"Walking Barefoot in My Yard" (a poem)

Walking Barefoot in My Yard

Waves rolling and I'm turning in
Glad to be back on this side of sanity
Wondering what might have been
Had I walked on and on and on and on...

Blessed to have new life
Praising the One who died for me
Best to know the love, the grace, the mercy
Journeying on over mountains and sea

Unforgettable fire put out by blood
Covered by the magnificent flood
Indebted to the One who paid the cost
Else I would be dead and lost

Far away so close and always running
Gunning for eternity opened wide for us
None but the listening can hear
Brings us hope and sends us cheer

Mountains crumbling and swallowed by
Seeds of faith sprinkled openly
Water washing the most filthy
Blood cleansing the most needy

I'm home in my backyard walking barefoot
A thousand miles from my former sins
Turned from them when He touched my soul
Refreshed I enter the joy of my Master.

Praise God. Jesus is Lord. MWS. 1/24/12.

"Morph" (a poem)

Morph
(based on Matt. 17:1-13)

Changed into something never seen with human eyes
Before our eyes changed, bright light
Blinding light, right, sight, amazingly brilliant

Undone, falling, facedown, face first, worth it
Adoring the revelation of the Revealer
Spoken word, listening for the word

It is good for us to be here, I know
I'll make a monument to protect us from the flash
It'll be my gift to us and You

Listen to Him, listen up, quit talking so you can hear
Let me finish, then say what you speechless 
Will be unable to speak...silence

Tell no one until the time is right???
That's right. But then, when you get the green light,
Go everywhere and tell everyone.

---
Praise God. Jesus is Lord. MWS. 1/24/12.

Denying Yourself

Jesus said "if anyone wishes to come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me" (Matt. 16:24)

Deny means to reject, repudiate, say no to something. Taking up your cross means dying to self. So, what does it mean (and not mean) to say no to yourself (aka die to self)?

What it does not mean to deny yourself:

1. Squelching your personality. God wants to use you as He made you.
2. Denying your giftedness. It should not lead to a diminishing of your gifts.
3. Deferring appropriate action. It should not be used as an excuse to be lazy. Don't use it as excuse to not do what you are called to do.

What it does mean to deny yourself:

1. Saying no to every selfish inclination and desire. The world, flesh and devil.
2. Saying no to non-biblical reasoning. Every thought captive.
3. Distrusting your natural, fleshly desires. Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

Saying yea to self leads to loss, damage, ruin, shame.

Saying no to self (and yes to Jesus) leads to assurance, security, freedom and joy.

Jesus loves you!

The Cross, the Gospel and Sanctification

I have found, that due to my propensity to want comfort and avoid pain, I am inclined towards misidentifying crosses, persecutions and thorns in the flesh. I think them all cruel messengers of Satan when many are God's tools to sanctify. The Gospel first must kill me, then I can really live by faith in Jesus who died in my place. It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me. (See Gal. 2:20)

The Folly of Rebuking the Matchless Christ

It is folly to rebuke the Matchless Christ. We see Peter do it in Matthew 16:21-23. So easy to indict him but we let ourselves skate. We excuse a lot of sin in ourselves that we can easily see in others. Rom. 2 says we are without excuse.

"But how do I do that?" both the humble and hard hearted ask. Whenever we take the reigns and dictate the destination. It's like flying on an airplane and high jacking the plane. It's treating God like a taxi driver. It's making Him serve you. As if we could. Such arrogance. I want to repent of all such foolishness. It's like some inward switch gets flipped and we go from being rational Jesus worshippers to raving self-willed maniacs. Like the 1950 Disney cartoon "Motor Mania", a six-minute exposé of Goofy as a Jeckyl and Hyde character, a mild-mannered citizen who becomes a absolute lunatic once he gets behind the wheel.

We most often rebuke God in the privacy of our own hearts, hidden to our neighbors but open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to reckon. His reckoning counts. We answer to Him. So when we go independent, even in the Name of Christ, we are saying no to God. We are saying our knowledge exceeds His. News flash: you don't know more than He does. He understands our hearts. He is greater than our hearts and knows all things. And He, unlike us, deals mercifully with us. He could take Peter's rebuke and firmly, lovingly and decisively deal with him as He corrected and redirected him. Jesus truly is our only hope.

Fighting with Yourself

I have had so many people tell me how they have little to no desire for God's Word. Many are burdened by guilt. A common piece of advice many recieve is, "pray and ask God to give you the desire". A good thing to pray but working it out can be a highly subjective thing. Many tell me about how bad they feel when they don't feel the desire for God and His Word, even after praying. I have another solution: fight with yourself. That's right, duke it out with yourself. Not literally of course. Let me explain.

Life in Christ is a battle here on earth. We battle sin, the flesh and the devil. Our propensity is to set our minds on the things of man rather than the things of God. We are weak. In God's strength we are strong, able, adequate and sufficient because Christ is our adequacy, life and sufficiency. When we walk by the Spirit we do not carry out the desires of the flesh. But when we willfully choose our own way things go haywire. It can happen multiple times an hour. It is then we must allow objective truth and not subjective feelings to dictate. We must win the battle for the mind or we suffer defeat. See Matthew 16:21-23 for what happened to Peter. Taking every thought captive to obedience to Christ is the answer. And that takes disciplining ourselves for the purpose of godliness. Sometimes we need to literally fight with ourselves and the tendency to take the easy way out. Tell yourself the truth and do what you know is right, even if you don't feel like it.

What about you? Not feeling it? No desire for God's Word? That is real life for many. Our frozen hearts need the Spirit of God to defrost us by His Word.  We have this mistaken idea that we must have the emotional desire to make progress in Christ. I rebel against that notion. Facts must drive feelings. Fight with yourself if you must. Force feed yourself the Word of God until it breaks through your hardened, bitter, brittle soul. Keep setting the Word before you. There is power in it. God's Word will change you. Give it time. Transformation will come. 

Suggested reading: Psalm 19 and 119; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy chapters 1-4; or just open the Book and read anything!

Jesus loves you!

Jesus really is THE Answer

The Test of Discipleship

The most basic test of our discipleship is whether we say yes or no to Jesus and His mission. In Matthew 16 Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God and receives Christ's blessing and commendation. He was walking closely to Jesus. Just as quickly though, Peter turns away and rebukes Christ. You could say he was just being honest, but isn't the nature of sin the self-will that leads us away from Christ and not nearer?

What does it take to grow in Christ? A simple "yes". A "no" answer sinks us. What's the cure? Adore Jesus more than sin. Desire the Spirit over the flesh. How to do this? Only by God's empowering and enabling. It is only accomplishable by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for God's glory alone.

No Condemnation in Christ

The words of Romans 8:1 continue to be an immense comfort to those sin-weary humans whom God has caused to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sin is vanquished and victory is assured, so we can live, protected by the power of God and empowered by His Spirit. We are able then, to live to the fullest every moment of life. Even if our hearts condemn us, because God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. He knows our hearts and the forgiveness He has given to free us. It is because of Christ and for His glory that He acts and grants us new life. Since our eternity is assured the present is meaningful, since it is lived in light of eternity.

Praise the Father who purposed our redemption; praise the Son Jesus Christ who purchased it; and praise the Spirit who works it out.

New Opportunities

A new day, a new year, new opportunities to confess Christ and Him crucified, risen and coming again.