There are only two reactions possible for this occurance: fear or joy. The reaction is dependent on whether one knows the King personally or not. All know His absolute power. All are subject to Him. This King, nothing can be hidden from.
Who has cause to fear Him? There are those who have slandered Him: denigrated Him. Some have used their strength to work against His expressly stated will and purpose. The evidence backing His claims to be the ultimate authority have been made public and have always been transparent to everyone. Anyone arrogantly dismissing the facts, as just so much garbage, has ample cause for trepidation. Vengeance is the province of the King, and this One surpasses them all.
Who will rejoice at the sight of His face? Only those who have already made their own personal surrender to His leadership, and live to work His will. Only these have personal experience of His mercy, His kind generosity, His love. They have come to know His heart. He is no suprise, no unknown question. What He is, is security and blessing beyond compare! His name is Jesus, the Righteous King!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
A Consequence of Complacency
So why is it that God allows evil? One big reason is so that evil can do it's "perfect work." After all the information He's given us and all the work He's done for us, He still wants His chosen ones, that have chosen Him, to be thoroughly convinced He's got the best deal. So He allows the opposition to field their options, dressing them up as best they can. He allows the other voices which opine that there are many viable alternatives.
But....He is still God, not all of the other pretenders. All ideas have consequences, even seemingly ephemeral ones. Take, for instance, this idea that everybody has a right to "their own truth." One who cannot be bothered to investigate the claims of any purportedly transendant truth, because it might contradict their cherished principals of self gratification, would also be mortally offended by the "violation" of the inner sanctum of a third party with the same inconvenient and unwelcome facts. The more important the subject, the more of a no-man's land it becomes. Within the shelter of political correctness, complacency has fattened itself to the point of insensibility. A self satisfied society, under the banner of pluralism, has allowed the enemy in.
Without the walls of truth to defend us, we are already destroyed. Love's biased mandate cannot be heard by deafened ears. Another yammering, raised to a cresendo to drown out all others, has rushed in to fill the void left by morals. Rigid legalism is what always replaces the freedom of living in Christ's love, and all roads without Christ Jesus lead to one place: the bondage of slavery!
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage”.
But....He is still God, not all of the other pretenders. All ideas have consequences, even seemingly ephemeral ones. Take, for instance, this idea that everybody has a right to "their own truth." One who cannot be bothered to investigate the claims of any purportedly transendant truth, because it might contradict their cherished principals of self gratification, would also be mortally offended by the "violation" of the inner sanctum of a third party with the same inconvenient and unwelcome facts. The more important the subject, the more of a no-man's land it becomes. Within the shelter of political correctness, complacency has fattened itself to the point of insensibility. A self satisfied society, under the banner of pluralism, has allowed the enemy in.
Without the walls of truth to defend us, we are already destroyed. Love's biased mandate cannot be heard by deafened ears. Another yammering, raised to a cresendo to drown out all others, has rushed in to fill the void left by morals. Rigid legalism is what always replaces the freedom of living in Christ's love, and all roads without Christ Jesus lead to one place: the bondage of slavery!
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage”.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Beware the Soft Answer!
"A soft answer turns away wrath." Prov. 15:1 For those who do not care to know or understand Christ, this is a test. A soft answer is not an attempt at appeasement. It is not a weak and inferior one trying to pacify the strong. No, rather it is the response to anger of one who's total confidence is in another. It is the result of the superior, empowered position of secure acceptance, the accepted one passing on reassurance of the same. He is God's hand at work.
If the angry one decides that he does not wish to set aside his grievance by way of forgiveness, does not grasp the extended hand of fellowship to live on the common grounds of humility and peace (and Jesus is the ONLY peace), then he has committed himself to a hell past his worst nightmares, the overwhelming flood of unending retribution, which he, himself, has chosen. In the interval of space and time between the indrawn breath of commiting the sin, and it's release of inevitable judgement, is a pause to give room for repentance. During the pause, the believer, as an extension of Christ Himself, carries the burden of the world and it's sin. Those to whom Christ has so graciously imparted His righteousness, He also graciously allows to suffer for Him. The believer's anguish, weakness, and tears, is the Lord praying with and through His people. God is reclaiming His lost creation. An unrepentant sinner is owned, by his debt, and will be held over for judgement and punishment.
If the angry one decides that he does not wish to set aside his grievance by way of forgiveness, does not grasp the extended hand of fellowship to live on the common grounds of humility and peace (and Jesus is the ONLY peace), then he has committed himself to a hell past his worst nightmares, the overwhelming flood of unending retribution, which he, himself, has chosen. In the interval of space and time between the indrawn breath of commiting the sin, and it's release of inevitable judgement, is a pause to give room for repentance. During the pause, the believer, as an extension of Christ Himself, carries the burden of the world and it's sin. Those to whom Christ has so graciously imparted His righteousness, He also graciously allows to suffer for Him. The believer's anguish, weakness, and tears, is the Lord praying with and through His people. God is reclaiming His lost creation. An unrepentant sinner is owned, by his debt, and will be held over for judgement and punishment.
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