fight the good fight

Paul did not have it easy. from the day he was saved until the day he was martyred, he was utterly given over to the work of the Gospel. and no matter what kind of suffering he went through he never let it stop him.

2Co 11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? I (speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
2Co 11:24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
2Co 11:25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
2Co 11:26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
2Co 11:27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
2Co 11:28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
2Co 11:29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?
2Co 11:30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
2Co 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed forevermore, knoweth that I lie not.
2Co 11:32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:
2Co 11:33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.

the thing i find most amazing about all this is that he just kept going and as far as i can tell he did not get down on himself, he did not need to read how to make friends and influence people to figure out how to speak to the lost, he did not need a self help book to make himself feel better about himself. and seeing as though so many people disliked him you would think he would have had a complex from it. as the mind set is today, you would think he would have gotten lonely and needed a family with a nice house with 2.5 kids and a white picket fence in order to have purpose. but even without those things and as far as i can see he was just fine with who he was and where God had him in life and in fact he considered it a great privilege to carry the Lord's message, and to suffer for the Name that is above all others. i can not imagine a person today going through half of this without having major questions as to whither God be for him or not. (i know and am very keen to the fact that people suffer and die today. so i can not just make that a blanket statement, i can only judge from an American view point concerning American Christians)with that said, i think the most an American Christian will ever face is, his family outcasting him, or his friends, lover, coworkers, and so on. and yet so many do not finish well. how can that be the worst thing we have to face and have so many seeking a softer more acceptable gospel? what would timothy have thought of this American Gospel? can you imagine the Guy who received the last words ever written by Paul saying how he finished well and was ready to be offered, and then have him take a look at what stops, or slows, or kills Christianity in America today. i think he would be shocked, and saddened by it.

2Ti 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
2Ti 4:6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
2Ti 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

fight the good fight, this is not just a race. it's a battle so we must be battle minded. that means stop letting personal loss or hardship prevent us from keeping the faith and finishing the course. consider it it a privilege when you suffer, consider it a privilege that God counts you worthy to suffer for his Name.

Act 5:40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
Act 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
Act 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

off to the woods...

so i spent my memorial day in a cabin with friends and family. it was really nice to get away, and even better to do it in a place that was so beautiful. for the first time in my life i saw a haron rookery. and now your saying what in the world is that? that's where harons give birth to their little babies. or lay and hatch eggs i guess, being birds and all. anyway, we where walking through this lush nature park when all of a sudden we come to this wide open wet lands. at first all i saw was dead trees and stinky swamp. but then i look up and these huge nests full of harons, i love these birds. not only are they big, but they look so cool in flight. then i got to thinking how God used this dead place to bring forth abundant life. what a contrast, rotting trees as dead as dead gets. but up in the old branches that once where so full of life, life springs forth once again. God is great!!

(these are not my pics)

get low

as i was reading tonight in the bruised reed (Richard Sibbes), he was talking about how we as people have a hard time humbling ourselves. we often seek the very opposite in fact. yet the God who created us and all that is, did it. he came a very far distance from his high and lofty throne, to earth, then even lower, to the cross. it would not be so far for us to go. we are already pretty low, but we don't think so. and should we see ourselves as being such we automatically turn a blind eye or even worse we seek to become the high and lofty one. oh what a mistake. to be humble among a pride filled people is to the glory of the Lord and mercy to the lost. so why do we struggle? death is why, we refuse to die. it seems to me to be a very easy concept. just forsake your own wants and desires and trade them in for God's. right? hhmmm? no...i think maybe it's more, maybe... and i do not know for sure, but maybe, it's coming to the place where you end and God takes over. for those of us who are filled with pride he will have to do some serious bruising to get us to that place where we are willing to get out of the drivers seat and let him take over. a place where we finally give in and say i can not do it Lord - and stop depending on self - and start depending on Him.

holy, holy, holy!

Exd 34:29-35
And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And [till] Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel [that] which he was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Moses' face was shining from a reflection of the glory of the Lord. a reflection of the Lord's glory that came from seeing his back parts as the Lord passed by him. from this did his face shine with the glory of the Lord. so much so that he had to cover his face for the fear of the people. fear of seeing the reflection of the hind parts of God. oh the fear that will come in that day when they must appear before him to answer for their rejection of Him. even the seraphims cover their face with wings given them. the mighty angelic seraphim can not look into the face of God for the Glory that is to much to behold.
ISA 6:1-3 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory.
But to the child of God a higher promise is given,
1Jo 3:2, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
We shall see him as he is, what an amazing promise, what a thought, what an honor!