Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Not Of Man But God
We started out as young boys blindly making our way to manhood. There were no maps or instructions, only what we figured out. Our ages ranged from 14 to 16. I was in the middle of the pack. Riding down the road listening to Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. Reaching speeds on this old one lane country road that I know was way to fast but that was the only way to go. I can remember driving a Ford LTD through a bridge in a curve so fast that the guardrails were the only things that kept us on the road. Sparks were coming off of the side of the car as we hit the guardrails of the bridge but we could care less. I had no driver’s license but we were screaming down the road. It was so cool back then. There were so many times and stories, mostly on myself, that I can remember but it is hard to put into words. Or put it in the right time line. I am going to try and do it one day where it may make some sense to others.
Two of my friends went into the military straight out of high school. I often wondered where I would be today if I had joined with them. I have no regrets. My choices in life may not have been the ones someone else would have made, but I made them. Me and I alone, almost. One of life’s greatest conflicts is how some, or most, people think that they are better than everyone else. I would put one question to those people. What the fuck gives you such superiority over anyone else. I am aware that each of us is created, yes I said created, in our own special way. But whether you have a million dollars or ten dollars in change neither one makes the person better or worse than the other. My dad instilled my faith in me with the Holy Spirit guiding him I’m sure. There is right and wrong. There is good and evil. We all have a conscience that tells us the difference. Unless there are mitigating circumstances. Such as mental illness. But that is another story all together. I know. One can judge another on one of many faults that we have as mere mortal human beings. Since the fall of Adam in the garden we have that hurdle that only by the grace of God go I. We all have the right to choose our surroundings. If someone does not like something then they have the right to not be submitted to that certain fault of one human to another. But when it goes to the point of the one fault someone has trouble with is the main concern of another is a saint as I am, I think that one should say: give me a break, please. Unless you have walked a mile in someone’s shoes then maybe, just maybe, they should get a break from the worldly complaints and the expectations of others. I was born in Lebenon Kentucky with my mom and dad residing near Battle Kentucky; I was raised up thinking that I had everything I could possibly want. Of course this was only compared to what I knew. I did not know just how far off the mark I had put myself after becoming a man until around my 40th birthday. I was outside mowing my grass asking God to help me, crying most of the way. I had gotten used to being alone, as far as having someone I could trust. I trusted no one and to be honest I still cannot put my trust in any one but my shining light, my friend, and my counselor, Emanuel. Of course I go through times where I do not understand why or what is happening. In Matthew 5:45: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. we all will go through the same trials and tribulations whether we are believers or not. The underlying thought that I cannot get away from is that I did not do enough while here on earth. I let my Saviour down. But you know what. His grace and mercy does cover all for those who truly have faith in Him. Christ only asks us to believe in Him and put all our trust in Him. Not what things we have done that would be measured by man. God knows our hearts and our true intentions. and all things about us. He made us and knew us even before we where born. God knows what things we will have to go through and He will not put any more on us than we can stand with His help. So then what do we fear? I can answer that one. Not one thing or anything here on earth. Our eternity will be in the supernatural. Not in these bodies of flesh and bone. I truly believe that, in faith and with the grace of God, I can go anywhere and do anything that He would have me do. I am willing to put my faith out in front of my worldly things and let Him lead me completely. I just want to be sure that it is Him that I am listening to. I trust in the Lord my God with all my heart and soul.
39: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40: And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
41: And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42: Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43: Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44: But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45: That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46: For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47: And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Psalms Chapter 81
Psalms Chapter 81
1: Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2: Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3: Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4: For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
5: This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
6: I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
7: Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
8: Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
9: There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10: I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11: But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12: So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13: Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
14: I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
15: The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
16: He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
Labels: Psalms
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Psalms Chapters 79 & 80
Psalms Chapter 79
1: O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
2: The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3: Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
4: We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
5: How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
6: Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
7: For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
8: O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
9: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
10: Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
11: Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
12: And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13: So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
Psalms Chapter 80
1: Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
2: Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.
3: Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
4: O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
5: Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
6: Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7: Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
8: Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
9: Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10: The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
11: She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
12: Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
13: The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
14: Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
15: And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
16: It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17: Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
18: So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
19: Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Labels: Psalms
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Great Commission
Why are Bach's writings always followed by the word "by" ? When you go to a site to listen to his music. This is a good comparison of how people use someone or something else and take credit, if only passively, by them. They know how to play the notes but do they actually here what they are playing? Bach's music is so beautifully composed that when one really listens to it they become so embedded in it that it does not matter what they have said about it through the years. It is a master piece.
Just as The Living Word of Jesus Christ is. He will never forsake us or abandon us. When you learn from The Holy Bible you have something that a lot of people do not have or could not even understand. That is why it is so important for all of us to fulfill Matthew 28:18-20.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen
Labels: Matthew
 |
