a man has loved here, and carried about in his heart, shall be manifested in him hereafter; and with this he shall associate himself forever, whether it be God or the world. If the world has been the object of his love in this life, it will never leave him hereafter, but will prove his death and his torment to all eternity.”

(The above taken from True Christianity, John Arndt, Book 1, Chapter 18, Pietan Publications)


Your days, like a tale that is told, pass away;
The lusts of the earth that beset you are vain;
Too precious your time for such trifling and play:
Then employ it that glory at last you may gain.

From the stream of your life, so fleeting and strange,
Draw forth every day something good that may last;
From the trifles of earth turn away: they shall change,
And no blessing shall leave when the vision is past.

Awake! Seek thy constant refreshment in God;
Sow the seed that will yield stores of joy to thy soul,
Redeeming the time both at home and abroad,
And thy peace shall endure, like a river shall roll.

(Author unknown)

Monday, August 24, 2009

Daily Principles from Ecclasistes

Greetings Friend.


The book of Ecclesiastes encourages us and instructs us on many life topics, all of which are important to own from the heart. A good practice is to meditate through the book at least once each year. If you have not done so for a while, consider doing so soon.

The below are take-away nuggets to hide in your heart and reflect on as you move through each day. The simple concept of "doing good" has, for example, played a valuable role in my life recently, as I've reminded myself of the principle throughout my days and shared it with others. These principles if lived will be declared. People need to know these life truths, which are from God, and they need to see people living them. If we are not living the light, then darkness remains.

Keep it simple. Live always with and before God.

God's Grace and Mercy to you.

Carl


- God determines your days.

- Regardless as to the number of your days, do good during each day.

- Regardless as to the content of your days, be content with each day.

- Your life should contain a vast array of experiences.

- Many experiences we judge as undesirable, but God gives them to us for our benefit, for the benefit others, and for His glory.

- Live your days from His view and your view will change.

- Each moment of each day is given by God. Live in the present moment.

- Do good in the present moment. Be content with the present moment.

- The addition of each moment produces the daily and the life sum: days and a life of good and contentment.

- God knows your life situation, heart and thoughts.

- Keep honest with God each moment, each day.

- God encourages you to live a life of good with contentment, and to do so before Him. But, a time of facing your days and seeing them with His honesty and clarity will come. He has instructed humanity how to enjoy life as a gift, but understanding is given of a future judgment.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Christian, Here Is Something No One Can Take From You

Saying to God "I Love You."

How long has it been?

Friend, if you are a Christian, how long has it been since you told God that you love Him?

How long has it been since He heard that love expression from your heart with sincerity?

Why has it been so long?

No one can restrain you from telling God you love Him.

No one needs to.

You restrain yourself.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Thinking About Your Day

Greetings Friend.

You have a choice regarding each day, whether to live it:

- in Friendship with God, in Fellowship with God, and in Love with God, or

- in Friendship with the World, in Fellowship with the World, and in Love with the World.

Experiencing eternal life is related to living each day with God.

Experiencing natural life is related to living each day with the World.

God desires you to know Him and live in communion with Him.

The World wants you for itself.

Prayerfully consider and examine your days, your desires, your time, your pursuits, your mind, your heart, and your voice.

Where do you find your Friendship, your Fellowship, and your Love?

Jude 2

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Eternal Life

Eternal Life:

.....Do you have it?

.....Does it have you?


Eternal Life:

.....If you say you have it, how do you see (experience) it in your life?

.....If you say it has you, how does it see (experience) you?


Eternal Life:

.....If you say you have it and it has you, how are others experiencing it through you?

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Is This Your Christian Experience?

Greetings Friend.

Perhaps such inquiry is unique to me, but I wonder, have you ever seriously asked yourself if you are in the stream of true Christianity and whether or not you are experiencing now, to some degree, the essence (or the chief end) of Christianity? What does experiencing the essence of Christianity look like to you?

Some may consider such questioning unnecessary. Others may realize the value. How are you reacting thus far? Do such questions seem a waste of time or of value? And, I am not questioning your experience of any particular church or denomination. These questions apply to you and God directly.

What is the essence of Christianity? I understand that different people will answer differently. Well, let’s assume for now the essence of Christianity is relating primarily to, with and from God, with respect to all things all the time. That may sound simplistic (even impossible) and seem to be an immediate response any self-identified Christian would produce on the surface. But, let’s drill down beneath that popular and public reply to an individual’s personal and private confession; the more difficult yet more honest area of the heart. Let’s make it more personal and ask what answer comes from the hidden area of your heart?

Consider with me the hidden area of your heart and Jesus’ words from John 14:21 – 23. While being spoken initially to the disciples in the upper room setting, these words go out to all professing believers in Christ and followers of God throughout time in all places. If you profess to be a Christian, do these words describe “your” experience with God?


He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.

And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father,

and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Jesus answered and said to him,

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,

and We will come to him and make Our home with him.



Friend, I leave to you, in your own time, the proper meditation on the above passage. Your love to Christ and the Father, your relation to God’s Word, God’s love to you are all obvious subjects to ponder and pray through. What is your relation to them in your heart?

I will conclude, though, by asking a pointed and central question regarding the text and the essence of your Christian experience. Can you honestly say that Jesus and the Father make their home with you?

How are you reacting to this question? It seems an honest and proper question, does it not? Do you accept Jesus’ words? If not, why? Do you find yourself being drawn into the substance of this subject (Jesus and the Father makeing their home with you) or being repelled?

This degree of intimacy with God, as stated by Jesus, is possible, and I’d add is the critical core of one’s Christian experience: Living with God in the most intimate fashion “now.” If you cannot testify that Jesus and the Father have their home with you, prayerfully consider the passage above for the reason as to why. Only after having done so, consult John 14:24 for confirmation.

A lingering question: What would our lives be like if we knew and could honestly testify that Jesus and the Father did have their home with us?

God’s mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.

Carl

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Considering Your Christian Experience

Greetings friend.

The reading below from Bogatzky seemed to capture the essence of some things I’ve been pondering recently: the nature of Christianity, and the nature of one’s Christian experience. Actually, I consider these subjects continually both generally (as would apply to all Christians) and as they pertain to my own life (as an individual Christian). I question what Christianity is, as I now understand it, and what my Christian experience is, as I now live it.

It follows that I also consider what my life could be (before God, unto myself, and before others), as I by imagination extend these reflective thoughts and beliefs as truths to trust in, and I envision my life given over to those beliefs as I live them out. With assistance of imagination, the task is easy. Real life, though, contains actual struggle. May we not think of ourselves more highly than we should.

May I ask, dear friend, do you also ponder such things yourself? Do you wonder about your understanding of Christianity? Do you wonder about your Christian experience? Do you consider how you live Christian truths? Do you also see yourself living differently? Do you struggle? Does your Christian experience confirm to you that you are truly Christian and that God does actually exist and love you? If so, you are not alone. This struggle is normal and critical to the Christian life.

The text below is Bogatzky’s May 31st reading from The Golden Treasury. I’ve altered the structure a bit to separate thoughts and, hopefully, to allow for greater clarity in your mind and heart as you not only read but consider and reflect on his message. The author of the hymn is unknown.

“In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. Psalm 94. 19. See also 2 Corinthians 1. 3-5.

A contented man, without afflictions, is ready to place his trust, and seek his comforts, in temporal things.

Earthly desires crowd upon him, filling his soul with vanity, and he cannot well taste the sweet comforts of God's word, but under the burden of the cross.

Here we often enjoy more solid rest than if we were without a cross, and then that word is fulfilled which Christ says, Matthew 11. 30: "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Thus our hearts are set against the world, reconciled to heavenly things, and easily separated from many idols which we could not resist or forsake before.

Well, then, may we bear these salutary burdens, which, when sanctified, will produce present comfort, and soon issue in eternal rest and glory.

And since the Lord has promised to give strength sufficient for the day, that we may not be tempted above measure, there is abundant reason again to say that his burden is light indeed.

'Tis good for me to wear the yoke,
For pride is apt to rise and swell; '
Tis good to bear my Father's stroke,
That I might learn his statutes well.

Father, I bless thy gentle hand;
How kind is thy chastising rod,
That force my conscience to a stand,
And brought my wand'ring soul to God.

Friend, allow me to select a few lines from Bogatzky’s piece and restate them here:

“A contented man, without afflictions, is ready to place his trust, and seek his comforts, in temporal things. Earthly desires crowd upon him, filling his soul with vanity, and he cannot well taste the sweet comforts of God's word, but under the burden of the cross. Here we often enjoy more solid rest than if we were without a cross.”

Let me select again: “A contented man, without afflictions, is ready to place his trust, and seek his comforts, in temporal things.”

Dear reader, whatever place you are at with your understanding of Christianity, beliefs or truths to be lived, remember at all cost that Christianity is not simply (or even fundamentally) a set of beliefs or truth statements to be trusted and to be lived. Christianity’s central point is that you, if you are in Christ, are in a relationship to the living God; an ongoing, moment-by-moment, continuous and never ending, living, loving, and dynamic God relationship. It is above all a living, most personal, experience with God.

When Bogatzaky states “A contented man, without afflictions, is ready to place his trust, and seek his comforts, in temporal things,” he describes our natural (sinful) condition and the propensity of our fallen flesh to seek and trust the wrong things in life, and he tells us afflictions are one of God’s blessed tools to bring us to see our misplaced trusts and to see as false comforts rooted in the temporal.

If you find yourself aware that you are in such a position (misplaced trust), your doctrine, your beliefs, your church experience won’t ultimately liberate you, satisfy your soul or assist you as if they were the end-all behind the required correction. If you must reject trust in what is temporal (false objects of hope), you must shift that trust properly to what is eternal and the true object of hope: God. If you hear yourself readily reply “But…” then you truly trust not God as God.

That shift from trust in the temporal to trust in the Eternal is accompanied by and rooted in humility, confession and repentance. Focus on the temporal as helps and comforts must be rejected as idolatry, because those objects have been given by you the place of God. God is trustworthy. Relate and rest primarily in Him for all pieces of your life experience, not your circumstances nor false comforts, nor temporal objects.

Dear reader, as I close this letter, permit me the freedom to restructure and restate the hymn above. I found the reordering strangely agreeable and the message beneficial. I trust God will show you that the essence and heartbeat of your life is your relation with Him and His relation with you. Keep Him as God. Rest.

May God’s peace, mercy and love be multiplied to you.

'Tis good for me to wear the yoke;
Father, I bless thy gentle hand.

For pride is apt to rise and swell;
How kind is thy chastising rod.

'Tis good to bear my Father's stroke;
That force my conscience to a stand.

That I might learn his statutes well;
And brought my wand'ring soul to God.


“In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Christ’s Peace. Your Peace.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Greetings Reader.

Do you both understand rationally and know experientially this peace that the Lord Jesus references in John 14:27? This verse is one many a Christian readily recites, but is its reality actually lived or just referenced? Dear reader, do you know Jesus’ peace yourself? Can you name one Christian you’ve met who lives Christ’s peace? If not, why?

The context for this verse was Jesus’ last supper with his closest disciples. He was about to depart from them. Knowing His departure would usher in feelings and thoughts of doubt, concerns and fears, that it would seemingly leave them alone in subjection to the world, He graciously informs them of this special gift. He was going to provide to them something that was His, something He Himself both knew and lived. The relationship would continue and do so in new fashion (they would all share something that was His with Him). What He would give them and leave them was His own personal peace. Consider that? How does anybody give away his or her peace to another? You and I, if honest, could never give away peace. Left to ourselves, would we even ever truly know peace? We seem to be in constant search of it, and most will face their grave never having truly known it. Can you imagine the depth of such loss?

At the moment, the disciples did not understand His words, nor did they immediately experience the reality He knew and understood would be theirs because of His loving and lasting relationship with them. But His words “Let not” should have carried enough effect to immediately impress upon them that Jesus, the One who calmed the raging sea, made right the demon possessed man, and faced the cross, cared for them both to provide them something (which the world had no resource nor interest in providing) and to tell them of this provision in advance of its need. His love for them did this.

If you are Christ’s, this provision is yours. If you are not Christ’s, you may read Jesus’ words but not receive nor experience His peace. If you are Christ’s, and you can state these words, do you experience His peace? If not, why? If you are not Christ’s, how do you seek peace? Where do you seek it? Will it comfort you at the grave? Does it comfort you sufficiently now and will it give you confidence at the grave? Jesus faced and overcame the grave. Is your peace of the same quality as His? Can you give your peace to another? Do you desire His peace? Do you desire Him?

Below I share with you a quote from an old book I’m rereading which spurred the thoughts above. The book was published in 1892, the pages are hand cut at the edges (it has much character), and it’s a gem. The book is titled The Central Teaching of Jesus Christ, by Thomas Bernard (p. 185-186 quoted). It expounds the nature of Jesus’ relationship to the disciples (and all Christians) as given in John 13-17. Enjoy the insights into Jesus’ peace. God’s mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.

Carl


“’Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you’ (...—peace that is mine), that which I possess, which is realized in Me, and which is proper to the life that is in Me. We see at once that the peace intended is peace within; for outward peace was not the portion of Him who was ‘a man of sorrows,’ and bore ‘the contradiction of sinners against Himself,’ and for Whom at that moment the terrible crisis was at hand. Yet all the more, as He moves through trial and conflict, do we feel the serene majesty of a deep-seated peace. The enemy cannot trouble it; the world cannot disturb it; for it consists in the composure of holy affections, the calmness of a settled purpose, and the sunshine of unclouded union with God. The peace which He imparts He calls ‘my peace,’ because it is to be an effluence from his own, and therefore will share its nature and bear its likeness.

Again, as the peace is thus distinguished, so also is the giving. ‘My peace I give unto you.’ The world is free with its conventional wishes, and those not always sincere. Certainly its own spirit is not the spirit of true peace; and it cannot give what it does not possess. At its best, its well-meant words are ineffectual, either to confer a right to peace, or to communicate peace itself. But Jesus does both. The right to peace, which did not belong to men as sinners, He purchases for them by his atoning blood, and now by this deed of gift leaves it to them as a bequest for ever. The peace itself, as profession and experience, He imparts to his people by continuous gift, carried on to the end of time.”

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Joined To

Greetings Reader.

Much time has passed since I last wrote to you. My heart has been troubled. My head has been distracted. My hands have hindered my ability to write. I have a physical condition, yet undiagnosed by physicians, that prevents me from typing much.

I trust your heart and head have been well, seeking God and finding rest, peace and comfort in Him. We must continually and daily seek and live our peace and comforts in God. There is no earthly source for these. The source is God Himself. Consider the meaning of the Greek word commonly translated in English in the New Testament as “peace.” It means “joined to,” or “unity with.” We must frequently examine ourselves and ask ourselves are we living as joined to, or in unity with, God in Christ or with the world?

Jesus tells us in the world we will have troubles. He also tells us that He alone has overcome the world. If you are a Christian, your identity and life are found in him. Thus, you can truly live as one who experiences now the life which overcomes the world. We are united to and in Christ. It is the life of Christ in you and me that we need live by, and it is He Himself living through us, dear Christian. It is not you and me living according to our own resources (united or joined to the world), what is natural to us, what is according to our flesh.

If, dear reader, you are not one who is in Christ, then you are limited completely to your own natural resources. You are united or joined to the world; what is natural. You share not Christ’s life. You are depending on something that has not the provisions for rest and peace to provide these for you.

Do you, whether believer or not, desire Christ and life in Him this day? Tell Him so.

Then again, there are those famous last words, “I’m not ready yet.”

The below is from Bogatzky’s Golden Treasury. The author of the hymn is not identified. May our Lord encourage you by it.

God’s mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you. (Jude 2)

Carl


How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? Psalm 13. 1. Divine Answer: Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands: thy walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49. 15, 16. I will not leave you comfortless. John 14. 18.

Were all our sins and afflictions so soon to be prayed away with a few words, whence these sad and repeated complaints of David? Why should God advise us to wait for him, and persevere in hope? And how could faith and patience be exercised? In our closets we may be lifted up with high speculations; seem to be strong, and able to leap over all the walls; but in great distress we see how dejected and distrusting our hearts often are (Psalm 30. 7, 8); but the Lord preserves us.

Can a woman's tender care Cease toward the child she bare
Yes, she may forgetful be; Yet will I remember thee.
Mine is an unchanging love, Higher than the heights above,
Deeper than the depths beneath, Free and faithful, strong as death.
Thou shalt see my glory soon, When the work of grace is done;
Partner of my throne shalt be: Say, poor sinner, lov'st thou me?
Lord, it is my chief complaint, That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love thee, and adore; Oh for grace to love thee more.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Iniquity Or Love

Reader, may I ask, how has God’s grace been manifest in your life this day? This past week? This moment? Is the presence of God’s grace merely an idea you ascent to, part of a doctrine you believe in, or is the presence of God’s grace a reality you live, you experience? [Do these questions seem strange and foreign to you?]

How about love? How has God’s love been manifest in your life this day? This past week? This moment? Is the presence of God’s love merely an idea you ascent to, part of a doctrine you believe in, or is the presence of God’s love a reality you live, you experience? [Do these questions seem strange and foreign to you?]

Finally, iniquity. Here I must alter the questions, for I cannot say “How has God’s iniquity…” Iniquity, in some Bibles rendered “wickedness” or “lawlessness,” originates in the human heart. So, I must ask, how has iniquity been manifest in your life this day, this week, and this moment? Have you experienced the iniquity of others? Do you see your own? [Do these questions seem less strange and foreign to you?]

The migration from God’s grace and His love to human iniquity emphasizes the following: Why is it that we, perhaps the majority of us, live as if God’s grace and love are distant at best, mere ideas or beliefs that we may ascent to, and which don’t seem to be foremost in our daily experiences, but iniquity (that of others or our own) we immediately say “I see that!” and readily confirm comprises a significant portion of our experience? Are not God’s grace and love as real, or more real, than human iniquity? Are they not of more worth for seeing and experiencing? Dear friend, does your life bear witness that you know God’s grace and His love to be of greater worth and value, thus deserving more affection and pursuit, than iniquity? How is it with you regarding this?

If you are a Christian, is your Christianity that of belief and doctrine alone, “I am a Christian because I believe…” or are you a Christian rooted in the experiences of those items you profess, experiencing God Himself? Do you have fellowship with God or fellowship with ideas? Have you, as suggested in the last writing, have you consulted your desires and affections? What did they say? Consult them again, perhaps.

With the above in mind, I want to draw upon three passages. First, Matthew 24:12, “And because iniquity shall be increased, the love of many shall be cold.” Now, many a reader will say, “This chapter fits squarely in the great tribulation, end of times, or the end of the age! What it says does not apply now; not to me! It gives me no cause for concern!” Perhaps, if you are such a one, you are correct. Entertain, though, that it could be other-wise than you think. Could it be, dear reader, that if you seek escape from God’s word in such a way, are you not one committed to Christianity as doctrine instead of Christianity as life? Are you guarding the heart with the head, and thus not experiencing Christianity? Is the ring of “cold love” already in your ears and the root cause “iniquity” to be hidden at all cost! No friend. This text is for you and for me every time we read it, and seeing it we should allow God to have His way with us regarding it.

May I humbly ask you, friend, is your love not cold at this present time? Would you readily testify to God and all humanity that your life exhibits that which is worthy of being known as Christian love? What says your heart? Does not this passage challenge us all today? Are you cold? Are you loveless? Do you know too much iniquity and not enough, experientially, God’s grace and love? Be concerned reader, iniquity and love enjoy not the others company. Know love and pursue it. Know your heart and walk away from iniquity.

Second, I Corinthians 14:1, “Follow after love…” If you have never, or have not for sometime, memorized, meditated upon, and yielded to Scripture, this is such a verse for you! Much could be said, and I trust God will reveal it to you. Friend, you will follow something. Let it be love. For by “knowing” and “seeing” and “pursuing” love, you will become loving. God will take you through events and changes and you will become what you behold. If you see yourself only, and not God, you will become the manifestation of what you are in your fallen-ness: Iniquity. If you follow after love you will know and see and pursue God and His image you will bear, thus being god-like, or His child, and thus loving. You must first know His love, before you can see it in your day and follow its lead experientially. Knowing and seeing God’s love will draw you into following, thus living, His love. You will not be cold. You could not be cold.

Third, I Corinthians 16:14, “Let all your things be done in love.” Ah, this my friend, this is Christianity known and lived! Here is something, if ever you achieve it, here is something the world can never know (although it can see it), the world can never want, and the world can never rid you of! Iniquity, oh yes, iniquity and coldness, the world will pursue and support these till the end of time, but “doing all things in love!” (or “lovingly”) this dear friend will seal your fate in the world but cause your life to beam with the radiance of God! Do you now do some things in love? Do I?

Yet, I must ask, are you as I am, and do you at this moment while recognizing the worth of a godly and loving life, experientially, acknowledging Scriptures voice and call to you, do you sense an impossibility to your ever living such a way? Friend, there is no formula for your and my perfecting our Christian lives. Christianity is a relationship with God “as individuals” primarily. Do you know God through and because of the work and merits of His Son? If so, you have a new heart, a new set of affections and desires. These are God-oriented (from God, because of God, and for God). These affections stand in contrast to your original heart affections, which are set on iniquity (from self, because of self, and for self). If you prefer the later, your love will be cold. If you prefer the former, you will know love (experientially), see and follow love, and live lovingly. Know God. Know your heart. Live what you believe.

Much has been written. May God permit us to live much of it for His glory and other’s benefit.

Iniquity or love?

Follow after love.

Carl

Sunday, March 15, 2009

What To Ask Of Your Desires And Affections

Greetings Reader.


I trust you have known the love of God and the joy of the Lord, since I last wrote. The world changes. His love and His joy change not.

Friend, have you considered asking someone else if they see evidence in your life that you are a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ? Should you ask someone else such a question?

Perhaps this question should not be addressed to anyone other than God, or one's self.

In preparation of asking God, please, ask your self.

Do your desires and your affections bear you witness that you are a disciple or a follower of Jesus Christ?

Where these two go, so goes your life.

Reader, in your own time, and in your own way, ask your desires and affections to reveal the truth of this matter to you. Do not hurry through this inquiry and do not require an immediate answer, but carry it with you always. Live with it.


When you see your self-answer, ask God for His.

Do not hurry God for a reply. Seek Him. Receive His answer over time. Live with it.


May your own answer and God's give you direction.

His grace and peace to you.

Carl

Monday, March 2, 2009

Discern The Road You Travel

Greetings Reader.


Bogatzky's writing below address the practicalness of your daily life, as in what you see, what you hear, where your affections go, how your time gets spent, which emotions stir most in you, and the true source of your joy (if you even truly have joy).


Friend, there is no denying that our days are hard for us as a nation and our individual lives full of difficulties, heaviness and challenge. But, as the load weighs upon you and your family, your body and your spirit (your heart and soul), do not become blind to the narrowness of the way to which, if you are in Christ, you have been called. Realize when slippage is occurring and repent in humility and honesty that you have entertained the tyranny of the world as more pressing and worthy of your life than life with God through His beloved Son.


There is no true life on the broad road (it takes life), yet it feels the most life giving. True life, that which ultimately is yours and possesses the power to sustain you, requires you to constantly see differences and yield your self to the narrowness of God's ways (essentially, always being most passionate and desirous of God and all that pertains to the Christian life) over submitting to voices and demands that do not have their origin in God and His purposes. This dynamic is the movement, the life, of faith in the careful Christian heart and mind.


The world has the full capability of crushing and extinguishing (or rendering useless) any measure of faith in you, and you are the one required to prevent that from happening. Take courage in Christ, dear friend. God's Spirit, His Word, and His people are yours to draw strength from. No trial that you experience is yours alone to carry. We are all human. We are all fallen. We all live in a fallen world. The nature of our experiences are more common than we allow ourselves to believe. Christ too experienced the fullness of human trial in the world, yet He both overcame the world and invites us to live in His victory, rest and peace. We generally refuse to yield and accept His invitation and instead remain on the broad road. You alone know your heart. You alone, before God Himself, need to honestly confess to Him your weakness, concerns, fears and need of His mercy and goodness in your life. Do this frequently. The Father delights in being your source of life and your Satisfaction. He gave His Son for this reason.


After reading Bogatzky, ask yourself in all honesty, which road you're really on: One that takes life or One that gives life?

God's Best,


Carl




"Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; but narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7. 13, 14.


This sounds to harsh in the ears of the old man, who would not have the law made use of in these gospel times, either to the converted or unconverted; and yet to the old man, the law, and not the gospel, properly belongs. St. Paul, the great preacher of the gospel, made use of the law to rouse unconverted Felix from his security, Acts 24. 25.; and warn the unconverted Romans from falling into it again. Romans 8. 13. Which way dost thou walk? Examine thyself. Is it the narrow way? - Art thou quite sure of it? - Venture not to go on any further at random. It is a matter of great consequence; if thou wilt be safe, try better for it; thou mayest be easily deceived. Alas! thou art surely in the broad road to destruction, if thou still lovest and art conformed to the world. Art thou but indifferent with regard to the things of God, relishing more the vanities, pleasure, companies, treasures, and honours of this world? - thou art in the good narrow way that leads unto life. Oh, consider this well, and stop short before it is too late, and thou drop into the bottomless pit of perdition!"


"Strait is the way, the door is strait, That leads to joys on high; 'Tis but a few that find the gate, While crowds mistake and die."

Monday, February 23, 2009

A Simple Word

"Always esteem it best to arrive at your journey's end by that way which divine Wisdom has chosen for you, however different it may be from your own choice, or from the devices of your own heart."

(John Arndt, TC, 40.6)


Reader, may the following be a description of your life with God, be read as thoughtful reflections, and be your prayer to Him.


Thou hidden source of calm repose,
Thou all-sufficient love divine;
My help and refuge from my foes,
Secure I am if Thou art mine;
And lo! From sin, and grief, and shame,
I hide me, Jesus, in Thy name.

Thy mighty name salvation is,
And keeps my happy soul above;
Comfort it brings, and power, and peace,
And joy, and everlasting love;
To me, with Thy dear name, are given
Pardon, and holiness, and Heaven.

Jesus, my All-in-all Thou art –
My rest in toil, my ease in pain,
The medicine of my broken heart,
In war my peace, in loss my gain;
My smile beneath the tyrant’s frown;
In shame, my glory and my crown;

In want, my plentiful supply;
In weakness, my almighty power;
In bonds, my perfect liberty;
My light in Satan’s darkest hour;
My help and stay whene’er I call;
My life in death, my heaven, my all.


(Charles Wesley)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Seeing Mercy

Greetings Friend.

Much time has passed since I last wrote you. I know you have challenges, but I trust your heart is well. Be encouraged. Life is more than the things which pass.

The World continues its activities in seeking out followers. The Flesh and its ways are equally as busy. The Enemy of souls never rests. Yet, even with these ever-present foes, I am convinced that each day provides us opportunity to understand the presence of these influences in our lives and the lives of others, and that "seeing" their presence and influences we may act accordingly.

This discernment lends itself to knowing our hearts and must continue. Through this understanding and discernment, we realize our separateness to God and can further position ourselves in spirit from all that is unclean. We can thereby see sufficiently to pray for others to be awakened to God and His redemptive works through His Son and for His mercy to be applied to their lives. The World, the Flesh, and the Enemy of souls do not desire such movement by you friend, nor can they ever desire it. They do not foster mercy. You, if you be of Christ, you alone in this world can live this desire and foster mercy. It is your heart. Do you know yourself this way? Is this at all descriptive of your Christian day?

What of the admonition to "freely give what we've been freely given"? What meaning does it have when considering the gift of illumination, which we as believers have received, as we move through the moments comprising our days and our relationships? Do the things God has shown you matter in your relations? After having been awakened to your separateness to God in Christ and from all that is worldly, how does your life transact? That which is of the World, the Flesh and the Enemy of souls strives to keep you in darkness (as if un-illumined) and transact your relations as if from darkness. May God grant you insight regarding this. Treasure the gift of illumination to the things of God and live from it.

Reader, it is, unfortunately, much more natural for us, even if we have some familiarity with our separateness in Christ, to see and respond from what is fleshly and in relation to what is of the world rather than what is of God and eternal. Consider Jesus' statement denoting a difference between mercy and sacrifice in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7, for example. I pondered this recently and had the following thoughts. They are presented without concern as to their being right or wrong. They are simply a record of where my mind went.

- Jesus Himself seems to be the primary interpretative focal point to understanding the use of this statement in the context each is given.

- Jesus was more moved to render mercy than requiring others to sacrifice.

- He knew He was God's sacrifice, thereby rendering Him free to extend mercy to those needing it and eliminating the view (demand) requiring others live lives of "supposed" merit or sacrifice, including what I call the imposed burden of merit.

- As followers of Christ, we are freed from any life driven by "supposed" merit and the imposed burden of merit, thus we are free, as was Christ, to live from mercy and to extend mercy to those in need.

- Doing such removes from others the requirement of meeting any demands we in the flesh would impose on them.

- This results in their experiencing what is of God in us, thus their experiencing God in the world, all a contrast to their experiencing only the World, the Flesh, and the Enemy of souls.

- The "imposed burden of merit" is what I call the transference and perpetuation of a merit-based, flesh driven, life dynamic that exists and gets passed along if we ourselves don't live from an illumined sense of God's mercy.

- If we impose the burden of merit on others in our relations, we prevent others from knowing and possibly living by mercy, thus reinforcing an ungodly basis for relationships and keeping what is of God from people's lives.

- Mercy is freely given. Sacrifice is demanded.

Reader, if you have been freed from all merit-based sacrifice requirement by God’s mercy, meaning you know mercy, do you require others to live sacrificial lives to you, or do you free them of that because you operate from extended mercy toward them?

Experientially knowing mercy begets mercy. Not knowing mercy, or having only an intellectual comprehension of mercy, leaves sacrifice operative, thereby it begets the demand of sacrifice. One is God's way. Jesus knew both in ways we never will, and he elected mercy. He sacrificed Himself to give others mercy. Contextually, Jesus offered this desiring mercy over sacrifice in contrast to the Pharisees. How do you read you soul at this point? Where is your heart?

May God grant you understanding friend. Know your separateness. Freely give what you freely received. Give mercy and abandon requiring sacrifice. Live a life of separateness to God and permit others to experience Him through your life. Ponder and pray regarding the condition of your heart.

While I continue to consider Matthew 13 and the idea of separateness, the thoughts stated in this letter seemed good to share with you. May you daily be built up not just in the knowledge which pertains to your faith but the life itself. Trials will persist. But knowing one’s heart and the promotion of mercy need also persist.

God's best.

Carl

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Do You See What Is Coming Up From Behind You?

Greetings Friend.

I know life has been hard on you. We live in a fallen world. We are fallen individuals, and we live among fallen people. In addition, I know that since the last time I wrote, your fleshly passions have been at war with what is of God in you. This ongoing conflict is truly the severest struggle any human will experience, although we at times, or regularly, give greater attention to less important concerns and demands.

Many nights, before the evening’s rest, I read the prayers of a certain saint. I have found this habit both quieting to my mind and soul, as well as informative concerning how another Christian prayed. Last night’s reading contained a reference to Revelation 14:13:

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

I ask you, friend, as I asked myself last night, first to consider or imagine your passage out of this life into the Lord’s presence. What do you envision when you consider this event? Has God brought you to the place where you view this as “blessed”? If you are in the Lord, then this experiential quality awaits you. If the day were today, would it be real for you?

Second, note that “rest” is provided from some type of labor. Rest is truly something we naturally desire. We can all rejoice and delight regarding this rest. The sting, though, comes from the works which follow. Reader, once you are fully in Christ’s presence your life works will join you. What testimony will your works give regarding your earthly life? Have you concerns as you envision this event unfolding in the presence of God?

Even though we live in a fallen world as fallen people, as a Christian (or as a non-Christian, for all must face death and should consider this event) what are the works which will most comfort you in Christ’s presence? Which life works will create the most dread and regret? May I encourage you, dear reader, that you begin by recognizing the deeper conflict you face daily is often more subtle than you may naturally perceive, and that the works associated with this reality of blessedness and rest originate from faith and love. Works which you will be glad to see join you in Christ’s presence are those which can be traced back to the work of God in your life: from God, by God, and for His glory. Works which you will dread the approach of are works of your flesh that can be traced back to what is ungodly in you, for self-glory, or corruptible intent, or worldly purposes.

I find it all too easy, my friend, to read the verse above, enjoy thoughts of blessing, and not allow opportunity for God’s Spirit (who is referenced as showing us this truth) the freedom and time to search me concerning the character and effects of my life as if present before the Lord. And yourself, dear reader, do you see what is coming up from behind you to stand with you before the Lord?

It is my strong desire to continue the series “Do You Sense Your Separateness,” and I trust our God will guide me in doing that soon. What I have just written you pertains to that theme. Do you sense that?

I close this writing to you with a hymn that can easily be a description of my life journey and yours, if you are in Christ, and can become a description of your life if you are now only of the world and do not yet know Christ. Either way, the hymn is rich and can be personalized as prayer or used for contemplation.

May God’s presence be known to you more every moment of each day that He gives you on this earth, and may you rest in His love, goodness and wisdom.

Carl


“O the bitter shame and sorrow,
That a time could ever be
When I let the Savior’s pit
Plead in vain, and proudly answered,
‘All of self, and none of Thee.’

Yet He found me; I beheld Him
Bleeding on the accursed tree,
Heard Him pray, ‘Forgive them, Father!’
And my wistful heart said faintly,
‘Some of self, and some of Thee.’

Day by day His tender mercy,
Healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong, and O! so patient,
Brought me lower, while I whispered,
‘Less of self, and more of Thee.’

Higher than the highest heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last has conquered;
Grant me now my soul’s desire,
‘None of self, and all of Thee!’”

(Theodore Monad, 1836 – 1931)