How Does Your Love Come Across?

There are so many opportunities in life
to give and receive love. Lately, there
seems to be even more. We are all in
vulnerable, challenging positions and
can use encouragement, edification,
and affirmation. And yet it seems
that, of all the Christian virtues,
love is the most challenging to convey.

As I've tried to give love, and as
I've hoped to receive love, I've
given considerable thought to how
the love we have to give comes
across to others, and how their
love comes across to us.

My intent can be to give you love,
but does the other person actually
feel loved? You can intend to give
me love, but do I actually end up
knowing and feeling that?

In order to make any progress with
this we have to look at how God
loves us. If you are a Christian
than I think you can say, at least
in some small way, that you have
experienced God's love. How did
God convey His love to you?

Hopefully the love you have felt
from God is not just a mental
acceptance of His Word telling
you that He loves you, although
His Promise of love is the foundation
of it all. Hopefully you have a tangible,
felt sense of God's love and
it comes across to you in tangible
ways. Even in "the soul's dark
night," when it is difficult
to "feel" anything at all but
pain, much less love from God,
it is still possible to know
the love of God: that's how
powerful it is!

So often our love is locked up
inside of us, felt but not
expressed, intended, but not
activated. Humans are adept
at hiding what they mean,
learned behavior to protect
themselves, or so they believe.

God's love is transparent. It is
not gnostic knowledge, it is not
something we cannot figure out,
although it will take us eternity
to explore it. I am always taken,
as I read the gospels, as to how
the love of Jesus came across.
It was expressed in a myriad of
ways but was always appropriate
and timely to the situation.

Sometimes His love was a show of
compassion (Matthew 9:35 & 36).
He saw the multitudes and was
moved with compassion to help
them because they were like sheep
having no shepherd.

Sometimes His love was straightforward:
"Peter, do you love Me? Feed my sheep!"
calling us out of self-focus and self-pity
to the Father's business.

Sometimes His love was encouraging,
telling the disciples that it was possible
to walk even on water and to not be fearful
(Matthew 8:23-26).

Sometimes His love does not rush to
rescue others from dealing with the
things they must face. "So when
He heard that [Lazarus} was sick he
stayed two more days in the place where
He was" (John 11:6).

Sometimes His love challenges to the
very core: "Do you want to go away, too?"
(John 6:67).

Knowing what is needed in each situation,
knowing how to show the Father's Love
means that we, ourselves, must experience
the Father's Love, watch Him loving us
and loving others, and walk in that same
Love. Human love can be, well, too human.
Well meaning but ineffective. Well intentioned
but missing the mark. Too strict or too
wimpy, too freely given or too cautiously
measured out.

God's love is perfect in season and out of
season but we cannot give it, cannot know
it, if we are hanging on to ourselves.
Our humanity is too calculating. As we
are loved by the Father, let us love
others with that self-same love. It is
the only way.

Ask yourself, "How does my love come
across to others?" Am I known for this
talent or that skill but not known as
a lover of God and a lover of men's and
women's souls?

In these days it is vital that we do not
hide our love under a bushel and that our
love is freely given from our own hearts
that have been greatly loved by God.

Go out there and love our lost and dying
world with the great love of God!



God's love
love one another

"May we hold up the Lord's standard though
peril or persecution oppose us. Truth
shall triumph. The kingdoms of this
world SHALL become of the Kingdoms
of our Lord, and of His Christ."
(Revelation 11:15)

photo taken in, Abergavenny,Wales

Devotions from the Heart: The Way God Builds

by Derek Gitsham

"Then Solomon began to build the house of
the Lord at Jerusalem in Mt. Moriah, where the
Lord appeared unto David his father in the place
that David had prepared in the threshing floor
of Ornan the Jebusite." 2 Chronicles 3:1

Solomon did not have a say in where the temple
was to be built, it was already chosen by his
father, David. The place is terribly significant
because of the events that had taken place at each
one. Mt. Moriah was where Abraham had been told by
God to go up the mountain to offer up Isaac, his son,
for an offering (Genesis 22:2). Ornan’s threshing
floor was the place where David met the angel, with
sword in hand (1 Chronicles 21:16), after he had
slain seventy thousand men.

David had numbered Israel, which was not to be done
according to the law, and God offered him three
choices as a penalty. He chose none and placed
himself in the hands of God. God took the
initiative and slew seventy thousand. At Ornan’s
threshing floor the Lord commanded the angel to
stop slaying the people. David buys the threshing
floor from Ornan under protest as Ornan wanted to
give it to him. David says, "I must pay for it
‘for how can I offer to God that which cost me
nothing?’" (II Samuel 24:24).

Both these places spoke about death and resurrection.
Abraham offered Isaac up. God stops him as he can
see that Abraham has already had the work done in his
heart. So Isaac is given back to him, a type of
resurrection. The same in the threshing floor, the
price had been paid, sacrifices had been made. David
turns the place into an altar and worships and offers
it back to God. Both pictures speak of death and
resurrection. Here God chooses to build His temple.

The same happened with His people. There is no
building going on except by death and resurrection
going on in the lives of the saints. Daily we have
to die to self and daily we must rise again to newness
of life. God is expecting us to want to die to self,
as that is the only way to be built into His Body.

New Jerusalem, when she comes down from heaven unto
the new earth, has no scaffolding. The building is
finished. Death is God’s way of bringing to life,
and in so doing, He builds His temple in us. Death
and resurrection are His tools. Amen!

It would seem to be unwise to prepare only for
physical calamities without also preparing
for spiritual ones. It is wise to store
water and batteries and rice, but far wiser to
fill your spiritual lamp with oil for the
days to come. Ten virgins went forth. Only
five were prepared. Take heed. --RM Slosek

photo taken in Abergavenny, Wales

I Have Heard a Rumour From the Lord...

"I have heard a rumour from the Lord'
and an ambassador is sent unto the
heathen saying,"Gather ye together
and come up against her, and rise
up to battle." --Jeremiah 49:14 KJV

A rumour from the Lord--now that would
be something worth listening to. In a
day when this "prophet" says "this", and that
one says, "that"--some false, some true,
some blatantly deranged, what we need to
hear is "a rumour FROM THE LORD." This is
what Jeremiah and Obadiah both heard
(cp. Obadiah 1). Here is not a "new" word,
but an "old" Word that has never lost its
power. The Word of God is like that!

A rumour from the Lord is not gossip,
it is not a hunch, it is not Entertainment
Tonight or National Enquirer material:
it is a SURE WORD, a word that will come
to pass. It is hard news, certain tidings,
a declared decree. Plain and simple, its the
unencumbered truth.

In the wake of David Wilkerson's words of
warnings, as sound as they may be, it is a
stronger and more strident pronouncement:
Judgment is coming to the enemies of God, and
of His people, to bring them crashing down.

Those who sit near to God hear His rumours--
even if they are whispered, even before they
are executed. The key is sitting next to God.
The key is listening to His voice and heeding
it. God has promised that he shall do nothing
unless he warn His prophets (Amos 3:7). Not
just any prophet--but HIS prophets.

Here is a sure word: "the terribleness,
that is, the terror you reap on others,
and the pride of your heart will soon be
judged" (Jer. 49:16). God is against
the proud, and those who intimidate
through misuse of power. He is sending
out an envoy to take the proud, and the
illegitimately powerful, most certainly
down.

Pride believes it is invincible, that
its fortress is impregnable, that
it cannot be overtaken. But the sure
rumour is that it will soon be thrown
down and come to nothing. And those
who harm others by the way they wield
power will be torn down by the righteous
Hand of YHWH: the whole earth shall shake
from their fall (Jer. 49:21).

Here is a sure word from the Lord:
"Repent from your pride, cease
from your oppression or you will
reap a calamitous judgment." Here is
a sure word and true--whether you
be saint or sinner alike. God's
people will be chastised and purified,
but the prideful heathen will be cast
down and destroyed. Pride and rebellion
shall be wholly routed.

For on the Lord's mount, Holy
Zion, there shall be deliverance
and there shall be HOLINESS and
the house of Jacob shall possess
their possessions (Obadiah 17).
The house of Jacob shall burn
up the house of Esau. We are
either compatible with the
Lord and His Ways or we will
reap the terror we have sown
and come to a fiery end.

So if you are tempted to fall
prey to listening to worldy rumours,
why not, instead, listen to a
rumour from the the Lord? It is something
to bet the family farm on, and your eternal life.
The Lord's rumour shall surely come to pass.

I have heard a rumour from the Lord,
have you?

David Wilkerson's warning
a rumour from the Lord
God's judgment
Obadiah
Jeremiah 49:14
true and false prophets
endtimes
hearing God
current events

The one only and infallible way to go
safely through all the difficulties,
trials, temptations, dryness, or opposition,
of our own evil tempers, is this: It is to
expect nothing from ourselves, to trust to
nothing in ourselves, but in every
thing expect, and depend upon God for relief.

Keep fast hold of this thread, and then let
your way be what it will,darkness, temptation,
or the rebellion of nature, you will be
led through all, to an union with God: for
nothing hurts us in any state but an
expectation of something in it, and from it,
which we should only expect from God.
... William Law (1686-1761),
The Spirit of Prayer [1750],

photo taken at Great Sand Dunes National Park,
Mosca, Colorado

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mosca,Colorado
William Law

“As I make my slow pilgrimage through
the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery
seems to gather."

--Arthur Christopher Benson

photo taken on the road to Abiquiu, New Mexico

Never say to God, "Enough!"; simply
say, "I am ready."

--Sebastian Valfre

photo taken in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs, Colorado
perseverance

Devotions From the Heart: Hanging On

by Derek Gitsham

And he said, "Let me go for the day
breaketh.’ And he said, "I will not let
Thee go except Thou bless me." Genesis 22:26


This particular part of the story in the
life of Jacob is indicative of him
throughout his life. When he was born,
Esau was the firstborn and Jacob came out
with his hand holding onto Esau’s heel.

In the above encounter again we read that
Jacob is now holding onto the angel that
came and fought with him. Jacob was tenacious
in life; he was determined to get hold of
all that life offered him. While others
slept, he worked, planned and schemed.
The early days of his life were marked by
episodes of scheming: one with his brother’s
birthright, the other with deceiving his
father into believing he was Esau and
obtaining the blessing.

From the womb it was prophesied that Jacob
would be the greater of the two men: that
he would be the inheritor of the blessing of
Abraham, but we read of the awful ways that
Jacob resorted to getting it. All this
would have to change.

The meeting of the angel was all in the
plan of God. If God was going to be able
to use Jacob he had to be changed. Malachi 1
records a verse that says, ‘Jacob I loved but
Esau I hated’ (verse 2-3). Did God love the
desire in Jacob to be blest and despised the
lack of interest in Esau? Only God knows.
Yet God was intent here in blessing Jacob.

The angel meets with a real challenge in him.
Unable to break Jacob’s hold on the angel,
the angel lames him by touching the hollow
of his thigh. He now has a limp, yet
continues to hold onto the angel. The first
grip of the angel was Jacob’s grip; touching
him and weakening him, he now hangs on with
renewed strength, so much so that the angel
asks him to let him go.

Jacob was stronger when weakened, because now
he was in the strength of the Lord. ‘When I am
weak then I am strong’ (II Corinthians 12:10).
As great as natural strength may be it is not
the strength of the Lord. To be able to move
on, and to hang on to God throughout life,
Jacob needed God's strength made perfect in his
weakness. That day Jacob died to himself.
Love of self and his relationship with himself
died and a new relationship arose. Because of
it, he claimed that he saw God face-to-face
and lived.

It was then God had changed his name (verse 30).
All was new. We need His strength now, not our
own, if we are to pursue God and all that lies
ahead for us.

"Desire not inordinately visions and
revelations (which are sometimes granted
even to the wicked). Those who foolishly seek
after them, and thoughtlessly lend faith
to them, are easily deceived by Satan, who
transformeth himself into an angel of light
(2 Cor. 11: 14), and in order to mislead,
mostly mingles truth with
falsehood."
- Louis de Blois,
"The Spiritual Mirror," Ch. XI

photo taken in Westerly, Rhode Island

Devotions from the Heart: Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins

by Derek Gitsham

"Afterward came also the other virgins saying,
‘Lord, Lord open to us.’ But He answered and
said, ‘Verily I say unto you, I know you not.’"
Matthew 25:11-12

The story of the five wise and foolish virgins
is quite alarming. We are told in this story that
the foolish took their lamps, but took no oil with
them (verse 2). The wise took oil in their vessels
with their lamps (verse 4). Because the Bridegroom
tarried longer than expected, the foolish virgins
discovered their lamps went out and had no provision
for their lamps to continue burning. The wise,
however, had extra so when their lamps went out,
they immediately were able to trim their lamps and
get them burning again.

The story starts off the same for all the virgins.
They were all virgin. So are the saints of God,
they are virgin to Him, keeping themselves for their
Savior, allowing nothing to come between themselves
and the Lord. In order for them to keep their lamps
burning they must be dependent on the Holy Spirit
by being fed by the Him (having oil), praying in
the Holy Ghost, and walking in the Spirit. All
these things are supplies. The Spirit’s work in
us supplies the oil for the lamps of our lives.

So what happened with the five foolish virgins? Their
mistake in running out of oil was going to prove costly.
So costly in fact that they were shut out by the Lord,
who claimed also that He never knew them (verse 12).

They obviously began well. All ten were on the starting
line together. Yet somehow there was a neglect on
their part. Forgetfulness and lack of diligence, all
played a role. Not taking the things of God seriously
obviously had dramatic results. This story is one of
those which has an unhappy ending for the foolish
virgins. The foolish virgins were not ready when the
Bridegroom came (verse 10), the wise virgins were.

The wise virgins paid attention to their walks with God:
to them it was a matter of life and death. Jesus said,
‘He that endureth to the end shall be saved’
(Matthew 24:13). The Book of Hebrews has endless
warnings about the need to take heed, ‘If you will
hear His voice harden not your heart…how shall we
escape if we neglect so great a salvation?’

Let this story be a warning to us all. Let us stay
diligent to the end, ‘Let us fear lest a promise of
being left us of entering in to His rest any
of you should seem to come short of it’ (Hebrews 4:1).

“Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity
for feeling what it is like to live inside
somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that
there can never really be any peace and joy for
me until there is peace and joy finally for you, too.”

-- Frederick Buechner


photo of Gabriel and Igor

compassion
Frederick Buechner

True Church

When the Lord walked on earth, He praised the
"great faith" of a centurion and balmed the
"little faith" of the disciples. He acknowledged
the faith of a sinful woman, a leper, a woman
suffering with a flow of blood, and a blind man
by saying, "your faith has saved you."

In each case no doctrines, institutions or
ceremonies were involved. Those who simply
relied wholly on the Lord Himself were accepted,
their sins forgiven, and thus they were saved.

The only condition was that they have faith
in Christ personally -- that they engage in a
living contact with Him. Where there was this "faith,"
there was the beginning of the Ekklesia. Through
koinonia they became one with Christ, and He
became their Lord.

In a word, Christianity has its center in God
Himself and in the fellowship men have with Him.

This fellowship of God with believers through the
Spirit is the answer to the question of what faith
is. It is also the answer to what the true Ekklesia is.
--Kokiche Kurosaki


Photo: cathedral candles, Ludlow, England

faith
ekklesia
Ludlow, England

"People can't see your root system, but God can.
Praying and meditating on the Word of God will
cause your roots to go down deep into His love."
Warren Wiersbe

photo taken near St. Ann's Well, Malvern, England

prayer
spiritual depth
St. Anne's Well
Malvern, England

Will Your Anchor Hold in the Storms of Life?

"Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?

We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love.
Are you firmly anchored in Jesus' love?"

lyrics from traditional hymn

photo:
rock climbing anchor,
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Devotions from the Heart: Being Filled

by Derek Gitsham

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:4

This verse is written in the context of the
events of the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost
was in the calendar of God and the words
of the Apostle Peter, in Acts 11:15,
‘a beginning’; a spiritual starting place.

As much as the Apostles had been used by
the Lord in the three years of His ministry,
they had only known Jesus after the flesh.
Now they were going to know Him after the
Spirit. We are told in the Gospel (John 1:33)
that Jesus was to be the Baptiser in the
Holy Ghost. Peter records this about Jesus in
Acts 2:33: ‘therefore being by the right hand
of God exalted and having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath
shed forth this which you now see and hear.’

Our verse in Acts 2:4 does not record that
they were baptized in the Holy Ghost, but we
know they were by Jesus words in Acts 1:5.
‘John truly baptized with water, but you
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not
many days hence.’ He spoke these words in
His resurrection. The reason for the omission
of the phrase "Baptism in the Spirit" is quite
simple. Baptism is the means, being filled was
the result.

God baptizes men in the Holy Ghost to get them
filled with the Spirit, and then to go on being
continually filled by the Spirit, who now dwells
within them. This could not be possible without
the indwelling of the Spirit in their lives.
Now it was possible to live a life filled with
the Spirit every day. When we think of baptism
in water, we put people in to the water and lift
them out again. These are pictures of death and
burial and resurrection coming up out of the water.

In the Baptism of the Spirit, Jesus baptizes us
into the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost into us.
He immerses us into the Spirit, not to lift us
up out again, but to stay immersed in the Spirit.
This is what is meant by being filled with the
Spirit: staying immersed. Everything began by
men being filled with the Holy Ghost, filled
with God. It took a filling to get everything
moving in the Acts, it will take the same today
in His people. Let God have you, and fill you,
then watch.

I would rather live in a world where
my life is surrounded by mystery than
live in a world so small that my mind
could comprehend it. -- Harry Emerson Fosdick


photo taken at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico


White Sands National Monument
wonder

I asked for wonder,
and He gave it to me. --Brennan Manning




photo taken at Magic Wings Butterfly Sanctuary,
S. Deerfield, Mass.


Brennan Manning
wonder

There is often wisdom under a shabby cloak - Caecilius Statius

How often are the richest things hidden in a disguise!

photo of an Indian Leaf Butterfly.
note that the dead "leaf" has legs!

it opens to a gorgeous fluroescent coat!


Indian Leaf butterfuly

Out of gratitude and love for Him we should
desire to be reckoned fools. Laugh and
grow strong. --Ignatius of Loyola



photo of Patches,
who makes me laugh

Devotions From the Heart: Finding Favor

by Derek Gitsham

"Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord." Genesis 6:8

The Hebrew word grace can be translated
“favor”, as can in the New Testament Greek word
for grace. ‘By grace we are saved’ (Ephesians 2:5).
Noah finding grace in the eyes of the Lord is
not an accidental thing, it was the result of
something that was going on in Noah’s life.

Genesis 6:9 says, ‘Noah was a just man, and
perfect in his generations, and Noah walked
with God.’ Noah was obviously special noted
in the eyes of the God. God saw this man,
he stood out. II Chronicles 16:9 tells us
that the ‘eyes of the Lord run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to show Himself
strong in the behalf of them whose heart is
perfect towards him.’ Rightly translated
this means “a heart that is right with God.”

God saw Noah standing out, now was the
opportunity for God to show him favor. His
life was exemplary. Now God was going to
include him in a work that was going to save
his family from the worse flood the world has
ever seen or known. Hebrews 11:7 tells us
'by faith Noah, being warned of God of things
not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an
ark to the saving of his house; by which he
condemned the world and became heir of the
righteousness which is by faith.'

Building the ark by faith simply means God
built it. Noah did it but God did it through him.
By showing Noah favour, Noah saved his family.
God shows a man favour that he might be used by
God to the saving of men. If He is smiling upon
your life now, and showing you favor and blessing
you in special ways, it is for others not to be
consumed upon yourself.

Paul says in Ephesians 2:7. ‘that in the ages
to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ
Jesus.’ Favor is what Paul is referring to here.
That throughout our days God wants to show us His
continual favour, having shown us His favour in
saving us. He now writes to show us the
exceeding riches of His favour in His kindness
towards us in Christ Jesus.

Oh beloved, let us walk as Noah, living to
please Him, that He might place His favour upon us,
and tell us He is well pleased.

When the Storm Breaks....

"When the storm breaks, each man acts in
accordance with his own nature. Some are
numb with terror, some flee, some hide,
and some spread their wings like eagles
and soar on the wind..." --from Elizabeth,
the Golden Age

Recently I watched this movie and
was struck to the very depths by this quote
made by the Queen's prognosticator when
she frantically comes to him to help her
see the future and how to act.

We can only hang onto ourselves for
so long. We can only hold up a front so
far, can only pretend to be brave or good
or holy while things are in a manageable
state. It is when the perfect storm
breaks over our bow that we will find
out who we are. It is when our inner
England is besieged by a great Armada
that we shall find out what we are made of.

Dear ones, the perfect storm approaches.
You cannot escape it. It will test who
you are--and you and God, and the devil,
and a great cloud of witnesses will get
to see who you are. Prepare for that day,
but know that you cannot really prepare for
it, certainly not in your own strength.

You must give yourself to preparation, but
it will be bigger than any preparation you
can muster, and more powerful than
anything you can do to oppose its onslaught.
That day may come to us in different ways--
whether singly or corporately--that is up
to God. Either way, throw yourself now
into the arms of God!

Perhaps it will come, as the Day of
the Lord, to all of us, all at once.
Perhaps it will come in persecution or
disaster or terrorism. Perhaps it will
come to you individually in sickness, or
personal meltdown, or grief too heavy to bear.

On that day you will act in accordance
with your true nature. Allow God to
hammar away at your inward parts, allow
Him to purify and cleanse and reinforce.
Allow Him to strip away and to build upon.
Allow Him to tear you down and build you
back up.

He knows what He is doing and He is doing
it so that you will stand in the coming
evil day. You must trust His Hand in your
life. You must trust that He sees what you
do not see, are afraid to see, and that
His judgments are good and true and lead
to life.

He wounds to heal, for we are most
certainly already weak unto death
from our own self-inflicted wounds,
and the wages of sin within and without.

Some day you will meet yourself.
It will be the person that God already
sees and knows you to be. No doubt
it will be a surprise, even a shock.
Turn up the heat and impurities rise.
There is no shame in this, we are
all cut from the same infected stock.

God is our only answer and what He
wants to make of you is glorious:
a candle upon a hill, a light to
the nations, a testimony to
principalities! But first, you
must let Him make you like Himself.
Trust is the key.

Take out of the closet all that
you seek to hide. Even if you cannot
run toward Him, fall toward Him,
Even if your legs feel like cement
blocks, and you cannot move, look
to Him. Even if you feel He has
forgotten you, keep at your post--
He most certainly has not forgotten!

What the devil seeks to destroy
is your simple trust in your
God and His goodness. Think of
how many times you have been
misunderstood, thought poorly
of, unfairly accused of some evil
that was not in your heart. When we
believe that God is not good
and pure and true and a present
Help in time of need, we do
to our Father the same injustice--
meanwhile, the devil laughs with glee.

It is our time to give ourselves
fully to the inseparable Covenant
that Jesus provides for us.
It is time to allow ourselves to
be inexorably united with God.
It is time to allow Him to purge
out anything in us that would make
walking with Him disagreeable.

An evil armada is on the horizon.
Draw near to God. Make use of the
daily insights that He gives you,
however disturbing to your ego,
to look at yourself through His
eyes. He is trying to save you
great embarrassment and shame
by allowing you to experience
small humiliations. See them
as a gift. Allow the daily deaths,
and you shall rise to life indeed.

A difficult day is coming but
a great and marvelous one
is coming, too. Look past the
coming storm to see the Son
rising and calling all those
who are hidden in Him to
rise gloriously with Him.
Therefore, hide yourself in Him.

The pure in heart see,
and shall evermore and
only see,
God.

spiritual preparation
faith in troubled times
endtimes

G.K. Chesterton on Education....

I am quite prepared to promise the secularists
secular education if they on their side will
promise not to have moral instruction. Secular
education seems to me intellectually clean and
comprehensible. Moral instruction seems to me
unclean, intolerable; I would destroy it with fire.

Teaching the Old Testament by itself means teaching
ancient Hebrew ethics, which are simple, barbaric,
rudimentary, and, to a Christian, unsatisfying.
Teaching moral instruction means teaching modern
London, Birmingham and Boston ethics, which
are not barbaric and rudimentary, but are corrupt,
hysterical and crawling with worms, and which are
to a Christian, not unsatisfying but detestable.

The old Jew who says that you must fight only for
your tribe is inadequate; but the modern
prig who says you must never fight for anything is
substantially and specifically immoral. I know quite
well, of course, that the unreligious ethics
suggested for modern schools do not verbally assert
these things; they only talk about peaceful reform,
true Christianity, and the importance of Count
Tolstoy. It is all a matter of tone and implication--
but then, so is all teaching.

Education is implication. It is not the things you
say which children respect; when you say things,
they very commonly laugh and do the opposite. It
is the things you assume that really sink into them.
It is the things you forget even to teach that they
learn.
... G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)in the Illustrated London

G.K. Chesterton
Christian education
separation between church and state
modern morality
Christ and culture
truth and error

The Bliss of Christ

"Our natural will is to have God, and
the good will of God is to have us, and
we may never cease willing or longing
for God until we have him in the fullness
of joy. Christ will never have his full
bliss in us until we have our full bliss
in him."
- Julian of Norwich

sky scene taken on the road to Abergevenny, Wales

"I have a feeling that my boat has struck,
down in the depths, against a very great
thing."--Juan Ramon Jimenez

"For what man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him? even
so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God." --1 Cor 2:11

Devotions From the Heart: A Bruised Reed

by Derek Gitsham

"A bruised reed shall He not break, and
smoking flax shall He not quench, till
he send forth judgment unto victory."
Matthew 12:20

Matthew uses this Scripture from the
Old Testament in Isaiah 42:3. This
chapter opens up with a servant song, as
they are known, songs that are prophetically
referring to Jesus. There are many of them
revealing the wonderful return of Jesus.

They make a wonderful study of the Lord for
the hungry heart. Matthew omits a verse here
that Isaiah 42 includes. It is verse four.
“He shall not fail or be discouraged, till
He has set judgment in the earth: and the
isles shall wait for His law.”

One of the most marvelous things about the
Lord with His people is that He never forces
us into doing anything. He is a perfect
gentleman. He is not a manipulator or controller.
The Holy Ghost, who is resident within the saint,
never forces us to do anything. He quietly
whispers within the heart, gently, seemingly
in the background, making us feel that maybe
something is not right, or not as right as we
thought it was.

As verse 19 of Matthew 12 records, ‘He shall
not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man
hear His voice in the streets.’ No pressure
tactics are applied to the heart, just gentle
whisperings that can almost be missed unless
the saint is intent on hearing what God is
saying, and separates himself from the world
to get quiet before the Lord. There, in that
quiet, we find out His purpose for our life.

So gentle is the Lord that a bruised reed in
His hand will not be broken. Even a smoking
flax, almost out, shall not be quenched.
Almighty and all powerful as He is, He deals
with such gentleness with men. Phariseeism and
legalism are hard. They would have stoned the
adulteress in John. Jesus forgave her and loved her.
Peter’s broken heart after betraying Jesus,
He sweetly mended. He is a God of rescue and
restoration.

David cries out in Psalms 18:35, ‘Thy gentleness
made me great.’ Paul to the Romans 2:40 says,
‘The goodness of God leads men to repentance.’
Oh, how gentle is our God, how sensitive to our
needs, how unobtrusive, that in His hands we will
survive. We will not be broken here or our flames
quenched. Keep believing saints. He will keep you
alive and bring you back from the dead.

Most surely the Comforter has come. He will comfort
thee.

a bruised reed

I implore you in God's name, not to think
of Him as hard to please, but rather as
generous beyond all that you can ask
or think. ---Abbe de Tourville (1842-1903),
Letters of Direction

photo taken in Porthcawl, Wales

How long the road is. But for all the time
the journey has taken, how you have needed
every second of it in order to learn what
the road passes by.

--Dag Hammarskjold, "Markings"


photo taken in Calhan, Colorado

Colorado photography
Calhan,Colorado
Dag Hammarskjold

Spurgeon on Psalm 3:2

"Many there be which say of my soul,
There is no help for him in God. Selah."
Psalm 3:2

David complains before his loving God of
the worst weapon of his enemies' attacks,
and the bitterest drop of his distresses.
"Oh!" saith David, "many there be that say
of my soul, There is no help for him in God."

Some of his distrustful friends said this
sorrowfully, but his enemies exultingly
boasted of it, and longed to see their words
proved by his total destruction. This was
the unkindest cut of all, when they declared
that his God had forsaken him. Yet David knew
in his own conscience that he had given them
some ground for this exclamation, for he had
committed sin against God in the very light of
day.

Then they flung his crime with Bathsheba into
his face, and they said, "Go up, thou bloody man;
God hath forsaken thee and left thee." Shimei
cursed him, and swore at him to his very face,
for he was bold because of his backers, since
multitudes of the men of Belial thought of David
in like fashion. Doubtless, David felt this
infernal suggestion to be staggering to his faith.

If all the trials which come from heaven, all the
temptations which ascend from hell, and all the
crosses which arise from earth, could be mixed
and pressed together, they would not make a trial
so terrible as that which is contained in this
verse. It is the most bitter of all afflictions
to be led to fear that there is no help for us in
God.

And yet remember our most blessed Saviour had to
endure this in the deepest degree when he cried,
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He
knew full well what is was to walk in darkness and
to see no light. This was the curse of the curse.
This was the wormwood mingled with the gall. To be
deserted of his Father was worse than to be the
despised of men. Surely we should love him who
suffered this bitterest of temptations and trials
for our sake. It will be a delightful and instructive
exercise for the loving heart to mark the Lord in
his agonies as here portrayed, for there is here, and
in very many other Psalms, far more of David's Lord
than of David himself.

Let thy desire be the vision of God, thy
fear the loss of Him, thy sorrow His absence,
and thy joy in that which may take thee to Him;
and thy life shall be in great peace.
- Teresa of Avila

photo: a gathering storm, Garden of the Gods,
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Teresa of Avila

Devotions From the Heart: Do You Know the Holy?

by Derek Gitsham


"I neither learned wisdom, nor have
the knowledge of the holy." Proverbs 30:3

The tabernacle that God instituted in Israel
for His dwelling place among them was a
wonderful picture of the heavenly. Referring
to the blood of Christ in Hebrews 9:23 the
apostle says, “it was therefore necessary
that the patterns of things in the heavens
should be purified with these, (the blood of
bulls and goats) but the heavenly things
themselves with better sacrifices then these
(the blood of Christ).”

The tabernacle was called a worldly sanctuary.
“For there was the first tabernacle made; the
first wherein was the candlestick, and the
table and the showbread, which is called the
sanctuary. And after the second veil, the
tabernacle which is called the Holiest of
all.” (Hebrews 9:1-3). It was the “Holiest of all”
because God came down and sat upon the mercy
seat, which was upon the ark of the covenant.
It could not be entered into by any other
than the High Priest once a year, not without
blood (Hebrews 9:7).

While that covenant remained and the
tabernacle, the Holy Ghost was saying that
the way into the Holiest of all was not yet
made manifest, because the first tabernacle
was still standing. After the death of Jesus,
the price and penalty for sin having been paid,
and Jesus having ascended up to heaven with
His blood, cleansing (purging) the things in
heaven, sat down on the right hand of God,
sent the Holy Ghost down from heaven on the
Day of Pentecost. He is the knowledge of the Holy.

It was the Holy Ghost that was going to confirm
now that the way into the Holiest was now open,
as the Hebrew writer says (Hebrews 10:19):
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness (liberty)
to enter into the holiest by (in) the blood of
Jesus.” The new covenant has opened the way into
the Holiest. Now God’s people may have the
knowledge of the Holy. Now we have no excuses,
the knowledge of the Holy has been made manifest.
What a wonder for the saint to enter the Holiest
of all! We are made holy by His sacrifice, we
are not going to be saints, we are saints. We
are sanctified, made holy, by His power.

Paul describes the Corinthians, in the first
epistle, as being many things before they met
the Lord. But then he says, “Such were some of
you, but ye are washed (regenerated), sanctified,
but ye are justified, in the name of Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of God. This is the knowledge
of the Holy, being made holy! How are we made
holy and sanctified? By faith in Him (Acts 26:18b).
Oh, that God may give us more of the knowledge
of the Holy. The way is open.

Sometimes I go about in pity for myself
when all the while a great wind is
blowing me across the sky.
--Ojibawa saying

photo taken at the Paint Mines, Calhan, Colorado

Colorado photography
Calhan,Colorado
Paint Mines

Be still and know that I AM God. --Ps. 46:10

We must be still and still moving
into another intensity.
--T.S. Eliot, East Coker

photo taken on the road to Abervergenny, Wales

Wales photography

You ask then how I knew He was present,
when His ways can in no way be traced?
He is life and power, and as soon as He
enters in, He awakens my slumbering soul;
He stirs and soothes and pierces my
heart, for before it was hard as stone,
and diseased.
- Bernard of Clairvaux

photo taken on Gold Camp Road, Colorado Springs

Gold Camp Road, Colorado Springs
Bernard of Clairvaux

O Holy Spirit, Who breathes where you will,
come into me and snatch me up to Yourself.
Fortify the nature you have created, with
gifts so flowing with honey that, from intense
joy in your sweetness, it may despise and
reject all which is in this world, that it
may accept spiritual gifts, and through
melodious jubilation, it may entirely melt
in holy love, reaching out for uncircumscribed
Light.

--Richard Rolle (1290?-1349),
Concerning the Love of God

photo taken near Cripple Creek, Colorado

Cripple Creek, Colorado

Spurgeon on the Psalms: Psalm 2

Why do the heathen rage, and the people
imagine a vain thing? The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers
take counsel together, against the LORD,
and against his anointed, saying,

Let us break their bands asunder, and
cast away their cords from us. He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the
LORD shall have them in derision. Then
shall he speak unto them in his wrath,
and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
(Psalm 2: 1-6)


The glorious reign of Jesus in the
latter day will not be consummated,
until a terrible struggle has convulsed
the nations. His coming will be as a
refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap,
and the day thereof shall burn as an oven.

Earth loves not her rightful monarch, but
clings to the usurper's sway: the terrible
conflicts of the last days will illustrate
both the world's love of sin and Jehovah's
power to give the kingdom to his only Begotten.

To a graceless neck the yoke of Christ is
intolerable, but to the saved sinner it is
easy and light. We may judge ourselves by
this, do we love that yoke, or do we wish
to cast it from us?

Charles Spurgeon, A Treasury of David,
Psalm 2
entire commentary here

The Holy Spark

Run away, far away, from people
who will not let your light burn brightly.
Better yet, turn and burn wildly in their
presence.

God has put a bold and unique Holy Spark
of Himself in your spirit. He blows
upon your inward hearth, urging that Spark to
ignite into a brightly burning Flame,
Christ, the Fire, within.

Beware of those who would try and
extinguish that flame, whether it
be a roaring inferno, or a smoldering
wick. Your Lord promises not to,
so do not let others try to.

Run away, but not before you allow
that Fire to rise up and burn quickly
out of control so that these
illicit fire quenchers are also
set ablaze and turned back from
their dastardly mission.

Their hearth is stone cold and
their home shows no sign of life.
If they were alive they would not
seek to extinguish that which burns
within you!

Maybe resurrection will arise from
the ashes.

Our God is a Consuming Fire!

It is not necessary to maintain a conversation
when we are in the presence of God. We can come
into His presence and rest our weary souls in
quiet contemplation of Him. Our groanings, which
cannot be uttered, rise to Him and tell Him better
than words how dependent we are upon Him.
... O. Hallesby, "Prayer"


photo taken at Stumpy Lake, Virginia Beach, Virginia
35mm film

Spurgeon on Psalm 12: The Sighing of the Needy

“For the oppression of the poor, for the
sighing of the needy, now will I arise,
says the LORD; I will set him in safety
from him that puffs at him.”
Psalm 12:5.

...“For the sighing of the needy, now will
I arise, says the Lord.” And the dear child
of God to whom I refer wrote a letter to say
how remarkably God had blessed this text to
her comfort. She was in sorrow and trouble
and somewhat given to sighing—and she thought that,
perhaps, God was grieved with her for sighing—
but this text greatly cheered her. She gives
a little picture of what she thinks the texts
means. I will tell you what she writes, for it
will be the best part of my sermon by a long way.

She says, “When I am in bed and my little child
wants its mother, if it utters a petulant cry,
I do not take any notice of it. I know that it
ought not to wake mother up and disturb her with
its selfish cry. But if, instead of crying, it
seems very weak, and very sad, and it gives a
sigh, I cannot stand that, but go to it at once!

When it does not cry to me, or cry for me, but
I only hear it sigh, then I get out of bed at
once and go over to the little cot to see what
is the matter.” “Now will I arise, says the Lord.”
See, it is the sigh that fetches the mother out
of bed! There is great power about a sigh in the
ears of a loving mother! If the child could speak
and say, “Mother, come to me,” mother might answer,
“Not so, my Dear, lie still.” Or if the child only
cried out in hastiness, “Oh, come to me!” mother
might reply, “Be still, child, be still. You are not
suffering as much as you fancy you are.”

But when the child involuntarily, in its weakness
and sorrow, utters a little sigh, mother has
heard it, and she is at once out of bed and by
the side of her little sighing child! Is not that
a capital explanation of the text, “For the sighing
of the needy, now will I arise, says the Lord”?

See, then, the power that there is in the sorrows
of God’s children to touch the heart of their great
Father when He hears their sighs! When those sorrows
come to be so bitter that the sufferers can scarcely
pray. When they cannot find any language in which to
express their grief. When even their desires seem to
fail and they are so broken down and made so
weak by the various troubles that have crushed them
that it comes to just this sighing and nothing more,
then God cannot be still, He must get up! He has gone
away and hidden His face before, but now He sees that
the time has come to manifest His unchanging love and Grace!

“Now will I arise, says the Lord; I will set him in
safety from him that puffs at him.” Yes, Brothers and
Sisters, God hears our sighs even if we cannot hear
them ourselves! When we think we have not
prayed at all, we have often prayed the best! When we
imagine that our groans have been empty, they have
often been the fullest! When we sigh because we think
we do not sigh, God hears that sort of sighing which
is only a longing to sigh! He hears the grief when the
grief has no voice. He hears the sorrow when the
sorrow cannot find a tongue. Then note that as the
Lord hears our sighs, those sighs touch His heart.

The wicked have been puffing at the godly. They said,
“Our tongues are our own, who is the ruler over us?”
The Lord took no notice of them but let them blaspheme
if they would. But there arose the sad sigh of His
children and that touched Him! He could not bear that.
It seems to me a very wonderful thing that the
Almighty, the Infinite, to whom the Heaven of heavens
is nothing, who takes up the isles as a very little
thing, to whom all this system of worlds is but as
the smallest grain of dust that does not turn the
scale, yet is,as we say, “all there,” when His
children sigh—and His heart is touched, His heart
is moved—His whole being is full of an infinite
compassion! He cannot bear that sighing. “Now will
I arise, says the Lord. I will get up from My
Throne of Glory that I may deliver My people.
I have heard their sighs and I cannot stay away
from them!

Love masters My Omnipotence! I feel but one
force—the force of my overwhelming love! It sways
Me and impels Me to speed to their relief. I will
get out of My hiding places, I will end my
withdrawals from them, I will rend the veil and
come out from between the cherubim. Now will
I arise, says the Lord.” What has caused all this
mighty movement? Nothing but the sighs of His needy
people!

the complete sermon by Charles Spurgeon
is here

Charles Spurgeon
Psalme 12:5

Devotions from the Heart: The Healing of Betrayal

by Derek Gitsham

"For I have received of the Lord,
that which I also delivered unto you,
that the Lord Jesus the same night in
which He was betrayed took bread. And
when He had given thanks, He brake it
and said, ‘Take eat: this is My Body
which is broken for you: This do in
remembrance of Me." 1 Corinthians 11:23-24

The Communion service is one of the ordinances
instituted by the Apostles for the Church.
It was to be in remembrance of Him, and to
“show forth His death till He come” (verse 26).

Betrayal was at the heart of the Lord’s death.
Betrayal and sin began in heaven with one of
God’s creations, Lucifer, rebelling against
God and being cast out. What had initially
taken place in heaven, for sin began in heaven
not on earth, again took place on earth in the
life of Jesus. Behind all that was going to
take place in the life of Jesus, leading Him
to Calvary was going to be prompted by an act
of betrayal. When Judas came to bring the
accusers of Jesus, to signal Jesus out to them,
he kissed Him. Judas betrayed Him with a kiss.

It is interesting to note that betrayal and
intimacy go together. David, in the Psalms,
and also quoted in John’s Gospel, says that
they hated Him without a cause (Ps. 18:7;
John 15:25). Hate needs no cause, hate is
the cause. Jesus knew He was being hated by
men. He informed His disciples He was being
hated, therefore, they would be hated.

The Apostle Paul in our text uses the word
"betrayal." The Lord is forcing us to face
the fact that unless we have been purged by
the Blood of Christ deeply; the possibility
of betrayal lies in us all. Betrayal is a
dark thing. ‘Judas then left them and went
into the night.’ The end of Judas is relevant.
He hung himself. Dare we suggest that betrayal
lies far more deeply in the heart of man than
Judas’ betrayal of Jesus? Was Judas living a
life of betrayal, so in the finality of things,
found it easy to betray Jesus?

Do we betray the One we love by the way we live?
To have communion with the Son of God, and one
another, we must be clear of the possibility of
betraying one another. Jesus said, ‘He that
lifts up his heel against Me is the one who
will betray Me.’ This is an elusion to a restive,
ill-natured house, which sometimes kicks even
that person that feeds and takes care of him.
Jesus said of Judas, ‘he that eats bread with me’
meaning that Judas was intimate with Jesus.

Jesus is our deliverance. He will keep us
from betrayal and rebellion, only as we seek
to be all His and His alone, having no other
agenda, but to be His Life in a godless world
where betrayal is the norm.

Communion with Jesus will free us from betrayal.
Being betrayed, He communed. It is the antidote
to betrayal. God keep our hearts locked unto Him
and Him alone.

Devotions From the Heart: Knowing What We Worship

by Derek Gitsham

"You worship you know not what: we know
what we worship: for salvation is of
the Jews." John 4:22

How true are these words spoken by
Jesus to the woman of Samaria at the
well. Idolatry, idol worship is dead.
False religions know not what they
worship, but the worship of the Jews
is a knowledge—we know what we worship.
The words “what we worship” would be
better translated “who we worship,”
for salvation is of the Jews.

Interestingly here, Jesus likens worship
with salvation. A man has to know the
salvation of God to be a worshipper. That
means he has got to be changed from what
he was to what the Lord now will make him
by regeneration.

If a man is going to have the right knowledge
of God to make him a worshipper, it will be
because God has done a work in him. He
experiences justification, regeneration, and
sanctification/holiness and this in turn will
enable him to worship God. No experience of

God makes a man devoid of the ability to worship.
A man must testify to a complete work of salvation
having been wrought in his life if he is to
worship God. Sin cannot worship Him, dead self
cannot; the old man of sin will not. Sin has to
be slain in the man, the life of corruption put
to death, crucified with Christ, then raised
from the dead to die no more. He then qualifies
to be a worshipper. No death to the old,
no worship. The nature of salvation has got to be right.

So many are lead into the things of God by
spurious means. They have not undergone a death,
not experienced a resurrection or a receiving of
the Spirit. Warm, fuzzy phrases, totally unbiblical,
have wrecked havoc in the Church and lives are
barely changed that claim they are now Christian.

The only way a man can know what he worships is by
knowing what God has done in Him. Salvation is what
God does to you, not what you do for God. This and
only this will cause us to know whom we worship.
We know Him when He sets us free from sin.

A Complete Conversion?

Therefore I tell you that no one who is
speaking by the Spirit of God says,
"Jesus be cursed," and no one can say,
"Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
-- 1 Corinthians 12:3 (NIV)

A conversion is incomplete if it does not
leave Jesus Christ in the central place in
one's life. The shortest possible description
of a Christian--a description with which the
New Testament would fully agree--is that a
Christian is a person who can say: "For me
Jesus Christ is Lord."

Herbert Butterfield's words about facing the
future are good: "Hold to Christ, and for
the rest be totally uncommitted." Any alleged
conversion which does not leave one totally
committed solely to Jesus Christ is incomplete
and imperfect. -- William Barclay ,
In the Hands of God

photo taken near the Spanish Peaks, Colorado

true conversion
William Barclay

Psalm 46

There is a stream, whose gentle flow
Supplies the city of our God;
Life, love, and joy still gliding through,
And watering our divine abode:

That sacred stream, thine holy word,
That all our raging fear controls;
Sweet peace thy promises afford,
And give new strength to fainting souls.
... Isaac Watts (1674-1748),
Psalms of David Imitated
[1719], from Psalm 46
_____
Psalm 46 (New King James Version)


To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons
of Korah. A Song for Alamoth.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea;

3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its
swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams shall
make glad the city of God,The holy place
of the tabernacle of the Most High.

5 God is in the midst of her, she shall
not be moved; God shall help her, just
at the break of dawn.

6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

7 The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

11 The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

photo taken in Pecos, New Mexico,
of the Pecos River


Psalm 46
Pecos, New Mexico

Keeping our Eyes on Jesus!

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set
before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)

As a new year starts, there will be, no doubt,
much to distract us from keeping our eyes
on Jesus. May we resolve never to let that happen!
Only Christ is a Calm in the storm, a Hiding
Place in the dark and dangerous hour, and
a worthy and everlasting Vision!


photo taken near Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs,
Colorado

Colorado Springs, Colorado
Hebrews 12:2

Devotions From the Heart: Worship: A Reality Check

by Derek Gitsham

"God is a Spirit, and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in
truth." John 4:24

These words were spoken to a woman of Samaria,
while fetching water from Jacob’s Well at Sychar.
Jesus was thirsty and asked the woman for a drink.
She exclaimed in total surprise: “'How is it that
you being a Jew askest a drink of me which am a
woman of Samaria?' For the Jews had no dealings
with the Samaritans.”(John 4:9)

The conversation proceeds from living water to
a well of water till finally they arrive at the
subject of worship. Jesus tells her that He
knows she had five husbands: this causes her to
marvel and she begins to really listen. Arriving
at the sixth hour of the day was is significant
because few people would have been there at the
well. She obviously was ashamed to be seen because
of the type of woman she was. But Jesus showed
His love and care to her. She was forgivable and
savable, as all men are, and that is what mattered.

Worship is what the Father desires from us. He
seeks such to worship: those that worship in Spirit
and in truth. The word “truth” is translated
“reality” amongst other things. To to be a
worshipper we must be real. What does it mean to
be real? Reality has been far from the shores of
many saints in these days. Spiritual reality must
be present if we are to worship. That means that
the things of God must be more real to us than life
itself. Deny this aspect of things, the reality of
God to us, and worship is not attainable.

The Christian life must work if we are to be
worshippers. You cannot be one thing in a church
and another thing in the world. You have got to
know what you say and say what you know. This
is not a guessing game.

Paul exhorts the Corinthians in the second
epistle 13:5, “Examine yourselves whether you
be in the faith, prove your own selves.” There
are many ways to test yourself: Do you sin
willfully? Do you long for holiness? Are you
longing for God? Is He in all your thoughts?
Do you practice righteousness? Is he sitting
on the throne of your heart? and much more.

God make us very real; give us spiritual reality,
that we may worship in spirit and in truth.

Whoever preaches with love
preaches sufficiently against heresy,
though he may never utter a controversial word.
... Francois de Sales (1567-1622)


photo taken in Manitou Springs, Colorado
at the Rainbow Falls


heresy
Manitou Springs, Colorado

A Determined Journey of Love

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
And just as He came, illuminating the dark,
the Eternal Light rising in Israel,
even in the nations,

so must we cast His Light like a flaming net,
gathering up those who dwell in the darkness.

This is no time to hesitate,
not time to think it through,
or sit, vacillating, in the safety
zone that shall soon be dangerous.

Here is a call to action: to
bold shows of fervent love toward God
and man, to large slices of kindness,
heaping portions of forgiveness,
giant wedges of the inability to
be offended; to patience unending,
and hope unrelenting, and faith
unfettered.

May lesser things be gone, may
sitting and watching be finished,
pack your bags, my friends, and
go on a determined journey of love.

There is no time like now,
no moment like the present
to get really right with God,
to wash the slate clean with every
man or woman who has caused you to sorrow,
to trip, to turn away from
the One True Life you can have
only in God.

There is None like He,
No Life like His life,
no love so fervent, so pure,
so righteous.

Do you hear that Love calling
to you, even now?

To Boldness! To extreme acts
of love! To the Highest Place!

Go out into the streets searching
for those lost in every way.
Look in the wards of the sick,
who have turned away from the
Heavenly Physician.

Help them demolish what
holds them back from the
Only One who can heal.
Tear down the roof to let
Him in!

Look even in your own home
for the one gone astray: the
one for whom Christ is still looking
for, calling for, praying for.

Implore them with kindness,
Ply them with understanding,
Beg them with unfeigned affection
to turn toward the Light.

This is Christmas! More Christ!
All Christ! Fall on your knees!
O hear the voices of angels and
men of good will calling you
across the centuries, to
the eternal kingdom of the Father.

In a manger crib the Child
came to us, showing us what
it would be like to be held
at the mercy of others.

Hold, therefore, others with Mercy!

Christ comes to you, still,
yes, to you, watching how you
will treat Him, seeing what
you will give Him!

Play your heart like a drum
for Him. Play your best for
Him. See Him smile. See Him
reaching out His hand,
lighting up the universe,
lighting up you,
in the spontaneous combustion
of a fiery flame of
Endless Love!

Lo, He has come to send
a fire on the earth and
what if He wants to use
you as kindling?

Burn, then, with an
incendiary passion for Him.
Burn, my dear friends,
burn fiercely at the cold, hard,
dry death that is consuming
your neighbors and friends.

If you do, this shall be
a Christmas to remember:
you and I, a blazing fire
in the hearth of God.

Do not waste a moment,
who knows how long any
of us have?

Christmas
the gospel
love
the fire of God

Lord, let your love enlighten the eye
of my understanding with the light of
trusting in You. Help me see Your
truth as You reveal it to me. Make my
memory big enough to hold your kindnesses.
Set my will on fire in Your love. Let that
fire melt my most intimate being and make
me bleed with compassion for others.

- Catherine of Siena, --

photo taken near Monument, Colorado

How Shall I Know If You Belong To God?

The world is darkening around us,
even now it is dusk
and your features are becoming
indistinguishable.

How shall I know if you belong to the Beloved?
Who goes there? friend or foe?

You may smile with gleaming white teeth, but
how do I know if that is because they
have no history of biting or because they have
been merely bleached white with Crest strips?

You may sing like an angel,
but how do I know that you have
not taken lessons from the Dark Song Leader
who was thrown out of heaven?

You may tell me I am a "wonder", "precious',
"the greatest thing since smoked salmon",
but how will I know that these endearments
are not sugar-coated rat poison or chocolate
covered shark teeth?

You may drip oil, glisten with gold glitter,
be knee-deep in angel feathers, but how
shall I know if that is from God or
just you gone mad at the Craft Emporium?

I will tell you how I will know--
come here and stand close to me.
From inside of me a Heavenly, Holy Ghost shall arise
and call out to you, with wordless words,
He guards His oasis inside because it
is His to guard. He knows all things.

Even a voice may trick me, but
the Ghost Most Holy cannot be tricked.
His Presence dances--up and out, from
a wordless place,
soaring, heaven-bound, sending out
the spiritual sonar, checking for some
sign of Himself, the Divine Fraternal
Handshake, the Heavenly High-Five,
looking for Himself in you.

When I see the big grin emerge on
His Face, I know that I may call
you Brother, Sister, Friend of God.

When He gives the "all clear"
then out go all the formalities
and the chairs are pulled away from
the tables, and we dance on them
until the Sabbath is over--
the space between us gone,
squished together like
two peas in a heavenly pod.

We shall know if we
watch and listen to Him.


"Wherefore we henceforth know no man
after the flesh: even though we have
known Christ after the flesh, yet now
we know him so no more."
(2 Corinthians 5:16)

"And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth
heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped
in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with
the Holy Ghost." Luke 1:41

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the spirits whether they are of God: because
many false prophets are gone out into the
world." 1 John 4:1


true and false prophets
2 Corinthians 5:16
deception
I John 4:1
heresy
Luke 1:41
discernment

Christ Coming Home

To be perfect with God you must have
Christ come home, come HOME to you and
sit by your central fire--come home to
you, to YOU, as if for the moment
mankind were centered in the burning
point of your soul, and you touched
the burning point of God's. You must
court and haunt His Presence til
it break forth on you, and it become
as impossible not to believe as to
believe is hard now.

--P.T. Forsyth

photo taken in Wilmington, Vermont

P.T.Forsyth

"You are a fire that takes away
the coldness, illuminates the mind
with its Light, and causes me to
know Your Truth. And I know that
You are Beauty and Wisdom itself.
The food of angels, You gave
Yourself to human beings in the
fire of Your Love."

- Catherine of Siena -


photo: Colorado Springs sunset

Devotions From the Heart: He Opened Their Understanding

by Derek Gitsham

"Then opened He their understanding,
that they might understand the
Scriptures." Luke 24:45

Obviously to be able to discern the truth
of God’s Word, Jesus, by this act in His
resurrection, is showing us that unless
the intellect or mind is opened by His power,
there will be no grasp of spiritual truth.
The literal rendering of this verse reads
that "He fully opened their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures."
There was partial understanding, now it
was going to be complete.

Understanding the Word of God is such a
mystery to many. So few enjoy reading the
Word of God, getting nothing from it. At
first glance not everything is going to
be comprehended, but as we pursue our
relationship with God so things will
be opened up to us.

Jesus said, “There is nothing hidden that
shall not be revealed” (Matthew 10:26).
Paul prayed that the eyes of the Ephesians
understanding would be opened (Ephesians 2:18).
Reading the subsequent verses (19-23) clearly
shows us what Paul is wanting us to see and
understand:“the exceeding greatness of His
power to usward who believe, according to
the working of his mighty power, which He
wrought in Christ when He raised Him from
the dead, and set Him at His own right hand
in heavenly places.”

In Colossians Paul says, “That in Him are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”
(2:3). These words in Luke, “opening their
understanding” is connected to the desire
to understand. There must be a desire to
understand, to want God, this is what God is
looking for in the saints.

He that hungereth and thirsteth for
righteousness sake shall be filled (Matthew 5:6).
David writes, in Psalm 106:24, talking of Israel,
“yea they despised the pleasant land, they
believed not his word." The words “pleasant land”
are translated “land of desire.” Despising it
(the Hebrew meaning for despise is “to spurn”)
cost her dearly. It also meant to reject or
refuse.

Acceptance of the word by obedience
to it, is the beginning of our understanding
being opened. What we are willing to obey,
we will understand.

"We must allow a great many books
to go unread, and a great many
social visits unpaid in order that
we may concentrate on Christ."
--PT Forsyth

photo taken at Great Sand Dunes,
near Alamosa, Colorado

P.T.Forsyth