SINCE YOU ADMIRE THE EGOMANIACS OF THE PULPIT SO MUCH - - TopicsExpress



          

SINCE YOU ADMIRE THE EGOMANIACS OF THE PULPIT SO MUCH - (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), - LET ME TRY MY HAND AT IT. ------------------------------------------------ DO THEY BRAG OF BEING HEBREWS, ISRAELITES, - THE PURE RACE OF ABRAHAM? ----------- I AM THEIR MATCH. ------------------- ARE THEY SERVANTS OF CHRIST? --- I CAN GO THEM ONE BETTER. - (I can’t believe I’m saying these things. It’s crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I’m going to finish.) - I HAVE WORKED MUCH HARDER, -- BEEN JAILED MORE OFTEN, -- BEATEN UP MORE TIMES THAN I CAN COUNT, --- AND AT DEATHS DOOR TIME AFTER TIME. ---- I HAVE BEEN FLOGGED FIVE TIMES WITH THE JEWS’ THIRTY-NINE LASHES, ---- BEATEN BY ROMAN RODS THREE TIMES, --- PUMMELED WITH ROCKS ONCE. ---- I HAVE BEEN SHIPWRECKED THREE TIMES, --- AND IMMERSED IN THE OPEN SEA FOR A NIGHT AND A DAY. ------------------- IN HARD TRAVELING YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT, --- I HAVE HAD TO FORD RIVERS, --- FEND OFF ROBBERS, --------------------------------- STRUGGLE WITH FRIENDS, -------------- STRUGGLE WITH FOES. ------------------------------------------------------------ I HAVE BEEN AT RISK IN THE CITY, -- AT RISK IN THE COUNTRY, --- ENDANGERED BY DESERT SUN AND SEA STORM, ------------------------ AND BETRAYED BY THOSE I THOUGHT WERE MY BROTHERS. --------- I HAVE KNOWN DRUDGERY AND HARD LABOR, ------------ MANY A LONG AND LONELY NIGHT WITHOUT SLEEP, ---------------------- MANY A MISSED MEAL, ----------- BLASTED BY THE COLD, --- NAKED TO THE WEATHER. -------------------------------- AND THAT IS NOT THE HALF OF IT, -------------- WHEN YOU THROW IN THE DAILY PRESSURES AND ANXIETIES OF ALL THE CHURCHES. ---------------------------------------- WHEN SOMEONE GETS TO THE END OF HIS ROPE, ---- I FEEL THE DESPERATION IN MY BONES. ------------------------------------------------------- WHEN SOMEONE IS DUPED INTO SIN, AN ANGRY FIRE BURN IN MY GUT. - 2COR 11:21 *********************************************** BUT IF GOD HIMSELF HAS TAKEN UP RESIDENCE IN YOUR LIFE, --- YOU CAN HARDLY BE THINKING MORE OF YOURSELF THAN OF HIM. -------------------------------------------- ANYONE, OF COURSE, WHO HAS NOT WELCOMED THIS INVISIBLE BUT CLEARLY PRESENT GOD, ---- THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, ------------------------- WONT KNOW WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. --------------------------------------- BUT FOR YOU WHO WELCOME HIM, --- IN WHOM HE DWELLS — EVEN THOUGH YOU STILL EXPERIENCE ALL THE LIMITATIONS OF SIN — YOU YOURSELF EXPERIENCE LIFE ON GOD’S TERMS. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- IT STANDS TO REASON, DOESNT IT, ----- THAT IF THE ALIVE-AND-PRESENT GOD WHO RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD MOVES INTO YOUR LIFE, ------------------------ HE WILL DO THE SAME THING IN YOU THAT HE DID IN JESUS ---------------- BRINGING YOU ALIVE TO HIMSELF? --------------------------WHEN GOD LIVES AND BREATHES IN YOU - (and HE does, as surely as HE did in JESUS), - YOU ARE DELIVERED FROM THAT DEAD LIFE. ----------------- WITH HIS SPIRIT LIVING IN YOU, --------------- YOUR BODY WILL BE AS ALIVE AS CHRIST’S! -------------------------------------------------------------- SO DON’T YOU SEE THAT WE DONT OWE THIS OLD DO-IT-YOURSELF LIFE ON E RED CENT. ------------------------------------------------------------ THERE IS NOTHING IN IT FOR US, ---- NOTHING AT ALL. ------------------------------------------------------------- THE BEST THING TO DO IS GIVE IT A DECENT BURIAL AND GET ON WITH YOUR NEW LIFE.----------------------------------------- GOD’S SPIRIT BECKONS. ----------------------------- THERE ARE THINGS TO DO AND PLACES TO GO! ----------------------------------------------------- THIS RESURRECTION LIFE YOU RECEIVED FROM GOD IS NOT A TIMID, GRAVE-TENDING LIFE. --------------------------------------------------- IT IS ADVENTUROUSLY EXPECTANT, GREETING WITH A CHILDLIKE --- “WHATS NEXT, PAPA?” ---------------------------- GOD’S SPIRIT TOUCHES OUR SPIRITS AND CONFIRMS WHO WE REALLY ARE. --------------- WE KNOW WHO HE IS, -------- AND WE KNOW WHO WE ARE: ------ FATHER AND CHILDREN. ------------------------------------------------ AND WE KNOW WE ARE GOING TO GET WHAT IS COMING TO US — AN UNBELIEVABLE INHERITANCE! ----------------------------- WE GO THROUGH EXACTLY WHAT CHRIST GOES THROUGH. -------------------------------------------- IF WE GO THROUGH THE HARD TIMES WITH HIM, ---- THEN WE ARE CERTAINLY GOING TO GO THROUGH THE GOOD TIMES WITH HIM! ------------------------------------------------------------- ALL AROUND US WE OBSERVE A PREGNANT CREATION. ------------------- THE DIFFICULT TIMES OF PAIN THROUGHOUT THE WORLD ARE SIMPLY BIRTH PANGS. ----------------------------------------------------- BUT IT IS NOT ONLY AROUND US; -- IT IS WITHIN US. ------- THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS AROUSING US WITHIN. ----------------------------------------- WE ARE ALSO FEELING THE BIRTH PANGS. THESE STERILE AND BARREN BODIES OF OURS ARE YEARNING FOR FULL DELIVERANCE. ---------THAT IS WHY WAITING DOES NOT DIMINISH US, --- ANY MORE THAN WAITING DIMINISHES A PREGNANT MOTHER. ----------- WE ARE ENLARGED IN THE WAITING. ---------------------------------------- WE, OF COURSE, -- DONT SEE WHAT IS ENLARGING US. ---- BUT THE LONGER WE WAIT, THE LARGER WE BECOME, ---- AND THE MORE JOYFUL OUR EXPECTANCY. - ROM 8:9 **********************************************MAY THE GRACE OF GOD BE UPON YOU, AND HIS SPIRIT BE YOUR GUIDE. ******** SHALOM. ******************************* ******
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 04:06:48 +0000

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