Thoughts on hypocritical love, reconciliation, balance, quarrels, counterpoints, mercy.

LET LOVE BE WITHOUT HYPOCRISY, abhor what is evil and cling to what is good; (Rom 12:9)
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; (Prov 8:13)

EVIL SHALL SLAY THE WICKED and those who hate the righteous will be condemned; (PS 34:21)

For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed; (JN 3:20)

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;
For God Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men;
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful; (LK 6:35-36)

Love does not brag and is not arrogant, it is not provoked, it DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT A WRONG SUFFERED;
(1Cor13:4)

God has not counted our trespasses against us, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation; (2Cor5:19)

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles,
Or the LORD will see it and be displeased,
And turn His anger away from him; (prov 24:17)

For there will be no future for the evil man,
The lamp of the wicked will be put out; (prov 24:20)

A jealous and avenging God is the LORD,
The LORD is avenging and wrathful,
The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,
And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; (nahum 1:1-3)

By the MERCIES of God, present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship; (Rom 12:1)

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness,
but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance; (2 Peter 3:9)

There is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God,
and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves;
For it (worldy authority) is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid,
for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil; (Rom 13:1,2,4)

The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance,
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
And men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous,
Surely there is a God who judges on earth!"; (PS 58:10)

Do not speak against one another, brethren He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother,
speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?;
(James 4:11-12)

Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, But any fool will quarrel; (Prov 20:3)

But I, like a deaf man, do not hear,
And I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,
And in whose mouth are no arguments.
For I hope in You, O LORD,
You will answer, O Lord my God;
(PS 38:13-14)

You will only look on with your eyes,
And see the recompense of the wicked; (PS 91:8)

Hate evil, you who love the LORD,
Who preserves the souls of His godly ones,
He delivers them from the hand of the wicked; PS (97:10)

But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned;
(Matt 12:35-36)

Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. (Col 4:6)

 

 

You have to reconcile these things in your own heart. You can't embrace one part of Scripture and disregard the counterpoints:

 

God hates sinners (those who do iniquity) (Psalm 5:5)

God loved sinners so much as to sacrifice His own precious beloved son for us (John 3:16) (while we were still sinners, Rom 5:8)

 

Ranges of snow and fire on the horizon

I love the beach. Because it makes me feel that there is some kind of consistency in the world. Something reliable in life, a theme or constant. Like these waves, faithfully impacting the malleable shore. Like a beating heart, rapid with hopes and steady with peace. Like the tides, high with joy or low with sadness. Like all the sunrises and sunsets that kiss us good morning and good night.

 

Persistent. The sound of the waves, the swell of the wind, dancing overhead. Stop and listen, a rare Selah in the surf. Cast a glance over your shoulder, the trail is disappearing. We all walk in one direction.

 

My small impressions are washing away, like the marks of so many before me. Like my breath escaping in an invisible ascent. Each breath is a gift received and returned to eternal skies. So much is temporary and fading, washing away into the ocean.

 

And the depthless Ocean, forever standing, is consuming all else. So much more is coming. These relentless Waves that never pass away.. If we could only see.. just a little further down the shoreline…

 

Heal

There has been a divine work of grace in this frail life. I was born in sin, and in sin my mother conceived me. No goodness possessed, even from childhood, only depravity and darkness.

 

But the light of grace was sent as a burning sign upon me. I am marked. Chosen for redemption, by merit not my own, but by the infinite worth of he who bore the fullness of my transgression in love, declaring me to be right and blameless, Jesus Christ.

 

רָפָא

 

  Rapha'. Hebrew, to heal, to repair. As Elijah repaired the Lord's altar, so the Lord has repaired my broken life. Healed cracks, mended tears. Purified, as a refining blaze melts and separates for itself pure gold.

 

Oh, such mercy has captivated my eyes! He has healed my eyes, " Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.", he has renewed my mind to dwell in purity, he has restored my ears to hear his song.

 

What power and strength in this cleansing work of the master! A turning of my eyes from corruption, to the incorruptible, a transformation of my mind, from deathly dullness to sharp true-ness and direction, a replacement of my heart of stone with a beating, breathing core of life and warmth.

 

“Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’

 

 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God."

Wait - Pt. 2

The word is tarry. Now almost antiquated, rarely arising to be noticed or thought upon. To tarry in his presence. To persevere in pursuit, to stoke desire. What would you do, to know him? What would you put aside to hear his voice?

I’m not talking about devotion. I’m talking about desperation. About sacrifice. Tarry is the opposite of budget, apportion, make time for, pencil in. To tarry is being found on knees that are afraid to leave the presence. Desperate that God’s presence go with you, torn by the idea of having to leave that moment.

To be marked by a longing, evidence of mourning in the absence and ecstasy in the fullness alike. To be convinced that we cannot so much as take a breath without him!

 

Where aspirations, ambitions, dreams and desires are all thrown to the wind, and shed, all energy being concentrated into a sharp focus, a singular passion that your life, your very demeanor shouts:

 

I. Must. Know. God.

 

"What is your vision? Life goals? Where will you be in five years? How will you do it?"

well, I'm going to pray. and seek him.

 

What a weak, foolish, beautiful thing! To defy the American dream, where we can accomplish whatsoever great, admirable thing we put our mind to, our resources behind and our belief in.

 

But instead, we are led into God's dream of conforming us to Jesus Christ through our knowledge of him in intimacy, and this stunningly beautiful pursuit has the power to transform the entire world in the process!

 

Our God is as a loyal, faithful lover, burning with jealous, righteous longing for each of us, his bride, who truly belong to him; how great the mercies and love will he lavish on us when we run into his arms!

Wait - part 1

 

The walk of faith is one of waiting. More often, learning to wait. A trusting that, without the voice of God, we are lost and wander aimlessly, in futility.

We have forgotten. We have lost the ability and knowledge of serenity. When so many things scream at us for action, beseeching us for priority and begging our instant attention.

When so many desires burn for gratification and feelings cry for satisfaction.

And we are afraid. We are afraid to deny, afraid to wait. Afraid to die.

A lost opportunity, a moment escaped to never be found. All pleading for us.

To give in to desire, we are in ourselves deceived because we believe that we will miss something. But what is it that we miss?

We miss God.

As a lover’s eye becomes fixed, and a world transformed, shaped around the person, the deepness of God’s heart burns for our reckless pursuit of him. A foolish pursuit, an entire shift in focus. A constant thought and creation inspiring great mysteries, compelling great actions. Provoking great longing.

We fall in joy into a new realm of wonder and begin to speak new language, so foreign to our hearts yet so convicting in its purity and strength. We feel home.

But the two melodies grapple, searching for reconciliation, resolution. Communion.

Where the world says ‘take control’, God says ‘let go control’.

Where the world says ‘speak’, God says ‘listen’.

Where the world says ‘achieve, accomplish, follow ambition’, God says ‘believe, surrender, follow my  voice.’

Where the world says ‘assume command of your own destiny’, God says ‘I am your destiny.’

 

“One word will do”, says the LORD.

(to be continued)

Alone

I believe that when we set aside time and make it a priority to withdraw and to be alone with God, we open up a new reservoir of inner, spiritual strength that we are able to drink deeply of, and thus emerge from the private wilderness into the public life with newfound courage, purpose and joy. When we meet God in the secret place, the wilderness of fasting and prayer, we truly encounter his being in a way that we would not otherwise experience in day to day activities. It is this newfound, fresh, intimately absorbed knowledge of God that we then live out in our respective walks. I know that if we can stand before God himself, being alone with the King of Glory, we can also stand powerfully and courageously before any person in this world in the knowledge of the victories of Christ and the transcendent majesty of our Savior God.

 

 

Alone

I believe that when we set aside time and make it a priority to withdraw and to be alone with God, we open up a new reservoir of inner, spiritual strength that we are able to drink deeply of, and thus emerge from the private wilderness into the public life with newfound courage, purpose and joy. When we meet God in the secret place, the wilderness of fasting and prayer, we truly encounter his being in a way that we would not otherwise experience in day to day activities. It is this newfound, fresh, intimately absorbed knowledge of God that we then live out in our respective walks. I know that if we can stand before God himself, being alone with the King of Glory, we can also stand powerfully and courageously before any person in this world in the knowledge of the victories of Christ and the transcendent majesty of our Savior God.