Where Did Those Clouds Come From?

Those clouds looming overhead limit our perspective. It can be very dark when there is no sun. We cannot see the radiant sky nor the majestic mountains which shelter us. All we can see with our eyes, from this side of the barrier, is the question "Why?"

When we want to do things our own way, it can get very dark indeed. We bring on the proverbial clouds ourselves....... At the same time that I was in pain from my illness, I read a christian book that said it was okay to doubt God, that doubt was an important component of the search for truth. The influence of both sets of circumstance created a crisis of faith in me. After all, pain and trust are difficult to harmonize, and belief is where our salvation begins. How could I know I was truly saved? Enter the calvary (pun intended) of Calvanism!

Calvanism is that doctrine which says that God has selected us from the beginning. We had nothing to do with it, because we could do nothing ourselves. We were too weak. We are saved only by His effort and we are maintained, in our salvation, only by Him! In other words, "Not me, but Christ in me!"

Are we chosen by God, or is He our own choice? Is it Predestination or free will? I believe in both! The doctrines of predestination and free will work together the same way that truth does with the mind of man. The mind of man does not create or invent truth, but rather discovers what is already there for the finding. So too does freedom of choice learn of and accommodate itself to that salvation which He has prepared since before time began!

Now the precipitation of our disobedience and the cloud cover of our bad attitude cannot circumvent the established will or plan of the Lord! These clouds are, in fact, just tools of His artistry! The friction between His absolute power and our sinful disobedience is what shapes us into His likeness. Infinite understanding shines a healing light on darkest depravity. It is beyond our grasp to see how he can be totally sovereign to use even our weaknesses to His purpose. God's power cannot be reduced by our freedom! Instead, His authority is increased by reason of the abundant grace and mercy He has made available to cover our error! God's promises can never be denied fulfillment! He will accomplish everything He has determined to do, including fulfilling His promise in us!

The Time Has Come to Celebrate!

The long night of my desolation has passed!
Evil's incoherent rage has lost it's death grip at last!
That strangulation hold has yet freed my mind,
to seek His truths, and in His presence find,
that I eschew fear in the glory of His name!
"Mundane" existence will never be the same!
During my heart's numb misery, He has spoken soft words,
opened up my deaf ears, so I finally heard,
exhortations to abandon fear far behind,
convinced my recalcitrant heart, He is nothing but kind!
Here is the One who sets prisoners free!
How much greater His grace, than my sin could be!
Come, let us celebrate what He has done!
He freed all who believe, when He gave up His Son!
In His mighty hand, we are forever secure!
None can accuse us, in His eyes we're found pure!
No need to fear, like death's some dark abyss,
When through it we enter what's much better than this!
So let's dance and sing His victory!
Anticipate the culmination of His plan in history!
You see, my long night of suffering's past!
His goodness, exposed now, to my eyes.......AT LAST!

Only You......

I'm caught on the border of brilliance and obscurity
Conflicted with longing, to understand and to see.
The emptiness, of this sphere, has haunted me for years,
Broken dreams and ambitions leave behind a trail of tears.
Many angry faces have turned and walked away
Disgusted by the priorities I wear as a display.
So I cannot help but feel unworthy to be loved
Because of all the unmet needs that I am guilty of.
I wish I could be perfect, but I know it's only You
That is good enough, and best, to give all my glory to!
Those other desires I used to spend my passions on
Are now redirected and expressed towards Your only Son.
His is the sole commitment that I need to make
Because only You would do it all for my sake.
Only You would give me conflict to teach me how to pray
So I could learn to live by each word that You say.
Only You could give me peace to heal my troubled soul.
Only You can mend my wounds and make me whole.
Only You can hold the whole world in Your hands
Yet be fully with each person, though numerous as sand.
Through my commitment to You I live to do Your will
Because no matter what I do, only You are with me still.
Because of Your commitment to me, I've learned to feel content.
To rest at peace, comforted, after all my strength is spent.
Because You're faithful to me, I want only You.
I know only You can satisfy, after all that I've been through.



So, exactly what difference DOES commitment make?
"God commendeth His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Attitude Check!

It's just another day. We have somewhere we need to be. There are things that need to get done. If we don't fulfill our responsibilities, lock down our rebellious will behind the grindstone of routine, somebody's gonna be upset! Those harsh and stern critics inside our head will be sure to make us feel the shame of our lack of resolve! Therefore at the beginning of the day, we view with a jaundiced and bleary eye the workload which waits to pounce on us and bear us down!

We might affect an attitude of not caring, hoping to deflect the vicious attacks of our conscience. We might get angry that things are not as they "should" be, and that anger will definitely be taken out on somebody! In the end, it is not what someone does to us or says to us that determines how we will feel. It is what we tell ourselves, in the privacy of our hearts, that determines what our attitude will be.

Most of us have a mistaken assumption. We think that fear is the most effective motivator. After all, who wants to live with all those negative consequences? The thing is, when we use self hatred to overcome our inertia, then whether we succeed or whether we fail, we already own all the shame that's to be had from the situation. It means we already carry multiplied negative universes as our burden each day.

What can we do to defeat defeatist thinking? The fear of the Lord is only the beginning of wisdom, so God has given us specific instructions for victorious living. Start with the truth! Confession is in order! Acknowledging reality as to the root of our bitterness is where we begin to overcome it! It's an attitude check! The second part of confession is being able to admit and participate in the reality of God's victory and glory! So, "Don't sweat the small stuff", because after what Christ accomplished, everything else is small stuff!

Our motivation is to come from love and gratitude! If it doesn't came from love, it's just busywork with a bad attitude! If we do not subscribe to our limitations and His lack of them when working with us, we diminish ourselves by our lack of faith in Him. We are shorting ourselves of our full entitlement of joy!

Humility: What is it?

A good story should inspire us. It illustrates the connections we have within a community of love and support. It gives us goals to work towards. It will help us bear our burdens with more courage. A good story also has heroes which throw their strength behind the cause.

Heroes exist to model behavior which we are supposed to emulate. We feel an outpouring of affection and longing for that one who is willing to sacrifice so much of himself, ostensibly for us. It's always nice to be on the receiving end of the one with the generous spirit. We long for that kind of love to be ours, so the story always emphasizes how the hero does not give to gain anything for himself. But then, it's only a story, isn't it?

What, though, is the motivation behind the hero's actions, altruistic as they might seem to be? Whom does the giver seek to honor? By whose authority and in whose name is the sacrifice made? What is to be gained, by the outflow, for the one surrendering the resources?

If the hero promotes his own goodness, then he is a fraud. If the hero seeks to conquer hearts for his own use, then he is no hero. At best, his glory and brilliance are but a tawdry imitation of the shine of genuine humility, as gilt paint is a cheap copy of the glittering value of real gold.

Force does not create humility. An ego brought low through the beatings administered by life is in a state known as humiliation. Compelling compliance usually doesn't change underlying opinions, for "The man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still." A person changing their behavior to avoid pain and confrontation is being dishonest. Such an individual's reasoning will form convoluted paths in order to convince themselves that they do what is right, but when given opportunity, their true loyalties will reassert themselves!

Only the one who has surrendered their banner of self promotion is the one who demonstrates true humility. In truth, only the one who does all for the Savior, as the Savior did all for us, can lay claim to being humble. Only the Savior, who sees and understands all, has that cause worth giving everything to! You'd have a hard time convincing that humble person that his contribution is even worthy of being called humility! He has no need to defend himself for he is convinced by that which he knows is of more value! Humility is valuing the Savior and His will above all else!